Thanksgiving is full of different traditions, but one common thing November and the festive season bring is quality time with friends and family — and food comas, of course!
Since Thanksgiving is notorious for head-to-head squabbling with relatives, it’s best to avoid any unfoldings with your family. Let’s limit the drama to television rather than personal experience.
If you’re planning a movie night with your gal pals or a virtual Netflix party, we’ve gathered some of the best classic Thanksgiving TV episodes, in no particular order:
PS: Spoiler alert, these descriptions might contain some spoilers.
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Friends: The One With All The Thanksgivings
Season 5, Episode 8. The whole gang gathers at Monica’s apartment to celebrate Thanksgiving, sharing their horrific Thanksgiving stories. Phoebe shares her story of her ‘past life’ where she was a nurse who lost an arm; Chandler reflects on when he learnt about his parents’ divorce; Monica recalls overhearing Chandler calling her fat, which motivated her to stop overeating. And the best part: Phoebe reminds everyone of the iconic moment Joey got his head stuck in a turkey.
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Gilmore Girls: Deep Fried Korean Thanksgiving
Season 3, Episode 9. Rory and Lorelai attend not one, not two, but four Thanksgiving dinners throughout this episode. From a Tofurky (tofu turkey) at the Kims, to a deep fried turkey at Sookie’s, to a lavish meal at Emily and Richard’s, this episode is filled with laughs, the special mother-daughter bond between Rory and Lorelai, and a ton of food! The episode also reveals where Rory wants to attend college for the first time.
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Brooklyn Nine-Nine: Two Turkeys
Season 5 Episode 7. During this episode, Jake and Amy decide to bring their parents together for Thanksgiving dinner for the first time as a family. Shortly after, both the sets of parents start making passive aggressive comments, and Jake and Amy try to solve this with plenty of alcohol. Meanwhile, Kevin and Holt have a special pie to take to Kevin’s home for Thanksgiving until it goes missing at the precinct. Holt commands the squad to help find the culprit and throughout that quest, secrets get spilled.
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How I Met Your Mother: Slapsgiving
Season 3 Episode 9. This episode shows Marshall and Lily’s first Thanksgiving as a married couple. Lily is upset over making the perfect meal for Thanksgiving, Robin and Ted have recently broken up and the tension between them is immense, and Robin chooses to bring a new man to dinner, who is much older than all of them. The most interesting part of the episode, however, is between Marshall and Barney: Barney loses a slap bet to Marshall and lives in constant fear of when Marshall will use his third slap.
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Gossip Girl: Blair Waldorf Must Pie
Season 1 Episode 9. The first Thanksgiving episode of the series undoubtedly sets the expectations for all the upcoming episodes to be filled with drama, fights and gossip. Blair and Serena get into a quarrel and Blair uninvites Serena from the Waldorf’s meal. Dan rescues the Van der Woodsen’s Thanksgiving by inviting them to the loft and Lily and Rufus’ shocking romantic past is brought to light. Nate’s family discovers that his dad overdosed on pain-killers and they have to have a much needed family discussion. The episode is packed with all the “Manhattan’s elite” drama you can imagine.
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Modern Family: The Last Thanksgiving
Season 11 Episode 7. The final Thanksgiving episode of the series is ‘stuffed’ with tension, lessons and love. Cam and Mitchell’s friends mistakenly think they have split up and all of their friends shower Cam with love and condolences. Haley decides to do something nice for her mother and cook this year’s Thanksgiving meal. The past is honored as Jay and Phil go back to flying planes, but with Dylan this time. Tradition is maintained as Jay flies the plane into Phil’s face again. A chaotic but true to the nature of the show episode.
We hope you enjoy these episodes this festive season! Do let us know what your favorite Thanksgiving episodes are. Happy bingeing!