The Best 'New Girl' Thanksgiving Episodes of All-Time

It's Thanksgiving and for New Girl fans, perhaps the best time of the year. Jess (played by Zooey Deschanel), Schmidt (Max Greenberg), Cece (Hannah Simone), Winston (LaMorne Morris), and Nick (Jake Johnson) sure knew how to celebrate Thanksgiving, so much so, five episodes out of the show's seven seasons were dedicated specifically to the holiday.

Newsweek has ranked the best New Girl Thanksgiving episodes of all time, which are available to stream and download via Netflix now.

1. Season 1, Episode 6: "Thanksgiving"

The original Thanksgiving episode earns the top spot as the best New Girl episode of all time.

Jess, who is new to the loft decides to host a Thanksgiving party against her roommates' wishes, who simply want to have their traditional "Dudes-giving."

Things are doomed to fail from the beginning when Jess reveals she does not how to cook, alongside the fact the turkey is still frozen.

In a desperate attempt to defrost the turkey in time, the gang places it in a dryer, leading it to catch fire.

Amid all of the chaos, "Thanksgiving" sets up the two huge romantic arcs of the show, Nick and Jess and Schmidt and Cece, so maybe Jess' party idea was not so terrible after all.

2. Season 4, Episode 9: "Thanksgiving IV"

Thanksgiving meets Valentine's Day in Season 4, Episode 9, with Schmidt decreeing the fourth Thursday in November "Bangs-giving."

Instead of spending the annual holiday with their family, the gang decides to spend it with each other and a stranger, who is their date for the evening, apart from Nick, who decides to invite his new friend Tran from the park as his date.

After the unbearable awkwardness, Coach (Damon Wayans Jr.), Winston, and Nick's dates seem to work out and Jess decides to follow her heart and tell her colleague Ryan (Julian Morris) her true feelings.

What is also great about Bangs-giving/Thanksgiving is Schmidt and Cece's dates were a total disaster, leading them to realize they still have each other.

3. Season 2, Episode 8: "Parents"

What makes this Thanksgiving episode so great is the arrival of Jamie Lee Curtis and Rob Reiner as Jess' parents.

Jess, in typical Jess fashion, has gone full Parent Trap on her divorced parents and tries to get them back together, which makes for an uncomfortable meal for everybody involved.

There are some moments of comedy gold in "Parents," particularly between Schmidt and his cousin Big Schmidt, who go head to head to find out who is more macho than the other.

4. Season 5, Episode 7: "Last Thanksgiving"

The last Thanksgiving episode, aptly titled "Last Thanksgiving," has made it towards the bottom of the list.

Thanksgiving is supposed to be a time where family, friends, and loved ones come together but in the last ever Thanksgiving episode, Jess and co. all seem pretty lonely.

To start with, Nick is miserable that his girlfriend Reagan (Megan Fox) is missing Thanksgiving in the loft, so resorts to serving half an onion and a bottle of whiskey as his side dish of choice.

Jess' annoying boyfriend Robby (Nelson Franklin) has made it to the celebrations though, alongside Schmidt's depressed father Gavin (Peter Gallagher), who Jess once shared a kiss with. What could go wrong? Everything, particularly in Jess' eyes.

5. Season 3, Episode 10: "Thanksgiving III"

In Season 3, Episode 10 of New Girl, the gang decide to celebrate Thanksgiving a little differently this year and decide to swap the coziness of the loft for the great outdoors at Nick's request.

As predicted, Jess, Nick, Winston, Cece, and Schmidt are not the outdoors type and things go disastrously wrong, resulting in Jess taking a trip to the hospital after eating a rotten fish.

The best thing about "Thanksgiving III" is Coach is back. Damon Wayans Jr. appeared in the pilot episode of New Girl and reprised the role in Seasons 3 and 4. At this point in the series, Coach is also dating Cece which makes for some hilarious rivalry between him and Schmidt.

However, if only Coach and co. had just stayed in their safe-haven of the loft, fueled with plenty of beer for a game of true-American, Season 3, Episode 10 may have been a little more memorable.

New Girl is streaming on Netflix now.

New Girl thanksgiving episodes
Max Greenfield, Hannah Simone, Zooey Deschanel and Lamorne Morris starred in "New Girl" Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic

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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

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