| | Credits | |

Writer: Paul Feig
Director: Bryan Gordon

Regulars:
Linda Cardellini as Lindsay Weir
John Francis Daley as Sam Weir
James Franco as Daniel Desario
Samm Levine as Neal Schweiber
Seth Rogen as Ken Miller
Jason Segel as Nick Andopolis
Martin Starr as Bill Haverchuck
Becky Ann Baker as Jean Weir
Joe Flaherty as Harold Weir

Guest Stars:
Busy Philipps as Kim Kelly
Dave (Gruber) Allen as Jeff Rosso
Sarah Hagan as Millie Kentner
Chauncey Leopardi as Alan White
Stephen Lea Sheppard as Harris Trinsky

Other Cast:
Hariet S. Miller as Mrs. Whitman
Pamela Gordon as Chain-Smoking Woman
Denalda Williams as Angry Mother
Jon Kasdan as Tommy
Maura Soden as Mrs. Kent
Anna Coman-Hidy as Popular Girl #1
Ashley Power as Popular Girl #2
Amanda Lipin as Girl

| | Synopsis | |

Lindsay agrees to uphold a family tradition by staying home to hand out candy with her mom on Halloween night. She later changes her mind and decides to go out with her friends, leaving Jean disappointed and hurt. Meanwhile, Sam decides that he is too old to go trick-or-treating but when he is angered by his stuffy English teacher who hands out a major reading assignment for Halloween weekend, he reverses his decision because he wants to stay a kid for a little while.

| | Images | |

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| | Tricks and Treats | |

Traditions - TRICK OR TREATING: While Jean Weir is all excited about handing out homemade cookies to the kids who show up on her doorstep. Meanwhile, after debating on wether to go or not, Sam enlists all his friends to go candy begging one last time. Jean:"Whoa, whoa, whoa-you're not going trick or treating?" Sam: "Mom! I'm in the 9th grade!"

Quip - Harold: "Honey-the boy's 14. Now he can miss a night of walking round the neighborhood begging like a tramp. Halloween's for little kids anyway."

Traditions - URBAN LEGENDS: Neal describes a local Halloween legend where the day before Halloween, the seniors bring hair removal spray and spray it on the freshmen's heads so all their hair will fall out. Lindsay: "That stupid rumor's been around for years."

Quip - Nick: "Hey-what are you doing for Halloween?" Lindsay: "Oh-I have to hand out candy with my mom. I know, it sounds really dorky."

Quip - Sam: "Hey-we should go trick or treating tomorrow night." Neal: "In case you haven't noticed-we're a little old."

Quip - Neal: "Why don't we just go buy candy?"

Quip - Sam: "Bring pillow cases-no grocery bags. If your bag rips-your on your own."

Traditions - URBAN LEGENDS: One legend that spread all across the United States was that there were people who damaged candy in some way (razor blades, needles, poison, etc) and handed it out to the kids who were trick or treating on Halloween. It was a really big scare. I remember when I was a little kid in the mid to late 80's and my mom wouldn't let us have any of our candy until she inspected it. Harris: "The Halloween candy's going to be really dangerous this year." Bill: "They say that every year." Harris: "Yeah but this year there's a bunch of evil hippies who don't want Reagan to be president. So to disrupt the election, their going to inject the candy with heroin. Turn kids into addicts." Sam: "That's not true. You've just got to watch out for pins and razor blades." Bill: "Yeah and rat hair is a big one." Harris: "Your going to find yourself wishing for rat hair. Word on the street is their putting their poo in fun size candy bar wrappers and handing those out."

Costumes - Jean Weir dresses up as a cowgirl. Harold: "Come on cowgirl-enough with this kid's stuff. Lets head out to the barn and I'll give you a real good roll in the hay."

Costumes - Sam dresses as Gort, the robot from The Day the Earth Stood Still. Chain-Smoking Lady: "You look like the freakin' tin man."

Costumes - Neal dresses up as Groucho Marx. Sam: "Your never gonna dress up as Groucho again?" Neal (impersonation): "Well, thats the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard." Bill: "Groucho sucks."

