Thanks, But No Thanks

Hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving. It's one of American greatest traditions.

But in the last few decades, we've got a new tradition than I don't appreciate as much--the Thanksgiving sitcom episode.  I don't recall that many Thanksgiving shows from the early years of TV, but since the 80s or so, it seems most shows with a decent run throw in a salute to the holiday, sometimes an annual one.

Who doesn't love a Thanksgiving meal?  But the whole point of a sitcom is something goes wrong, so, predictably, every Thanksgiving episode ends up with the food ruined. Either the turkey isn't ready on time (the most common problem), or there is no turkey, or all the food is missing, or there's a food fight, or whatever.  I find this frustrating.  Maybe it's too easy to relate to, especially around the time of year when all Americans are enjoying the Thanksgiving bounty. (And then, to add insult to injury, a lot of these episodes end up with everyone learning important lessons and being thankful anyway.)

I can think of quite a few Thanksgiving episodes, but very few I find satisfying. The only one I'd say is considered a classic is "Turkeys Away" from the first season of WKRP In Cincinnati.  The plot, as you may recall, involves a radio promotion where live turkeys are dropped on a shopping center from a helicopter--trouble is, turkeys can't fly.



PS  There are also a lot of Halloween episodes, but for some reason, those work better.