New traditions and old standbys: 17 TV shows to stream this Thanksgiving
Image: Graphic: Natalie Peeples TV Features new traditions
Because the parade eventually has to end, because not everyone is into football: If you’re gathering with family and/or friends to celebrate Thanksgiving this Thursday, you’re going to want to have some streaming picks in your back pocket. (And if you’re not, well, you’ve got the time to do some heavy duty viewing.) It’s a need The A.V. Club is always happy to oblige, recommending the TV equivalents of favored desserts and new additions to the same old spread. Whether you’re looking to laugh, cry, or just drown out a heated debate over brining techniques, here are 17 shows—with just under a thousand episodes—that’ll get you through the long weekend.
The Curious Creations Of Christine McConnell (Netflix, 6 episodes)
Combining the process-based relaxation of The Great British Baking Show and the morbid sensibilities of an Edward Gorey drawing, The Curious Creations Of Christine McConnell creates a new TV subgenre: the goth cooking show. Star Christine McConnell rose to Instagram fame three years ago, when she turned her parents’ house into a whimsical monster for Halloween. Her ’50s pinup style and Tim Burton-meets-Charles Addams aesthetic translates not only into the complicated treats she creates on the show—including peanut-butter femurs that look remarkably like the real thing and shrunken-head cookies—but also the creepy-cute mansion where the action takes place and the murderous, Jim Henson Company-crafted creatures—like sex-crazed firebug raccoon Rose and hulking werewolf Edgar—that live there. There are only six half-hour-ish episodes in the show’s first season, meaning you can watch the whole thing in under three hours; Curious Creations also follows a season-long story arc, making it more bingeable than most shows in the genre. The final episode takes place on Halloween—which, yes, was three weeks ago. But considering the show is aimed at the sort of viewer who thinks Halloween should last all year, that’s hardly an issue. What might be an issue, however, is explaining Rose’s popularity with the neighborhood dogs to young children. [Katie Rife]
Dogs (Netflix, 6 episodes)
At first glance, Dogs, a new docuseries about humankind’s best friend (cats are really more like frenemies), looks like the kind of background-noise programming you can nap in front of or throw on to thwart invasive questions. But the Netflix series, from Glen Zipper and Amy Berg, has a lot more heart and depth than crowd-pleasing canine content like Precious Puppies—it shows just how complementary the relationship between people and pups is. In one episode, a doe-eyed Labrador mix acts as child and colleague to an Italian fisherman, while another installment centers on the artistry of Japanese dog groomers, who find their clientele loyal and inspiring. At just six hours, you can easily watch Dogs over the course of your Thanksgiving meal. But if you must choose, we recommend the third episode (starring Ice) and the fifth episode, the latter of which is set in a dog village—er, refuge—in Costa Rica. [Danette Chavez]
The Night Manager (Amazon, 6 episodes)
The Night Manager stars Olivia Colman, Tom Hiddleston, and Hugh Laurie, which should be enough to hit “play.” Based on the novel by John le Carré, it hits all the notes you’d expect from the British espionage author, as Hiddleston’s Jonathan Pine (the titular night manager) tries to foil Laurie’s international arms dealer. The 1993 book has been geographically updated for the 2010s, and a few other updates help freshen it up, as well—namely Olivia Colman, whose character in the book was a man, as dogged British agent Angela Burr, who’s on a quest to bring down Laurie’s Richard Roper. She masterminds a deep undercover job in which Pine joins Roper’s inner circle, and the ensuing series—which is beautifully shot across four countries—unspools its action with near-perfect tension, at Susanne Bier’s direction. Hiddleston and Laurie, ostensibly on opposite sides of international law, bring nuanced charm and danger to their respective roles. Although le Carré is nearly always adapted to the big screen, The Night Manager makes an excellent case for espionage miniseries. [Laura M. Browning]
Pride & Prejudice (1995) (Amazon, 6 episodes)