Costumes - Bill dresses up as Jamie Summers, the bionic woman. Bill: "What? I'm sorry-I can't hear you. Hold on, I'm gonna put the phone on my bionic ear. Thats-thats better. No-don't talk so loud. Dont forget, I've got bionic hearing."

Costumes - Harris goes as a guy with a knife in his head. Harold: "What the hell are you supposed to be?" "I'm a guy with a knife through his head." Harold: "Well...mision accomplished."

Quip - Bill & Neal: "Trick or treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat..."

Quip - Harris: "Do you have any fake blood around here? Sorta wanna freshen up my wound before we go out."

Costumes - Jean makes Harold Weir dress up as a vampire. Harold (after scaring kids): "Oh kids! I was just kidding! I'm not really a vampire! I own a sporting goods store!"

Quip - Jean: "Here, give these to your children-their homemade." Angry Mom: "Are you crazy? I'm been lecturing my kids for weeks not to take unwrapped candy. Those cookies could have razor blades in them."

Quip - Daniel: "I mean, think about it. All the people in this town are reeeaaal religious. But just because it's Halloween, they'll hang pictures of devils, witches, ghosts-all over their houses. it's a joke." Lindsay: "Yeah, yeah-I know. It's total white male class hypocrisy."

Quip - Woman: "These are so cute. But you know Jean, they train the kids not to take unwrapped food stuffs. You should see all the parents are dumping the cookies on your lawn." Little Girl: "They're all covered with ants."

Traditions - PRANKS: The freaks run amuck driving around town kicking pumpkins, smashing mail boxes with a baseball bat and throwing eggs. Lindsay isn't too great with the destruction stuff though, while kicking a pumpkinn-she got her shoe caught in it! Also, Lindsay: "We just egged my little brother."

Quip - Alan: "You shut your mouth you little girl!" Bill: "I'm not a little girl! I'm a bionic woman!" Alan: "Yeah-prove it!"

Quip - Bill: "Come on-my bra's chaffing. Lets get home."

Quip - Harold: "Certainly glad we all decided to celebrate Halloween. Last time I had this much fun I was pinned down in a fox hole by the North Koreans."

Quip - Lindsay: "Nothing like getting yelled at by dad when he's dressed like a vampire."

Costumes - Lindsay's mom rents her a prince costume by accident. Jean: "Oh no! That's the wrong costume. You were supposed to be my little princess." Lindsay: "Well, I guess I'll have to be your little prince instead."

Other costumes seen throughout the episode include - Kids on the streets: sorceress; indian; prisioner; Ragedy Ann; scary lion; a hobo; a ninja; a karate guy and a cheerleader. Kids at Jean's door: witches; cowboy; pirate; cheerleader; leopard print cat; dinosaur; sparkly cat and a 50's girl.

| | Dialogue To Die For | |

Sam: "Don't make him barf! My mom cooks dinner in here!"
Neal: "If we're not trying to make him barf-then why are we doing this?"

Kim: "Hey kid-what the hell are you eating? Is that laundry soap?"
Millie: "It's Lik-M-Aid. Want some?"

Lindsay: "You mean-like a double date?"
Kim: "If thats what you need to call it in your diary, princess."

Neal: "When I hit 13, I became a man."
Bill: "Thats only in your temple Neal, not in the real world."

Millie: "Lindsay, you've gotta keep this a secret. I mean-Tommy and I don't even french kiss yet. Tommy says that if you do before you've been going out for six months, you go to hell."

Daniel: "Will you knock it off blondie? Your gonna blow the speakers."
Kim: "Oh, I'm sorry grandpa. I'll try not to blow anything of yours from now on."

Kim: "By the way-how are things going at ass school?"
Ken: "Gettin' all A's."

| | Dialogue To Bury | |

Just because it was so mean, but that's Ken for ya:
Ken (after Sam gets hit by the egg): "Is it just me or did he seem upset?"

| | Pop! Goes the Culture | |

Sam: "...Bill and I are gonna see The Nude Bomb at Parkway." Harold: "Hey-that's a dirty movie." Sam: "Dad, it's a Get Smart movie."
Directed by Clive Donner and written by Bill Dana and Mel Brooks, The Nude Bomb is about agent Maxwell Smart's recall to duty from his cancelled tv series, Get Smart (1965), to the big screen in order to help fight a terrorist who has developed a bomb that destroys clothes.

