The 25 Best Thanksgiving Episodes on TV

(Season 5, Episode 5)
While the financial and social obligations of the holidays are typically seen as an adult conversation, “Thanksgiving” is a good reminder of how children process this time of year. Andrew (John Mulaney) learns about generational trauma and truly connects with his father for the first time; Nick (Nick Kroll) learns the thinness of the line between love and hate; Missy (Ayo Edebiri) smokes weed (and finally shows her parents her dark side); Jessi (Jessi Klein) begins to question her sexuality. The children of Bridgeton Middle experience levels of drama only possible in the presence of both pubescent hormones and big family gatherings. The episode also features an appearance from the best recurring character on the show: Jay’s (Jason Mantzoukas) pit bull (Jordan Peele), whose full name is Featuring Ludacris. Cursed with human-like self awareness, he ponders in eerily clear English: “Why have none of my kids called me this year?”

(Season 10, Episode 8)
With the month of November inevitably comes the valid murmurs about the pitfalls of turkey — we’ve all had too many dry and bland ones — so it’s a big deal to get your hands on a bird that’s never been frozen. The Season 10 Thanksgiving episode of “Bob’s Burgers” sees Bob (H. Jon Benjamin) achieve his five-year dream of getting off of the waitlist for a Riverbrook Lake Farms heritage turkey, coveted for being fresh-killed, raised in the best conditions and fed a bit of popcorn as a treat. But all hell breaks loose when the gas goes out in the Belchers’ neighborhood, leaving Bob to try cooking the turkey over a tiny fire in a dirty alley. The episode is noteworthy for such one liners as, “Yes, we paid the gas bill. I remember ‘cause the check number ended in 69 and we high-fived!” and the image of Bob singing sweetly into the fridge. But the reason “Now We’re Not Cooking With Gas” goes down in the Thanksgiving hall of fame is simple: The Belcher kids are brave enough to say what we’ve all been thinking for years — that it’s a basic, obvious cop-out to just choose “family” as the thing you say you’re thankful for.

(Season 4, Episode 5)
Given that “Bob’s Burgers” is all about food and the most eccentric family on television, the animated sitcom has always delivered when it comes to Thanksgiving episodes. But “Turkey in a Can” stands out for its focus on the relationship between patriarch Bob and his oldest child, fan-favorite Tina (Dan Mintz). The stakes get high in the Belcher household when Bob becomes the victim of a saboteur who keeps putting the turkey in the toilet. He goes nuts as he’s forced to keep buying new birds while fielding the differing demands of his children — chief among them Tina’s desire for a seat at the adults’ table this year. The potty poultry premise only becomes more bizarre when the culprit is revealed, but the highlight of the episode is Bob’s big realization in the end: Tina’s growing up!

(Season 5, Episode 9)
With a title like “Thanksgiving Orphans,” it may have been expected that the characters on “Cheers” would just have their Thanksgiving dinner in the bar. That’s where the majority of the action on the show took place anyway, and it already is a place to serve food and drink to many, many people. But in a rare instance of seeing a glimpse into characters’ personal lives, the story is set at Carla’s (Rhea Perlman) house, where she hosts all of the regulars for a potluck that soon devolves into a food fight. This is also a pivotal episode in the sitcom’s history because it actually features the only on-screen appearance by Norm’s wife Vera — who is still never truly seen because she takes a pie in the face. (Rebecca Soladay played Vera on set, while Bernadette Birkett voiced the character throughout the series.)

(Season 2, Episode 8)
The “Huangsgiving” episode of this family sitcom explores the humor found in the cultural miscommunications of navigating the American holiday as an immigrant family. The Huangs are hosting Thanksgiving for the first time, and Jessica (Constance Wu) is determined to out-do her sister who normally hosts. Despite their best attempts, unexpected mishaps and hangovers force Louis (Randall Park) and Jessica to scramble to get anything on the table. “That’s why at Huangsgiving, we don’t serve duck,” lectures Louis to his family. The episode is sweet and fun and relatable for those who may not have grown up with the most “traditional” Thanksgivings.

(Season 1, Episode 12)
“Talking Turkey” marks the first appearance of Vernee Watson as Will’s (Will Smith) mother Violet, who realizes that sending Will to live with her sister Vivian (Janet Hubert) has made him spoiled. Vy tells Viv that, hurting Viv’s feelings and making her want to prove herself as a good mother. She puts Will, Carlton (Alfonso Ribeiro), Hilary (Karyn Parsons) and Ashley (Tatyana M. Ali) to work, cancelling her Thanksgiving caterers and forcing the kids to make dinner instead. And though the turkey is served frozen, the stuffing liquified, the yams and rolls burnt and the cranberry sauce dropped on the floor, they still manage to have a joyful holiday. Cue: a family dance scene to “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg” by The Temptations.