This miniseries adaptation of Pride & Prejudice is still the gold standard, with a stoney-faced Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy and Jennifer Ehle as the charming and willful Elizabeth Bennet. Six hours may seem like a long time for a slow-moving period piece, but there’s a reason this story keeps getting adapted: it’s thoroughly engaging, and this particular cast is especially so. The perfect backdrop for a long day of cooking, it’s as pleasant as other British imports like The Great British Baking Show but even easier to drop in and out of (though we also recommend devoting your full attention to it at some point, perhaps a gray, snowy day in February; it’s worth every minute and goes great with hot cocoa). It’s a romance but not a saccharine one, and the female-heavy cast includes Julia Sawalha (Absolutely Fabulous) as the headstrong and carefree Lydia, and a small appearance from Lucy Davis in her first television role. [Laura M. Browning]
Us & Them (Sony Crackle, 7 episodes)
One of those rare instances where you can guarantee that nobody in the house has seen the show, presuming they weren’t working at the Fox network five years ago. An Americanized version of hit Britcom Gavin & Stacey starring Jason Ritter and Alexis Bledel, Us & Them was ordered to series the same spring as Brooklyn Nine-Nine, scheduled for midseason 2014, and premiered… in 2018, on its studio’s ad-supported streaming site. It’s the interstate love story of a city boy and a country girl, their less-than-smitten best friends (Ashlie Atkinson and Dustin Ybarra), and their eccentric families (Kurt Fuller, Jane Kaczmarek, and the mini-State reunion of Kerri Kenney and Michael Ian Black). Whereas most rom-coms ask “Will they/won’t they?”, Us & Them’s disappearing act poses the question, “What if?” [Erik Adams]
Black Lake (Shudder, 8 episodes)
Horror streaming service Shudder has incorporated TV series into its roster, meaning there are now a bevy of darkly appealing offerings for those who want to spend a little more time getting lost in a scary story. Black Lake takes a classic horror premise—a group of friends head to a remote cabin in the mountains for a snow-capped vacation, only for bad things to start happening—and invests depth and human drama in it. The Swedish chiller follows Hanna (Sarah-Sofie Boussnina) and her friends as they take a trip out to a ski lodge that’s been closed for years after a horrific crime was committed there, as her boyfriend Johan has designs on buying and reopening the place. But Hanna soon starts hearing strange noises coming from the basement, and as inexplicable situations befall various members of the group, she suspects there’s a sinister force at play—though whether it’s human or something else isn’t entirely clear. At eight episodes, it’s the perfect length for occupying the evenings of your holiday weekend, or a day-long binge. [Alex McLevy]
Joe Pera Talks With You (Adult Swim, 9 episodes)
Amid the abrasive and rapid-fire sensory assaults that constitute most Adult Swim programming (hell, most TV these days), it’s a joy to find a series so committed to gentle whimsy and laidback rhythms. Joe Pera Talks With You is based around the soft-spoken and deadpan persona of comedian Joe Pera, a series of 10- to 15-minutes episodes (save for the double-length finale) that find the star expounding on small-town life in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. It’s funny without being caustic, witty without being biting, and never condescends to either its audience or an assortment of good-natured townsfolk, most of whom live a far more conventionally paced existence than the droll titular character. To say it’s a soothing balm for the headache of daily life is to undersell the humor and sly commentary, but it’s also true. You could binge the whole thing in a few hours, but honestly, it might be better appreciated spaced out—each installment a small treat for whenever you feel a holiday-derived headache of your own coming on. [Alex McLevy]
3% (Netflix, 16 episodes)
What at first appears to be a variation on The Hunger Games/Battle Royale formula (in a near-future dystopian world, a test called “The Process” allows all 20-year-olds to compete in an effort to be part of the titular percentage that wins the right to escape society and live on an elite island paradise) soon reveals itself to be a slick and addictive psychological thriller. The first season follows a group of young people as they fight to make it through the Process, while among the people running the test there’s word of a revolutionary insurrectionist who has infiltrated this latest array of candidates, intent on taking down the entire system. It’s a combination of political intrigue, spy-games espionage, and gleeful survival-of-the-fittest gamesmanship, and this Portuguese-language production (only the second non-English series produced by the streaming giant) deserves a wide American audience for its splashy and smart storytelling. [Alex McLevy]
