By: Sadie Downing'26
There’s nothing quite like a holiday-themed sitcom episode. The best ones are endlessly rewatchable; personally, every Thanksgiving, I know I’m going to be watching the Thanksgiving episodes of Friends all day. Of course, we’re not talking about Thanksgiving episodes: we’re talking about Halloween episodes.
So what makes a great Halloween sitcom episode? There are a few things an excellent Halloween sitcom episode has to have. First of all, there needs to be some good costumes. The best Halloween episodes have costumes you might want to wear or you might laugh at. Accordingly, every character’s costume should go with their personality, especially the most annoying parts of their personality. The episode also needs a funny, compelling plot. It can’t just be any old Halloween party! Finally, I want a couple of scares. They don’t have to be scary– in fact, it’s much better if they’re funny– but it can elevate a Halloween episode if there’s a witty nod to horror. So, without any more posturing, here are the fifteen best Halloween sitcom episodes,* presented in reverse order:
*Disclaimer: I am only including sitcoms I have personally watched, so if you are a fan of any sitcom not mentioned below, please understand that I have only excluded it because I haven’t seen it- yet.
Friends, “The One With the Halloween Party” (S8 E6)
Photo courtesy of NBC Universal (2001)
Friends has faced criticism in recent years, and some of it is well-deserved. However, it isn’t an unfunny show– it’s just a little dated. In this episode, the only Halloween episode of Friends, Monica decides to throw a last-minute Halloween party where everyone has to wear a costume. In the B-plot, Rachel is newly pregnant and enduring some crazy pregnancy hormones, which leads to her going a little overboard with trick-or-treaters. This episode provides some good laughs, especially at Ross’s ‘Spud-nik’ costume, which is classic Ross. However, the episode is pretty formulaic, and there aren’t any scares unless you count the awkward C-plot between Phoebe and her identical twin Ursula’s new fiancee Eric, played by Sean Penn. Overall, a solid enough episode, but it could be better.
Modern Family, The Last Halloween (S11 E5)
Photo courtesy of ABC Family (2019)
For the most part, this is a good episode, but it’s more of a good Modern Family episode than a good Halloween episode. It’s a Halloween episode, make no mistake, but since it’s the last Halloween episode of Modern Family, too much of it is focused on saying goodbye to the Modern Family Halloween traditions. It just wouldn’t be as good of an episode to anyone who hasn’t watched all of the previous 10 seasons. In this episode, Phil tries to finally scare Claire, Gloria goes to a gay Halloween party with Mitchell and Cam, and Jay desperately tries to find a discontinued candy bar from his childhood that his son accidentally gave to a trick-or-treater. This episode ranks above the Friends episode. After all, there are better laughs, such as Gloria being upset because someone assumed that she was her much older husband’s wife for the first time. It also includes the best Halloween-themed prank I’ve ever seen. It’s too good to spoil, so I suggest you watch it yourself.
Parks and Rec, “Greg Pikitis” (S2 E7)
Photo courtesy of NBC Universal (2009)
The early episodes of Parks and Rec, before the arrival of Ben Wyatt and Chris Traeger, aren’t great. However, this episode is one of the better season two episodes, before Parks and Rec found its stride. In this episode, Leslie is fighting with a local teenager named Greg Pikitis, who always commits vandalism on Halloween, no matter how hard she tries to stop him. The B-plot involves Ann Perkins throwing a Halloween party at her home, where she learns some skills from Ron. In the meantime, Ron learns something interesting about Tom and his wife Wendy. This episode is pretty good, but it does include one of the best Parks and Rec lines, pictured below.
New Girl, “Keaton” (S3 E6)
Photo courtesy of FOX (2013)
This episode isn’t entirely a Halloween episode, but the parts of it that are Halloween-based are pretty good. The main plot involves Jess and the gang trying to cheer Schmidt up by establishing a reconnection between him and his childhood friend Michael Keaton (Schmidt’s mom, and then Nick, in college). As regards Halloween, Jess throws a Halloween party at the loft, complete with some pretty good costumes (especially Schmidt’s “public serpent” costume). Also, another piece of the Schmidt-Nick relationship puzzle is unlocked.
The Office, “Costume Contest” (S7 E6)
Photo courtesy of NBC Universal (2010)
Some people might find it to be sacrilege to rank this episode so low, but I argue that these later The Office episodes are still pretty weak, even before Steve Carrell leaves. There are too many characters to keep track of, and the jokes become less and less realistic. In this episode, most of the office competes in a costume contest, for which the prize is a coupon book that promises 15,000 dollars in savings (though most of the office thinks that means the book is worth 15,000 dollars). There’s also an awkward side plot with the character Danny Cordray, played by Timothy Olyphant, who went on a date with Pam before she and Jim started dating, which everyone in the office is weirdly obsessed with. Overall, it’s too sitcom for a show like The Office, which started off very realistic. However, a few of the jokes here are still pretty funny, especially the fact that Oscar, who dressed as a “rational consumer,” wins the costume contest because the characters vote for him for many disparate reasons, including because he’s the least likely to win.
Modern Family, “Halloween 4: The Revenge of Rod Skyhook” (S8 E5)
Photo courtesy of ABC Family (2016)
In this episode, Luke Dunphy throws his first Halloween party, Jay attempts to get even with his enemy Earl Chambers, and Cam and Mitch chase a little boy who Cam thinks threw an egg at him. Though the basic plot seems a little strange, the episode ends up being one of the better Modern Family Halloweens. One of the best jokes is Cam’s Batman costume, which is riffed on again and again but is funny every time. What makes this such a good Halloween episode are the costumes and the fact that it feels like a real family Halloween, which is somehow still funny.