(Season 8, Episode 9)
This “Friends” episode contains one of the most iconic cameos of the series: Jennifer Aniston’s then-husband Brad Pitt, who plays an old classmate of Ross’ (David Schwimmer) who was the co-founder (along with Ross) of the “I Hate Rachel Green” club. He can’t contain his disdain for her and the truth eventually spills out, including the rumor he spread about her and the one she spread about Ross (which turned out to be true). As tensions rise amid the group, right on brand, Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow) is on her own wavelength, developing a crush on Pitt regardless of his boyish history.

(Season 5, Episode 8)
“Friends” flashback episodes have always been crowd pleasers, and this Thanksgiving rendition is no exception. In this episode, Ross’ complaint that his divorce and eviction means he is having the worst Thanksgiving ever prompts the others to tell stories of their own terrible Thanksgivings. Not to give the whole plot away, as each memory is a gem in and of itself, but one of the most memorable stories is Monica’s (Courteney Cox) from Thanksgiving of 1988, when she accidentally drops a knife while attempting to seduce and trick Chandler (Matthew Perry), severing one of his toes. Don’t let that alarm you though; the episode, per usual, ends on a happy note with a major step in their romantic relationship.

(Season 3, Episode 9)
One Thanksgiving meal is usually more than enough food for one day, but the Gilmores are no ordinary eaters. Lorelai (Lauren Graham) and Rory (Alexis Bledel) agree to go to four separate holiday celebrations in this third season episode of Amy Sherman-Palladino’s mother-daughter dramedy. Unfortunately for them, each event is so full of complications, they have to worry about having enough to eat, rather than too much. At the Kim family Thanksgiving, Lane’s (Keiko Agena) boyfriend Dave (Adam Brody) is desperately trying to win over her mother, while dinner at Luke (Scott Patterson) and Jess’ (Milo Ventimiglia) comes with relationship awkwardness. Sookie (Melissa McCarthy) gets drunk because Jackson (Jackson Douglas) takes over the culinary responsibilities from his chef wife and decides to deep fry the turkey. And at Richard (Edward Herrmann) and Emily’s (Kelly Bishop), it comes out that Rory applied to Yale without telling her mother. That’s a lot of emotion for 44 minutes, but to top it all off there is a runner about Kirk (Sean Gunn) naming his new cat after himself that is so silly, it successfully cuts a lot of the tension.

(Season 1, Episode 9)
All of Joan’s (Tracee Ellis Ross) friends bail on her last-minute, leaving her lonely for Thanksgiving. That becomes a blessing in disguise when she meets famous attorney Preston C. Hall (Duane Martin) while dining at Davis’ (Randy J. Goodwin) restaurant — until she puts her foot in her mouth by promising him a fried turkey she has no idea how to make. She tries to make dinner and woo Preston at the same time, but all her friends trickle back into the house after ruining their own Thanksgivings, cramping Joan’s alone time with her new beau even further. Entertaining a man while tending to her friends, Joan learns, is as easy as deep-frying a turkey without starting a grease fire. To top things off, executive producer Kelsey Grammer guest stars as himself, leaving Joan starstruck (and with a recommendation for a therapist).

(Season 4, Episode 8)
While it’s generally agreed upon that “Glee” went downhill after most of the original characters graduated from McKinley High in the Season 3 finale, “Thanksgiving” returns the show to its roots. Finn (Cory Monteith), newly appointed director of the glee club, gets help running the show when Quinn (Dianna Agron), Santana (Naya Rivera), Puck (Mark Salling), Mercedes (Amber Riley) and Mike (Harry Shum Jr.) come home for the holiday, reuniting with a deliciously cheesy medley of Simon & Garfunkel’s “Homeward Bound” and Phillip Phillips’ “Homeward Bound” in the McKinley auditorium. With a healthy dose of alumni coaching, the New Directions manage to pull off a performance of Psy’s “Gangnam Style” at Sectionals. Rachel (Lea Michele) and Kurt (Chris Colfer) remain in New York for Thanksgiving and host an impromptu party headlined by Kurt’s boss, Vogue executive Isabelle Wright, played by Sarah Jessica Parker. Isabelle brings a massive group of friends, including drag queen Shangela, along with her and leads one of “Glee’s” best and most rousing numbers ever: a medley of “Turkey Lurkey Time” from the musical “Promises, Promises” and Scissor Sisters’ “Let’s Have a Kiki.” Lock the doors tight!

