10 Funniest Halloween TV Episodes
8. How I Met Your Mother - The Slutty Pumpkin Returns
How I Met Your Mother did three Halloween episodes in their run, twice using ‘The Slutty Pumpkin’ for inspiration. In Season One, Ted is desperate to reconnect with a woman dressed as a slutty pumpkin he met at a Halloween party years ago, but has no luck.
Six seasons later, the woman finally returns, played by Katie Holmes and still wearing her fabled pumpkin outfit.
There’s considerable build up to the episode, with a lot of pressure on the Slutty Pumpkin to deliver. Had she fallen flat having been set up so long ago, HIMYM would have shot themselves in the foot massively.
When Ted finally meets her, he finds that she’s been searching for him too, but quickly discovers they have no chemistry. Having chased her for so long, he can’t bring himself to call it off so quickly, but when he finally gets up the nerve, he sees her as the Slutty Pumpkin and instead professes his love.
It’s typical Ted in all the worst ways, but it’s this which makes the show so enjoyable to begin with.