Millie: "It's just Lik-M-Aid, it makes my spit taste like fruit juice."
Fun Dip's Lik-M-Aid is a powdery sugardust you eat off edible chalk, available (still) in various fruit flavors.

Mr Rosso: "Hey! If it isn't the Amelia Earhart of Mckinely High."
Amelia Earhart is the most celebrated female pilot in history. She set many records in her career and achieved many things for women in general and in the flying world. he last flight was to be a trip around the world. Her's wouldn't be the first, but it was to be the longest. Sadly, over 22,000 miles into her 29,000 mile journey, her plane Electra went down en route from New Guinea to Howland Island. There are many theories but no proof about the fate of Amelia and her navigator Fred Noonan.

Mrs. Whitman: "Embarassing. Thats the only word I can think of to describe these books you've chosen to do your reports on. Al Jaffee's Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions..."
Al Jaffeee is a cartoonist, best known for his work in MAD magazine. 'Snappy Comebacks to Stupid Questions' was one of the features he created which was expanded into a series of books.

Mrs. Whitman: "...The novelization of Star Wars..."
It's pretty self-explanatory, the book is the novelized version of the first Star Wars movie which was written and directed by George Lucas and released in 1977.

Mrs. Whitman: "...Yes I Can, Autobiography of Sammy Davis, Jr...."
Recognized throughout much of his career as 'the world's greatest living entertainer', Sammy Davis Jr. was a versatile performer, equally adept at acting, singing, dancing and impersonations-in short, a variety artist in the classic tradition. 'Yes I Can', published in 1965, was the first of three autobiographies and was an immediate long running bestseller. The book describes Sammy Davis's personal convictions, the view of sucess that both propelled him to stardom from ghetto obscurity and served as his armor against racism.

Mrs. Whitman: "Crime and Punishment is a good example of a book you should be reading now."
Crime and Punishment is a novel written in 1866 by Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky. Along with War and Peace, this novel is amongst the best known and most influential Russian novels of all time. The book portrays the carefully planned murder of a misery, aged pawnbroker by a destitute Saint Petersburg student named Raskolnikov, followed by the emotional, mental and psysical effects of that action.

Prop: Nick's shirt - Zildjian logo
The Avedis Zildjian Company is one of the world's biggest manufactures if cymbals and drumsticks. Founded in 1623 in Constantinople, they moved from manufacturing noisemakers to frighten the enemies of the Ottoman Empire to musical instruments in the 19th century. The company moved from Turkey to the US in 1929 and set up business in Norwell, Massachusetts.

Neal: "Uh, perhaps you've never heard of a thing called Cliff's Notes."
Cliffs Notes are the best-known series of student study guides in the US. The guides synopsize and explain literary and other works in pamphlet form. Supporters say the guides help students understand works, while detractors say they let students avoid even reading the works.

Sam: "Your never gonna dress up as Groucho again?" Neal (impersonation): "Well, thats the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard." Bill: "Groucho sucks."
Julius Henry Marx, known as Groucho Marx was an American comedian who started preforming somewhere around 1915 and continued all the way into the 1950's. he developed a routine as a wise-cracking hustler, improvising insults to stuffy dowagers who stood in his way. His stage name, 'Groucho' was said to have been bestowed upon him because while in Vaudeville he kept his money in a bag around his neck known as a 'groucho' bag. An alternate story is that he was just grouchy.

Nick: "So their called Santana right? But that guy who's singing-is not Santana?"
Carlos Santana is a famous Mexican rock & roll guitarist who jumped onto the music scene in the mid-sixties. Using his name, he collaborates with various other musicians to create his albums. His most recent hits were preformed with Rob Thomas, Lauryn Hill and Michelle Branch.

