Thanksgiving brings together all the best things—delicious food, family, friends and of course, Thanksgiving TV episodes to keep the fun going! Each year, we look forward to the Christmas specials for the winter season, but what about the episodes of television where your favorite characters stuff their face (in the case of Gilmore Girls) and sometimes discover dark family secrets (we’re looking at you, Gossip Girl)?
Whether they’re classic episodes you’ve been rewatching for years or you’re just discovering these Thanksgiving-themed specials now, these holiday installments are some of our absolute favorite Turkey Day shows we can’t get enough of. Happy Thanksgiving!
1. ‘Thanksgiving III’ (Season 3, Episode 10) – ‘New Girl’
Although Nick (Jake Johnson) usually doesn’t care much about anything, when Coach (Damon Wayans Jr.) says he’s gone soft since dating Jess (Zooey Deschanel), Nick takes Thanksgiving into his own hands. Rather than throwing the cute dinner party he and Jess have planned, Nick takes the gang on a wilderness camping trip, which involves hunting for food, eating a long-dead fish and falling in a hole.
Stream New Girl on Hulu.
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2. ‘A Deep-Fried Korean Thanksgiving’ (Season 3, Episode 9) – ‘Gilmore Girls’
“What are we if not the world’s champion eaters?” Nobody does Thanksgiving quite like a Gilmore girl. When the food-eating queens, Lorelai (Lauren Graham) and Rory (Alexis Bledel), overbook their holiday, they cram in four different feasts throughout the day: a deep-fried dinner with Sookie (Melissa McCarthy), a less tasty dinner at the Kims’, a sit-down with Luke (Scott Paterson) and Jess (Milo Ventimiglia) and finally one with Lorelai’s parents.
Meanwhile, Lorelai discovers that Rory has applied to Yale after their ill-fated trip there, and human Kirk (Sean Gunn) tries to get used to living with cat Kirk.
Watch Gilmore Girls on Netflix.
3. ‘Blair Waldorf Must Pie!’ (Season 1, Episode 9) – ‘Gossip Girl’
Thinking he is being a good boyfriend, Dan (Penn Badgley) invites Serena (Blake Lively) and her family over for Thanksgiving dinner. But what they don’t know is the secret relationship their parents had years prior, which they struggle to keep to themselves.
Meanwhile, the episode includes flashbacks to the Thanksgiving prior, where each character was in a very different place in life. Give this episode of Gossip Girl a watch for some much-needed detail on the socialites and their important relationships.
Gossip Girl is available for streaming on Netflix.
4. ‘A Lilith Thanksgiving’ (Season 4, Episode 7) – ‘Frasier’
This Thanksgiving TV episode involves the family drama that comes from exes Frasier (Kelsey Grammer) and Lilith (Bebe Neuwirth) trying to spend the holiday together for their son, Freddy. Lilith comes to Seattle to share Thanksgiving with Frasier, his family, friends and Freddy.
While Frasier’s brother, Niles, cooks in the kitchen, Frasier and Lilith sneak off to meet with the headmaster of a prestigious school they hope their son can attend. Obsessed with the opportunity, they go back a second and third time in an attempt to manipulate and bribe the headmaster at his home.
Only stealing the Crane clan’s turkey out of the oven and bringing it to the other home to rescue the headmaster, who didn’t have a backup turkey when he failed to cook his on time for his guests, gets Freddy an admission offer — on the condition that his annoying parents stay far away. Meanwhile, Miles finds the oven empty and the Crane Thanksgiving is a bust.
Find Frasier on Hulu.
5. ‘Slapsgiving’ (Season 3, Episode 9) – ‘How I Met Your Mother’
Beginning the hilarious and series-long tradition of ‘Slapsgiving,’ this episode of How I Met Your Mother is one you don’t want to miss. When Marshall (Jason Segel) announces that the third slap in his slap bet with Barney (Neil Patrick Harris) will be coming on Thanksgiving night, Barney spends the entire day anticipating it.
This episode is a can’t-miss and very integral to the slap bet gag, which lasts throughout the entire series.
How I Met Your Mother episodes can be found on Netflix.
6. ‘Thanksgiving Orphans’ (Season 5, Episode 9) – ‘Cheers’
In one of the very few episodes of Cheers where the gang leaves the bar, “Thanksgiving Orphans” gives viewers a glimpse into the lives of Carla (Rhea Perlman) and the other Cheers customers/bartenders.
With no plans for Thanksgiving, Carla hosts the Cheers gang in her home for an old-fashioned Thanksgiving dinner, which ends in a massive food fight. Plus, in typical Diane (Shelley Long) fashion, she shows up unannounced to dinner dressed up in a pilgrim costume.
Find Cheers on Hulu.
7. ‘Turkey Shoot’ (Season 1, Episode 7) – ‘Schitt’s Creek’
As new residents of Schitt’s Creek, the Roses have been finding it a bit difficult to fit in. But in this first Thanksgiving episode, David (Dan Levy) joins a few of the townsfolk on their turkey hunt, while Alexis (Annie Murphy) meets Ted (Dustin Milligan) for the first time and Moira (Catherine O’Hara) has a spa day with Jocelyn.
While every episode of Schitt’s Creek is a hoot and offers comical moments, this one is particularly hilarious and worth the rewatch for Turkey Day.
Schitt’s Creek is available for binging on Prime Video.
8. ‘Turkeys Away’ (Season 1, Episode 7) – ‘WKRP in Cincinnati’
More than four decades after this series ended, the Thanksgiving TV episode remains one of the most iconic with the often-quoted line: “As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly!”
Around Thanksgiving, the phrase and clips from the season 1, episode 7 scene often circulate on social media. It started here with bumbling station manager Arthur Carlson (Gordon Jump) launching his own radio promotion to compete.
As turkeys are dropped out of a helicopter, Carlson stands on the street and attempts to explain the chaotic scene in a broadcast, wondering why parachutes aren’t opening for these “skydivers.” After the disaster, he explains his harebrained scheme with the famous line about misconceptions surrounding turkeys’ aviator abilities. No turkeys were harmed in the making of this episode, we hope.
Find episodes of WKRP in Cincinnati on Apple TV.
9. ‘The One with the Thanksgiving Flashbacks’ (Season 5, Episode 8) – ‘Friends’
This post-Thanksgiving feast episode of Friends is one of the most hilarious of the series, thanks to a few key moments: the turkey on Monica’s head (with sunglasses), finding out the real reason Chandler lost a pinky toe and what led Monica to become a chef.
The episode also represents a very pivotal moment in the relationship between Chandler and Monica as he (accidentally) says ‘I love you’ to her for the first time, before trying to take it back. If you’re looking for a walk down memory lane and to catch some of the most classic moments of Friends, check out “The One with the Thanksgiving Flashbacks”!
Find Friends on Max.
10. ‘Samantha’s Thanksgiving to Remember’ (Season 4, Episode 12) – ‘Bewitched’
Whenever the airheaded Aunt Clara (Marion Lorne) appears in an episode, we know Samantha Stephens (Elizabeth Montgomery) and her family are in for a disastrous comedy of errors. In season 4, episode 12, Samantha’s favorite aunt comes for a Thanksgiving visit and starts the episode by telling her great-niece Tabitha about the first Thanksgiving — not from her knowledge of history, but from her personal memories.
Aunt Clara decides to cast a spell and take the family back to Plymouth, so they can experience the first 17th-century Thanksgiving for themselves. Of course, nosey neighbor Gladys Kravitz is snooping at that moment and she passes out when she awakens in another reality with the Stephens family. Suffice it to say, Darrin is not feeling thankful.
Watch Bewitched on Apple TV.