(Season 3, Episode 9)
Drama and hilarity pervade this episode of “How I Met Your Mother” as the group of friends deals with a secret, a slap and a new marriage. As Marshall (Jason Segel) terrorizes Barney (Neil Patrick Harris) in the days leading up to his third slap, a stipulation agreed upon by the two after making (or losing, in Barney’s case) a bet, Lily (Alyson Hannigan) calls the bet off for the holiday after becoming fed up with Marshall’s lack of help. Meanwhile, Ted (Josh Radnor) and Robin (Cobie Smulders) reveal to their friends that they slept together, despite having broken up, and begin to navigate whether they can truly become friends again.

(Season 4, Episode 3)
This episode is a fan-favorite — and for good reason — as it explores the remains of Issa (Issa Rae) and Lawrence’s (Jay Ellis) relationship through their respective Thanksgiving celebrations. Having run into Issa and hit it off with her early in the episode, Lawrence is left to pick up the pieces at Condola’s (Christina Elmore) friendsgiving, while she doubts he’s really gotten over Issa. Meanwhile, Issa considers how Lawrence has grown as a partner as she simultaneously recalls disastrous Thanksgivings past with Ahmal (Jean Elie). The ending of this episode is key as it may be a pivotal moment for the two to finally reunite.

(Season 2, Episode 12)
“Thanks for Giving” comes early in the run of “Living Single,” but it sets up several of its most compelling storylines. It’s the introduction of one of the show’s most iconic guest stars — Heavy D as Darryl, one of the only love interests to make a lasting emotional impact on Regine (Kim Fields), who typically brings home a new man in every episode. Darryl also touches Khadijah (Queen Latifah) when he gives a moving speech at the dinner table that helps her to figure out how to move forward in her romance with her childhood friend Scooter (Cress Williams). In the immortal words of Overton Sinclair (John Henton): “Relationships are tough. Pass me them ‘taters.”

(Season 2, Episode 8)
Iconic for Lena Waithe’s breakout as the first Black woman to win a comedy writing Emmy Award, “Thanksgiving” follows Dev (Aziz Ansari) as he celebrates Thanksgiving with Denise’s (Waithe) family, as Dev’s family doesn’t celebrate the holiday. The episode details Denise’s coming out as a lesbian throughout the years on Thanksgiving, specifically as her family is resistant at first but gradually accepts her. Difficult yet relatable in its telling of familial conflict and growth, this episode truly captures the intricacies and beauty of the family-based holiday.

(Season 6, Episode 8)
The best “Modern Family” episodes are often the ones where every storyline interacts and interferes with the other. “Three Turkeys” hits that mark perfectly, with the episode following Claire (Julie Bowen) as she secretly prepares a turkey behind Phil (Ty Burrell) and Luke’s (Nolan Gould) backs, who are, doubtfully, preparing their own turkey. Meanwhile, Jay (Ed O’Neill) and Gloria’s (Sofia Vergara) trip gets canceled, but they attempt to hide this as well, determined to spend the holiday apart from family. It’s at the Pritchett house that all the stories come together, when Thanksgiving dinner is moved there and Jay and Gloria must cover their tracks, setting up some perfect and hilarious turkey-involved mix-ups.

(Season 1, Episode 6)
The undying earnestness and optimism of Jessica Day (Zooey Deschanel) means that “New Girl” is chock-full of big-hearted holiday episodes. The first of them, Season 1’s “Thanksgiving,” presents Jess with her very first love interest after the heartbreak she endured in the pilot. Her fellow middle school teacher Peter Genzlinger, played hilariously by Justin Long, joins the roommates of apartment 4D for turkey day, pushing Nick’s (Jake Johnson) buttons with his fiddle, his affinity for “Air Bud 2” and his general nerdiness. Come for the beginnings of the sexual tension that lasts Nick and Jess several seasons, stay for the shot of a frozen turkey rolling around in a dryer, thawing into eternity.

(Season 4, Episode 9)
“Thanksgiving IV” sees Jess fall for yet another teacher. This time it’s Ryan Geauxinue (Julian Morris), pronounced Goes-In-You, the British heartthrob she kissed for the first time in the episode prior. But as vice principal, Jess is strictly forbidden from dating a teacher, a problem that only gets worse when Coach (Damon Wayans Jr.) brings Ryan to the roommates’ “Bangsgiving” event. Jess, Nick, Coach, Schmidt (Max Greenfield), Winston (Lamorne Morris) and Cece (Hannah Simone) must bring each other dates based on names drawn out of a hat. Over the course of the night, Nick finally begins to move on from Jess, Schmidt and Cece reopen their flirtationship, and Winston and Coach get over some deep-rooted fears — lunch ladies and muscular women, respectively. For Jess, Bangsgiving means the beginning of one of her most intense romances ever, and certainly one of her top-five makeout sessions. (Sorry, Nick!)

