Top 10 Sitcom Thanksgiving Episodes

Thanksgiving is a great subject for sitcom episodes. When a show involves a family, or a close group of friends, then it seems only natural to do a show about the characters giving thanks. It’s an opportunity to get the cast together for one episode and have some fun. Over the years almost every sitcom has done at least one Thanksgiving themed show.

I wanted to talk about the sitcom episodes that did a Thanksgiving show the best. Not all of them do it well. I just watched the Happy Days episode, and it was so lame! Full House’s episode was so corny, and other shows will set an episode on Thanksgiving but the story has little to do with the holiday. Of course WKRP in Cincinnati had the most infamous episode, involving a supermarket being bombed by live turkeys. It doesn’t make this list because I never really saw it.

I was going to do a typical top 5, but there were just so much I wanted to cover it was impossible so I expanded to a top 10, the first one I ever did.

#10.Seinfeld, “The Mom and Pop Store”. I know what you’re thinking. After making a big deal about how sitcoms do great Thanksgiving episodes because it’s a chance for characters to come together and give thanks, the first show I put on here was the antithesis of all that. However, this show is a pretty cute episode. One subplot had Jerry wondering if he was invited to a party at Tim Whatley’s house which overlooked where the Balloon’s for Macy’s parade are blown up. Another subplot involved Mr.Pitt’s desire to hold the rope under Woody Woodpecker. This is by no means a traditional Thanksgiving show, but then again this is by no means a traditional sitcom.
 

#9. Cheers, “Thanksgiving Orphans”. If WKRP had the most infamous Thanksgiving episode, this has to be a close second. The gang decides to meet at Carla’s house for Thanksgiving. There, they watch football and wait for Norm’s turkey to cook. However, it seems to be taking an awfully long time. They sit around the table where the food is getting cold, and finally their aggravation gets to them. Anyone know what happens next? Probably the most famous food fight in television history. This is a funny episode, but is high on the list because it took me so long to finally see it. There was another episode later on, but the Thanksgiving part was a B story and really didn’t amount to much.

#8. The Simpsons, “Bart vs. Thanksgiving.” This is an early episode, when the show was clever and before the over saturation it experiences today. Lisa makes a table centerpiece for the Thanksgiving dinner, which Bart destroys. After he is sent to his room by his parents, Bart runs away from home and stays at a soup kitchen for homeless people. Bart returns home eventually and climbs to the roof of the Simpson family's house where he hears Lisa sobbing. He apologizes to her, and the family happily enjoys a meal of leftovers. Classic Simpson’s episode.

#7. Everybody Loves Raymond, “No Fat”. This show did a Thanksgiving show pretty much every year. The first one involved Debra wanting to cook the dinner to Marie’s chagrin, and what was worst she prepared fish. Since it was an early episode it suffered from that, Debra is whiny and weepy and Marie is unsupportive which she would be later. Later episode all revolved around Debra’s parents, and one was about after Thanksgiving. This episode is my favorite. Marie decides to go on a diet and cook a low-fat Thanksgiving dinner including a tofu turkey. Behind her back, Ray orders a typical meal from a restaurant. The scene that makes this a favorite is the end. Marie breaks into Ray’s house at night and prepares the food which had been ordered because she is hungry. The family ends up gathering around, and it is a very warm scene. I don’t know, I just like it.

#6. Roseanne, “We Gather Together”. The Thanksgiving shows for this series got worst with each passing one. The second one was ok, the third barely. The fourth was depressing because the story was about Roseanne’s pregnancy and a possible complication. I could talk all day about that late season episode about the plight of the Indians. That episode is so one-sided it makes me ill. The final one was in that horrid last season so I never saw it. The first one was the stand-out, and it is a really good episode. It begins with a voice over from Roseanne about how she is up at 5am stuffing breadcrumbs up a dead bird. Then we just see a typical Thanksgiving roll out, start to finish. This episode was way before the soap opera this show would become, and is just a slice of life episode which they did very well in the early days. It ends with a voice over, as Roseanne looks at her family and notes how thankful she is for them.

