**
I'm sorry I couldn't join you guys.
I, uh, had a rehearsal for this gig
I got coming up on the weekend.
Oh, gig! Oh, wow.
Well, Neville's busy, I got nothing going on.
I'd love to stop by, rock out,
throw some elbows in the mosh pit.
Yeah, sorry.
It's a private show. Oh.
Ohh. Is it for somebody famous?
Come on. We won't tell anybody.
Mainly 'cause we don't have any friends.
Well...kinda famous.
Mm.
Okay, it's the Hunter Feldstein bar mitzvah,
and yes, he is president of the student council,
so it's kind of a big deal.
Plus, his dad owns a car dealership,
so it pays well and we get brisket.
Oh, don't worry, Ben. I got the dishes.
I also cooked, so I like to do all the work after the meal
for a sense of completion.
Huh? Oh, good for you, honey.
Hey, um, the Chamber of Commerce
is having Halloween festivities all week downtown
and they're asking us retailers to participate,
but I'm not gonna be able to help your dad
decorate the house and do that, too.
Oh, just throw some stuff in a bowl and leave it outside.
If you're taking your kid to a hardware store on Halloween,
you're officially giving up as a parent anyway.
Oh. Actually, I would have loved that as a kid.
My mom only took me to a couple of houses
to trick-or-treat, and then I had to rub her legs
for the rest of the night while she ate my candy.
Oh, hey, they're having
a "Most Creative Frankenstein Costume" contest
at that bar near the new house.
250 bucks.
You should enter that! Nah.
You've still got the neck bolts
and the size 26 boots from a year ago. Mm-hmm.
That costume was fire!
[ As Frankenstein ] Ahhh! Fire!
Fire! Aah!
Very amusing.
But please don't do that when the city inspector
stops by the new house on Tuesday
to check out the electrical.
Tuesday?
Oh, there's no way we're gonna be ready for him.
Oh, that's why I gotta work straight through Halloween,
and I'm gonna need a hand.
Oh, wait.
I have one right here.
Oh! Oh! Ahh!
[ Laughter ]
Hey, if you guys are working at night,
can you try to keep the noise down?
One of the new neighbors told me the entire block's
already upset because construction's taking so long.
Ha. Sorry the free labor isn't building your new house
as quickly and quietly as you'd like.
Look, I just want a fresh start with new neighbors.
Instead of having to roll into the driveway
with my headlights off,
I'd like to be able to get out and wave and invite them
to a barbecue that we both know is never really gonna happen.
When you do that, you let me know,
and I will whip up some of my famous
make-believe potato salad.
It takes a lot of imaginary time, but it's so worth it.
I've already taken the first step
at getting in good with the new neighbors.
I put up this small lending library box
in the front of the new house with free books
that people can take.
Well, that may be the last place people can get books
they actually want.
I follow this human rights group on Instagram,
and the moron who represents us on the school board
is trying to ban a bunch of the classics at Mark's school.
I don't like book banning, but some parents
just want to have a say in what their kids are reading.
Personally, I've always thought that kind of parenting
got in the way of my TV time.
This idiot wants to ban "To Kill a Mockingbird,"
"Catcher in the Rye," "The Scarlet Letter."
I spent my whole day going door-to-door
to get people to sign a petition to recall this guy.
Yeah, good for you. You get in people's faces!
Make 'em uncomfortable!
Well, we need more volunteers.
You wanna help? Uh, me? No.
I don't believe in bothering people at home.
And yet, here you are.
As important as freedom of speech is,
we have a bigger issue facing us --
how we're gonna get the house decorated in time for Halloween.
Now, I'm not gonna be able to do any of it,
so you guys are gonna have to step up.
Well, we don't know how to rig all the lights
and animatronics and all that other stuff.
And now there's a hand guillotine.
I'd like to point out that we've had a toaster
that's been broken for 20 years,
but we have a hand guillotine.
I don't wanna hear any excuses.
Your mother and I were busy, too, but we got it done.
Get you butts in gear and make it happen, cap'n.
[ Sighs ]
All right, uh, who wants to get their butt in gear?
[ Sighs ]
So we're not doing Halloween this year?
Okay, who's gonna tell Dad?
Not me. Not it.
