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Rue McClanahan in… The Wickedest Witch!

She's only gonna sit in an inch of water?Got a good one for you tonight. In 1989, Rue McClanahan fulfilled the naughtiest clause in her Golden Girls contract by starring in NBC's The Wickedest Witch, a very rare Halloween special that only aired once, maybe twice. It's thirty minutes of Blanche dressed as a bitch witch hag, fiddling around with little reptilian Muppets as she quests to take over the universe. The silly but inoffensive special is a must for Rue fans, and since you've got no chance of seeing the thing if you haven't already, the review includes several video clips. Enjoy.

Posted by Matt on 09/26/2005. E-mail me!



Discussion Thread: 114 comments

I don’t remember this one, but I have vauge memories of a show that was on probably 1990-1992. It was a sitcom and only aired on halloween or a day or two before. I remember a family, a house…a haunted house and bats, skeletons…etc. I thought it would become a regular show, but sadly it was just a one time show. I have been haunted by the name of this show. HELP ME INTERWEB!!!

Chestnuts roasted by tikihunter @ 09/27/2005 12:48 PM

Great to see you did an article on this ‘un, Matt! It is truly one of the oddest made-for-T.V. Halloween specials I’ve ever seen. Excellent article!

Chestnuts roasted by EtHM @ 09/27/2005 12:59 PM

Wow.

Those clips were amazing.

I think it’s possible Rue paid someone to destroy all copies of that video. She acted her ass off but… those clips prove it would have been a wise investment on her part.

Chestnuts roasted by Night_Trekker @ 09/27/2005 1:21 AM

I’m torn between being kind of glad I don’t really remember that, and wishing I’d seen it in it’s entirety.

Chestnuts roasted by Diana @ 09/27/2005 3:22 AM

I have to admit, when I saw the article on the front page, I kinda hoped the article was about a previously unheralded sequel to "The Worst Witch." But then I felt terrible, because wishing for a sequel to such a bad, awful movie is against all common decency and sense. Much like "The Worst Witch."

Did you know there was a "Worst Witch" TV SERIES?? Matt hasn’t gotten to that yet, I guess…..

Chestnuts roasted by Mars @ 09/27/2005 3:28 AM

HOLY CRAP…I remember this TV special! O_O!

I saw it, like once when I was a kid & remembered it years after but didn’t know the name of it.

Thanks for finally shedding light on that mystery for me duder. :-D

-Boglin

Chestnuts roasted by Boglin @ 09/27/2005 3:55 AM

Yup, I saw this, had to been right after my first highschool dance. Return of the Living Dead showed after this and I swear Rue was beggin for brains!

Chestnuts roasted by Dragula @ 09/27/2005 4:24 AM

best clip: the hogan’s family one. And no I don’t remember this special. And why do they think it’s amusing when they take a clip out of a show to go with what the narrator is talking about. It’s like trying to get a celebrity to endorse your product by filling in holes with words taken from the person’s mouth. Very tacky. It’s not amusing at all.

Chestnuts roasted by Goob @ 09/27/2005 4:38 AM

The review is just wonderful. I just love this!!!

Chestnuts roasted by garry @ 09/27/2005 7:57 AM

I echo anyone’s sentiments that this is the best countdown ever. Holiday anticipation is all about the camaraderie, so when I come here and know that everyone else is getting geeked about Jones Halloween soda and perhaps popping in their Halloween special tapes just a bit early, it makes the anticipation all that much juicier. I love it, Matt!

Chestnuts roasted by Jessica Marie @ 09/27/2005 8:58 AM

About that Worst Witch Tv series: They used to show that on YTV(Canada’s Children’s network) all the time. I remember because I was systemically tortured with forced watching of it. I hate my sister. I’m pretty sure that Tim Curry starred in the TV version as well. Or at least some poor bastard who looked like Tim Curry who was put under devious Britsh Government hypnosis, forced to star in the world’s shittiest show ever……I need to lay off the drugs.

