Hello all! I have one other Thanksgiving item to show you before the big weekend. I'm just getting this in under the wire!
Thanks is a short-lived sitcom that aired on CBS for six weeks starting in August of 1999, about the Pilgrims that settled in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Of course, this is NOT historically accurate, as the creators are going for modern-day laughs rather than a history lesson.
The series was panned by both critics and audiences and is now largely forgotten. I only remember it because it debuted during my early years working for TV Guide magazine, but I didn't see it until I looked it up on YouTube this month. I've only seen this first episode, and I found it mildly amusing enough. Plus, it was fun to see some familiar faces, notably the late Cloris Leachman and Erika Christensen (Parenthood, Will Trent).
Enjoy!
Happy Thanksgiving!
And please be here Monday, December 1st, for the 2025 Countdown to Christmas!
The holiday season is nearly here--some people consider the season officially begun--and what better way to get into the holiday spirit than to enjoy these TV commercials that aired on Channel 9 New York, WOR-TV, from Thanksgiving Day, 1981?
While WNBC-TV Channel 4 showed the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, this station had an annual tradition of showing King Kong movies on Thanksgiving Day, followed by a Godzilla movie marathon on Black Friday. Sounds awesome to me!
As you can imagine, there are plenty of Christmas-related commercials here, and some good, local ones too, especially if you're a fan of the commercials for the Crazy Eddie electronics store chain. After all, their prices were INSANE!
This collection is courtesy of one of my favorite YouTube channels, 80s Commercial Vault. Do yourself a favor and subscribe to the channel here. Amazing stuff!
Hello, everyone! I hope you're all having a wonderful November, a month that is a favorite of mine. It's the calm before the holiday storm, as well as a time of quiet reflection.
It's also a time to watch fun cartoons.
And that's what I have for you today: two Thanksgiving-related cartoon specials recorded off of live TV on November 22nd, 1989. The first is the debut (!) of A Garfield Thanksgiving, followed by the 1979 special Bugs Bunny's Thanksgiving Diet. And for you commercial fans--like me--the commercials that aired during those specials are included!
Enjoy the specials embedded below or directly at the Internet Archive here, and Happy Thanksgiving!
But wait, what's this?
The Countdown to Christmas is coming! Monday, December 2nd. Be there. HO HO HO!
I feel the need to apologize: due to some goings-on in my personal life (job hunt, other stuff), I'm afraid my Countdown output was not as robust as I had planned this year. It wasn't due for lack of content, but time was just too little in supply this year. Be that as it may, I hope you enjoyed what I did share this year. We had a fair bit of Dracula than expected and a fair bit of comedy than expected, which was totally coincidental, but fun nonetheless.
Once again, I thank Dex of AEIOU...and Sometimes Why for running this year's Countdown, and completely solo at that. Thank you very much, Dex!
Have a great rest of the year, and HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
Here is my second and final of this year's Thanksgiving features, the Looney Tunes cartoon "Tom Turk and Daffy," costarring Porky Pig!
Tom Turk is a turkey on the run from the barrel of pilgrim Porky's musket, and Daffy does his best to protect his fellow fowl from the hunt--that is, until Daffy gives into temptation to join Porky in the feast! Of course, after selling out his former friend, Daffy gets his comeuppance.
This cartoon is a lot of fun, and I thought for sure I had blogged it years ago, but I checked and couldn't find it anywhere, so here it is in 2022. Enjoy!
Happy Thanksgiving!
But wait, what's this?
The holidays are here! And they are glorious!
Stay tuned for the Countdown to Christmas! Happy Holidays!
Hello again! With Thanksgiving week upon us, I thought it appropriate to post a couple of holiday items before the big day. Here is one of two of them: a Thanksgiving episode of--The Incredible Hulk?
You betcha! In this episode, entitled "Homecoming," David Banner returns to his childhood home to reunite with his estranged family: his sister, also a scientist like David, and his father, a farmer. Previously hurt feelings arise among them, but they must work together against a greedy land developer who wants to take away the family's farmland. Throw the Hulk into the mix, and you have a recipe for action!