Freakazoid! (VRV, 24 episodes)
In the Venn diagram overlap between the pop-culture-savvy zaniness of Tiny Toon Adventures and Animaniacs and the sophisticated comic-book capering of Batman: The Animated Series there lies a masked teen whose powers include lightning-fast jibber jabber and bursting through the fourth wall. Brought to life by the superteam of Bruce Timm, Paul Dini, and Tom Ruegger, Freakazoid! was a volatile outlier within the Kids’ WB lineup, whose titular character was as apt to get wrapped up in an elaborate Hello, Dolly! riff as he was to save the day. The missing link in the evolution of our current superhero-obsessed, meta-humor-saturated age, Freakazoid! is the purveyor of non sequiturs that have been stuck in your brain for a couple of decades and the source of a gloriously deadpan Ed Asner performance you never knew you needed. Whatever the case, it might just be the thing to cue up when your cousins are clamoring to watch Deadpool for the umpteenth time. [Erik Adams]
Dead Like Me (Amazon, 29 episodes)
The very first of numerous shows that Hannibal creator Bryan Fuller would leave over “creative differences,” the TV auteur walked away from Dead Like Me five episodes into its first season. The show follows 18-year-old Georgia “George” Lass (Ellen Muth) after she’s killed by a toilet seat that broke off the Mir space station as it fell to Earth. George soon learns she’s become a grim reaper—one of those tasked with harvesting the souls of the soon-to-be-departed (preferably right before they die) and shepherding them to the afterlife. Joining up with a coterie of fellow reapers (including wonderful turns from actors like Mandy Patinkin and Jasmine Guy), George tries to navigate the thorny issues of life after death, while trying to keep an eye on her still-alive and grieving family. Season two expands the mythology of the show in interesting and unusual ways; just be sure to avoid the dispiriting years-later TV movie follow-up, Dead Like Me: Life After Death. [Alex McLevy]
Monty Python’s Flying Circus (Netflix, 45 episodes)
And now for something completely essential: The groundbreaking sketch show that spent several years bouncing around the streamosphere (RIP Seeso) landed on Netflix in 2018, accompanied by Life Of Brian, various live recordings, a smattering of documentaries, curated compilations, and the Pythons’ brief attempt to translate their quintessentially British silliness into German. But it all started with this—well, technically it started with the stuff glimpsed in Monty Python: Before The Flying Circus (get on with it!)—four series of stream-of-consciousness absurdities linked by surreal animations, prone to self-aware interruptions, and rightly praised for turning the square realm of midcentury television inside out. Sure, you can get the highlights compressed into the also-streaming anthology Parrot Sketch Not Included, but with the complete Flying Circus, you get “The Spanish Inquisition” (though you’d never expect it), “Argument Clinic,” and “The Ministry Of Silly Walks” in their original context. Plus, this way, you get to see that dead (passed on! Ceased to be! ex-) parrot. [Erik Adams]
Z Nation (Netflix, 55 episodes)
Five seasons in, and Syfy’s laudably demented zombie action series Z Nation shows no signs of slowing either the mayhem or the reliably weird and inventive narrative conceits. Another variant on the post-apocalyptic drama in which the undead are back and making life very difficult for the increasingly small remaining human population, Z Nation zags where The Walking Dead zigs, going big and bonkers with broad comedy and gruesome effects alike as a multicultural band of survivors led by Lt. Roberta Warren (the charming Kellita Smith) come together several years after a zombie virus has wiped out most of humanity. Tasked with ferrying the sole immune human across the country to a CDC outpost, the group encounters one weird situation after another, making for a show that upends the dour conventions of the genre even as it treats its human drama with gravity. It’s gotten progressively smarter and more ambitious with each passing year, as the season-one hijinks transition into thoughtful sci-fi mystery in season four, the most recent season available. [Alex McLevy]
The Great British Baking Show (Netflix, 60 episodes)