Okay, so we're all agreed.
It's Becky.
**
-- Captions by VITAC --
"The Conners" is filmed
in front of a live studio audience.
Your dad's gonna be so disappointed
we're not doing Halloween.
Well, I can't help decorate
because I am trying to save democracy.
You guys are just old and lazy.
She's not wrong.
I just really need a break from Halloween this year.
My kids have outgrown it.
The new house has been exhausting.
Plus, staying on Ben's ass
to build the lending library took a lot out of me.
Oh, for some reason,
it had to have a little chimney.
Now, I've never seen a library with a fireplace before,
but that didn't matter, did it?
Uh, even tiny little people like to snuggle up
and read by the fire.
Oh, yeah, I had to build tiny little people, too. Mm.
Well, count me out.
It's my first Halloween living with Neville.
We're gonna dress up some of the animals at his clinic.
You know you can make a lamb look like Abraham Lincoln,
but he's gonna eat the beard every time.
But you see what I'm saying? Abra-lamb Lincoln?
[ Laughs ]
Oh, just me?
Okay.
Oh, look, you know, your dad's gonna barely be around
to enjoy Halloween anyway.
It is not the end of the world if we miss one year.
Wait, you guys are bailing on Halloween?
Yeah, and you have to tell Dad.
It was unanimous.
What? No! No, wait.
This is Beverly Rose's first real Halloween.
COVID stole the last two.
We have to make this one special!
Well, you're the only one with a young kid.
It's your fault for waiting to have one
until five seconds before your womb turned to stone.
[ Sighs ] Fine.
If you guys aren't gonna set up Halloween,
I guess I'll just have to do it myself.
Thanks, Becky. Oh, great!
-Perfect. -Wait! No!
That was supposed to guilt you into helping me!
Yeah, strangely enough,
the guilt just made us walk faster.
Bye-bye!
**
[ Knock on door ]
I'll get it.
Hi. Uh, can I help you?
Hi. I'm Pamela Finch.
I live three houses down
from where you're building your new home.
Oh, hi.
That's my house. I'm Darlene.
Really nice to meet you, neighbor.
Please, come in.
Hmm.
And, uh... just so you know,
the new house is gonna be a lot cleaner.
And it won't smell like a nursing home...
inside a brewery inside an Arby's.
That's good to hear.
Uh, some of the other neighbors asked me to come over.
We have a little issue with the lending library in front of your house.
Please don't tell me it's the chimney.
'Cause that would make my husband right,
and I can't have that kind of toxic dynamic in my marriage.
I've never actually seen a chimney on a library before,
but that's not why I'm here.
[ Sighs ] We've been patient with the hammering at night,
but now you're using this library to,
well, push your politics on the neighborhood.
Politics?
Oh, are you talking about the vegan cookbook?
'Cause you can bring as much meat
as you want to the barbecue.
Oh, did I tell you I'm having a barbecue?
You're invited. Uh, no.
It's about you sticking these flyers in the books
that you're putting out.
The -- The books that the school board is trying to ban.
That would be me.
I put those in there. You what?
Well, we'd like you to take them out.
Well, we don't care what you want.
You can't censor books because you don't agree
with the ideas in them.
Harris, let me handle this.
No, it's your lending library
and we can put what we want in it.
And if you have a problem with it,
you could make your own lending library
and put as much Ronald Reagan fan fiction in it as you want.
Harris, go upstairs.
Please. Right now.
Seriously? [ Sighs ]
[ Sighs ]
Thank you, Darlene.
Look, my daughter's a very passionate person.
Look, I understand.
Listen, if you want to make a better first impression
with your new neighbors,
why don't you get her under control,
get rid of all the fliers and the provocative books?
Because of her aggressive, radical agenda,
I had to take "Lady Chatterley's Lover"
away from my 9-year-old.
Well, I noticed that you never returned it.
So I'm gonna have to disinvite you from the barbecue.
Your loss, because my aunt makes world-famous potato salad.
Good day.
**
How's it going?
Ohh! Just great!
[ Sighs ]
I'm just a few pieces away
from being 100 pieces away from being done.
Sorry I can't help, but I have to go to this bar mitzvah.
I gotta go watch a boy become a man. [ Chuckles ]
And for the first time, I'll have nothing to do with it.