Jean (singing): "He did the mash. He did the monster mash. It was a smash. It was a graveyard smash."
Since it's release in 1962, 'Monster Mash' by Bobby "Boris" Pickett has been on the "top 100" chart on three different occasions. Pickett's Boris Karloff imitation was created when he was around 9 years old when he would spend time in the movie theater his father managed. He later used it in his act and eventually turned it into a song one day with friend Lenny Capizzi.

Sam: "I'm going out as Gort. He's the robot from The Day the Earth Stood Still."
The Day the Earth Stood Still is the 1951 film directed by Robert Wise about an alien that lands on Earth and tells the people that they must live peacefully or be destroyed as a danger to other planets. Gort, Master of the Guardians, (played by Lock Martin) was the first robotic representation of alien technology to be displayed on screen.

Harris: "Yeah but this year there's a bunch of evil hippies who don't want Reagan to be president. So to disrupt the election, their going to inject the candy with heroin. Turn kids into addicts."
Ronald Reagan (2/6/11 - 6/5/04) was the 40th President of the United States of America. His term of office ran from 1981 to 1989, but before becoming President he was an actor and the 33rd Governor of California.

Neal: "Looking for Chaplin..."
Charlie Chaplin was the most famous actor in early Hollywood cinema, and later a notable director. His principal character was 'The Tramp': a vagrant with the refined manners and dignity of a gentleman who wears a tight coat, oversized pants and shoes, a derby or bowler hat, a bamboo cane and his signature square mustache. Chaplin was one of the most creative personalities in the silent film era; he acted, directed, scripted, produced, and eventually scored his own films.

Neal: "...Only seeing Hitler."
Adolf Hitler was the dictator of Nazi Germany and the leader of the Nazi Party. He was instrumental in the outbreak of World War II, which resulted in untold destruction and the deaths od an estimated 50 million people.

Neal: "This is ridiculous. I look like Tom Selleck."
Tom Selleck is an actor best known for his starring role on the TV show Magnum P.I., which ran from 1980 to 1988. His poor choice of film roles in the 80's kept this likeable leading man from big screen stardom. In the mid-1990's, he found television sucess again playing Dr. Richard Burke, a re-occuring guest role as Monica Gellar's boyfriend on the hit series Friends.

Bill: "Oscar Goldman, it's me, Jamie Summers. Steve Austin is trapped in the reac-reactive--uh, hi mom, okay, you can use the phone."
The Bionic Woman was a TV series (1976-1978) which spun off from The Six Million Dollar Man. Starring Lindsay Wagner as Jamie Sommers, a tennis professional who nearly died in a sky diving accident and was rebuilt by Oscar Goldman (Richard Anderson) and Dr. Rudy Wells (Martin E. Brook), the same men who rebuilt The Six Million Dollar Man, Steve Austin. The operation left her with ampted hearing, a super strong right arm and enhanced legs which enabled her to fun fast. Jamie and Steve Austin had been engaged but her injuries caused her to forget her love for him.

Harris (to Jean): "Nice costume. You look like Richard Benjamin in West World."
Working initially on stage, Richard Benjamin achieved national attention from the cult TV series, He and She, which co-stared his real life wife Paula Prentiss. From there he went on to star and direct several films.

Written and directed by Michael Crichton, Westworld is about a futuristic amusement park that becomes a deathtrap when the androids and computer systems used in it begin to murderously run amok.

Lindsay: "We could go to the movies-there's a new Friday the 13th playing."
The original Friday the 13th, directed by Sean s. Cunningham, became one of the most popular slasher films in history and spawned numerous sequels. At last count in 2003, there is a total of 11 films in the franchise.

Chain-Smoking Lady: "What the hell are you supposed to be anyway? Tin Man?"
The Tin Woodsman, also known just as Tin Man in the movies, is a character from L. Frank Baum's Oz books. He is a man made entirely from tin who goes with Dorothy to see the Wizard of Oz in search of a heart, the only thing he's missing.

