HALLOWEEN

The Cosby Show

Season 2 (1985)

Cliff Huxtable (sans sweater) and a jack o'lantern suffering from small face syndrome

On Thursday nights my dad always had soccer practice (he still plays in an over 50s league—be impressed!) so we had Mom & Kids night.  This involved some sort of fun food for dinner (my favorites were Macho Nachos and Kraft Mac & Cheese) and watching The Cosby Show.  It’s family friendly fare that I don’t have a particularly strong affinity for as an adult (though I still adore spinoff A Different World).  It’s a mellow show, too mellow at times for my tastes, where not all that much ever happens.  But there are some definite holiday gems and this Halloween episode is one of them.

The Huxtables host a party for tween (before tween was a thing) daughter Vanessa.  Mom Claire is as cool and calm as ever, decked out as Tina Turner.  Cliff, who ends up costumed in a witch hat, clown pants and exclamation point t-shirt, takes Rudy and her friends trick-or-treating.  And Vanessa plays the age-old game of crushing on a guy from afar, using friends to ferry messages back and forth across the party.  She eventually drops a tray of glasses, the episode’s biggest moment (which gives you a sense of how understated this show is) but later overcomes her embarrassment with the help of her parents.

Tina Turner, a Zulu princess and a girl whose parents refused to buy her a proper costumer so she was forced to improvise

Again, the charm of this episode isn’t in the almost non-existent story but in the likeable characters, gentle humor and tender moments. Unlike the Taylor’s, the Huxtables keep it simple and classy in terms of their Halloween party décor, relying on some fun crepe paper garlands, spiders, baskets of apples and Indian corn (all of which adorned my own house growing up).  Everything, from the characters to the situations to the decorations, feels realistic and familiar, inspiring lots of warm, tingly feelings of nostalgia.  It’s all capped off when Claire and Cliff slow dance with Rudy squeezed in-between them.

Say it with me now:  Awwwww….

Recurring Themes: Elder daughter Denise shows up at one point in a Cleopatra Costume.

Halloween Quotient: 4

See It, Skip It, Own It?

Worth repeat viewings so add this episode to your Own list!