‘The New Normal’ spoilers: Here comes a Honey Boo Boo … impression

You have to love the magic of television schedules sometimes. Thanks in part to “The New Normal” airing on Tuesday nights, Ryan Murphy’s NBC comedy is going to have a chance to air a Halloween special that is literally a day before the actual holiday. Could this show ever be more relevant than this? We don’t think so. The other great news here is that the show is looking to take advantage of this timing to the best of its ability.

Sadly, what we do not know at this very moment are major plot details outside of two key things. First, the title for the half-hour is beyond awesome: “Para-New Normal Activity.” Next, Murphy tweeted something on Monday night that suggests that for this holiday, we are going to be seeing Shania doing her best impersonation of Honey Boo Boo.

Are we even remotely surprised here? Not really, since this is the go-to Halloween costume at the minute given the TLC show’s sudden surge in popularity. If you remember to last year and the year before, it were “Jersey Shore” wigs that were enormously popular; before that, people were dressing up like Kate Gosselin. There is always one reality TV start that manages to create some sort of major stir, but usually they are old enough to at least attend middle school.

The one nice thing about “The New Normal” is that Honey Boo Boo, as divisive as she may be, will likely not be mocked openly as a punching bag. While the show does clearly fall on a certain side of the political spectrum, they have made careful work to show that even Nana, as conservative as she may be, is not overtly vilified beyond just having a different stance on life.