Okay.
[ Door opens ] Beverly Rose: Mommy.
[ Door closes ]
Son of a --
Ow! Uh!
Look, Mommy. I helped.
Oh, good job getting the cobwebs, honey.
Okay.
This looks like a human femur.
And this is...
a dog tail?
Either there are multiple skeletons in here,
or one product of a very forbidden love.
You know what?
Let's just call this a scary Halloween tumbleweed.
Let's see if this old thing still works.
Okay.
[ Electricity crackling ]
[ Gasps ]
[ Sighs ]
Beverly Rose.
Are you excited to be moving into your new house?
Yes!
Good. Then you're gonna have to pitch in.
I'm gonna put you on the table saw.
Can I, Mommy?
No.
And Grandpa has to stop making
life-threatening things sound fun.
Okay.
Hey, I just noticed
there's no Halloween decorations up outside yet.
You guys are really gonna have to kick it into gear
to get it all done.
Everybody bailed.
I'm the only one who wants to do Halloween this year.
Oh, wow.
Well, I appreciate the effort,
but if nobody wants to do it, I can't make them.
I can't believe I'm the only one who cares.
Beverly Rose is never gonna know how cool this was.
But she will understand disappointment,
and that's an important lesson to learn in this family.
Oh, be careful of that skull.
The wires are a little, uh, hinky.
**
[ Sighs ]
Hey. Hey.
How was the bar mitzvah?
Well, I learned that, uh, "Hell Is for Children"
is not a bar mitzvah song...
and that, uh, Uncle Saul is all hands
when he's had a couple of drinks.
But I brought you a doggy bag with some brisket
and a chocolate dreidel.
You're a mensch.
I can't find the remote.
Would you act out a couple of scenes from "Cops" for me?
And at the end go...
[Slurred] "Those ain't my drugs.
This is my cousin's car."
I just love that.
Oh.
Wow.
You know, Halloween is just a couple days away.
I thought the place would be decorated by now.
Ah, it still looks like a house where scary things happen,
but more in a "That's not the right color for tap water" kinda way.
[ Laughs ]
Hey, you okay?
Nope.
I asked everybody to step up and help with the decorating,
and they didn't.
Halloween's our big holiday.
Well, if the kids don't want to do it, screw 'em.
You were doing it mostly for them anyway, right?
Well, also for myself.
When Roseanne and I were first married,
our -- our families hated each other,
so Thanksgiving and Christmas were miserable.
But Halloween was for us, and we loved it.
All right, well, you know, we'll just skip it this year.
And I promise -- You can still take
Easter eggs off the neighbors' lawn
before the kids come outside.
You love that.
We'll just do Halloween next year.
I doubt it.
Darlene, Becky, and Beverly Rose are all moving out.
Mark's going to college. Everybody's got their own lives.
And once they stop, it'll be hard as hell to get them back.
Ah, it's the end of an era.
Ahh...
I don't even feel like eating my dreidel.
**
I don't know if I'm making this the right size.
How's it look to you?
Beverly Rose! Can you come in here a sec?
Mommy has to measure your beautiful face for your costume.
Can I be an astronaut leopard princess?
Sorry, sweetie.
That request is about eight hours late.
[ Sighs ]
This year Mama's gonna work through the night
to make you a beautiful rose costume
so that you can go as a "Beverly Rose."
An astronaut leopard rose?
No. Just a rose.
With petals that the hot glue gun
burns right through to Mommy's fingers.
[ Sighs ]
[ Scissors thud ] Ow!
The scissors are in your foot, and it's bleeding.
[ Breathing heavily ]
It sure is, honey.
Uh...
There's a mummy in the trunk in the garage.
Could you bring it in here? Mommy needs the bandages.
Okay. Okay.
Hey, Beverly Rose.
I can't talk now.
Like I'm dying to hear what Peppa Pig did today.
God, those scissors in your foot look so real.
It's a long story.
You ready to talk?
There's nothing to talk about.
I only came down here because I thought you left.
I know. That's why I backed out of the driveway,
drove around the block, and then pulled back in.
You took her side, didn't you?
No, I did not.
But you put me in a really bad situation.
You always told us to stand up for what we believe in
because you believed in those things, too.
