Whether you’re anticipating Thanksgiving dinner or you’re about to pass out on the couch from too much turkey, this holiday is the perfect time to revisit favorite TV shows. And what better episodes to watch than Thanksgiving-themed ones? Curl up with a slice of pumpkin pie and watch these episodes to truly get in the Thanksgiving spirit!
Friends.: “The One Where Ross Got High”
One of the reasons why Friends is one of the greatest shows to ever be on the air is because of the string of laugh-out-of-loud Thanksgiving episodes, so any of them are worth watching. This episode from Season 6, however, takes the cake, and how could it not? Monica hasn’t told her parents about her relationship with Chandler because they think he was smoking pot in college when it was in fact Ross. The siblings end up hilariously spilling each other’s secrets to their parents: “Dad, remember that mailman you got fired? He didn’t steal your Playboys, Ross did!” “Hurricane Gloria didn’t break the porch swing, Monica did!” The others end up shouting out their confessions too: Joey wants to go, Phoebe loves Jacques Cousteau and of course, Rachel wasn’t supposed to put beef in the trifle! Cue the rest of the friends and the Gellar parents avoiding eating it: “I’m going to go eat this in the bathroom so I can look at myself in the mirror…while I eat it.”
The O.C.: “The Homecoming”
Sure, Chrismukkah is great with its yamaclauses and Wonder Woman strip teases, but let’s not forget that Seth Cohen claims that Thanksgiving is his favorite holiday (it is Thanksgivvukah this year, after all!). Ryan and Marissa drive to Chino to visit Ryan’s brother Trey in prison and help him pay off a debt by delivering a stolen car…but who cares? The real action is taking place at the Cohen household, with Caleb and Julie crashing the party (and crashing the set up of Jimmy Cooper and Sandy’s coworker Rachel, yikes), and Kirsten making margaritas when she runs out of wine. Of course, the witty and nerdy Seth makes the episode by playing both Summer and Anna, running back and forth between the two to make out with them, giving them excuses like “I have cauliflower…steaming…” when he leaves. He gets discovered, leading Anna and Summer to storm out (why are they so angry? I’d be more than happy to share Seth) with hilarious reactions from all the adults (“I always knew you were a late bloomer, sweetie.”) The food burns while everyone is arguing and in the end, they all order Chinese. Also, who can forget Sandy, Ryan and Seth preventing Kirsten from preparing any Thanksgiving food? “Mom, you’re uncomfortably close to the corn! Can you just back up a little?” Classic Cohens.
Friends: “The One With All the Thanksgivings”
No show does Thanksgiving better than Friends! Season 5’s episode flashes back to the worst Thanksgivings the friends ever had, including Phoebe losing her arm as a Civil War nurse and Joey getting his head stuck in an uncooked turkey. It mainly focuses on Fat Monica overhearing Chandler tell Ross (both of them decked out in 80s garb) how fat she is, resulting in Monica losing lots of weight by the next Thanksgiving. Rachel (post-nose job) tries to teach Monica how to be sexy in order to get revenge on Chandler, but Monica just ends up rubbing weird objects on her body (“I just love macaroni and cheese, I love the way this box feels against my cheek.” “And you know, when I get really hot, I like to pick up…this knife…and put the cool steel against…my body.”) The knife is dropped on Chandler’s toe, and Monica brings a carrot to the hospital instead of the severed toe (oops). In the present day, Monica dons the uncooked turkey in Joey fashion, and Chandler tells her he loves her for the first time!
New Girl: “Thanksgiving”
This Season 1 episode of New Girl proves that canceled shows from the past aren’t the only ones that can pull off an entertaining Thanksgiving. Jess invites fellow teacher Paul to dinner at the apartment, which all the guys think is a terrible idea (“Don’t ask a guy out on a first date on the least sexy holiday in America.”). Schmidt agrees to help cook seeing as Jess can’t (“Curious, does anyone know anything about cooking? No pressure, just like cooking a turkey, for example?”), but the turkey refuses to thaw. Jess and Schmidt try to shove the turkey into the oven but to no avail (“I can’t get it in!” Jess cries in despair. “We’ve all been here, am I right?” Schmidt asks with a smirk and a wink.). They put the turkey in the dryer, but it eventually burns, smoking up the entire apartment, resulting in the group going next door to cook. After Nick expresses his clear dislike of Paul, the group discovers the old owner of the apartment’s dead body, so the gang ends up going to Best Buy to purchase a new dryer. Paul and Jess essentially get together and do weird Thanksgiving dances.
Enjoy your Thanksgivvukkah and happy watching!