Happy Thanksgiving!

In honor of the special holiday, I thought I’d post some top TV Thanksgiving-themed episodes for you to scout out and watch. Now, let me say that this will be difficult, and I’m sure I’ll be leaving a ton out. But these are the ones that originally come to my mind.

One note, though. Please remember that a lot of sitcoms tend to show TONS of holiday-themed shows, which makes it difficult to pick and choose. You’ll notice that I just chose one here or there (ok, two in one case), but I did my best. Please let me know what I’m missing, too, and give me your reasons. Make me feel bad for missing them. Hehe.

So here it is, in no particular order. Top shows to check out when you’re stuffed full of turkey:

1. GILMORE GIRLS: “A Deep Fried Korean Thanksgiving” I’m sure all of you have experienced it: getting invited to more than one festive dinner and trying to choose which one to go to. Lorelai and Rory have the same dilemma, but what do they do? All of them. Watch as the girls hop from one Thanksgiving dinner to another, struggling with arguments, deep fryers, and dinner rolls. (Watch this episode at 11:00 am on Thanksgiving day on ABC Family!)

2. HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER: “Belly Full of Turkey” Nothing can stop a 5′5″ Lily from enjoying a delicious turkey dinner except the thought that a 6′8″ baby might be browning in the oven. Lily goes to Marshall’s family’s home for the holiday, only to be bombarded by giants, forced to serve a seven-layer salad of gummi bears and mayo, and then wind up in jail for public urination–ironically, not the first character to have that problem!

3. MAD ABOUT YOU: “Giblets for Murray” On a hectic Thanksgiving, Jamie and Paul host dinner with both sets of parents–and friends to boot! But the hilarity doesn’t lie in the knit-picking of the mothers or the strange Aunt Lolly snoring in the corner; instead, you’ll find yourself laughing out loud as Paul and Jamie buy turkey after turkey due to various disasters–dogs, theft, and even flying out windows!

4. FRIENDS: “The One Where Underdog Gets Away” There are a lot of Thanksgiving episodes on Friends, but to me, this one will always stand as number one. Since it’s in the first season, you’ve got great originality as the group rushes to the roof to watch as the Underdog balloon flies overhead after escaping the Macy’s Parade. As the group wanders back, they find they’re locked out of the apartment, leaving their food ruined, along with Rachel’s travel plans.

5. SAVED BY THE BELL THE COLLEGE YEARS: “A Thanksgiving Story” Yes, I’ve chosen the show that few people watch. But this episode was great. Not only do you get the crew of Saved by the Bell back in action, but we have super cameos. When a charity Thanksgiving dinner is ruined by Screech, 1990s celebrities arrive with Thanksgiving goodies to save the day, including the late Jonathan Brandis, Brian Austin Green, Six from Blossom (Jenna von Oy)–and even Mr. Belding!

6. BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER: “Pangs” Want a little bit of history to go with your gravy? Buffy insists on making a traditional Thanksgiving dinner (ironically at her British watcher’s home), but history has its own plans. Xander’s construction team releases the spirits of the Chumash who proceed to attack Buffy’s holiday get-together. Not only do we get her pouty expressions, but we have an appearance by Angel (which everyone knows about except the girl wonder herself) and witty banter by a tied-up Spike. Vampires…Indians… How can this go wrong?

7. THE WEST WING: “Shibboleth” It’s hard to choose one episode for such a great show, but this one gets a call out. The plot itself shines, but you also have Charlie on a search for the best implement to carve a turkey. Plus, poor CJ has a photo shoot with two turkeys–one of which is going to be pardoned, while the other one, dinner. (Oh, and I want to say a special mention for the episode “The Indians in the Lobby.” I don’t remember anything in this episode, so I can’t recommend the plot, but President Bartlett trying to call the Butterball Hotline is certainly something to see.)

8. HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER: “Slapsgiving” Ok, so I’ve mentioned HIMYM already, but this episode needs to be mentioned, too. Not only do we have a stressed out Lily trying to make dinner for the group, but Robin’s dating an “older” man, despite her tryst with Ted. Meanwhile, a countdown ensues for another slap in Marshall and Barney’s famed Slap Bet. And who couldn’t love a show that ends with a song?

Learn to fly, all chefs and turkeys

JC, back again, covering the Thanksgiving episode of Top Chef! Here’s a super quick review before your turkey chow-down.

TOP CHEF: 5.03 “Foo Fighters”
Wow. This episode was full of some nasty surprises for our chefs, starting with the quickfire challenge. It’s just like this show to get all of these hyperfocused contestants started on one thing, only to tell them a ten minutes later that they have to convert their working recipe into something else entirely. I felt particularly bad for Daniel, who had to convert some kind of ham and egg dish into a soup. How is that possible? I thought, but apparently, it’s possible, and it was done well. It seemed like a lot of people were scrambling and looking lost with the quickfire. Leah won the challenge. Who’s Leah? Good question; I’m not sure because she promptly faded into the background. Oh well, she was immune anyway.

For the big challenge, the judges bring along the Foo Fighters. Cook a thanksgiving dinner suitable for a legendary rock band, they command. This, in itself, is not really a big twist. So they have to cook for a band; I didn’t think it was a big deal and it almost struck me as cross promotion gone wild. But whatever. The real curve ball here is pretty devious. No refrigerators, no freezers, only one burner. Everything has to be made in either a microwave or a toaster oven. As the teams split up, I was struck by Jeff, yet again, taking command and organizing his Team Cougar. Throughout the rest of the challenge, they seemed like the better organized, better prepared, better focused team. Yet, when it came down to the final judgment, they came up short. It appeared like the race was pretty close between the two teams, up until Jeff’s team’s desserts sunk them. So, was it simply a lack of execution on a few dishes, as one of the contestants said? After all, the meat and protein from the team was pretty successful. Or was it something else? Similarly, I’m starting to wonder about Jeff. He’s clearly shown the ability to organize and lead a team. No one fights his authority, and he seems genuinely able to compel people to work together. However, in each team he’s helped organize, his dish has been pretty lacking. Is he simply a better organizer than a chef, or is he putting too much into leading the group? Based on the comments from the judges, his leadership saved him this round, but will it again? In the end, Richard is eliminated because of his poor attempt at Smores. I thought it would be Richard and his undercooked potatoes, but regardless, Team Rainbow is now down to one stripe. Sorry guys. Team Cougar looked like the superior team to me, so I’m surprised they lost. A number of people on that team have been on the chopping block lately, so they’ll all have to step it up in the next episode.