The Paul Lynde Halloween Special (TV 1976)

Witchipoo and the Wicked Witch of the West give Paul Lynde three wishes for Halloween. KISS performs three songs. Florence Henderson sings a disco version of "That Old Black Magic."

Director:

Sid Smith

Writers:

Bob Booker (writing supervisor), George Foster (writing supervisor),

Stars:

Paul Lynde, Tim Conway, Roz Kelly

Cast

Cast overview:
Paul Lynde	...	Himself / Big Ruby Red / Sheik
Tim Conway	...	Dynamite Dan / Long Haul Howard / Seymore
Roz Kelly	...	Herself / Hinky Pinky (as Roz 'Pinky Tuscadero' Kelly)
Margaret Hamilton	...	Housekeeper / The Wicked Witch of the West
Billie Hayes	...	Witchiepoo
Billy Barty	...	Gallows
Florence Henderson	...	Herself / Cecily Westinghouse
Betty White	...	Miss Halloween
KISS	...	Themselves
Donny Osmond	...	Himself
Marie Osmond	...	Herself

Storyline

Paul Lynde attempts to celebrate Christmas, Easter and Valentine's Day before his housekeeper, Margaret, gives him the bad news. It's Halloween: the time of the year when a kid can carve up a pumpkin and Lynde's sports car at the same time. Lynde is no fan of ignorant youngsters, who seem to know more about Alice Cooper than Alice Faye. Margaret drives her employer to her sister's house, so he can escape the little pranksters. Unluckily, the sister turns out to be Witchipoo; and Margaret herself is the Wicked Witch of the West. The two witches believe witches in general have a bad rap. And so they want Lynde to be their spokes-human. In return, they give him three wishes. Lynde uses two of them to become a rhinestone trucker and a romantic sheik. Meanwhile, KISS performs three songs and Florence Henderson sings a disco version of "That Old Black Magic."

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Plot Keywords:

three wishes | halloween | witch | christmas | housekeeper | 

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Taglines:

What better place to spend Halloween than in a haunted house with Paul Lynde?

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Genres:

Comedy

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 October 1976 (USA)

Company Credits

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This TV special marked the network television debut of the band KISS.

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Goofs

Cut to a different angle as the closing credits roll and everyone on the dance floor is differently positioned.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Paul Lynde: [singing] # We wish you a Merry Christmas, / We we wish you a Merry Christmas. #

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Crazy Credits

During the closing credits, the announcer says, "The character of Witchipoo is from the World of Sid & Marty Krofft."

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Connections

References Baretta (1975)

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Soundtracks

"My Funny Valentine"
(uncredited)
Written by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart
Sung by Paul Lynde

User Reviews

Words fail me.

Let me start out saying that I am a fan of both Paul Lynde and Halloween. A Special that features both seemed like mixing your chocolate with my peanut butter. I was really looking forward to it. It is indeed an exercise in the campy surreal.

This is the premise: Margaret Hamilton playing herself as Paul Lynde's housekeeper (?) asks Paul to give her a ride to her sister's house, her sister being Witchiepoo from H.R. Puffnstuff. When they get there it turns out Paul was brought with an ulterior motive in mind. It turns out the winner of the witches Miss Halloween contest was promised a date with Paul Newman as her prize by Hamilton and Witchiepoo. Since they can't deliver Paul Newman they deliver Paul Lynde, because he is the only famous Paul who is available. Miss Halloween takes a rain check and Lynde is left feeling dejected. The witch sisters decide to cheer him up by giving him 3 wishes. The fulfillment of those wishes forms the body of the Special.

Paul's first wish is to be a trucker, and not just any trucker but The Rhinestone Trucker, a bedazzled fella who goes by the handle Ruby Red. He later wishes to be a red-hot desert sheik ala Rudolph Valentino. It was funny watching Paul romance the smoking hot Roz Kelly, who should have had her own special.

Finally he wishes to take the witch sisters to a disco. This is wear he meets KISS. Wow, what a moment! I especially like the idea of Paul Lynde playing a famous performer who lives a pretty normal lifestyle. The show's almost written like an episode of the old Jack Benny or Burns& Allen shows, where they were also famous performers who lived normal lives in quiet little neighborhoods like normal folk. This show was reminded me of those shows if they had been dipped in the 70's and rolled in campiness. It's not always as funny as I think it could have been, but it is always very astonishing to say the least.