Chestnuts roasted by TheJuggalo @ 09/27/2005 8:58 AM

Did anyone ever see the computer animated Headless Horseman of Sleepy Hollow that was on about a decade ago? I always thought that it was good enough to be a yearly special. It was when CA was new and I thought it was so bad ass, now it probably looks like shit in a sugarcone.

Chestnuts roasted by Funky Boo Berry the 70's Ghost @ 09/27/2005 9:16 AM

Great. Now I’m going to have Evil Blanche calling out "I-17!" in my head all damn day.

Chestnuts roasted by Mike Fireball @ 09/27/2005 9:24 AM

holy crap I totally remember watching this as a kid. What a way to bring back the past heh. Ill probably be reminising about this friggin show for the next 2 hours.

Chestnuts roasted by erik @ 09/27/2005 9:36 AM

I only wish I could’ve seen "The Wickedest Witch", even if it’s only a half-assed attempt at a halloween special. My family would watch re-runs of the crappy "Saturday the 14th" movie, "Friday the 13th’s" evil twin sister. My parents felt that the classics "Halloween", Texas Chainsaw Massacre", "Friday The 13th", were way too violent for me and my brother to see. Oh well, I guess we all suffer in one form or the other.

Chestnuts roasted by Texican @ 09/27/2005 9:36 AM

That kid looks like someone I should know, but I checked him out on imdb and I don’t see anything there that I would have recognized him from. One thing’s for sure, that guy is doing something else to pay the bills. There is an updated picture, though, if anyone’s interested.

I agree that, even at 26, the scene where she turns that sweet little Grievel to stone was really sad. At 10 I would have never made it to the end of the special. That would have been it for me.

Oh, and that music in the third clip wants SO badly to be "Phantom of the Opera".

Chestnuts roasted by Lori @ 09/27/2005 10:02 AM

I don’t know much about this Rue , but in re: to a previous entry on Pitch Black II. . .ugh! Not a fan. I’m only halfway through my first bottle, though. Maybe it will grow on me.

Chestnuts roasted by Chris Martin @ 09/27/2005 10:34 AM

Excellent as always Matt! heh

I love the countdown, I love that you start absurdly early and hit it hard. Nice to know I aint the only one out early looking for new Halloween thrills. And your countdown is da thrillz baby. Da thrillz.

Chestnuts roasted by dj BC @ 09/27/2005 11:30 AM

-?-
I can’t believe I know not of this special! Even if it aired only once, how could I have missed it? My Hallow-world is shattered. Where’s my bucket of candy corn….

Chestnuts roasted by kingklash @ 09/27/2005 11:54 AM

Not to nitpick (well, a little), but in the third paragraph, shouldn’t it be members of her own coven, not cove?

I’m sorry, I’m sorry; I’m a copy editor and can’t help myself!

Chestnuts roasted by purplegirl247 @ 09/27/2005 12:14 PM

If it’s half as good as The Worst Witch than it can’t be that bad.

Chestnuts roasted by Review the World @ 09/27/2005 12:40 PM

I remember that the Hogan Family did an Halloween episode that for some reason gave me nightmares.

I also remember there was a short-lived Jim Henson HBO show that was set in an haunted house or castle "The Ghost of" is all I remember.

Anyone else remember the short-lived Munsters revival "The Munsters Today" That was a fun show.

Chestnuts roasted by JLAJRC @ 09/27/2005 1:08 PM

I thought "The Munsters Today" was all right. Good casting picks for Herman, Lily, and Grandpa.
With long hair, Rue looks kinda like Susan Sarandon.
Matt, you ever review that Addams Family Hallowe’en special? The one about Cousin Shy?

Chestnuts roasted by kingklash @ 09/27/2005 1:15 PM

Matt,

Have you had any good encounters with Advertising Week in NY this week? I love the creepy looking Burger King character.

Chestnuts roasted by King Chachi @ 09/27/2005 2:14 PM

If I had a magic wishing rock I’d make Matt program director of holiday lineups for a major cable company.

Good article. Either I didn’t watch this or forgot all about it. Maybe someday it will air again.

Chestnuts roasted by Carri @ 09/27/2005 2:24 PM

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This entry was posted on Monday, September 26th, 2005 at 8:06 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.