"I don't think watching TV was the pilgrims' original intent on Thanksgiving."
The Best Thanksgiving TV and Film!
After the ghoulie, glorious, costumed grandeur of Halloween - a holiday in which no one is required to fly home, only to cavort, gambol and play dress-up - Thanksgiving marks The Holiday season kick-off. It is a time for revelry, indulgence, excuses and, as dictated by its namesake, Giving Thanks. For what are you giving thanks, JennyPop wonders? Family? Really? Ummmm, some of them. Good health? Sure, why not? Prosperity? Okay, that helps with Christmas and Hanukkah shopping.
Yet, we at JennyPop feared this might be the case. See? You're missing the most obvious. At JennyPop, we are most thankful for ... television!
Most notably, holiday television!! Even more so ... FOX holiday animation!!! Short of Peanuts and Garfield, FOX Animation Domination is just that: a dominant force in festive cartooning. (Some will argue this point: fair enough. Yet, I posit this: which studio has the tallest, largest booth, center-floor at San Diego Comic-Con? Just sayin'.) Anyhoo, whilst the online debates run ridiculous and heated over which programs are beginning to show their age and lose their sharp edges, FOX animated specials remain staples of seasonal viewing. Like a bored, pretty niece or an in-law who won't shut up about baseball, The Simpsons, Family Guy and Bob's Burgers holiday fare is a warm and yummy treat for a viewership family, comprised of non-adulting adult-toddlers - totally includes Moi - ready to celebrate a year's end in the silly and simple joy of twisted family-humour.
Now, feel free to scroll below, as Moi humbly proffers a Tofurkey platter piled high with steamy, aromatic, media goodness: JennyPop's Thanksgiving TV and film recs! (Note, I don't rank shows, just list them; not everyone might agree with a ranking. Although,, some are so v clearly win the Thanksgiving TV showdown. All are winners, though, or they wouldn't be on my list.) I hope folks might appreciate my friendly recommendations. Make yourself comfy, kittens, this list could take a while to watch!
*Of very worthy note, along with Bob's Burgers, The Goldbergs has become a happy, reliabe, holiday staple, consistently serving up squishy, schmoopy, Mom and Pop goodness for Thanksgiving TV.
Happy Tofurkey Day, Belchers, Goldbergs and America!!
Best Thanksgiving TV Episodes!
Bob's Burgers
"An Indecent Thanksgiving Proposal" (S3e5)
"Turkey in a Can" (S4e5)
"Gayle Makin' Bob Sled" S6e4)
"Thanks-Hoarding" (S8e5) (Aside: I watched this one some thirteen times in one sitting, on an Aer Lingus LAX-DUB flight. Still enjoy it. That makes you the waffle!)
"I Bob Your Pardon" (S9e7)
"Now We're Not Cooking With Gas" (S10e9)
"The Terminalator II: Terminals of Endearment" (S11e8)
"Putts-giving" (s13e8)
The Office
"WUPHF" (S7e9)
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
"The Gang Squashes Their Beefs" (s9e10)
At Home with Amy Sedaris
"Thanksgiving" (S2e8)
The Goldbergs
"Stop Arguing and Start Thanking" (S1e9)
"A Goldberg Thanksgiving" (S2e7)
"In Conclusion, Thanksgiving" (S3e8)
"Holy K.I.T.T." (S4e7)
"A Wall Street Thanksgiving" (S5e7)
"Angst-Giving" (S7e8)
Modern Family
"Punkin' Chunkin'" (S3e9)
"Three Tuirkeys" (S6e8)
"Thanksgiving Jamboree" (S8e7)
"The Last Thanksgiving" (S11e7)
Friends
"The One Where Underdog Gets Away" (S1e9)
"The One With Chandler in a Box" (S4e8)
"The One With All the Thanksgivings" (S5e8)
"The One Where Ross Got High" (S6e9)
"The One Where Chandler Doesn't Like Dogs" (S7e8)
"The One With the Rumor" (S8e9) (Brad Pitt guest stars!)
"The One With Rachel's Other Sister" (S9e8)
"The One With The Late Thanksgiving" (S10e8)
Scream Queens
"Thanksgiving" (S1e10)
2 Broke Girls
"And the Very Christmas Thanksgiving" (Season 1, episode 10)
Family Guy
"Peter's Progress (S7e16)
"Thanksgiving" (S10e6)
"Turkey Guys" (S13e5)
"Peter's Sister" (S14e6)
"Shanksgiving" (S18e8)
The Big Bang Theory"The Thanksgiving Decoupling" (S7e9)
"The Platonic Permutation" (S9e9)
The Simpsons
"Bart vs. Thanksgiving" (S2e7)
"The Wettest Stories Ever Told" (S17e18)
"Thanksgiving of Horror" (S31e8)
South Park"Helen Keller! The Musical" (S4e13)
"A History Channel Thanksgiving" (S15e13)
"Black Friday Trilogy": "Black Friday", "A Song of Ass and Fire", "Titties and Dragons" (S17e7-9)
Frasier
"A Lilith Thanksgiving" (S4e7)
Northern Exposure
"Thanksgiving" (S4e8)
King of the Hill
"Spin the Choice" (S5e4)
American Dad
"There Will Be Bad Blood" (S6e6)
"Kung Pao Turkey" (S9e5)
Outsourced
"Temporary Monsanity" (S1e9)
Cheers
"Thanksgiving Orphans" (S5e9)
Rugrats
"The Turkey Who Came to Dinner" (S4e16)
Scrubs
"My Day Off" (S1e9)
Seinfeld
"The Mom and Pop Store" (S6e8)
Newhart
"Thanksgiving For The Memories (S5e8)
The Bob Newhart Show
"Over the River and Through the Woods" (S4e11)
Best Thanksgiving Films!
A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving
Garfield's Thanksgiving
Free Birds
Hannah and Her Sisters
Home for the Holidays
Planes, Trains and Automobiles
Jim Henson's Turkey Hollow
Little Women (esp 2015 w Saoirse Ronan)
A Winnie the Pooh Thanksgiving
Winnie the Pooh: Season of Giving
A Family Thanksgiving
The Little House Years: Part I
Martha Stewart Holidays: Classic Thanksgiving
PBS' American Experience: The Pilgrims
An Old-fashioned Thanksgiving
Turkey Drop
Addams Family Values
Did I omit any of your Thanksgiving viewing faves? LMK and share all the geeky goodness @JennyPopCom!