Parks and Rec, “Halloween Surprise” (S5 E5)
Photo courtesy of NBC Universal (2012)
This is not just a good Halloween episode, it’s also one of the best Parks and Rec episodes. Though not all of the episode takes place on Halloween, it’s too good to rank any lower. In the episode Ron learns how to be a family man by trick-or-treating with his girlfriend Diane’s daughters, Leslie and Ben discuss their relationship’s future, and on Halloween, Chris screens a scary movie, which Ann and Leslie scare Jerry at, leading to one of the funnier scenes in the whole series. The episode is funny and heartwarming in equal measure, and it’s classic Parks and Rec. And if you want to know what the “Halloween Surprise” is that the title refers to, you just have to watch.
Community, “Horror Fiction in Seven Spooky Steps” (S3 E5)
Photo courtesy of NBC Universal (2011)
Finally, we get to Community, the undisputed king of the sitcom trope. Community has four Halloween episodes, and I consider this one the second best. The plot involves Britta running a mental illness test on the study group, which reveals that one of them is a psychopath with homicidal inclinations. To figure out who it is, Britta and Jeff have each of the group tell a spooky story, which reveals each character’s unique psychological issues. It’s a funny, unique episode with a few actual scares, quite unlike any other sitcom Halloween episode.
Brooklyn 99, “Halloween IV” (S4 E5)
Photo courtesy of NBC Universal (2016)
Finally, we get to Brooklyn 99, the home of the best Halloween sitcom episodes on this whole list. There are quite a few Brooklyn 99 episodes, and it wasn’t fair for the other shows for me to include all of them on this list, so I picked only the best of the best. In this episode, the team competes in another Halloween heist, which involves way too many great twists and turns for me to spoil by giving up the plot. All you need to know is that this is the Brooklyn 99 episode where the Halloween heists pick up and become something truly special.
Brooklyn 99, “HalloVeen” (S5 E4)
Photo courtesy of NBC Universal (2017)
Another Brooklyn 99 Halloween episode? They’re just too good to rank any lower. This episode is a special one, not just because of the new layers to the heist that the squad adds. This is the fifth annual heist, and it’s the first one to include Captain Holt’s beloved dog, Cheddar, which gives it an edge over “Halloween IV.” Also, this is the episode with the best ending of the heist, though again, it’s too good to spoil.
The Office, “Halloween” (S2 E5)
Photo courtesy of NBC Universal (2005)
All of the episodes from now on are timeless; these are the episodes that can be watched by any viewer, even ones who haven’t seen any of the other episodes of this show. This one is less timeless than any of the episodes that follow it, but it’s still a classic Halloween episode. The plot is that Michael Scott needs to fire someone, but because he’s postponed the decision until the last possible second, he has to fire someone during the Halloween party. There’s classic Michael, classic Dwight, and classic Jim in this episode, and it’s definitely among the better The Office season two episodes.
Modern Family, “Halloween” (S2 E6)
Photo courtesy of ABC Family (2010)
Just like the previous episode, this is a Halloween episode that transcends the need to know the general plot of the show. Each character’s costume is already enough to understand their personality, and the overall plot is not just your basic Halloween party. Claire Dunphy wants to create a Halloween house of horrors, but she’s stymied by Phil’s attempts to be spontaneous and the family’s reluctance to participate due to a variety of factors, including Cam’s distaste for the holiday and Gloria’s embarrassment about her accent, which Jay and Manny have recently informed her is very hard to understand. All of these disparate plots come together in a classic Modern Family way, creating one of the best Halloween episodes of any sitcom, and certainly the best Halloween episode of Modern Family.
New Girl, “Halloween” (S2 E6)
Photo courtesy of FOX (2012)
Unlike the previous episodes, you would need to know a little bit of the basic plot from earlier New Girl episodes, but anyone unfamiliar with each character’s idiosyncratic tendencies would be able to figure them out quickly enough. In this episode, Jess is working at a haunted house and casually seeing a doctor named Sam, but she begins wanting a relationship. In the meantime, Schmidt is trying to win back his ex-girlfriend CeeCee, while Winston is trying to reconnect with his girlfriend Shelby. During all of this, Nick is trying to strike up a new relationship with one of his visiting college crushes. All of this comes together in a hilarious Nick scene that establishes the quality of the relationship between Nick and Jess. Though the overall episode may not be as solid as the earlier episodes, the ending scene with Nick in the haunted house elevates this to the status of a classic.
Community, “Epidemiology” (S2 E6)
Photo courtesy of NBC Universal (2011)
The best Community Halloween episode is maybe the best Community episode. It masterfully plays off of movie tropes from a variety of genres, especially Zombie movies, with quite a few references to the movie Alien (1979). This episode is funny, but it’s also actually scary, though in a way you can laugh with. Also, it’s bookended with the sultry voice of George Takei. The plot is that the dean’s Halloween party goes horribly wrong due to his purchase of “taco meat from the army,” which creates a group of vampires the study group must survive. Though the episode stands perfectly on its own, it lays a few threads for later in the season, which come back when you least expect it. It’s a perfect Halloween episode and a perfect Community episode.
Brooklyn 99, “Halloween” (S1 E6)
Photo courtesy of NBC Universal (2011)
There can only be one, and it has to be Brooklyn 99. This may not be the best Halloween episode of Brooklyn 99, but it deserves first place solely because it created the greatest Halloween tradition in sitcom history: the Halloween heist. This laid the groundwork for the rest of the show, and it made the Halloween heist so incredibly iconic that it quickly became the characteristic thing for Brooklyn 99. This episode’s heist isn’t as crazy as it later gets, but you have to give it credit for its special twists, turns, and laughs. It’s an episode that requires rewatching every Halloween season.
*Note: The article was republished due to site maintenance. The original publication date is October 9th, 2024.
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