#5. Mad About You, “Giblets for Murray”. It’s surprising to me that this show would ever make a top anything list. But, there was an episode which had to be mentioned. They did three actually, the first centered on a train ride. We saw them going to New Haven, and then returning with some tension. The other was a late in the series episode so stupid I am not even going to mention it. The one I am referring to was a classic. Paul and Jamie finally have their parents over, and are nervous about making everyone happy. The first half, their parents drive them nuts with their opinions and preferences. Just when they think they have everything set, they find their dog Murray has eaten their turkey. They then try to sneak out and buy another, but it takes a few tries. This was just a cute, well written episode which never gets so silly that it can’t be taken seriously.

#4. Will & Grace, “Movable Feast”. Let’s talk about Will & Grace. For a show about single people one might now expect them to have a Thanksgiving episode at all, but not only did they have a couple but they were easily the best episodes of the series. The first involved Jack finally coming out to his mother, a classic. Then they had an 80’s flashback episode detailing how Will finally realized he was gay. Later in the series they had a far less effective episode about Will cooking dinner for his boyfriend’s family. I singled this episode out because it was just very well written. The four have to visit each other’s family which they do using an egg timer to control how long they are each place. Karen visits her husband in jail, Jack visits his step-father, Grace visits her mother, and Will visits his mother. Each visit is a small story, and these vignettes are tied up nicely in the end. After the stories are all wrapped up, the gang heads off to enjoy a nice Thanksgiving dinner not realizing Karen’s maid has already eaten the entire turkey.

#3.Friends, “The One Where Underdog Gets Away”. A Thanksgiving episode was a tradition with this show. Every year they did one, and the stories were usually unique. One year they played football, another had Chandler in a box (long story). There was one with flashbacks to previous Thanksgiving’s, which was pretty good. True the later ones weren’t as good, one about a dog was pointless and the last one was lousy too. I tried to decide which was my favorite, and finally just had to go with the original. This episode establishes everything for the first time. Chandler hates Thanksgiving, Monica is obsessive when she cooks, and Rachel is a bit absentminded. Every other year tried to do what this episode did, get the group together for one episode. The story is simple, through a series of circumstances Monica ends up cooking for the group. When they run up to the roof to see the huge balloon that escaped, they accidentally lock the door and the meal ends up burned. At the end they realize even though all their plans were ruin they are very lucky to have each other

#2. Home Improvement, "The Wood, the Bad and the Hungry". This show had a few Thanksgiving episode, the first involving the taking of the family Christmas card. This was actually a real good show. The later ones were only ok. This episode was special though. After Tim rejects a friend from his house on Thanksgiving, he sees the friend in a soup kitchen. This causes him to have a strange dream about the spirit of giving. The cool part is that they did this sequence in the style of those old animatronics cartoons like Rudolph. They used wood puppets and very clever animation. I just love this episode, it is so quirky. Tim finds out the friend is really a mooch, but is inspired by his dream to forgive and give from his heart anyway. Just a nice message and a well crafted episode.

#1. Cosby Show, “Cliff’s Wet Adventure”. This is one of my absolute favorites. Before I explain why, I want to mention that there was a 1^st season Thanksgiving episode which introduced us to Sondra. This episode came a few years later after Olivia joined the show. The plot was that the Huxtables were having everyone over, and that was a lot of people at that time. Denise then invites her husband’s ex-wife over because she is stranded by the bad weather. Speaking of bad weather, that is where the real funny part comes from. It seems that Claire has sent Cliff to the store for a few things, but this is a pouring down rain kind of day. Every time Cliff walks in, soaking wet with the leaves blowing, I laugh like I’ve never seen it before. Bill Cosby said this was his favorite episode, and I think the fact he is having so much fun with it actually comes through and is why the show works. I also like how everyone gets at least a line, at this point in the series you would only see so many regulars in one show. This episode has every single one of them. I think this episode does everything a Thanksgiving show should do, and that is why it is at the top of this list.

Even with an expanded list, there are still so many I didn’t get to. Honorable mentions go to Who’s The Boss? (not on here because it’s only half a Thanksgiving episode), King of Queens, Alf, Spin City, Designing Women, Murphy Brown, and Night Court which had a Thanksgiving themed episode which was always a favorite of mine.

As I said, Thanksgiving is a rich area for sitcoms and judging by the list of episodes writers have never been shy about exploring it. Did I miss your favorite?