Happy TV turkey day!
What's your favorite TV holiday episode?
Will any of the deluge of holiday programming over the next month live up to the first "O.C." Chrismukkah episode?
Happy Thanksgiving to all my American readers, and (as Dan would say) happy Thursday to the rest of you.
In honor of the holiday - and the upcoming Chanukah/Christmas/Kwanzaa/New Year's holiday deluge - I'm going to embed two classic scenes from sitcom Thanksgiving episodes, plus the entirety of the first Chrismukkah episode of "The O.C." If you've got some time in front of the computer today before the turkey/football starts, enjoy, and then time for an open question: What's your favorite TV holiday episode ever, and why?
First up: the famous climax to the "Turkeys Away" episode of "WKRP in Cincinnati":
Next: the third act of "Thanksgiving Orphans," in which the regulars from "Cheers" wind up spending the holiday together when everyone's plans fall through:
And finally, Seth Cohen tries to help Ryan have "The Best Chrismukkah Ever" on "The O.C.," and Rachel Bilson gives Seth a Chrismukkah present that Fienberg has never forgotten:
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Login or create a HitFix account Login SignupBrian F
November 25, 2010 at 9:03AM EST Reply to CommentI love the Thanksgiving episode from Season 2 of Will and Grace when Jack comes out to his mother and finds out he's a "Black boy." A particular highlight is his mother's "dry run" the day before!
DirtyKash
November 25, 2010 at 9:16AM EST Reply to CommentThe Seinfeld episode, "The Strike", because it's a Festivus for the rest of us, as well as because of the Feats of Strength, the Airing of Grievances, and because the Festivus pole eliminates all distracting tinsel. It's a Festivus miracle!
Sonia Ditto on the Festivus episode -- cracks me up every time!
November 25, 2010 at 9:45AM ESTI also love So-Called Angels from My So Called Life -- this is the episode when Ricky became homeless. Still mad they cancelled that show...
And the "Yankee Swap" episode from The Office is pretty great.
Tray
November 25, 2010 at 9:27AM EST Reply to CommentNobody does Thanksgiving like the West Wing!
alamble Amen to that. Sorkin wrote some incredible holiday episodes for The West Wing.
November 25, 2010 at 11:55AM ESTpamelajaye It's a tie between Shibboleth and Pangs, from Buffy.
November 27, 2010 at 7:30PM ESTThis year I made DVDs:
Pangs and Shibboleth
Chuck vs (The Nemesis?) with Slapsgiving 1 (I don't have 2) and My Day Off, which sort of touched on Thanksgiving
and
Northern Exposure Thanksgiving (I don't think I ever saw this one - and it was when Anthony Edwards was on) with The Leap Home - Quantum Leap (which, technically, aired in September and was not a Thanksgiving ep - but it was set at Thanksgiving and they had dinner)
velocityknown
November 25, 2010 at 9:56AM EST Reply to CommentThe Friends' Thanksgiving episodes were always classic.
How I Met Your Mother's Slapsgiving
Arrested Development's Afternoon Delight
The two holiday episodes from Mad Men season four (Christmas Comes But Once a Year and Good News) both so depressingly awesome.
Chuck versus the Santa Claus
Dexter's Hungry Man
30 Rock's Ludachristmas
The Office's A Benihana Christmas
Too many to list, but those are the personal faves.
November 26, 2010 at 2:01PM ESTMaddict
November 25, 2010 at 10:09AM EST Reply to Comment(This isn't spam.)
Mad Men seasons 1,2, and 3 on DVD and Blu-Ray are now on sale for $9,99 at Amazon. That's 80% off the list price.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=mad+men
srpad Thanks for the heads up! I had been waiting for something like this to get these and now they are gotten!
November 25, 2010 at 11:27AM ESTLoopyChew Thank you, thank you, thank you!
November 25, 2010 at 12:30PM ESTJoel
November 25, 2010 at 10:26AM EST Reply to Comment"Pangs" from Buffy the Vampire Slayer's schizophrenic fourth seasons offers a multitude to be thankful for. It's a Buffy holiday like every other, colored by the mixture of death and chaos that seems to match those bustling days (Halloween, Christmas) in theme and tone. This episode, the series' sole ponderance on Thanksgiving, is a mish-mash of strong family figureheads butting heads about what to do with a Native American vengeance demon. As do typical Thanksgiving dinners invite the different political feelings, Giles and Willow bicker about the demon's plight; even Buffy offers some compassion during the midst of a Shumash siege. Despite an overstuffed ep of zingers and great line readings, it's Spike who steals the show. Tied up during the siege, Spike witnesses the angered vengeance demon transform into a bear. A beleaguered James Marsters offers up one of the best readings to one of Buffy's stupidest bits of dialogue: "A bear! You made a bear!...Undo it! Undo it!"
