From ‘Friends’ to ‘How I Met Your Mother’: 10 Memorable Thanksgiving Traditions In TV Shows
Catching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Gathering at the dining table. Digesting during football. Those are just some typical Thanksgiving traditions done by families around the country. But for others, their traditions may be a little more obscure.
Slapping, cursing, singing, or trading in the turkey for some pizza, whether fictional families or real-life relatives, the Thanksgiving traditions on television shows, old and new, are ones to remember.
Slapsgiving (‘How I Met Your Mother’)
Having a Friendsgiving was common for the five best friends of How I Met Your Mother, but turkey and football were the farthest things from their Thanksgiving tradition. For half of the show’s Thanksgiving episodes, the gang endured in a Slapsgiving.
After Marshall (Jason Segel) won the Slap Bet—in which he got to slap Barney (Neil Patrick Harris) five times whenever he felt like it—he informed Barney the slap could be coming any time during Thanksgiving. The slaps continued in the show’s second and third Slapsgiving episodes, during which other members of the group got to slap Barney.
Bev and Nana Marie (‘Roseanne’)
A running joke on the ’90s sitcom Roseanne was the characters’ hatred for Roseanne (Roseanne Barr) and Jackie’s mother. Bev (Estelle Parsons) would always show up when she was least wanted; one of those times was always Thanksgiving.
Bev typically showed up at Roseanne’s house for Turkey Day with Nana Marie beside her, and the two tough-to-please women would always cause more chaos than there already was for The Conners.
Pizza (‘General Hospital’)
Soap operas aren’t always big on celebrating holidays—too busy dealing with rampaging serial killers or dramatic love triangles—but on General Hospital, the daytime drama never ceases to make Thanksgiving memorable.
For Port Charles’ well-known Quartermaine family, their Thanksgiving Days may not always go to plan, but they follow tradition. Not only do they always wind up ordering pizza after their turkey dinners get destroyed, but before they dive into the pizza boxes, they declare, “First we sing, then we eat,” and proceed to join together in a rendition of “We Gather Together” by Adrianus Valerius.
“Thanks-f—ing-giving” (‘The Goldbergs’)
The Goldbergs always add some ’80s nostalgia to the holidays, but in their Thanksgiving episodes, it’s all about the family. Year after year is the same, with Beverly’s (Wendi McLendon-Covey) dinner being threatened and Uncle Marvin (Dan Fogler) dropping in with some new money-making scheme.
When it’s all said and done, and everything is going wrong, it’s become a Thanksgiving tradition for Beverly to lose her cool and exclaim, “It’s Thanks-f—ing-giving!” — a phrase Beverly can be heard saying in every single Thanksgiving episode.
Episode Titles (‘The Middle’)
For Frankie Heck (Patricia Heaton) and her family, having a successful Thanksgiving can be a feat on The Middle. While The Hecks don’t have a specific tradition of their own, the creators always did for the show’s nine seasons.
Starting with the Season 1 episode “Thanksgiving” in 2009, every episode centered around the holiday would be titled “Thanksgiving” and its consecutive Roman numeral, ending with “Thanksgiving IX” in Season 9.
The Thanksgiving Song (‘Bob’s Burgers’)
As far as Bob’s Burgers episodes go, their Thanksgiving ones remain some of the most memorable. All but the first two seasons include The Belchers celebrating Turkey Day, and they’ve always done it with a special song.
Hits like “Captain Casserole,” “You’ve Got the Guts,” and “Saving the Bird” have appeared in Thanksgiving episodes and can be found on Spotify, while rock band The National has covered several other Thanksgiving songs from the series.
Seth Meyers’ Family (‘Late Night With Seth Meyers’)
When Jimmy Fallon passed the Late Night torch to fellow SNL alum Seth Meyers in 2014, the former Weekend Update host created a whole new Thanksgiving for himself and his family on Late Night with Seth Meyers.
For 10 seasons and counting, Meyers has made it an annual holiday tradition to host a Thanksgiving episode which, instead of interviewing guests, features his parents, Hilary and Larry, and his brother Josh.
Santa’s Arrival (‘Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade’)
When it comes to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, some floats, balloons, and performers change year after year, while some always remain the same, like Astronaut Snoopy, Ronald McDonald’s presence, and the parade’s mascot Tom Turkey kicking things off.
But when the parade comes to an end and its final float rides down 7th Ave., it’s been a tradition for Santa Claus to arrive in his sleigh to kick off the Christmas season. While Santa’s sleigh has appeared in the parade since its 1924 debut, it turned into the parade’s finale starting in the ’70s.
The National Dog Show (‘The National Dog Show’)
What started as The Kennel Club of Philadelphia Dog Show in 1979 eventually turned into the nationally broadcasted dog show known as The National Dog Show after NBC Sports rebranded it in 2002.
Hosting over 3,000 canine competitors and narrowing it down to around 200, The National Dog Show has become a Thanksgiving Day tradition, typically airing immediately after the Macy’s Parade.
Friendsgiving (‘Friends’)
Some say it was Ross (David Schwimmer), Rachel (Jennifer Aniston), Monica (Courteney Cox), Chandler (Matthew Perry), Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow), and Joey (Matt LeBlanc) who invented Friendsgiving, which was the premise of almost every Thanksgiving episode of Friends. Rather than gathering with their separate families, these six best friends always celebrated Turkey Day together.
When they weren’t running around with turkeys on their heads, forgetting they were supposed to be in the Macy’s Parade, or resolving sibling rivalry over a game of football, the friends usually enjoy a Thanksgiving meal together.