The world did not end when hosts Sue and Mel and judge Mary Berry left The Great British Baking Show. New hosts Sandi Toksvig and Noel Fielding don’t have quite the same easy rapport as their predecessors, but they bring the same warmth and humor, while new judge Prue Leith brings a welcome counter to the steely eyed Paul Hollywood; in fact, while there’s no replacing the supreme Berry, Prue and Paul have an affinity for each other that was missing from the previous judge’s relationship. The contestants, the challenges, and the warm pleasures of The Great British Baking Show are as kindly as ever in this, the most friendly of competition shows. Netflix houses the two new seasons as “Collection 5” and “Collection 6.” Keep some Thanksgiving pie on hand and give thanks that the simple comfort of British baking can weather stormy seas. [Caitlin PenzeyMoog]
Battlestar Galactica (Hulu and Amazon, 75 episodes)
Over an initial miniseries, four more seasons, and two TV movies, Battlestar Galactica took its 1978 cult classic inspiration and turned it into a bonafide success, bringing viewers a thrilling survival story that is far more thoughtful than it looks at first glance. “The Cylons were created by man,” begins this sci-fi space adventure’s opening line. “…And then the day came when the Cylons decided to kill their masters.” While humans struggle to survive after the majority of their home lands are destroyed in a Cylon attack, Battlestar Galactica explores themes of personhood, representative democracy, military responsibility, and corruption of power, always coming back to ideas of sentience and what makes a being “human.” Start with the miniseries, which plays more like a three-hour movie than anything, before traveling alongside the last of the human race and their discontent progeny across the stars. [Caitlin PenzeyMoog]
Living Single (Hulu, 118 episodes)
25 years after its premiere, Living Single still doesn’t get nearly enough credit for inventing the urban sitcom format later seen on Friends and Girls, let alone for its cast, an electric (and sexy) ensemble that included Queen Latifah, Kim Fields, and Erika Alexander. The Fox series, from Yvette Lee Bowser (then Yvette Denise Lee), broke ground by following the lives of six black people in the city: an ambitious publisher (Latifah); her mild-mannered cousin (Kim Coles); their imperious friend (Fields); their other fierce friend (Alexander); and their odd-couple neighbors (T.C. Carson and John Henton). Disappointment and success, of the professional and personal variety, filled every hilarious half-hour of this ’90s kind of world. Hulu snagged the complete series earlier this year, so once you’ve had enough of your relatives, spend some time with this chosen family—“true blue, and tight like glue.” [Danette Chavez]
St. Elsewhere (Hulu, 137 episodes)
This pioneering medical show is another recent key acquisition for Hulu, part of a deal with 20th Century Fox that added nearly nearly 3,000 episodes to the service’s library. (We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: Hulu, not Netflix, is the streamer that actually cares about TV.) Subscribers have long had access to St. Elsewhere’s first season, but now that the show’s complete run is back in circulation, you can more easily bear witness to the stranger paths traveled by the staff of crumbling St. Eligius, from the decade-spanning two-parter “Time Heals” (with Edward Herrmann as swing-loving hospital founder Father McCabe!) to the episode where the veteran docs decamp to Cheers to decompress over beers and Carla’s jeers. There’s plenty of compelling workplace drama and memorable characters (if you only know William Daniels as Boy Meets World’s Mr. Feeny, you must see his Emmy-winning turn as prickly heart surgeon Dr. Mark Craig) in between, but if you’re in it for the historic oddities, an episode that launched TV’s widest-ranging shared-universe theory—after all the viewers it infuriated calmed down, at least. [Erik Adams]
Unsolved Mysteries (Amazon, 356 episodes; Hulu, 10 episodes)
A mix of true crime and the paranormal, of cold cases and urban legends, Unsolved Mysteries probably didn’t mean to traumatize the very viewers it was trying to keep informed and safe, but it did so all the same. The show’s overtly spooky direction and Robert Stack’s voice, a steely sound ideal for describing both earthly wrongdoings and the supernatural, made this hourlong stretch in front of the TV more unsettling than Masters Of Horror (well, almost). You’re already going to be on edge this holiday season, so why not revisit some old crimes and ghost stories? Consider this the snacking option—which is still a necessary part of any bingewatch guide—and watch a handful of episodes from seasons 1-12 on Amazon, or check out Dennis Farina’s stint as host via the handpicked season 14 episodes available on Hulu. [Danette Chavez]
120 Comments
I just watch ‘Turkeys Away’.