UnHoly Diver God, I forgot about that episode. I'm cracking up now just thinking about that line from Spike. That and the "disguised" middle finger he shoots Giles. Classic, funny episode.
November 25, 2010 at 2:11PM ESTravensbane ANYA (about Thanksgiving): "I love a ritual sacrifice".
November 25, 2010 at 7:44PM ESTBUFFY: "It's not really a one of those."
ANYA: "To commemorate a past event, you kill and eat an animal. It's a ritual sacrifice. With pie."
D'hoffryn Reply to comment...
November 26, 2010 at 9:38AM ESTD'hoffryn I echo the Pangs love. The one after that is pretty wonderful as well, but--hehe--I might be biased.
November 26, 2010 at 9:42AM ESTpamelajaye Quarter cup of Brandy and let it simmer. We say that a lot around here. Couldn't watch Buffy this year as the roomie objected. I missed the frozen atrocities and mushy peas.... but I contented myself with the carving knife made by Paul Revere and the latin word for Yam - and Mrs Landingham telling Jed to ask hte 4th graders how to use the intercom.
November 27, 2010 at 7:39PM ESTsrpad
November 25, 2010 at 11:25AM EST Reply to CommentThe ones I would have said have been mentioned so I will just wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!
ZacharyTF
November 25, 2010 at 11:58AM EST Reply to CommentOperator: Hello, welcome to the Butterball Hotline.
Toby: What the hell is...
Bartlet: Shhhh. Hello!!
Operator: How can I help you, sir?
Bartlet: Well, first let me say, I think this is a wonderful service you provide.
Operator: Well, thank you. May I have your name please?
Bartlet: I'm a citizen.
Operator: I'm sure you are, sir, but if I have your name I can put your comments in our customer feedback form.
Bartlet: I'm Joe Betherson...ton. That's one 't', and with an 'h' in there.
Operator: And your address?
Bartlet: Fargo.
Operator: Your street address, please?
Toby: [picks up another phone, into it] Zip code, Fargo, North Dakota, right now. [hangs up]
Bartlet: My street address is 114... 54 Pruder Street, and it's very important that you put 'street' down there because sometimes it gets confused with Pruder Way and Pruder Lane. Apartment 23 R... Fargo, North Dakota... [Charlie walks in with a piece of paper, Bartlet grabs it.] Zip code 50504.
Operator: Thank you. Your voice sounds very familiar to me.
Bartlet: I do radio commercials for... products.
Operator: And how can I help you?
Bartlet: [sits down] Stuffing should be stuffed inside the turkey, am I correct?
Operator: It can also be baked in a casserole dish.
Bartlet: Well, then we'd have to call it something else, wouldn't we? [Toby sits down and puts his hand under his chin.]
Operator: I suppose.
Bartlet: If I cook it inside the turkey, is there a chance I could kill my guests? I'm not saying that's necessarily a deal-breaker.
Operator: Well, there are some concerns. Two main bacterial problems are Salmonella and Campylobacter jejuni.
Bartlet: All right. Well, first of all, I think you made the second bacteria up, and second of all, how do I avoid it?
Operator: Make sure all the ingredients are cooked first. Sauté any vegetables, fried sausage, oysters, etc.
Bartlet: Excellent! Let's talk temperature.
Operator: One hundred and sixty-five degrees.
Bartlet: No, see, I was testing you! The USDA calls for turkeys to be cooked to an internal temperature of 180 to 185 degrees.
Operator: Yes, sir, I was talking about the stuffing which you want to cook to 165 to avoid health risks.
Bartlet: Okay. Good testing!
Operator: Do you have an accurate thermometer?
Bartlet: Oh yeah. It was presented to me as a gift from the personal sous chef to the king of... [Toby raises his hand and Bartlet catches himself] auto sales in...
Toby: [whispering] Fargo.
Bartlet: Fargo. Phil Baharnd. The man can sell a car like... well, like anything.
Operator: Very good, sir. You have a good Thanksgiving!
Bartlet: And you do, too. Thanks a lot! [hangs up the phone] That was excellent! We should do that once a week.
Ellie J'accuse ma petite fromage!
