That being said, I was kind of excited about this one. No disrespect to the writers or the actors but I thought ok this is the year that the networks take everything at their disposal and use it since they won’t have fall programing in the way of all that holiday goodness. I thought this is the year that Garfield makes his Halloween come back, or that Nickelodeon dusts off those Alvin and the Chipmunks Trick or Treason, or the Smurfs and the Legend of Smurfy Hollow, Ichabod and Mr. Toad cartoons would fill the void left by all the striking humans. Long live Animation!!!! However that excitement was sadly short in life. While I’ve long since given up hope for the Peanuts to make it back to network TV I was hoping that others might rise and take their place. Heck at this point I’ll settle for Poohs’ Heffalump Halloween gracing my screen. Something …. Really anything … but it looks even worse than in past years and that makes for a very sad Marcy and is the reason for staring this on such a negative note.
As you will see the calendar is dominated by a few specific networks, the OGs of this calendar if you will. My Halloween Ride or Die. Tho I warn you that I have been unable to find hardly any of the things that I used to find that routinely made the calendar’s of years past and new content well that’s apparently no longer a thing. Each network is associated with a specific streaming service that can air these things without messing with their precious lineups? So why waste the air waves and the advertising dollars. Has it finally happened, has Digital made this thing …. Obsolete ? Maybe so but let’s do it at least one more time cause well I am not ready to let this thing die, and while last year I said it was on life support this year I fear we might soon be calling hospice.
I admit I’m a little behind on this thing so that’s also not helping, but also seems to be the way my world works these days. I was going to work on it prior to my annual Dragon Con trip over Labor Day weekend but was too caught up in the insanity that was packing for a Con and told myself it can wait. Then when I got back my self said it was too early cause most of the networks weren’t ready to discuss their line ups and I had laundry to do, aka sleeping. Then boom next thing I know it’s the weekend before October and I’m like OH MY GAWD SELF WHAT?! … and now I’m back in College mode cramming for a last minute test I knew was coming but forgot all about. However, it is AU vs GA weekend and as a Tiger fan really … what else do I have to do on this lovely Saturday. WAR EAGLE!
For those new to this party, and there are several of you, I will re-state the rules, for those veterans out there please forgive me for giving a short explanation and allow your attention to wander freely if you’d like. (thanks for that line Albus! – 10 pts for your house if you can tell me which Harry Potter book that’s paraphrased from…RIP Michael Gambon).
The Rules:
- I live in the central time zone, the times on this calendar reflect that, adjust accordingly if you have traveled north of the Mason Dixie Line or spread your wings out West. Don’t call me cause you missed your “favorite” show/movie, that’s not my mess. Be a big girl or boy and crank up that DVR and find out when it comes on again cause odds are it will.
- Time Zones are hard and sometimes I screw up the conversion from Eastern Time Zone to Central. See Note above for how I feel about you finding a mistake of time on the calendar.
- Unless otherwise stated the times are PM, this calendar is also geared towards the after work hours of life cause well it’s about me and that’s when I can watch. My office seems to think it’s a distraction if I watch while at work, I mean I still do it but like they expect that. For those WFH peeps or stay at home moms feel free to check out these channels throughout the day for spooky goodness.
- Lastly this calendar shows things I want to see, movies and specials that take me back to my childhood or that just make me happy. Some are kid themed and some are more adult oriented. PLEASE be mindful of that before you sit down with your little and they can’t sleep cause Freddy might get them. That’s your mess not mine but Kudos to you for showing them a classic. Seriously don’t be that person and there’s always one. This is supposed to be for fun, if you make it not be for fun well you won’t get it next year. PS if you don’t get this one you don’t get the Christmas one either so be sure that’s what you need/want before firing off that e-mail. This isn’t the internet where you can say whatever you want without consequences.
If you are a digital user the easiest way is to saving it to your phone so you can check it on the fly, I mean who hasn’t gone to the bar keep at the local restaurant to ask them to switch from the game to Friday the 13th ? Just me …. Yeah, the crowd didn’t think it was a good idea either but I stand by the request. When I print it, and I do, I print it 11X17 but 8.5X11 is often good enough, especially this year with so much additional space on it.
Now I must warn you … these networks have some kind of dyslexia cause I have noticed that they will show the movies and their sequels sometimes in order sometimes but often not so much …. I’ve only listed one or the ones I want to try and catch in the idea that if you are watching you will also be alerted that the next show after Halloween Town is well Halloween Town 2. In the case of Halloween or Friday the 13th or even Nightmare on Elm Street when there are more sequels than the Queen had jewels (RIP Liz) they really got dumb. If it’s a full night of say Halloween fun I just put Halloween Marathon and it’s up to you to find what you want to watch, that’s right you don’t get out of doing some work on this thing too.
As always I’ve highlighted shows I hope to catch in purple but also wanted to alert you to a few items of note below, assuming that you are still with me and if so …. Wow congrats!