Why did I just sing that to the tune of “Anchors Aweigh”?
“What’s that?” –The AV Club TV staff
As God as my witness…
If you get the channel MeTV, that is scheduled for Thursday night.
Oh hell yes to WKRP
Its the best TDay episode ever
The Venture Bros. (Hulu, 71 Episodes)
Do they have the specials? Kodi never has the new season specials.
The marathon stream on the AdultSwim channel has all of the specials.
They do not have all the specials unfortunately. A Very Venture Christmas and Ladle to the Grave are not there.
What about All This and Gargantua-2?
That is there.
Hulu’s got it. They have it all up until (but not) the new season. Not sure if they have “Ladle…”
That’s why Venture Bros. is one of the few things I still make sure to purchase every time a new one comes out.
No mention of Joe Bob’s Dinners of Death on Shudder? For shame, AV Club.
…although I guess it’s technically a stream of movies, but then again, it is a live stream, which might make it more legitimately TV-y than binging stuff on Netflix.
Came in to suggest that. I wasn’t able to catch much of his marathon earlier this year, but I’m already planning on parking it on the couch for this entire thing on Thursday.
Agreed that’s an excellent alternative option. It’s not TV, but if you’re in the market for movies, that or MST3K are where it’s at.
My wife got me into this (I never experienced his original show). That’s our plan, then seeing How Rednecks Saved Hollywood next Friday.
The Neighbors available on Hulu. They have great holiday related episodes too.
I never cared for this show (the ads didn’t really look all that good), even though I watched The Middle; then I tried it when it was on the second-to-last season and found I really enjoyed it, then was pretty disappointed when it got canceled.
It’s odd and seemingly high(or stupid) concept, but it works so much better than you’d think it would. I really enjoyed it and was sad it got can’d. Some great comedic actors specifically the one who played Jackie Joyner Kersee (apparently Toks Olagundoye), but everyone else too.
Surprisingly enjoyable. Details like the sports hero character names really pulled it up some. And effectsy tropes are well executed and story-based, not seemingly pulled from a checklist. And yes, Toks Olagundoye is an amazing standout in a laudable ensemble. I so want to see (not just hear) her in more things, I’m actually considering watching Castle.
Just watch all the Thanksgiving themed Bob’s Burgers and finish with the WKRP turkey drop.
Maybe I’m just traditional, but MST3K is my choice this, and every, year.Oh, I watched the German Python show and found myself laughing harder than any other MP episode. Maybe it’s just funnier in German.
America’s #2 spaceman, Buzz Aldrin!
And eisgekaltes schweineswasser of course
Maybe I’m just traditional, but MST3K is my choice this, and every, year.You and I are best friends now. Have a fantastic one, my man.
And this year, there’s new episodes.
Especially since the new season drops on Thanksgiving day on Netflix. They already did the Turkey Day Livestream a few days ago. Speaking of the new Season, does anyone else think that riffing Mac & Me was a good choice since it’s already well worn territory by now?
I think it’s a great choice, as it’s highly riffable even if it has been done.
I had no idea that mocking Mac & Me was already a thing. I was excited to see MST was doing a movie I actually remember.
The only part of Mac & Me I had ever seen before MST3K today was that clip Paul Rudd always showed on Conan O’Brien’s shows.
NO MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER HOW DARE YOU
Didn’t even list the MST3K turkey day marathon Netflix is dropping?
