Inside ‘The Paul Lynde Halloween Special’: When the ‘Bewitched’ Star Worked a Little Magic of His Own (EXCLUSIVE)

Before Halloween television belonged to horror marathons and slasher sequels, it was once the playground for one of the strangest variety shows ever aired: The Paul Lynde Halloween Special. Broadcast on ABC on October 29, 1976, for the first and only time, it mashed together comedy sketches, musical numbers, rock-and-roll and enough pop-culture chaos to fill a haunted house, all while putting Paul Lynde, who viewers had fallen in love with as prankster warlock Uncle Arthur on Bewitched, right at the heart of things.

The framing device used in the special sees Lynde mistakenly celebrating Christmas, Easter and Valentine’s Day until his housekeeper (portrayed by Margaret Hamilton) reminds him it’s Halloween, which results in his heading to Gloomsbury Manor—home to witches—where he’s granted three wishes that trigger a variety of surreal moments.

“We came up with the idea of Paul dressing up as a witch, which became part of the advertising campaign,” explains Bruce Vilanch, one of the writers of the special. “We also brought in famous witches to play his sisters, because it turned out he was from a family of witches. One was Margaret Hamilton, who played the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz, and the other was Billie Hayes, who played Witchipoo on HR Pufnstuf, and he was going to visit them.

“From there,” he continues, “we loaded it with guest stars like Tim Conway, who was huge off of The Carol Burnett Show; Roz Kelly, who played a character on Happy Days named Pinky Tuscadero, who was Fonzie’s girlfriend; Florence Henderson because she was the star of The Brady Bunch and a big ABC star, Betty White, who was on The Mary Tyler Moore Show at the time and KISS, who hadn’t been on primetime television before, but their makeup was perfect for the show.”

One insane special

Michael Airington, who portrays Lynde in a stage show that has played Vegas, among other places, and will be expanding it in 2026, describes the special as “surreal” and “crazy.”

“It had a group ‘Hustle’ with Florence leading things off,” he laughs, “And it’s the only other time that Margaret Hamilton ever put on the green face and black witch’s costume and played the Wicked Witch of the West. And then to have Witchiepoo and the Wicked Witch together? Oh my God! And KISS didn’t even know what they were getting into; they were booked because of the record company and you can see that they’re just looking at Paul like he’s from another planet in the same way that Paul is looking at them. Whoever put it together probably thought, ‘Look at the makeup and costumes. They’d be perfect for a Halloween special.'”

Pop culture historian and author Geoffrey Mark muses, “I firmly believe that if Paul had been straight and deemed more acceptable by ABC, this special would have been the beginning of his breaking out of sitcom work and finally performing to the level of his talent. The special is highly unusual, but it works because it is just that. He turned the Halloween clichés on their ears and came up with a very interesting program. But the problem was also that most variety shows in the ’70s did not have live audiences, so they shot with laugh and applause tracks, which took away all the energy. You watch a variety show to be part of the audience who’s there watching, but Paul didn’t have that.”

“It’s been called zany, scary, strange, kooky and a train wreck, yet some, like me, make it a must-see every Halloween,” says Cathy Rudolph, Lynde’s friend and author of Paul Lynde: A Biography — His Life, His Love(s) and His Laughter. “At the same time, it’s clean, family fun. Paul truly enjoyed doing variety shows, as he did in New Faces of 52—where he first got noticed but did not achieve fame until nine years later.”

Rudolph points out that Lynde was a perfectionist who could get uptight during rehearsals, though if he relaxed, he could have fun. “Especially if he liked the cast, and he had a stellar one for the Halloween Special,” she opines. “Paul used to tell me how important it was for him to stay in touch with the younger generation, and he drew them in with the band KISS, who sang three hits on the show. Many fans had only heard them on the radio or listened to their albums, but this time they could see them with their unique look, wild makeup and giant platform boots. Perfect for Halloween. I believe the band has become forever associated with the holiday because of that special.”

Mark saw Lynde as a true satirist, “so the Halloween special is this weird combination of how variety shows and specials were being shot in that moment—and showcased Paul’s over-the-topness from being Uncle Arthur and being on Hollywood Squares. I don’t think KISS knew that he was satirizing them a little bit … It was the perfect storm to give you this product. Was it his happiest moment? No. Paul was not an idiot. He knew it was not top quality … but it was a nice paycheck.”

Despite what the perceptions of The Paul Lynde Halloween Special might be, it’s Airington’s view that it transcends the era it was created in: “It’s that time of year again and clips from the Halloween special are all over the place and people are talking about it again. It’s like the old days when The Wizard of Oz used to air once a year on CBS and excitement about it was everywhere.”

Vilanch closes, “The Paul Lynde Halloween Special is fun bad. You have to remember it’s of its time and it was one of those things that was loaded and crazy. And, of course, with Paul at the helm, we could load it up with insanity and they liked that; it’s what they wanted. Let’s face it: they wanted KISS and Florence Henderson on the same show.”