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Halloween Is Covered From Ghost to Ghost

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TIMES STAFF WRITER

For those who had forgotten that Michael Landon--Cartwright, pioneer farmer and angel--was also a teenage werewolf, a Halloween episode of “Highway to Heaven” will serve as a sweet reminder.

The episode, from 1987 and written and directed by Landon, is among the best of the dozens of Halloween-themed shows from yesteryear that will air on cable and broadcast stations next week.

In “I Was a Middle-Aged Werewolf” (Oct. 30 at 6 p.m. on KPXN Channel 30), probationary angel Jonathan (Landon) turns into a werewolf to help out a kid who is ignored by his dad, mistreated by his sister and bullied by trick-or-treaters. Meanwhile, Jonathan’s mortal pal Mark (Victor French) spends the evening watching a movie from 1957--”I Was a Teen-Age Werewolf,” Landon’s pre-”Bonanza” claim to fame. The gigantic sandwich that Mark got at Satan’s Subs is giving him werewolf nightmares that star--who else?--Jonathan.

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There’s also a bully and a werewolf--or is there?--at another Landon stamping ground. In the “Werewolf of Walnut Grove” episode of “Little House on the Prairie” (Wednesday at noon on KTLA Channel 5)--a series for which Landon was executive producer--young Albert Ingalls figures out how to deal with a meanie: By making him think Albert turns into a werewolf during a full moon. See a pattern here?

Among ghoulish offerings to plan for:

Vincent Price is a natural for Halloween, though he sticks to comedies this time around. He plays a hypnotist on the “Ship of Ghouls” episode of “The Love Boat” (Oct. 30 at 1 p.m. on KPXN Channel 30), and on “Here’s Lucy” (Oct. 30 at noon on KPXN Channel 30), he plays himself. In a typical Lucy mix-up, she thinks he’s the murderous madman he played in his movies.

Shows that have ghostly doings include a 39-year-old episode of the western “Johnny Ringo” (Oct. 31 at 4 p.m. on TV Land), “Daniel Boone” (Oct. 31 at 4:30 p.m. on TV Land), “The Father Dowling Mysteries” (Oct. 30 at 11 p.m. on KPXN Channel 30), “Happy Days” (Oct. 30 at 1:30 a.m. on KTTV Channel 11), “The Andy Griffith Show” (Oct. 30 at 8:30 a.m. on TBS and 8:30 a.m. on WGN), “Gilligan’s Island” (Oct. 31 at 4:30 a.m. on TBS), “Charlie’s Angels” (Oct. 30 at 6 a.m. on TNT) and “The Ghosts of Buxley Hall,” a two-parter on “Walt Disney Presents” (Wednesday and Oct. 29 at 11:10 p.m. on the Disney Channel).

It’s Halloween on “St. Elsewhere” (Oct. 31 at 3 p.m. on TV Land), “MASH” (Oct. 30 at 11:30 p.m. on KTTV Channel 11), “Webster” (Oct. 30 at 1 p.m. on WGN), “The Fresh Prince of Bel Air” (Oct. 30 at 6 p.m. on KTLA Channel 5; part 2 is at 6:30) and “The Beverly Hillbillies” (Oct. 30 at 1:30 a.m. on TBS).

The occult figures in “Medical Center” (Oct. 31 at 11 p.m. on KPXN Channel 30) and “Trapper John, M.D.” (Oct. 31 at 6 a.m. on FX), and the Bradfords have “Psycho” on their minds on “Eight Is Enough” (Oct. 30 at 3 p.m. on KPXN Channel 30).

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