Somebody Feed Phil on Netflix. If it doesn’t make you want to invite Phil over to feed him, you just might be dead inside.
My go-to is “Ang’s Giving” on Nickelodeon. Don’t know if they’re doing it again officially this year, but if not, I’ll pop in the DVDs.First choice: Avatar: The Last AirbenderSecond choice: Avatar: The Legend of KorraThird choice: Invader Zim!Fourth choice: A scramble of the greatest hits from all of the above.Dessert: The Shnissugah episode of Billy and Mandy (a mostly awful show with sporadic brilliance).
Is this where we complain about the end of BSG again?
I’d rather complain about the newest season (on Netflix) of TGBBO’s finale and how incredibly stupid and infuriating the pita technical was. “BAKING” ON A FUCKING CAMPFIRE? That’s not a test of skill when no one knows how to cook on an open flame. That’s rolling dice. Exciting.
Possibly. It was a complete train wreck, and needs to be ridiculed at every opportunity.
Wait.. no MST3K? Seriously? What one of the few series’ that has a history with Thanksgiving AND they have new episodes dropping this Thanksgiving?
The special version of MST3K’s “Night of the Blood Beast” with the Turkey Day host segments I think is a particular must
Big Mouth (Netflix, 20 episodes)You’re welcome.
Enjoy a Thanksgiving Jizz-cuit!
Not one MST3K reference. I’ll expect your resignation on my desk by the end of the day.
“You have a desk?”“I mean the hood of my car”
Maybe the author just plain dislikes it but MST3K and Thanksgiving are so entwined at this point its just weird not to even give it a runner up mention on a list like this. Especially since a NEW SEASON drops on Thanksgiving!
Just remember when watching BSG to skip the Season 2 episode Black Market, an episode even the showrunners thought was too dark.
I think “terrible” is a better descriptor than “dark” concerning Black Market.
“Pushing Daisies” is a more holiday appropriate choice than “Dead Like Me” for Bryan Fuller shows. It’s also streaming on Amazon Prime right now.
I found Curious Creations so hard to watch. Like, the trailer made it look like it was going to be a fun cooking show. And then after 10 minutes of puppets and bad acting, I couldn’t watch anymore. Didn’t even make it into the kitchen.
I loved Freakazoid! So many great actors on that (Ed, Ricardo Montalban, Craig Ferguson). And my favorite villian of all – Arms Akimbo.
I’m genuinely disappointed that this list doesn’t include Bob’s Burgers’ Thanksgiving episodes (all on Hulu). Streaming all of them back-to-back has become my favorite Thanksgiving tradition.
The lack of MST3K on this list is unforgivable. They’re even dropping an entire new season on thanksgiving for people to marathon their own way.
If I watch Dogs during/after Dinner I will cry non stop. Our Girl of 15 3/4 years just passed away this Summer. 1st Thanksgiving since 2002 without her, Dogs on Netflixs will make my whole family and my two remaining dogs cry. Like Mina Kimes the other day, I started tearing up from the trailer, because we don’t deserve dogs.
If you arent watching Dutch with Ed O’Neill on thanksgiving then I don’t know what you are doing with your life.
I actually saw that in the theaters. I genuinely liked it although apparently the rest of America at the time didn’t agree with me if my local theater was any barometer.
is St. Elsewhere’s still the worst season finale? Off the top of my head:St. ElsewhereMad MenRoseanne
Enterprise What else? (haven’t seen BSG or Lost, so can’t judge.)
I love the Mad Men finale, unless you mean a different season end episode
the first three seasons of that show are my favourite tv drama ever. The last two where enjoyable but just threaded water. The Coke ad final scene was just so out of character with everything else in the show, it just jarred. (See also, Sopranos)
I’d disagree with that: while I think some of season 6 is a bit all over the place, the Coke scene in context to Don’s breakthrough in that hippie commune (which I think is an incredible scene) makes perfect sense. I also loved the stress of SCDP and the rest, plus the expansion to California and the big leagues of GM.
the show was always enjoyable, but I just hated that it ended with a real commercial. They never did that before, it took me out of the experience and it felt like cheating. And it felt a bit smug, tbh.
