Ranking the “Modern Family” Halloween Episodes from Worst to Best

“Modern Family” is one of my favorite sitcoms on television, it’s a hilarious, often heart felt look at the idea of modern families that break the conventional mold of the nuclear family. The cast is brilliant, the writing is great, and you can’t help but engage yourself in their mishaps and activities. While “Modern Family” doesn’t celebrate Halloween every year, every time it’s delivered a Halloween episode, it’s a cause for celebration, because they’re very good about paying tribute to the holiday while also making us laugh. These are the Halloween specials so far from Worst to Absolute Best.

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The Bootleg Files: Freddie and Max

BOOTLEG FILES 650: “Freddie & Max” (1990 British sitcom starring Anne Bancroft and Charlotte Coleman).

LAST SEEN: Three of the series’ six episodes are on YouTube.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None.

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: A flop that never turned up in America.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Not likely.

In the spring of 1990, the British newspapers were aflutter over some extraordinary news: Thames Television had signed Hollywood legend Anne Bancroft to star in her first sitcom. Bancroft was to receive a $175,000 salary for appearing in six episodes of “Freddie and Max,” a production that carried a budget of $1.4 million, the largest (at the time) for a British television series. And with the writing team of Dick Clement and Ian Le Fresnais – the creative force behind the popular British TV comedy “Porridge” starring Ronnie Barker – the project seemed very promising.
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TV on DVD: Watch Around the Clock: 24 Hours of TV (DVD/Digital), Watch Around the Clock in Color: 24 Hours of TV (DVD/Digital)

With so much television available at our finger tips, there is always a demand for the revisiting of the golden age of television where everything was more simple. Mill Creek Entertainment has taken everything they could find in their catalogue and have built two rather large television time capsules and experiences that are suitable for audiences that grew up during what they call the “golden age” of TV. The “Watch Around the Clock: 24 Hours of TV” pair of box sets even includes the original commercials and ads for various products from the era, and there’s even a small fold out guide that allow you to view what TV shows are available through the entirety of the twenty four hour block.

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A Look at “The Elvira Show” Pilot

It’s tough to find someone like Elvira who can squeeze in so many double entendres in to only a half hour of comedy. “The Elvira Show” was essentially like the movie from the late eighties, but extended in to a sitcom setting. It was “Bewitched” meets “Sabrina” meets “Married with Children” with Elvira dominating the screen as always with her sexuality and sharp delivery of one liners. There are so many great sexual puns squeezed in to the opening scenes of the pilot from replying to hunky officer Chip “I bet you can’t eat just one,” to explaining that she and her family will be like the Cleavers, with she, of course, being “The Beaver.”

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My Top 5 Roseanne Episodes

After years of talking about it, Roseanne and John Goodman are finally reviving “Roseanne.” I’m not sure how that’s going to fare, but I am curious if what they’ll do with it. As one of my favorite shows of all time, I usually split the show up in sections.  Seasons one through five are great, seasons five to seven are mediocre, season eight is abysmal, while season nine is unwatchable right down to its insulting series finale. Will the revival be mind numbingly dramatic like the final two seasons, or will Roseanne go back to the original premise where the Conners are just trying to get by with good humor?

The hit sitcom from the nineties broke new ground featuring lower middle class characters working every day to make ends meet, all the while centering on two characters that weren’t quite what America thought of as models at the time. The sitcom has its ups and downs during its nine seasons, with some really unique developments, including show runner Roseanne’s discussion of spousal abuse, child abuse, homosexuality, racism, and so much more. Through it all, it’s a hilarious comedy with often compelling turns by Roseanne, Laurie Metcalf and John Goodman. The series remains on my top ten of all time, and if you haven’t checked out the series by now, here are my top five “Roseanne” episodes. It was no easy feat, since the show has so many more memorable episodes worthy of this list.

Let me know your favorite episodes below!

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The PC Thug: Five Reasons Why It’s Time for “The Big Bang Theory” To End

I am a big fan of “The Big Bang Theory.” I love the show, I think it’s hilarious, it consistently makes me laugh, and if I’m bored I’ll turn on cable and sit through a three hour marathon on TBS here in America. I’ve been watching it since season one and have found its ability to change its mold and renew itself entertaining, time and time again. The shift from a gimmicky sitcom about four geeky guys and the hot girl next door to four geeky guys learning to navigate actual relationships with three women has been fun to experience. That said, “The Big Bang Theory” really needs to end in season eleven.

With Season ten currently in progress here in America, it doesn’t look like the show is preparing to resolve all of its sub-plots, so I think it’s fair for the show to end on season eleven and go out on a high note. I mean, it would be great if the show ended on a high. It made its point and proved all its critics wrong. It lasted over a decade as one of the highest rated shows on TV, it has a massive following, and it’s so popular even the syndicated reruns on basic cable draw in so many viewers, they’ve managed to earn bigger ratings than original cable TV series’. It’s time for “The Big Bang Theory” to end, and here’s why.

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5 TV Shows I Enjoyed in 2016

I still am a big TV Junkie, but I admit there is just too much TV to really keep up with these days. So with shows appearing on all kinds of online services, and shows getting cancelled left and right, I don’t commit to a new series very often. While I have my old favorites like “The Walking Dead” and “Ash vs. Evil Dead” and while I buzzed about my favorite show of the year, “Stranger Things” earlier in the year, I managed to squeeze in time to watch a few other new TV shows that I had a very good time with. These are five shows I kept up with adamantly and plan to return to next year.

What were your favorite TV shows in 2016?

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My Five Favorite Episodes of “The Honeymooners”

Not many people know this, but both of my parents are hardcore fans of “The Honeymooners” and growing up I must have seen every episode of the Jackie Gleason sitcom at least a thousand times. I have every quote memorized, I remember every episode, and yes, I’ve even sat through the painfully unfunny, and boring “Lost” Episodes. I’ve also never seen the cinematic reboot with Cedric the Entertainer since, as a fan, I have to draw a line somewhere. In either case, 2016 marks the sixtieth anniversary of when Jackie Gleason voluntarily cancelled his sitcom “The Honeymooners” after thirty nine episodes.

The series lived on in syndication for decades after, becoming a cult classic and garnering an immense following of loyal fans. There was even at one time a convention for the fans of the series. “The Honeymooners” is a New York staple, and every single year the local TV station in New York (WPIX/Channel 11), plays a twenty four hour marathon of all thirty nine episodes. Since it’s been almost a hundred years since the show bowed out, I thought I’d list my top five favorite episodes of the series. It was not an easy feat, at all. With great pain, I had to omit a ton of great episodes in favor of this five, including “The Worry Wart,” “Trapped,” “A Matter of Record,” “Mama Loves Mambo,” and so many more.

In spite of that, these are the top five episodes of “The Honeymooners” that always stand out most for me. If you have never seen “The Honeymooners,” I highly suggest these five.

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