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    The 10 best of all time

    Pabio Posted on

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    Thanksgiving It may be some family time, but don’t forget to dedicate a few hours to your favorite TV families, too.

    Thanksgiving TV episodes are a grand old tradition which feature some of the best TV characters of all time, from the Peanuts gang to “Gilmore Girls” and, of course, our very special New York “Friends.” The holiday is November 28 This year, and in honor of celebrating family, food, and gratitude, we’ve rounded up the 10 best Turkey Day TV episodes.

    10. “The Sopranos” Season 3 Episode 8: “He Is Risen” (2001)

    Stream on Max

    If there’s one fictional family you’d rather not hang out with during the holidays (or any day), it’s HBO’s The Sopranos. This tense episode does Thanksgiving the way only mobsters can: with a dead stripper, Ecstasy, and a narcoleptic prayer group member. Tony (James Gandolfini) apparently has a lot to be grateful for.

    9. “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” Season 2 Episode 7: “Containment” (2014)

    Stream on Netflix, Peacock

    Nobody wants to work on Thanksgiving. And no one wants to be locked in a police station while a mysterious package is investigated on Thanksgiving. Fox’s (and later NBC’s) “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” takes a classic sitcom “bottle episode” (where everyone stays in one place for the entire half hour) and gives it its own offbeat spin: a lockdown, but with prisoners, lawyers and cops.

    8. “Grey’s Anatomy” Season 2 Episode 9: “Thanks for the Memories” (2005)

    Streaming on Netflix, Hulu

    Some Thanksgiving episodes are fun games with an excuse for a little humor at the table. Others, like this heartbreaking first episode of ABC’s enduring medical drama, may tug at your heartstrings, just like every other episode. If Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) and her comatose father don’t understand you, this speech from Izzie (Katherine Heigl) will: “We have this day, a day when we can be like everyone else. A day to be normal. A day when no one lives and no one dies before our eyes. It’s like a gift.”

    7. “The West Wing” Season 2 Episode 8: “Shibboleth” (2000)

    Stream on Max

    With true “West Wing” idealism, Aaron Sorkin pairs his portrayal of Thanksgiving with an episode about Chinese Christian immigrants attempting to seek refuge in the United States due to religious persecution.. It’s tough, but so was everything else on NBC’s “Wing.” and the episode leaves plenty of time for levity, particularly the sight gag of CJ (Allison Janney) walking into her office and discovering two turkeys lying around.

    6. “How I Met Your Mother” Season 3 Episode 9: “Slapsgiving” (2007)

    Stream on Netflix, Hulu

    What’s better than Thanksgiving? Well, Slapsgiving, of course! In this episode of CBS’s “Mother,” Marshall (Jason Segel) renames the party in honor of his “slap bet” with Barney (Neil Patrick Harris). Waiting to see that slap (and the musical number that follows) is enough to get the audience through the breaking tension between Ted (Josh Radnor) and Robin (Cobie Smulders).

    5. “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving” (1973)

    Stream on Apple TV+

    Every holiday needs a little Linus and Lucy. And in this case, a dinner hosted by Peppermint Patty. Not as famous as the Peanuts Halloween and Christmas specials, “Charlie Brown Thanksgiving,” first broadcast on CBS, is still full of warmth and seasonal cheer.

    4. “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”, season 4, episode 8: “Pains” (1999)

    Stream on Hulu, Tubi

    It wouldn’t be a “Buffy” Thanksgiving without the Slayer (Sarah Michelle Gellar) facing a thematic supernatural threat, existential angst and relationship drama, all of which “Pangs” delivers with flying colors. In addition to her demon-slaying Thanksgiving antics, this WB episode contains our favorite Anya (Emma Caulfield) quote about the holiday: “To commemorate a past event, you kill and eat an animal.” It is a ritual sacrifice. With pie. Happy Turkey Day, indeed.

    3.’Gilmore Girls’ Season 3 Episode 9: “A Deep-Fried Korean Thanksgiving” (2002)

    Stream on Netflix

    Family drama (and comedy) is what made WB’s “Gilmore Girls” such a beloved series, so it’s no wonder that a holiday filled with the joys and pitfalls of our relationships gives rise to a narrative ” Gilmore” blackberry. In Season 3, Lorelai and Rory attend four Thanksgiving dinners with their friends and family, requiring them to eat a lot, of course, but also to code-switch and perform for each group they encounter. It’s funny, a little sad and deeply loving, like the best episodes of “Gilmore.”

    2. ‘Friends’ Season 5 Episode 8: “The One with All the Thanksgivings” (1998)

    Stream on Max

    In a show famous for its Thanksgiving episodeswhich one is the best? While all of NBC’s “Friends” holiday outings are classics (football, Brad Pitt, Underdog and more), this Season 5 episode, in which the gang relives their worst Thanksgivings, wins. It combines some of the best elements of the series, from flashbacks to the relationship between Monica (Courteney Cox) and Chandler (Matthew Perry). Plus, there are turkeys above people’s heads in one of the sitcom’s best visual gags.

    1. ‘WKRP in Cincinnati’ Season 1 Episode 7: “Turkeys Away” (1978)

    Available for digital purchase

    Classics are timeless for a reason. This sweet CBS sitcom from 1978 to 1982 contained plenty of comedic workplace follies, but none were more shocking and hilarious than the ending to this absurd Thanksgiving story. The one thing you need to remember is this quote: “As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly. »

    Pabio
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