1980s Commercials, Halloween Edition.
It’s the first super official SPOOKY SATURDAY NIGHT of the season. I suggest you make the most of it, as I’m already feeling like September is moving too fast!
Here’s a wonderful suggestion by our own Rabbi Himself, who is also the video’s curator and uploader. Enjoy his Classic Commercials Block: Halloween 1980s Edition, featuring a metric ton of old commercials, with just enough Halloween sightings to make it feel right for the season.
Rabbi adds: “Over a half hour of vintage ads caught between airings of three different Disney Halloween specials, with all of the accompanying bumpers. There’s the Big Red gum jingle, Jamesway Department Store celebrating their 26th anniversary, and also a deliciously spooky Bar None candy commercial.”
Such a great dose of nostalgia!
Rankin Bass Jack O’Lantern Special!
I wanted something extra Halloweeny for tonight, now that we’re getting deeper into September and the weather is finally cooling down. I think this fits the bill:
Suggested by Ryan, here’s the Rankin Bass Jack O’Lantern special, from 1972. This originally aired as an episode of the Festival of Family Classics TV series, but would later be used more as a “proper” TV special — albeit one that was barely a blip on the radar even by the time I was a kid.
Ryan actually sent me a 1992 broadcast of this special last year. It’s very Rankin Bassy, if that makes sense, and watching it will certainly make you feel like you did something “seasonal” this weekend!
Somebody’s Watching Me!
Just got back from It Chapter Two, which was way better than I’d feared based on the kinda lukewarm and tentative responses I’ve been seeing on social media. I won’t spoil anything, but on the whole, I’m satisfied.
Tonight’s video was suggested by Nikolay Yeriomin. It’s the official music video for Rockwell’s Somebody’s Watching Me, from 1984.
Nikolay pitched a few other music videos that we’ll hopefully get to later, but I thought this one deserved its own little post.
Somebody’s Watching Me is one of my favorite Halloween songs, even if it isn’t really a Halloween song. In fact, it’s one of the songs that made me love Halloween as a musical genre.
Go on. You know you wanna end your evening with a very shirtless Rockwell.
The Many Lives of Jason Voorhees!
Side note that isn’t really a side note: You guys hit it out of the park with the spooky video suggestions for this season. It’s no small feat considering how many were already featured on After Dark over the years. Great job! (And keep ‘em comin’ by email, if you like!)
Here’s a fun one for tonight. Maybe a little too fun, actually. I know it’s Wednesday, but don’t sleep on this. Come back to it this weekend if you must.
Suggested by Dan Nations, here’s The Many Lives of Jason Voorhees.
Dan adds: “This is a fun documentary from the Jason X DVD extras. Guests include Kane Hodder, Joe Bob Briggs, Michael Berryman, Sean Cunningham, Robert Shaye and more. This doc is mostly a puff piece about Jason that gives some insight into other directions they might have gone in had they not made Jason X.
“I mean, it feels like a special that would have aired on Bravo or something before the movie came out. That being said, it’s really interesting considering Jason X is one of the lesser sequels. It’s definitely worth a watch.”
Sounds great to me. (And I’m a big Jason X fan, to boot!)
