I feel like Thanksgiving is the holiday that many people forget about, which is why there are not many Thanksgiving movies or TV shows. One of the shows that I love — and that many other people love — is New Girl. New Girl tends to have a Thanksgiving episode in almost all of its seasons.
New Girl is a sitcom that is no longer airing but can be found on Netflix. It’s about a girl (Jess) and her friends (Cece, Nick, Schmit, Winston, and Coach) who all live together and are navigating their adult lives together. There’s not much else to the show — it is a sitcom — but it’s an “easy to watch and easy to understand” kind of TV series.
The show has produced five Thanksgiving episodes (but I am only going to be talking about the ones with “Thanksgiving” in the title, so four of them). Some are definitely better than others. Here are my thoughts on each one:
4. Season 6, Episode 7: “Last Thanksgiving”
This was a weird one in comparison to all of the other Thanksgiving episodes. It was the last Thanksgiving episode, and basically, everyone in the loft (the place where the gang lives together) decided that they wanted to have one of the best Thanksgivings they’ve ever had. Generally speaking, the friends have had some sort of problem whenever this holiday comes around, which inevitably ruins the holiday. Because this is one of the last times they would be spending the holiday together under the same roof, they want to make it memorable.
However, similar to previous Thanksgivings, things go wrong again. Jess’s old boyfriend comes back, Schmidt’s long lost dad turns up with a broken heart, Nick has problems with his girlfriend, and Winston deals with a sprained foot. All of these events together result in a massive mess before the big dinner.
Despite all of that, one of the better aspects of this episode is that everyone reminisces on previous Thanksgivings. And this sort of reminds the audience of all that the gang has experienced together. Personally, this episode feels a little overwhelming, and in comparison to the other episodes, this one definitely missed the mark. But it’s not the worst episode out there, and it still makes me laugh!
3. Season 4, Episode 9: “Thanksgiving IV”
In this episode, everyone in the loft is single, and Schmidt’s primary goal is to try and get everyone a partner for the holidays. Schmidt makes everyone draw a name out of a hat, and whoever’s name is picked, the drawer has to bring them as a date for Thanksgiving.
I think overall, this episode was pretty similar to previous Thanksgiving episodes, but one of my favorite parts of this episode is definitely that Tran was included. Tran is an old man that Nick meets in the park randomly, and, somehow, they develop a close (but strange) friendship. I think any interaction between the two is something that many viewers, including me, look forward to watching. The highlight of this episode was definitely seeing Tran was included in the Thanksgiving festivities that the gang hosts every year.
2. Season 3, Episode 10: “Thanksgiving III”
This is the third Thanksgiving that everyone celebrates together. In this episode, Nick and Jess had planned a Thanksgiving together as a couple. The guys at the loft tease Nick by saying that he was becoming more like Jess, and so he decides that he wants to plan Thanksgiving to be more manly. He drives everyone out to the woods to go camping for the holiday.
The group of six splits in half, with one group hunting for the main course while the other group scavenges for ingredients to make the side dishes. The group looking for their side dishes gives up fairly quickly and drives over to the supermarket. They buy stuff that looks as if you could have gotten it from the outdoors — fruits and vegetables. The group that went hunting gets lost, trying to find food, and starts to argue over what they can do and who is the “manliest.” There’s a lot of laughs and funny moments in between all of this chaos, and at the end of the episode, you learn that all you need is friends and family to have a great Thanksgiving.
1. Season 1, Episode 6: “Thanksgiving”
I would say this is one of the best Thanksgiving episodes, mainly because it is the first Thanksgiving episode, and it sets the standard for the ones that follow. This episode occurs soon after Jess moves into the loft, and she planned on having an actual Thanksgiving. However, the guys planned to watch a football game and go to Best Buy for Black Friday the next day. She somehow convinces the gang to have an actual Thanksgiving dinner.
Everything’s going great up until the day of Thanksgiving. It feels as though one bad thing after another keeps occurring to the gang. And somehow, these misfortunes lead the gang to find the dead body of their neighbor. There’s a lot to unpack in this episode, but it is hilarious, and I think that the roadblocks in this episode are the reasons that this is my favorite Thanksgiving New Girl episode!
These episodes are excellent in their own right, and definitely, certain moments are better than others. One of the most important things to note is the main message that all of the episodes aim to tell the audience: Thanksgiving is best spent with friends and family!
I highly recommend watching these episodes to get into the Thanksgiving spirit! Make sure you are properly socially distancing and have a great Thanksgiving!