November 25, 2010 at 12:37PM ESTrowan729 Oh my goodness-THIS! I could almost see it playing out, thanks for the reminder! Now I know what it is I'll pop in the DVD player today!
November 25, 2010 at 3:46PM ESTOf course, that will have to be after this kinda awesome game between the Pats and the Lions.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
jim Ahh, Thankyou, I really miss The West Wing. Just reading that brought it all back. I'm gonna dig out my DVD's now. Happy Thanksgiving dudes.
November 25, 2010 at 6:42PM ESTRo
November 25, 2010 at 2:02PM EST Reply to CommentTHE OC's holiday episodes were always the absolute best!!
Merve
November 26, 2010 at 12:06AM EST Reply to CommentChuck: Chuck Versus the Sandworm - a crazy genius, a car chase, bomb defusing, and the "space penis costume"
Cougar Town: Here Comes My Girl - the episode that cemented Cougar Town as the best new comedy of last season, one of my favourite Thanksgiving episodes of any show ever
Friends: The One Where Ross Got High - "I'm in love with Jacques Cousteau!" 'Nuff said.
How I Met Your Mother: Slutty Pumpkin - Barney's costumes, Lily as a parrot, Robin as the anti-Gretel
Xeddicus
November 26, 2010 at 12:57AM EST Reply to CommentAnother 'vote' for Chuck versus the Santa Claus. Too bad they're not doing one this year. Hopefully the next episode makes for it.
November 26, 2010 at 1:07AM EST Reply to CommentDamn I miss the OC!
EJ Me too!
November 26, 2010 at 1:15AM ESTSarah
November 26, 2010 at 11:29AM EST Reply to CommentMy all time favorite holiday episode is probably "Merry Christmas, Mrs. Moskawitz" from Frasier, where the family has to pretend to be Jewish. The whole episode is great, but what really takes the cake is seeing Niles run in and out of the apartment dressed up as Jesus (with the sniffles), for the Christmas show Daphne is directing. It never fails to crack me up.
I also love A Benihana Christmas from The Office, "Noel" from The West Wing, and pretty much all the Friends Thanksgiving eps, especially "The One With Rachel's Other Sister". Christina Applegate is brilliant in that ep.
Amy_D
November 26, 2010 at 12:22PM EST Reply to CommentStudio 60 on the Sunset Strip - "The Christmas Show" -- My favourite episode of my favourite show :)
Veronica Mars - "An Echolls Family Christmas" -- One of the best episodes of the entire series
Oliver
November 26, 2010 at 3:19PM EST Reply to CommentAll time favourite: 3rd Rock from the Sun "Jolly Old St. Dick", Lithgow at his best, great cast all around.
From more recent times: Dexter's "Hungry Man" and Community's "The December 10th" episode (or whatever it's called)
mrbilliam
November 27, 2010 at 1:02PM EST Reply to CommentWrite a comment...
mrbilliam
November 27, 2010 at 1:03PM EST Reply to CommentI always loved the two Christmas episodes that Futurama did during its orginal run. I especially loved the song in the second one, and the sequence involving Zoidberg dressed as Jesus.
M.A.Peel
November 27, 2010 at 4:59PM EST Reply to CommentThe Laurel & Hardy "March of the Wooden Soldiers." WPIX used to run it every Thanksgiving. The raid of the bogey men is still pretty frightening.
pamelajaye
November 27, 2010 at 7:45PM EST Reply to CommentI came to track down that Parenthood review. Got distracted.
Beth
November 28, 2010 at 3:57PM EST Reply to CommentAs far as Thanksgiving, Gilmore Girls 4 Thanksgivings wins hands down. Tofurkey, deep-fried everything, and much hilarity. My personal favorite:
"Shouldn't we give thanks first?"
"Thanks for what?"
"Well, that we're not Native Americans who exchanged land for small pox-infested blankets."
"Amen"
I don't know if I could choose a Christmas episode... There are so many. The ep where Sheldon hugs Penny on Big Bang Theory or Chuck vs Santa Clause would be toward the top, though.
New Years definitely goes to Friends' "The One with the Resolutions."
Elaine
November 29, 2010 at 8:50AM EST Reply to CommentOh, without a doubt - Big Bang Theory where Sheldon gets Leonard Nimoy's DNA from Penny. Absolutely love him!
SaveFarris
November 29, 2010 at 9:28AM EST Reply to CommentThe Friends Thanksgiving triffle, if only for "It tastes like feet!"