I don’t think I’ve ever been one to be all gung-ho about Halloween. Even as a kid, I don’t remember particularly being as excited about dressing up and getting free candy from strangers like my peers. I mean I did it, but I feel like more people were excited about it than I was. In recent years, I’ve opted to go a “lazy” route, in that I either use clothes that I already have or only spend under like $30 to throw together a costume. And they’re usually pop culture inspired. For instance, I went as Liz Lemon one year and even made a fake name tag and Sabor de Soledad bag that I carried around with me.
One year I went as a “Friday Night Lights/Dillon Panthers Rally Girl” and just wore the State Champs shirt I owned and wore a yellow ribbon in my hair. This year I paid $15 to buy orange scrubs off Amazon to be Brook Soso from Orange is the New Black, but I also now get catalogs from the scrubs company. Sorry to break it to them, but I’m not even close to being qualified as a doctor or nurse, unless you count 11 seasons of Grey’s Anatomy as something. Anyways, my point is that for those of you who are ‘meh’ about Halloween like I am, it might be easiest to get inspiration from the Halloween eps on TV. Luckily, I’ve compiled a list of some of the best costumes worn by our favorite characters on TV, and maybe you’ll be gung ho about Halloween once and for all.
The Office
Jim Halpert as Dave
I always sympathized with Jim since he never wanted to dress up, but made a little effort. This might be my favorite one of his costumes. Andy, dressed as one of the Cats from Cats in full garb, asks Jim what he’s supposed to be, and Jim simply points to his name tag and says, “I’m Dave.”
“Yes, I am the popular social networking site called Book Face.”
3 Hole Punch version of Jim
You can have him either way – as plain white Jim or 3 hole punch. Paper jokes for paper folks.
Michael Scott with Paper Mache Michael Scott
Because why wouldn’t you have a paper mache version of yourself sitting on your shoulder as a “costume”?
Macgruber
One of the things I love about Michael Scott is that he tries so hard to be cool and hip, but he’s always just a step behind. It’s endearing. He dressed up as SNL’s MacGuyver-esque character MacGruber one year. Unless you’re a hardcore SNL fan, you might not even know who he is (or that Will Forte brought his alter ego to the big screen). But Michael Scott didn’t care, and just assumed everyone would know who he was. Bless.
Community
Troy Barnes as a sexy vampire
It doesn’t matter if he’s Dracula or not – he’s a sexy vampire. Lawd help me.
Eddie Murphy
Ben Chang as Peggy Fleming
How dare you think Chang is Michelle Kwan. Or Kristi Yamaguchi. RACIST!!
New Girl
Jessica Day as a Zombie
To make ends meet, Jess is forced to take on odd jobs, including one as a zombie in a haunted house. However this particular outfit has Schmidt likening her to a Zombie Woody Allen. “These brains are terrible, and in such small portions.”
How I Met Your Mother
Marshall Eriksen and Lily Aldrin as (Gay) Jack Sparrow and Green Parrot
Since college, Marshall, Lily and Ted had been dressing up in some sort of theme costume together – salt and pepper and cumin, Lady and the Tramp and their bowl of spaghetti, Lewis and Clark and their canoe. They go all out. With Ted going as Hanging chad (see next slide), Marshall and Lily decide to go for the gold with this Pirates of the Caribbean costume and ended up getting first place. Spoiler alert?
Naomi as the Slutty Pumpkin and Ted Mosby as Hanging Chad
The Slutty Pumpkin/Hanging Chad romance is a long-running story throughout HIMYM. In the beginning of the series, we find out that Ted meets a girl dressed in a slutty pumpkin costume, but Lily accidentally throws out the Kit Kat wrapper that she wrote her phone number on. So every year, Ted dresses in the same costume (Hanging Chad, topical at the time) hoping she’ll come back. A few seasons later she does, and it turns out to be Katie Holmes. And kids, as you know – she is not the Mother.
Barney Stinson as a Fighter Pilot
Just play Danger Zone while watching this gif. It’s pretty self explanatory. Flightsuit up!
Friends
Ross Geller as Spudnik
You know that Russian satellite Sputnik? Well I’m a potato which is a spud and I have my antennas.
Ugh. Ross is so underrated.
Happy Endings
Penny Hartz and Max Blum as mom and baby
“I wanna be your wing baby”, Max says to BFF Penny. However they run into a problem when they both start talking to men they’re interested in. Hilarity ensues. Sigh. Miss you show.
Modern Family
Hayley Dunphy as Sexy Mother Teresa
Modern Family has set a precedent for really good Halloween episodes, and it usually involves Clare being really into it and Haley dressing up as something sexy. This is no different.
The Mindy Project
Mindy Lahiri as Lil Wayne on the Prairie
I appreciate that Mindy Lahiri made an effort to be creative in that she had a string of ideas whcih involved a mashup of characters, including Tinkerbell Tailor Soldier Spy and Dirty Harry Potter. But my favorite is Lil Wayne on the Prairie. Mainly because she looks badass with those dreads and grill.
Morgan Tookers as a Urinal
Morgan Tookers – American treasure.
30 Rock
Paul as Natalie Portman (Black Swan) and Jenna Maroney as former Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver and Pennsylvania gubernatorial candidate Lynn Swann
If you haven’t seen this before, I feel like there’s really no explanation for it. You just need to see if for yourself.
Parks and Recreation
Ann Perkins as Lolo Jones and Leslie Knope as Rosie the Riveter
Olympian Lolo Jones made her debut the summer before this episode aired, and Rashida kept getting comparisons to her, so clearly the brilliant writers decided to add it on the show. Leslie/Amy as Rosie is a natural choice, no?
Tom Haverford as T Pain
Again, Tom as T-Pain is a natural fit. I feel like Tom thinks he’s T-Pain 24/7 and Halloween is an excuse to just dress up like him.
Cookies + Sangria 