Full Freeform listings for Wednesday, October 28, 2026, with times in Eastern Time (ET).

Freeform’s Halloween run peaks at 8:50pm ET with Hocus Pocus

See also: What's on tonight across all channels | Wednesday's TV guide

Freeform has built Wednesday as a countdown to one film. Hocus Pocus starts at 8:50pm ET and runs 130 minutes, and everything from lunchtime on is set up to lead into it. It is the pick, and the one that decides whether the evening is worth giving to the channel.

The 1993 comedy horror from Kenny Ortega stars Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy, with Omri Katz and Thora Birch. It airs on nine of the 14 days from Oct. 15 to 28, which tells you how Freeform thinks of it: not a special but a fixture of the month. That frequency is also the argument for catching it tonight instead of assuming it will come around again. It will. The more interesting question is the lead-in.

The two films before it do the real work

Beetlejuice at 6:45pm ET is the better film to build a night on. Tim Burton’s 1988 comedy horror, with Michael Keaton, Alec Baldwin, Geena Davis and Catherine O’Hara, runs 125 minutes and ends exactly as Hocus Pocus begins, which explains the odd 8:50pm ET start. Before it, The Nightmare Before Christmas at 5:05pm ET, 100 minutes, is the only animated film on the schedule and the shortest. Watch all three and you have a six-hour run with no filler.

The competition at 8:50pm ET is light. Alaska State Troopers, Guy’s Grocery Games, Mountain Men and The Lowdown on FX start around the same time, and none of those is a Halloween watch.

Daytime filler

The afternoon is the weak stretch. Ghostbusters II at 10:30am ET is the same film FX has at 10pm ET. The pair of Scooby-Doo films, the 2002 original at 1pm ET and Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed at 3pm ET, both from Raja Gosnell, are cheerful and forgettable and have each turned up on three days of the window.

Overnight is Boy Meets World, from 12am ET, and The 700 Club at 3am, 9am and 11pm ET.


Also on TV tonight at 8pm ET

  • ABC: Scrubs
  • NBC: Chicago Med
  • CBS: Survivor
  • FOX: 2026 World Series
  • PBS: Nature
  • The CW: Police 24/7
  • ION: Blue Bloods
  • TCM: 100 Rifles
  • AMC: Final Destination 2
  • FX: Grown Ups 2 (from 7pm ET)

Every channel tonight, side by side · Movies on TV this week · Tomorrow’s TV


Frequently asked questions

What’s on Freeform tonight?

On Wednesday, October 28, 2026, Freeform shows Hocus Pocus at 8:50pm ET.

Is there a movie on Freeform tonight?

Yes: Beetlejuice (1988) at 6:45pm ET and Hocus Pocus (1993) at 8:50pm ET.

What’s on Freeform late tonight?

After 11pm ET, Freeform has The 700 Club at 11pm ET.

What time does Freeform’s evening start?

The evening schedule starts with Beetlejuice at 6:45pm ET.