(Season 1, Episode 7)
While “Turkey Shoot” isn’t exactly a Thanksgiving episode (“Schitt’s Creek” is a Canadian show, after all), it makes this list for the reason the title implies. “I could not be more at one with nature. I do Coachella every year,” says David Rose (Dan Levy), still new to the small titular town and trying to convince others (and himself) that he’s more than a bougie kid from New York. In his efforts to prove himself, he agrees to accompany Stevie (Emily Hampshire) on Roland’s (Chris Elliott) annual turkey hunting trip. Completely out of his element dressed in muddy camo, he ends up shooting his first turkey in the neck, prompting the slowest death possible. Meanwhile, Alexis (Annie Murphy) meets veterinarian Ted (Dustin Milligan) for the first time, setting off the tiny first sparks of one of the show’s sweetest storylines.

(Season 6, Episode 8)
For a show that claimed to be about nothing, there was so much going on in this episode of “Seinfeld” that the Thanksgiving piece often gets overshadowed. While Kramer (Michael Richards) and Jerry (Jerry Seinfeld) end up paying homage to “Midnight Cowboy” as they hop a train to track down the owners of a mom and pop store who absconded with Jerry’s sneakers, and George (Jason Alexander) obsesses over whether or not his new used LeBaron previously belonged to Jon Voight, Elaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) wins her boss Mr. Pitt (Ian Abercrombie) the chance to hold the Woody Woodpecker balloon in the annual Thanksgiving Day Parade. The night before Thanksgiving (and therefore the parade), Tim Whatley (Bryan Cranston) hosts a “Thanksgiving Eve” party (something that never caught on the way Festivus did), and the gang all shows up there. Jerry accidentally knocks a statue out the window, which overlooks the parade route, and ends up piercing the Woody balloon with Mr. Pitt under it. It may have just been a trial run the night before, but in the episode kicker, it is the next day and the balloon is still listless as it sails down Manhattan streets.

(Season 1, Episode 5)
“I Went to Market” challenges the normative Thanksgiving episode by spinning it on its head: Instead of familial bonding, try executive backstabbing. Kendall (Jeremy Strong) plots a vote of no confidence against his father Logan (Brian Cox), which includes attempting to convince Logan’s estranged brother Ewan (James Cromwell) to vote against him. The rest of the family doesn’t help the tension, as Tom (Matthew Macfadyen) and Shiv (Sarah Snook) wrestle with their prenuptial agreements, while Connor (Alan Ruck) brings his uninvited girlfriend — who also happens to be a former prostitute.

(Season 2, Episode 10)
Another not-exactly-Thanksgiving episode, this one focuses on the day after, the horrifying “holiday” that “Superstore” was perhaps better-equipped for than any other show. “Black Friday” opens with music that sounds straight out of a horror film over a shot of a painfully long line of shoppers outside Cloud 9 at 3 a.m., just a few hours removed from their turkey dinners. Those shoppers later literally bust down the store’s front doors in a move Garrett (Colton Dunn) aptly compares to “The Purge.” The Cloud 9 employees weather the storm of blood, glass and food poisoning, some working harder than others, as Amy (America Ferrera) has a pregnancy scare and Glenn (Mark McKinney) pops one too many anti-anxiety pills. Typical holiday things!

(Season 1, Episode 8)
This episode is a particularly touching episode in the always emotional series, as it explains the origins of the family’s unconventional Thanksgiving traditions through a heartfelt flashback. As Jack (Milo Ventimiglia), Rebecca (Mandy Moore) and The Big Three make their way to Rebecca’s parents’ house for the holiday, they’re forced to pull over and spend the night in a nearby inn instead. Meanwhile, in the present day, the episode explores Randall (Sterling K. Brown) and Rebecca’s relationship as he unearths more truths about the birth father he never knew.

(Season 3, Episode 7)
This “West Wing” gem explores the meaning of Thanksgiving through multiple lenses, one of the main focuses being C.J. (Allison Janney) as she navigates conversation with two Native Americans (guest stars Gary Farmer and Georgina Lightning) who refuse to leave the lobby until they meet with a high-ranking White House officer to discuss the status of their reservation. Ultimately, C.J. learns a thing or two from the visitors, inquiring, “How do you keep fighting the smaller injustices, when they’re all from the mother of injustices?” to which they respond, “What’s the alternative?” Though not given the full depth the topic requires, this Thanksgiving episode brings forth the conversation of Native American history and land acquisition that not many others delve into during the holiday season, let alone at all.

(Season 2, Episode 8)
This episode of “The West Wing” showcases the more absurd side of White House Thanksgiving logistics as C.J. must choose between two turkeys for the Presidential pardon ceremony, while condemning the other for the chopping block. Meanwhile, Toby (Richard Schiff), Josh (Bradley Whitford) and Sam (Rob Lowe) make plans to watch football, and Charlie (Dule Hill) is sent to find President Bartlet (Martin Sheen) the perfect knife for Thanksgiving dinner.