Oh shush. The Mad Men finale is great.
SopranosLOSTHow I Met Your MotherDexter (didn’t see this one myself but heard about it)
good shout on Sopranos. In fact, just the final shot (no pun intended)
when you say Sopranos you mean “best”, right
No way! I want my hand held, with everything thoroughly explained, and a painfully detailed montage of what happened in the future lives of every character on the show.
1. How I Met Your Mother2. Being hit by a car whose driver is distracted by thinking about how bad HIMYM’s ending was…3 – 1,000. All other endings.
Seinfeld.
It was disappointing because it was just mediocre.
It was boring, too.
Not 100% correct. Mediocrity was a flaw, yes, but the true failing of the last Seinfeld was that, after airing a LONG clip show before the “new” episode, the finale is merely a clip show itself.
No offense, but I can’t believe that this is a go-to even 20 years later. If only for the return of the Soup Nazi (and the SNL “Oz” crossover), it’s really impossible for me to put this in the same category as, say, the HIMYM finale (which I could’ve forgiven for its flaws if it had the good sense to not have Ted and Robin get together).
St. Elsewhere’s ending was perfect.
LOST is an admittedly soft landing, but it was either that or a ‘The Prisoner’-style psychsdelic freak-out involving a gorilla suit and a dwarf. Just sayin’…
Or, you know, maybe a ending that actually explained what the Dharma Initiative was up to — which was the whole interesting thing about the show.
Dharma was likely trying to harness the power of the island with some kind if Venture Industries-style super-science. Still gonna need the gorilla suit and dwarf for that.
I was shocked to see yesterday on Netflix that season 3 of the Last Kingdom was ready to stream! Did we all know this existed?
Yes, but only because I watched each of the episodes on Couchtuner more or less the minute they became available. Love pretty much all of Cornwell’s stuff, and this adaptation is solid, if a bit rushed.
I know I’m off topic here, but who are the editorial cartoons on the Onion for? Are they meant to be a parody of a really bad, perhaps right-wing cartoonist? They are devoid of humor, and just seem mean-spirited if anything. Those are really bizarre.
I love ’em. Yes, I think it’s just a parody of a dopey, frumpy old cartoonist.
This should give some insight:https://www.newyorker.com/culture/sarah-larson/brilliantly-terrible-the-political-cartoons-of-the-onions-stan-kellyLike so many things, it started out with a firm premise (parody of right-wing cartoonists/commentators) and then evolved based on characters and subplots (i.e., the creator as the main character, an unrepentant alcoholic senior who secretly hates his family). I think they’re hilarious.
Go with a mix of traditional and new: some MST3K followed by Thanksgiving episodes of Brooklyn 99 (let Jake’s hatred of the holiday flow through you) and Friends.
Jake’s Thanksgiving toast about how it is a garbage holiday where people overeat and then at midnight go to appliance store parking lots to trample each other to death was perhaps the greatest Thanksgiving TV moment ever for me
I do love those episodes! Are they collected anywhere?
I think Brooklyn 9-9 is on Hulu
Sweet! Thanks!
I also like to throw in Addams Family Values. I still don’t know why a summer camp would be putting on a production of a Thanksgiving play, but Wednesday’s monologue is my everything.
One of the greatest moments in American cinema. Wednesday is my inspiration!
This being one of the best sequels ever was a huge surprise to me. This is where Ricci’s potential for a career beyond childhood became clear to me, and Baranski and MacNicol are an infinitely watchable pair.
“What did you put in these mashed potatoes?”“Oh, salt, sugar, flour…”“Why, because they’re all white?”“I ran out of salt.”
“Why wouldn’t you?! They’re all white powders. Of course they’re interchangeable!”[Completely sarcasm-blind] “… Yeah.”
one word – MST3K.
… ahem …https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/be-thankful-for-the-pee-wees-playhouse-marathon-this-thanksgiving
He’s coming back btw!