Ken (sarcastically): "I'm so happy I'm not at the Ted Nugent concert."
Ted Nugent is a guitarist from Detroit, Michigan who initially gained fame as a member of the Amboy Dukes. Later, he became quite controversial for his right wing beliefs and his anti-drug and alcohol stance, making him virtually unique among professional musicians. After going solo from the Amboy Dukes for a while, he joined Damn Yankees before going solo again. Today he owns several hunting related businesses and has been the host of the VH1 reality series, Surviving Nugent' for two seasons as of 2004.

Neal: "I can't believe the Hot Dog on a Stick girls saw us!"
The founder of Hot Dog on a Stick, Dave Barham, formulated his famous batter from his mother's cornbread recipe. He opened his first hot dog stand in Santa Monica near muscle beach, California in 1946. The Hot Dog on a Stick uniform, including the hat, was inspired by a whimsical mid-1960's trend when jokey caps and hot pants were in style.

Props: Poster in Sam's Room - Gallactica
Battlestar Galactica is a science fiction television series, produced in 1978 by Glen Larson. It was about a fleet of human refugees on a desperate search for the legendary planet Earth. A sequel series, called Galactica 1980 premiered in January of 1980. In it, the fleet found and protected Earth but the series was a quick failure due to its low budget, widely-panned writing and ill-placed time slot.

Props: Poster in Sam's Room - Steve Martin, The Jerk
The Jerk is Carl Reiner's rags-to-riches 1979 film comedy about belated self-discovery. Steve Martin stars as the adopted white son of black sharecroppers, who grows to adulthood naively unaware of the fact of his adoption, then goes into the world to make his fortune.

| | Goofs, Gaffes and Nitpicks | |

When Lindsay first enters the school we see the same girl walking behind her, then walking towards her, then behind her again.

When the boys are out trick or treating, there are two little girls (a sorceress and a indian) seen first walking across the street in front of them and then not long after that they are walking behind the boys back on the side of the street they just came from.

In the scene when Harold jumps out at the kids, 2 of the 5 trick or treaters are clearly looking the direction from where Harold is about to jump from. One has a big grin on his face in anticipation.

Lindsay mentions that there's a new "Friday the 13th" movie showing. The original "Friday the 13th" came out in May 1980; the sequel "Friday the 13th Part 2" wasn't released until May 1981 so there's no way a new film was out on Halloween in 1980.

After Lindsay accidentally eggs Sam, she tells him to get in the car with the freaks but where would he have sat if he did get in. The only onpening was inbetween Daniel and Kim in the front and Kim wouldn't want him sitting next to her with egg goo all over him.

Jean: "Freaks? Like circus freaks?" Harold: "Jean. I don't think there's bearded ladies running around throwing eggs at kids." Circus "freaks" are generally part of a side show which is a secondary production from a circus and sometimes carnivals. At one time, a side show was the only way many disabled persons could earn a living.

When Harold and Jean are takling about circus freaks and bearded ladies, you can see John Francis Daley trying really hard not to laugh.

| | Creep Show | |

Joe Flahrety was on a sketch comedy show back in 1983 called SCTV, one of his characters was Count Floyd.

Busy Phillips actually wears a costume in Dawson's Creek's Halloween episode, Living Dead Girl. She dresses up as Nancy while her boyfriend, Pacey, dresses up as Sid.

Chauncey Leopardi who plays Alan, the bully who steals the geeks candy is also in the 1995 Halloween centric movie Casper.

Pamela Gordon who was the chain-smoking lady that comes to one of the door the boys knock on was also in Poltergeist II: The Other Side (1986).

Ashley Power who is credited as Popular Girl #2 was also in the 1997 horror movie Wishmaster.

| | Misc Notes | |

Becky Ann Baker, who plays Jean Weir said in a TV Guide online chat that this was her favorite episode for her character.

The first time they did the Halloween episode, it ran 2 minutes short. They re-did the opening teaser, replacing a scene with Lindsay getting ready for school with the 'I'll eat anything for $10' scene. They also added the montage with the geek boys putting on their costumes.

The ingredients for Bill's anything goes shake is as follows: cheyenne pepper, mustard, pickles and pickle juice, salt, sardines, vinegar, soy sauce, Hormel chilli, grape jelly, dairy creamer and mints. During the DVD commentary, Martin Starr said the mix he actually drank was made of chocolate slimfast, marshmellows and pieces of cookies.