Freeform - 31 Nights of Halloween – They 100% understand the assignment. I will admit when they went from ABC Family to whatever they were then to Freeform I was nervous. However, I think they know what their core audience wants so for the entire Month of October (and for Christmas they do even more (Nov/Dec)) they show seasonal programing all month long. That’s not to say that everything they air is worthy of your time, or that they aren’t re-airing things so much it feels like watching MTV on the weekend, but if you are looking for something the littles can watch while you scroll your phone grab a chair, get a blanket, and some popcorn and enjoy. This is my go-to when I can’t find anything else to watch that particular evening. They rarely disappoint, tho they got close by having a few nights of Twilight marathons which made me shake my head. Their addition of Cruella however allows me to overlook that.
Syfy - 31 Days of Halloween – SYFY also understands the assignment. If Freeform is where you go with your littles, SYFY is where you go after your littles trot off to bed. It’s truly the greatest place to watch Halloween fun this time of year cause they don’t hold back at all. They show classics and new movies and everything in between. They are having a love fest with Chucky this year but they are also highlighting their new TV show, which this calendar isn’t about. I’m also mad at SYFY for not giving me back Reggie the Vampire … but I pray that’s a casualty of the strike and will be coming soon cause I love that little Vampire! There is a little too much Mummy on their schedule for my taste but I guess it’s not about me. They are also gracing us with Pride and Prejudice and Zombies which is a fantastic book and the movie did it justice. Not something you’ll hear me say often. The thing that does sadden me is that SYFY hasn’t released the entire 31 days …. Come on SYFY get your *hit together.
AMC - Fear Fest starts – AMC is where you go for Classic horror. I admit over the years I’ve had a love hate relationship with Fear Fest over the years cause at one point the Walking Dead took it over and I ranted that it’s not about the Walking Dead or the many spin offs and talk shows it created. However, when that was all winding down I was excited thinking ok let’s get back to business but I understand there was yet another spin off and thus it’s going to be in the way again. Sigh …. However their love to Halloween and the Exorcist makes me want to forgive them.
Fox – The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror - The Simpson's Halloween special on Fox likely won’t air until Nov … which infuriates me but I’m going to tune in just like everyone else so they can put it where they darn well please. Not much to be told about this up coming season but it looks like the animators get to have some anime fun which should be interesting.
Disney Channel – Monstober - Halloween themed related movies and shows throughout the month and as the faithful to this calendar know ..that’s not what this is about but they do have a few “original movies” that might be worth your time or just fire up Disney Plus and watch Hocus Pocus. The fact they have not embraced Disney+ and re-aired some of their classics is something I will never understand.
Food Network - Once again Food Network jumped the Halloween gun by airing most of their programing in September, which totally makes sense. Halloween Baking Championship, Halloween Wars, Halloween Cookie Challenge and Outrageous Pumpkins have already started airing …. If you missed them …. Sorry … yell at them not me.
Nickelodeon is showing A Really Haunted Loud House which sounds really cute but Nickelodeon is being all secretive about when it airs so good luck finding that one on your own. I think it will be worth the hunt.
Let’s talk Digital … since that fills me with all the rage …
I give up guys, Digital and Streaming has taken over, heck there is even a strike cause of it and instead of embracing what’s at their respective disposal network TV has decided ….. to …. Well .. buckle. Heck my nephews don’t even have cable anymore. So, they use the calendar to look up show names as opposed to setting DVRs. I knew it was coming and this calendar was my way of trying to keep it at bay, but it’s still sad to me that we are in fact here. While it’s fun having these shows at our fingertips it also takes away from the anticipation of it, at least to me. That I am sorry I can’t do anything that night cause whatever is on and I don’t wanna miss it moments are now a thing of the past. Heck even most network TV will be on Hulu within 24-48 hours, so go have dinner with that friend after work and don’t worry you can catch whatever online tomorrow, but you won’t cause something else will come up and in 2 years you’ll still be telling people “No I haven’t seen Hubie but its’ on my list” …. Which is one of the last original Halloween programs we were given. Lord protect Adam Sandler with all that you have.
So for my digital folks, of which I admit I am now one, see the links below but I will admit that all of me believes if we calculated up the “subscriptions” for all these services we’d see that Cable had its advantages. PS rumor has it AppleTV+ is going to have like a free week where people can log in and watch during both Halloween and Christmas …. Thank you Peanuts for that. While you are there check out the Crowded Room, it was and is still living rent free in my head.
https://www.halloweenmoviesontv.com/stream-halloween/
In closing, assuming you are still with me and God only know why you would be, the intention of this calendar, is to get you and your loved ones to pause and spend some time making memories. Maybe carve a pumpkin while watching, create some fantastic Halloween Treats from your various Social Media sites while watching, or work on your costume – don’t forget the props - and RELAX and unwind from the busy work day, work week.
So sit back, scare yourself, and have a GREAT Halloween! It’s fall people enjoy it and feel free to share it far and wide ... but remember to tell them the rules! 😄
Marcy
