A Review of ‘The Paloni Show! Halloween Special!’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

There was a time, where the Halloween prime-time special ruled the day. Sometimes they were animated, sometimes they were live action, but one way or another, a good old fashioned Halloween special prompted everyone to huddle around the ol’ 27” tube television to enjoy some spooky entertainment. The kind that just put a smile on everyone’s faces because they were genuinely designed to keep a family entertained over anything else, and while these kinds of specials have evolved in the streaming world… they are still indeed family themed and family focused, leaving one to wonder… will it ever be possible to enjoy a more mature Halloween special? One that was just for the adults and could provide them with entertainment that is a touch saucier in nature?
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You know, the kind that is both gory and fun and perhaps a little twisted? Well, good news. For Justin Roiland and his talented team have brought that to life at last for the Halloween season. For yesterday saw The Paloni Show! Halloween Special! make its debut on Hulu and well… make no mistake about it, this is indeed an adult Halloween special. A feat that this special accomplishes in several ways. First and foremost, by removing any filters for the dialogue. Which means we are treated to some enhanced conversations, the kind that are complete with all your favorite swear words, used for impact of course, and thankfully, the wonder of this special extends well beyond some saucy language that elicits a chuckle, for the storytelling is quite lovely as well.

For this is at heart, an anthology special, one that features shorts galore that are as unique as they come. Because not only do they feature Claymation and other unique forms of animation, but they also feature some wild and off the wall stories. The kind that are gory and twisted and go to some jacked up places. Such as revolving around cannibalism and aliens that want to cook a baby inside of a microwave and well, while it may be a touch out of place to type this… these are all good things. Because it reinforces the fact that this is a genuine Halloween special. One that leans hard into horror and even features a ton of homages to the classics. Since you’ll find shoutouts to all your favorite slashers, Evil Dead 2 and Hellraiser here, and that makes for some fun viewing for certain, the kind that is further enhanced… by those aforementioned laughs.

Because this is also… a horror comedy at heart. For every single one of these vignettes feature a comedic twist of sorts. Some will straight up make you laugh out loud, some will make you laugh in discomfort over the twisted nature of the joke. But laugh you will and often, because all of the gags and jokes work here through and through and add to a great deal of the stories and as an added bonus, this episode also offers a complete story courtesy of the bumper tale involving the Palonis. Since their quest to provide everyone with an amazing Hulu special, leads to more laughs and one incredible adventure on this Halloween night, one that also features some amazing tributes and some stunningly hilarious moments that lampoon the genre at times. 

Not to mention, this is a special that features a who’s who from a voice acting perspective. For not only does Roiland and voice acting legend Kari Wahlgren lend their talents to this story, but you’ll find David Tennant and Macaulay Culkin in this special as well, amongst a bevy of big names that would require a second article alone just to list. All of which, makes this a delightful and hilarious and worthwhile special. One that truly offers up a good old-fashioned Halloween special. The kind that you can sit back and lose yourself within for an hour and enjoy some fine jokes. The kind that are so good and so hilarious, that you might need to watch this one several times to catch them all, and the best news of all… is you can. For The Paloni Show! Halloween Special! is available to stream on Hulu right now, and we certainly hope you give this special a look, for it really is a great time.

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