Thanksgiving Cornucopia 2009

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope everyone enjoys the long holiday, and if you're traveling, please be safe. Before the weekend, I have a few last clips for your enjoyment.

Here Billy Crystal and Robert DeNiro debate who best can play a pilgrim versus a turkey. I agree with Bobby--he's more of a pilgrim type.



Tomorrow night at 8pm, ABC presents A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. Here is a clip of someone playing the music from the special by the late great Vince Guaraldi. Very nice!



Back in the day, networks used to play children's programming on the Friday morning after Thanksgiving, as kids were home that day. Here is an old promo from the early 70s boasting ABC's After Turkey Day fare.



Thanksgiving is a huge day for parades of course, and Philadelphia has the oldest one. Here is a clip from the 1981 parade featuring local Pennsbury High School's marching band, their first appearance in the parade. The clip is narrated by the late, great air personality Jim O'Brien.



Here is a short narrative of the first Thanksgiving created and aired on WCAU-TV Philadelphia in the early 90s. Most TV stations don't make educational/seasonal clips like this anymore, which is a shame.



Finally, I have two audio presentations for you. First, the classic "Alice's Restaurant" by Arlo Guthrie, as he recants one of the most unusual Thanksgivings you'll hear about.



Lastly, a solemn, sweet way to remember that the day is truly a day to be thankful for what we have. "We Gather Together."



Once again, Happy Thanksgiving!

But wait, what's this?



Yes! My favorite time of the year is finally here! In case you're new to the blog, I live for the oliday season, and it shows in the blog. Please stay tuned; I have fantastic Christmas stuff on the way!

Saturday Night Live, "Turkey Day"

As much as I love eating turkey on Thanksgiving, I do feel sorry for turkeys everywhere. They don't ask to be dinner; they just want to live and love like any one of us. Can you imagine what it must be like to be a turkey on the run from the barrel of a gun?

Now you don't have to imagine. Simply watch this "dramatization" from Saturday Night Live. Enjoy!

Mama's Family, "An Ill Wind"

Welcome to a short week! I'm continuing my annual Thanksgiving feast with an episode of the mid-80s sitcom Mama's Family. Mama and her family spend Thanksgiving together while trapped in the basement due to a tornado; the usual downhome hilarity ensues. Enjoy!

Q*Bert, "Thanksgiving for the Memories"

Way back in my beloved decade known as the 80s, there was a tendency by TV networks to give any pop culture phenomenon possible an animated series, no matter how weird. Video games were no exception. This led to such things as cartoon versions of Pac-Man, Pole Position, and others.

This is related to Thanskgiving, so stay with me for a second.

One of these programs was Saturday Supercade, an hourlong multi-story show featuring Donkey Kong, his son Junior, Frogger, and Pitfall. As bad an idea as this seems, I watched every week. My favorite segment was Q*Bert. For those youngsters out there who aren't familiar with him, here is what the game looked like:



How to turn this character into a cartoon star? Make him a high school student dressed in late 50s garb along with his friends and enemies, of course! For whatever reason, I enjoyed this cartoon quite a bit. One episode that vaguely stayed in my memory all these years is the Thanksgiving episode.

Told ya I'd bring it back to Thanksgiving!

In this presentation by the Minisode Network, Q*Bert and his pals learn about the first Thanksgiving. Enjoy!