Everyone wouldn't fit into Daniel's car so the writers had to work in a larger vehicle for the teens to cause destruction in. Daniel: "Kim, Nick and I are going out, borrowing my uncle's caddy..."

Tommy is played by Jon Kasdan who is the younger brother of Jake Kasdan who directed 5 episodes of Freaks and Geeks. (Pilot, Beers and Weirs, Noshing and Moshing, Smooching and Mooching and The Little Things.)

The producers of the show often get slammed about the fact that the Halloween scenes in this episode take place during the day and trick or treating is always done at night. The reason that it is shot like this is because of the budget they would have needed to film a bunch of kids running around at night. Which was something they just didn't have.

Sam's robot costume is inspired by creator Paul Feig's C-3PO costume he built out of cardboard when he was younger.

VIP Behind the Scenes quote from an NBC Live Chat:
They made Joe Flahrety dress as a vampire on purpose because of his days on SCTV as Count Floyd. During the chat with John Francis Daley and Seth Rogan, they were asked if he did the Count Floyd routine and they answered, John: "No, he didn't really do a Count Floyd routine, but I guess you can say anything that Joe Flaherty does is a routine, and it's really funny." Seth: "However, it's NOT routine! LOL He is a funny dude."

Sam: "I got dibs on all your mothballs." Bill: "You can have them. I like pixie stix. Pixie stix rule." Sam: "No way! Chunkies are the best." Neal: "Nuh-huh, candy corn, my friend." Harris: "I must admit, I'm a wax lips man myself." Mothballs are candies that look like their namesake. They are made of a hazel nut with sugar coating on the outside. Pixie Stix (for those of you who live in the dark ages) are brightly colored paper sticks filled with flavored sugar. Candy corn is the traditional Halloween candy made from sugar, corn syrup and wax. Wax Lips are meant to be worn, chewed and then spit out. I couldn't find any info on Chunkies.

According to dictionary.com, hypocrisy is the practice of professing beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not hold or possess; falseness.

VIP Behind the Scenes quote from the TV Guide Online Chat:
John Francis Daley really was smacked in the face (and groin) with real eggs. No CGI effects could be afforded, John: "It surprisingly hurt, because they had to do about 28 takes literally because they kept missing. And the only way to make it look real was to use an actual egg and poke some holes in it. So it hurt a lot. And in the wide shot they were supposed to get me in the chest, and that was an easier target, but on one take it got me a little lower than the chest if you know what I mean...and that hurt."

VIP Behind the Scenes quote from an NBC Live Chat:
During the chat with Seth and John, they were asked what was the most embarassing thing to happen while taping an episode of the show, they answerd; John: "I guess one of the things is in the Halloween episode, I was dressed up in my Halloween costume and a bird pooped on my nose! Seth: "It was only part of a poop! I think a tree filtered out most of the heavy poop." John: "But it was poop! On my nose!" Seth: "Hilarity ensued."

Linda Cardellini and Becky Ann Baker were on set in their cat Halloween costumes for 8 hours, just to get that one photo.

| | Music | |

THEME: "Bad Reputation" by Joan Jett
SCORE: Michael Andrews

"The Monster Mash" by Boris Pickett
Album: Monster Mash, Polygrarn Records, 1962
Website: MonsterMash.Com
Scene: Jean Weir sings this song at the dinner table.

"Gonna Raise Hell" by Cheap Trick
Album: Dream Police, Sony, 1979
Website: Official Site
Scene: This song is featured twice. The first is during the montage when the geek boys are putting on their Halloween costumes and then again when the freaks are driving around in the cady and they sing the chorus lyrics.

"Roller" by April Wine
Album: First Glance, Capitol, 1979
Scene: Kim blares the radio singing this song until Daniel makes her turn it down before she blows the speakers.

"Free For All" by Ted Nugent
Album: Free-for-All, Sony, 1976
Website: Official Site
Scene: When the freaks are driving around smashing mail boxes.