The Oh-So-Permanent Thanksgiving Thread

[mimitchi33]

I've heard Christmas music, here and there. But that's mostly at the actual Christmas shops, so maybe that doesn't count, lol.

Me too. It doesn't usually happen in my town until the night of the middle school play. And one of my radio stations also does a holiday light show.

and that Hanna-Barbera special from the 70s with the talking squirrel who was at the first Thanksgiving (I keep forgetting what it's called).

I looked it up, and it's called The Thanksgiving That Almost Wasn't.

 

[Drtooth]

But yeah, I guess it's hard to turn the idea of European settlers being thankful for a new land and a feast that the Natives shared with them into a big secular commercial racket, which is probably the main reason why Thanksgiving always gets the short end of the stick as far as holidays go.

Strange thing is, Thanksgiving has more to actually do with Abe Lincoln and FDR than it does with Pilgrims and Indians. The first "Thanksgiving" was an extension of one time celebratory feasts that were common in Europe. Abe Lincoln put it forth as an actual holiday after an appeal from someone who wrote an open letter about how we should set aside a day a year loosely based on the Pilgrim story, but Abe started it mainly as a celebration that the Civil War was over. FDR's hand comes in later. This is a good one. The retailers were actually pressuring FDR to move the already loose date for Thanksgiving much earlier... so they can move Christmas shopping season much sooner. Yeah! They were trying for that since the 40's! FDR stood his ground and made it the fourth Thursday of November. So technically, the holiday is much newer than we think.

And yes, this was information I got from a PBS Burt Wolf travelogue. it was on last night and I managed to catch that part. So really, we have Abe and FDR to thank for the holiday much more than the Pilgrim story. Turn those buckle hats into stovepipe hats. You have a more historically accurate decoration.

 

[D'Snowth]

So technically, the holiday is much newer than we think.

Much of America didn't start observing/celebrating Halloween till the 1920s.

 

[CensoredAlso]

OK, if Thanksgiving refuses to come to you, then you just have to seek it out! Today I'll watch the Thanksgiving episode of Family Ties, where the mom and dad get put in jail for protesting nuclear war.

No Nukes is Good Nukes

Some observations:

1. Hey, it's Darrin #2 playing Elsie's father!

2. The joke in all these sitcom holiday episodes was that someone in the family was a lousy cook. Such a concept was foreign to me growing up, and now I am very thankful indeed.

3. Watching these sitcoms as a kid, I was so jealous because the families would always end up in some kind of outrageous or uncomfortable situation for the holidays, and yet somehow they found a way to make it work. It made me want to get stuck in an airport, random diner, or heck even jail, for the holidays, lol.

4. Family Ties was an odd little show. It certainly helped pioneer the "very special episode" format. But it didn't really go for the showy dramatic moments of something like All in the Family. On Family Ties, everything eventually led back to a joke. But they weren't just cheap laughs; they always came from the characters and their quirks. It works, but it's such a strange combination.

5. You know if they tried rebooting Family Ties today, I imagine they'd have no idea how to do Alex properly. The writers would probably balk at making a Young Republican at all likeable, never mind the break out teen idol of the show. If you watch the full episode (see link below), there's actually a very intelligent discussion about nuclear war, and both sides of the argument are heard. No one ends up looking like the "bad guy." There's really no bad guy in the episode at all, except, tellingly, a judge who interferes with the parents' freedom of speech. I think that says a lot about where our priorities should be.

http://www.cbs.com/shows/family_ties/video/722993934/family-ties-no-nukes-is-good-nukes/

 

[Drtooth]

I'm more partial to the new tradition of Thanksgiving episodes of Bob's Burgers. Especially Bob's drunken hallucination of My Neighbor Totoro, only with a Turkey instead of Totoro...

 

[D'Snowth]

Isn't that guy in the green bowling jacket the fake Kramer who stole the box of raisins?

 

[Drtooth]

I... I think it is!

And who steals raisins? They look like... well, you've seen the Chipmunks' first live action movie trailer. That's part of the reason I don't eat them.

So I hope that I don't get served something with raisins in it this Thanksgiving... see? I tied it in there.

 

[CensoredAlso]

3. Watching these sitcoms as a kid, I was so jealous because the families would always end up in some kind of outrageous or uncomfortable situation for the holidays, and yet somehow they found a way to make it work. It made me want to get stuck in an airport, random diner, or heck even jail, for the holidays, lol.

Well, be careful what you wish for! Turns out my Mom is sick and we can't go to my relatives' house for Thanksgiving. For the first time ever, my family is going to have to try doing Thanksgiving at home...with two days notice, lol. It's going to be tricky, wish us luck!

 

[FunnieGuy]

Happy Thanksgiving.

 

[mr3urious]

I'm thankful to be totally stuffed after making a huge dinner with and my family. The turkey didn't go exactly as planned, unfortunately, but the side dishes were amazing, so I'm also thankful to be gifted in that department.