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I do not know if I would like being a kid today.
I remember when I was younger every television show seemed to have a Halloween-themed episode, or there were specials generated specifically for Halloween.
To be fair, I do not watch a lot of children’s themed television shows or things of that nature, but it used to seem like when Halloween was around, T.V. shows were always hyping a new holiday-themed episode.
Last year, one of what I thought to be the best Halloween specials in years came out – Toy Story of Terror.
The special aired on ABC last year and re-aired last week, and focuses around the characters from Pixar’s hit Toy Story franchise encountering different bumps in the night while staying at a motel.
It is a cute special that in the past two years has been a nice, atmospheric introduction to the Halloween season.
This seems to be an oddity. If to prove my point that no one really ever puts out Halloween specials anymore, Toy Story of Terror was shown and immediately after that, they aired It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.
There is approximately 58 years between the two specials original releases.
Now, I do not want to seem like I am knocking It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. I love all of the Charlie Brown-related holiday specials and have It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown recorded on my DVR and ready to go on Oct. 31.
But, why is it that we only get a new Halloween special so few and far in-between?
I’m so detached from today’s youth that it is quite possible that kids today do not give a darn about Halloween.
When I was a kid, Halloween was my favorite time of the year and in a lot of ways still is because it allows me to go on a nostalgia trip every time the mood strikes me right.
There is just something to be said for a cool autumn night, porches illuminated with jack-o-lanterns, and candy flowing like a bountiful river.
What more could you ask for other than perhaps something on television to enhance the experience?
I heard that two weeks ago, Saturday morning cartoons ended.
It does not surprise me that a generation that does not care about Saturday morning cartoons also would not care about Halloween specials.
I am fairly confident most kids today would rather spend time on YouTube and look up dopey videos as opposed to sit down and enjoy a quality television special.
One day, I hope someone like me gets to a position where he or she is an executive of a television station and finds a way to bring back quality Halloween specials.
There is just something to be said for a half-hour of television, dedicated towards nothing but getting into the Halloween spirit.
ABC Family has started their 13 Days of Halloween – 13 days leading up to Halloween in which a variety of specials are shown.
So I give them props for keeping the faith and preserving the history of the Halloween special.
It is a grand tradition that is slowly dying.
I’d suggest that we as a population we do something about the lack of Halloween specials that exist and the frequency in which the older ones are shown, but I have no idea where we’d even start.
I know Halloween is more than a week and a half away, and that this column may have been better served for next week’s issue, but I just could not wait.
I am already in the spirit despite the lack of television specials.
Brian Laughran
Editor-in-Chief
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