MovieChat Forums > The Paul Lynde Halloween Special (1976) Discussion > No wonder it only aired ONCE.

No wonder it only aired ONCE.

posted 16 years ago by oogiebob-1
4 replies | jump to latest

I grew up with "Bewitched" and "Hollywood Squares". I found Paul Lynde was funny in small doses. Unfortunately, as this show progressed, it seemed to reveal a bit more of Paul Lynde's jaded personality than I expected. I think it was a bit too optomistic having him try and carry an entire TV Special, even with a Halloween theme.

It was great to see the various guests for the nostalgia. But, the skits were pretty weak even for those days. I cringed during the bit with a lascivious sheik (Paul Lynde) planting a long, nasty kiss on the lips of a defenseless Florence Henderson. That was just creepy and disturbing. (What's creepier is that Henderson seemed to like it.) I got the impression the show was not rehearsed enough.

I never saw this show when it was originally shown the one and only time on TV in 1976. I went out of my way to buy this DVD so I could go back in time. I was expecting something much less "adult" than this turned out to be. Bette White was good. Margaret Hamilton and Billie Hayes were great sports. Poor Florence Henderson was already pre-occupied with trying to come across as 15 years younger than she was. There she was in her Peggy Fleming "wedge" hair cut trying to sing like Helen Reddy. Good grief, she desperately needed some serious singing voice training and practice.

The best reason to watch this DVD is the Special Features commentary by Peter Marshall. It provides a real world insight into Paul Lynde, the man.

I don't quite see Paul Lynde the same way any more after seeing this. I do see why this Halloween special didn't become a tradition and was never aired again.

[–] falloutboy73 16 years ago

Yeah, it was pretty bad. I wasn't expecting it to be really great but I figured it would be a little entertaining at least. It was pretty boring. The only funny parts were things that were not intended to be funny, like Henderson singing.

[–] WarpedRecord 11 years ago

As a reality check, would they really be repeating a 1976 Halloween special in 1977 and beyond even if it was a smashing success – or would they just produce a new one?

[–] Itsamoomoo 10 years ago

They would have just done a new special. That's the way television was in those days. Today television is so bad, so uneventful, that this year the Grammy Awards got repeated on another network. That never would have happened back in the seventies.

[–] WarpedRecord 10 years ago

Very true. These TV specials were "of the moment," and they'd look stale a year later just as they do now – to some folks, at least. With the occasional exception of Christmas specials featuring Charlie Brown and Rudolph, most seasons featured new shows rather than repeats.