What Makes a Paul Lynde Halloween Special
By Eric Grigs | October 4, 2020
When October arrives, it can only mean one thing: it’s time to watch The Paul Lynde Halloween Special. I consider it one of the crown jewels in the pop trash collection, and boy are we lucky to have it.
Broadcast on October 29, 1976, it was once considered lost to history until Bob Booker, head writer and one of the original producers, found a master tape and lovingly spent several years securing the rights for a home video debut. The cost and time spent clearing music remains a big problem for variety shows of the era. They were considered disposable, with rotating guests dropping in to sing a song and perhaps do a short comedy skit. No one expected them to have much of an afterlife or replay value following the initial broadcast.
When attached to a holiday, they definitely stand more of a chance of being brought off the shelf and served up to audiences again. Although the longer these types of variety shows sit, deteriorating in vaults, the less likely anyone will ever see them again. Without a Bob Booker type to champion their worth and studios’ deep pockets behind them, will we ever see the full scope of just how amazingly zany and completely entertaining these star-studded television circus acts were? What a loss!
Enough glass half-empty thinking. What a treasure we do have in The Paul Lynde Halloween Special. A brief bit of backstory: Paul was a regular on television for decades—best known as Uncle Arthur on Bewitched and a popular center square on the long-running Hollywood Squares, as well as popping up in movies like The Glass Bottom Boat and Beach Blanket Bingo. As a result of his popularity during the the 70s, Paul inked a multi-million dollar deal with ABC. However, as comedy writing legend Bruce Vilanch (who was one of the writers on this special) has noted, Paul was more of a “flavor in a recipe” that adds spice instead of the main dish. His star vehicle sitcom efforts flopped, though he was still under contract and beloved by the network. So to fulfill obligations, the ABC brass decided to unleash him on the world as the host of a holiday special.
Picking Halloween and overlaying the occasion with Paul’s acerbic humor was nothing short of a stroke of genius. His unparalleled ability to drop biting one-liners is on full display here, but having Paul surrounded by more and more clowns is a smart choice and really what makes it all work. He did return a year later with another cast of characters in a 1977 Christmas special of ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas, but why the network didn’t leverage his contract for a weekly variety show gig after this seems like a huge missed opportunity.
What aired is something to behold and must be seen to be believed. Nothing is ever likely to top this multi-generational pop culture collision again. Although, that was the beauty of a time when television content was largely contained to only three major networks. With limited choices, success relied on shows that appealed to everyone, not just a demographic niche. Parents, teens, and kids were all gathered in front of the tube watching the same thing. Paul’s special sticks the landing here: broad comedy for broad audiences.
After a holiday-themed opening running gag and comedy monologue, Lynde does a big song and dance production number, his signature track “Kids” from Bye Bye Birdie. It’s a great wink to the audience’s reference point for the host, while cleverly retooling the lyrics to relate to Halloween trick-or-treating. It ends with wholesome teen devils Donnie and Marie showing up for a trick—exploding Lynde in a garbage can, of course. Oh, it’s on!
KISS rehearsals before filming began on the set.
What comes after is a whirling-dervish of ideas in rapid succession: iconic witches show up to grant wishes (Margaret Hamilton from The Wizard of Oz and Billie Hayes as Witchiepoo from H. R. Pufnstuf); Tim Conway and Paul square off as truckers fighting over marrying the same girl (Roz Kelly, as Pinky Tuscadero from Happy Days); Betty White makes an appearance to throw some shade and sarcasm around; Mrs. Brady herself, Florence Henderson, and the cast do some disco line-dancing; Billy Barty joins in on the fun as the butler of “Gloomsbury Manor”; and KISS makes its first prime-time television appearance, performing three songs. Bizarre doesn’t even begin to describe it. But again, if any one of those things doesn’t appeal to you, just keep watching because at any minute it could change—there’s something here for everyone.
The Paul Lynde Halloween Special may be one of the most entertaining hours of holiday TV you’ll ever watch. When I think of other holiday offerings that have stood the test of time, I’m struck by how different they look from everything else around them. For example, the songs from The Grinch Who Stole Christmas or the stop-motion animation of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer stand lightyears apart from the rest of the pack which seems just to be concerned with presenting the same recycled ideas. Maybe that’s a key to making a holiday special with longevity and why we never tire of looking forward to watching those ones year after year. I definitely feel that one-of-a-kind magic from The Paul Lynde Halloween Special, now a batty annual tradition that I am compelled to observe. It also warms my spooky little heart that as more people discover this old variety show, the memory of an unexpected comedy titan is strengthened—one who forged his own nutty path to stardom and acceptance.
Eric Grigs is a pop culture writer and co-host of the Pop Trash Podcast.