You told Mark not to hide being gay.
You told Beverly Rose not to hide being smart.
I'm standing up for freedom of speech,
and you tell me to shut up and go to my room?
Because I have to live next to these people, all right?
Everybody always looked down on me
in this neighborhood because of my parents,
and I don't want anyone looking down on me
in the new neighborhood because of you.
For once, I'd like people to dislike me for me.
God, you're such a sellout.
Why don't you care more about what I think of you
than a bunch of strangers?
Because you stopped liking me when you were 8.
I gotta go with people I got a shot with.
**
Damn it.
Happy Halloween, little people.
Have some candy corn.
Sorry if I crushed anyone.
Damn it, Ben.
You forgot to lock this thing.
All: Happy Halloween!
Holy crap!
We knew you were disappointed we weren't doing Halloween
back at the house, so we did it here.
Yep. We're gonna have the trick-or-treaters come in,
do the whole nine yards, just like we were at the house.
Oh, and we're gonna scare the crap out of them with this.
Whoa!
I love it!
That's why you sent me all the way
to that electrical supply house in Winnetka?
Oh, well, no shame being outsmarted
by Ben Franklin-stein.
I am on $100 bills, so that's why you wouldn't recognize me.
[ Laughter ]
Jackie: Well, I know you've been working hard,
so how would you like a little bite to eat prepared by me --
Dr. Stew-little?
I talk to the animals, and then I chop 'em up into stew!
'Cause I'm a sicko!
I apologize for thinking you guys were gonna
let me down this year.
Oh, no, actually, that was the plan. Yeah.
Until, uh, this showed up on the family group text.
If you guys don't make this happen for Dan,
who's devoted his life to you and asks for nothing in return,
I will stuff you all into those Halloween trunks,
wait till you've dried out,
and use you as next year's decorations!
It's, uh, funny how psychopathic threats can help you see
something from a different point of view.
Well, that's why I love her!
Even if she is dressed up like, uh,
Alice Cooper in Wonderland.
Ah, welcome to my nightmare.
Aww. That's what I said when she first married me.
And we actually have a costume for you
while you're working on the electrical system.
-Yep. -Oh.
There you go. Put that on.
Okay.
Put out your hand.
Yes, ma'am. Thank you.
Okay, now touch that outlet. [ Laughs ]
Okay.
[ Electricity crackling ]
Yessss!
I love it!
Mommy, it's a haunted house.
And there is candy.
Okay.
Where were you?
I tried texting you to come help us, like, three hours ago.
Oh, I'm sorry.
Am I moving a little slowly for you?
I have two swollen fingers, a wrenched back,
hot glue gun burns, and a hole in my foot
because somebody decided we're skipping Halloween this year!
Well, what matters now is that you're here
and you're dressed as...
a flying Q-tip?
No, I am a Helicopter Mummy.
It was clever, and it stopped the bleeding.
And you are a...
tiger lily!
No, Grandpa. I'm a leopard rose.
Well, I'm...
shocked!
[ Electricity crackling ]
**
Don't get excited. I'm not here for you.
I'm here for Grandpa.
Oh.
Aww. I like your costume.
You look like somebody who was, uh,
unjustly slut-shamed by a Puritan village.
I'm Hester Prynne...gles.
Mm.
Guess what your mom is.
Uh, well, I think it's just random so she can show us
she still fits in her Little League uniform.
No.
I thought a lot about what you said,
and I do care about censorship,
and I do care what you think of me,
so that's why I am the catcher in the rye.
Yeah.
Well, it's not exactly proactive,
but I know you must feel like an idiot in that costume,
so that makes me happy.
Oh, it gets better.
Even though I wanna make a fresh start
with my new neighbors, everybody who stops by
to trick-or-treat will get the message.
Thanks, Mom.
It's possible I was wrong about you when I was 8.
If they ask, it was your idea,
and you got it from Pamela Finch three doors down.
Happy Halloween, everybody!
[ Woman laughs evilly ]
**
[ Whirring ]
Drop dead.
[ Woman laughs evilly ]
Take more!
**
Jacked up!
**
[ Man laughs evilly ]
**
Man: Ha. Ha. Ha.
[ Screams ] [ All scream ]