Do you watch television on Thanksgiving? I’m not talking Macy’s parades or football games, but if that’s your thing, go for it. I’m referring to the Thanksgiving episodes of TV series gone by that have become classics.
Many TV shows do Thanksgiving episodes. Perhaps it’s because November is a Nielsen sweeps month, and series go for ratings. Fans of Gilmore Girls probably remember an episode where Lorelai and Rory Gilmore had four Thanksgiving dinners, from deep-fried turkey to Korean. Netflix is even offering a month’s worth of Thanksgiving TV specials throughout the month.
The West Wing has two classic Thanksgiving episodes. I’d rather remember these or even think of the Obama girls rolling their eyes at their father’s corny jokes than ponder what the Orange Menace will do on turkey-pardoning day. He might send the turkey to Trump Hotel to be served to guests. If he even bothers to show up.
But back to the clips from West Wing.
In the first, there’s a setup in which Press Secretary C.J. Cregg (Allison Janney) receives not one but two turkeys for President Bartlett to pardon. This includes classic Aaron Sorkin dialogue in which Sam Seaborn (Rob Lowe) wonders if the Pilgrims were really detectives.
One turkey is duly pardoned, but C.J. (Who knows what her office looks like by now with two turkeys in residence?) is unsure what to do with turkey number 2, and she asks President Bartlett (Martin Sheen) to pardon the second one instead of having him end up on a dinner plate. We get some great presidential ranting humor about the Constitution and the state of education.
In another episode, apparently even presidents need a few tips in the kitchen, as we learn when President Bartlett calls the Butterball Hotline.
Of course, this being West Wing, the writers can’t just leave it at humor. Both the episodes had richer and more meaningful conflicts. In the two turkeys episode, “Shibboleth,” from Season 2, the administration faced the problem of Chinese stowaways who are discovered in a container ship in California. In the Butterball Hotline episode, “The Indians in the Lobby,” from Season 3, C.J. must deal with two Native Americans staging a sit-in at the White House until they get an answer on an application their tribe submitted 15 years ago.
Of course, West Wing isn’t the only series to have Thanksgiving episodes. What about other shows? Friends had plenty of Thanksgiving episodes over its 10 years, and this is a mashup of several. It’s hard to beat the one where Joey Tribbiani (Matt LeBlanc) has a turkey stuck on his head.
We’re going to end with a clip younger folks might never have seen, from WKRP in Cincinnati, a 1970s sitcom that looks dated but still provides laughs. It wouldn’t be Thanksgiving unless we’ve seen station chief Arthur Carlson (Gordon Jump) covered with turkey feathers and heard newsman Les Nessman (Richard Sanders) cry, “Oh, the humanity!”
I’m sure everyone has a favorite Thanksgiving episode that’s not featured here. Enjoy your feast, whether it’s turkey, turducken, or veggie, and leave shopping until Friday or (even better) Small-Business Saturday.