I love that show so much. Bizarre, yes, and also very clever. When it showed up, 13-year-old me really felt I’d levelled-up on comedy sophistication.
How about 17 Nopes and let’s all just watch Mystery Science Theater 3000 Although Freakazoid is awesome and I haven’t watched it in ages.
Living Single. Yes. I’ve been sorry Erika Alexander didn’t see more success after the end of that show. She was amazing on it. Great at the drama and with amazing comic chops.
Now I want to see just what happens. With this new bit. are they going to jack the price up a mile high? Put add’s in everything? Go the way Cable TV did?This pack chose this pack and get this & that. you all know what I’m talking about.
The best part of ‘The Night Manager’ is Olivia Colman’s apparent 18 month pregnancy.
I need to record ‘The Little Drummer Girl’ to binge this weekend.
I’m going to check out “The Night Manager” this weekend.If you like that kind of joint, I highly recommend “Patriot.”
Neither of these was that involving. I‘ll look into Patriot, though.
I’ll be watching Narcos: Mexico, which just came out on Netflix and the series has been highly binge-worthy.
Bob’s Burgers has a terrific lineup of Thanksgiving episodes!
AV Club — please un-grey me! Look at my profile… I’m not a troll!
Well covered, but I must also mention how the lack of Mystery Science Theater 3000 is shameful, especially with a new season debuting on the show’s 30th anniversary. Sure, AV Club has been giving plenty of lip service to the show’s upcoming season, but this surely deserves mentioning here.
Bob’s Burgers TDay marathon. I guess on Hulu in USA?
The night manager was amazing. St Elsewhere will always have a place in my heart. It was one of those “me and mom” shows that I loved growing up, along with Hill Street Blues. When I started working, I first got a job working night shift, and my mom would tape it for me, and when I got home around 7-8:00AM, she would make me breakfast and we’d watch it together. Highly recommended.
“Excuse me Mr. editor, I have a plan: let’s do a list of shows to stream on on Thanksgiving, BUT leave off MST3K, so that we get 10 times more comments!”
Is the headline a reference to Tullycraft’s ”New Traditions, Old Standards”? Hi-five to whoever was responsible.
So. Americans. Vital question here: do you guys eat turkey at Christmas as well as Thanksgiving? If so, that seems like way too much turkey.Thank you. As a token of my appreciation, here’s President Bartlet pardoning a turkey.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luTzmLiVC4I
Some do. Others go for ham, prime rib or lasagna. I would love another Turkey!
I feel that this is just a list of things you want to binge versus having any relation to Thanksgiving.
Yeah, I was expecting some sort of theme, but it was just a random list of shows worth watching. And most of them can’t be binged in a day, so I’m surprised there wasn’t some sort of “key episodes to check out.”
Bad list does not include watching all 10 Friends Tday episodes. I am up to season 3 (Living in a box!). My favorite is the one with the trifle and bong hits will be had before play is pressed. My favorite tradition!
The new BattleStar Galactica? The 9/11 hysteria series that imagined crazed monotheists with supernatural powers in a homicidal frenzy as *real*? Sic!It is long, long past the time people should pretend this was actually well-written, instead of button-pushing. This is especially offensive when AVClub has been spending desperately reaching to call out series and movies that are far less blatant. AVClub staff obsess over their feminist credentials but they still tout a series which actually has the gall to pretend the woman president who was overthrown by a male general nevertheless doesn’t just work with him because end of the world, but *falls in love like a schoolgirl* with him! I’ve seen so much nonsense about women I’m pretty hardened but that was still amazing, in a bad way.
They made an American version of “Gavin and Stacey?” I cannot remotely see how that would work it was such a funny but sweet very British/Welsh comedy. You’d better leave Black books alone America…
I wonder is Freakazoid holds up, I loved it as a kid. Hopefully it’ll come to something other than VRV(?) eventually so I can find out.
I challenge anyone to find 5 sitcom Thanksgiving episodes where anyone involved has ANY IDEA how long things take to cook.