Buffy The Vampire Slayer

I recently realized that through the years, there have been a lot of fantastic Thanksgiving episodes; more so even than Christmas. Why could this be? Maybe it is simply due to the fact that Thanksgiving happens during a sweeps month. But I think there’s more to it than that. Many of the best television series are about ersatz families; groups of friends or coworkers who act as families for each other because their real families are emotionally or geographically distant. It also might be because turkeys (and novice chefs attempting to cook them) are just inherently funny.

10. Felicity Thanksgiving (Originally aired 11/24/98)

Although they’d originally planned to go their separate ways for the holiday, the gang ends up cooking dinner in the dorm lounge. (Any of you who have ever lived in a dorm OR cooked a Thanksgiving dinner should be shuddering at that thought.) Javier (my favorite!) saves the day by bringing a perfect turkey.

9. Cheers Thanksgiving Orphans (Originally aired 11/27/86)

With nothing better to do, everyone gathers for a potluck Thanksgiving at Carla’s house. Diane shows up in a pilgrim costume—her plans had involved an authentic meal at a professor’s house, but she let when it turned out he only wanted them their to do all the work. Norm has brought a giant turkey that just won’t cook, and a food fight ensues while they are waiting for the poppy thing to pop up.

8. Roseanne We Gather Together (Originally aired 11/14/89)

The Connor’s family Thanksgiving ends with a fight between Jackie and her mother, that Roseanne typically gets dragged into. The best moments belong to John Goodman, who just sits there watching the arguing bemusedly, enjoying his turkey. My family got a lot of mileage out of the line "Here I am at 5 in the morning, stuffing bread crumbs up a dead bird’s butt." I’m pretty sure at least one person said that in our kitchen every year between 1989 and 2003.

7. Northern Exposure Thanksgiving (Originally aired 11/23/92)

Cicely’s Native American residents celebrate Thanksgiving by throwing tomatoes at the white townsfolk, who take the tradition with good nature. All except for Joel, who thinks that his Jewish heritage should make him exempt.

6. Seinfeld The Mom and Pop Store (Originally aired 11/17/94)

George buys a car that once belonged to Jon Voight and Kramer tries to save a shoe repair shop, but the classic Thanksgiving moment belongs to Elaine and Mr. Pitt, as she wins a radio contest in order to get him a chance to hold the Woody Woodpecker balloon in the Macy’s Parade.

5. Friends The One Where Underdog Gets Away (Originally aired 11/17/94)

Over the years, Friendsmade must-see Thanksgiving episodes a tradition. It was hard to pick one favorite for this list. This one gets my vote for a number of reasons; it was first, I loved the carving of the grilled-cheese sandwiches at the end, and everybody’s request for different potatoes (without lumps, with lumps, and tots).

4. Grey’s Anatomy Thanks for the Memories (Originally aired 11/20/05)

Thanksgiving proves to be a difficult holiday for many of the doctors of Seattle Grace. Meredith tries to avoid the holiday by spending it at the hospital, while George is virtually kidnapped by his dad and brothers to go Turkey hunting. Izzie is the only one who is really into the holiday, and knocks herself out to cook dinner (with some help from Burke). Although it looks like nobody is going to show up, she ends up with a full table.

3. WKRP in Cincinnati Turkeys Away (Originally aired 10/30/78)

Mr. Carlson’s idea for a big Thanksgiving promotion is to give turkeys away in a shopping mall parking lot. By throwing them out of a helicopter. The climatic incident is never shown on camera. Instead, the whole shot is Les Nessman’s on-the-scene account, which makes it even funnier. ("Oh the humanity!") The episode ends with the best Thanksgiving line ever from Gordon Jump: "As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly."

2. Buffy the Vampire Slayer Pangs (Originally aired 11/23/99)

Buffy is determined to throw a perfect Thanksgiving for the Scooby gang, but her plans are foiled by canned whipped cream, Spike appearing at Giles’ house to ask for help, and Angel being back in town. Oh, and also the fact that Xander has syphilis from a newly awakened Native American curse. The tradition gets a skewering typical of the Buffy writers, when Anya calls the holiday an animal sacrifice...with pie.

1. Mad About You Giblets for Murray (Originally aired 11/17/94)

At the first Thanksgiving Paul and Jamie host as a married couple, they try too hard to please everybody and end up making numerous trips downstairs to the corner deli. When the turkey is left unattended, Murray helps himself, so they have to replace it. Numerous times; one replacement is stolen and another is tossed out the window by Jamie in an attempt to "hide" it. Eventually, Fran finds out what has happened and tells everybody, but Paul and Jamie don’t know the secret is out, and their attempts to conceal the kitchen troubles get more and more absurd.

Wow, and with that, NBC’s November 17th, 1994 comedy lineup gets three episodes on the list and goes down in history as the best night of Thanksgiving programming EVER. I didn’t realize when I made up the list that all those shows originally aired on the same night.

With so many great Thanksgiving episodes out there, I wouldn’t be surprised if I missed some, so feel free to chime in with your favorites. It’s the perfect time of year to take a walk down memory lane.

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Amy Kane spends as much quality time with her television as possible, when she’s not busy at her day job as a cube dweller. She likes white meat, stuffing from outside of the bird, and the canned cranberry sauce (but the kind with berries, not the kind in the shape of a can).