Enjoy! A word of warning though: this Dailymotion upload plays in a reverse image of the actual episode, which doesn't matter much for the action, but any and all onscreen text will appear backwards. Please don't let it ruin your enjoyment of the episode.
Thanksgiving is almost here--the start of the holiday season! Most of you will likely tune in to Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City, but I prefer to watch the parade in my hometown of Philadelphia. Philly's parade is in fact the first and oldest Thanksgiving parade, starting in 1920 and sponsored by Gimbel's department store. The store closed in the '80s, but the parade lives on today.
Here is a stretch of the parade from 1934. It looks quite different from parades today!
These next clips are from the late 70s and early 80s, the golden age of my childhood, so this is the parade as I remember it! The parade was carried on the local ABC affiliate WPVI-TV Channel 6, here hosted by Dave Roberts and the late great Jim O' Brien.
Here is more from '84, carried nationally by CBS with hosts Tim Reid and Catherine Bach.
Thanksgiving Day is less than two weeks away, and if you're like me, you enjoy watching a parade to start the holiday season, most likely the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City. One of the most enjoyed spectacles in the parade are the many giant balloons that float through the city in grand fashion. While they may be a lot of fun to watch, they haven't always been the most, shall be way, durable parade attractions. The following photos demonstrate exactly what I mean!
This Mighty Mouse balloon from the '50s--not so mighty!
Bart Simpson may be known for being a cut up, but here, he is quite cut up himself!
Poor Kermit! I'm afraid here he's Gone With The Schwinn! (Points to you if you get the reference.)
McDonald's put marketing featuring Ronald McDonald on the shelf the past several years because so many people are creeped out by clowns. This photo of a low-flying Ronald ready to attack parade goers doesn't do the character any favors!
I don't even know who this dinosaur character is, but he looks extinct!
UPDATE AS OF NOVEMBER 16: Blog reader top_cat_james informs me in the comments that this is Rex the Dinosaur from the 1993 movie We're Back: A Dinosaur's Story. Thanks James!
Speaking of dinosaurs, no dinosaur or any other character in the parade may have suffered more than Barney. The photo is bad enough, but the video is even more chilling!
Yes, Thanksgiving parades aren't always pretty, but I can't imagine the big day without them. I look forward to them every year. However you spend Thanksgiving, I hope it's a happy and blessed one!
Get warmed up for this Sunday's airing of A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving with the soundtrack to the special below. It's Vince Guaraldi at his groovy 70s best. It's a good bit different from the sound of Peanuts specials from the 60s, but I dig it.
Thanksgiving is a time for thoughtful reflection, to think solemnly about what we have to be grateful for in our lives.
It's also a time to party!
And party we will, 1980s style! I present an episode of the Philadelphia TV dance series Dancin' On Air, which aired on Thanksgiving Day, November 25, 1982 here in Philadelphia on WPHL-TV Channel 17. This show, a successor of sorts to that other Philly dance show, later aired nationwide later in the decade on the USA cable network as Dance Party USA. Dancin' On Air was a local cultural phenomenon here in the city and is remembered fondly today. There was a brief revival earlier this decade.
Enjoy! Get your groove on! And Happy Thanksgiving!
But wait, what's this?
YES! IT'S CHRISTMAS TIME! THANK GOD!
Oh yes I need a lot of Christmas, right this very minute! And if you do too, my blog is the place to be. I'll be providing Christmas goodies all season long. Stay tuned, and Happy Holidays!
Guys--we're just three days away from the 2018 holiday season. Threeeeee daaaaaays. It's early, but so what? Let's get into it!
Our entrance into the holiday season as always is Thanksgiving. Although the past decade or so it's been treated as "Christmas Lite," for me it's best to celebrate it, at least for that one day, as a day unto itself. A day to spend in the company of loved ones, good cheer--and great food. However, even on Thanksgiving it's best not to go overboard, and there is an expert to help us with that--Bugs Bunny!
In Bugs Bunny's Thanksgiving Diet, Bugs shows us how to pace ourselves on Turkey Day, with the help of his Looney Tunes friends in classic, if edited, vignettes of the past, interspersed among new animation. I've noted in the past that the Looney Tunes prime time specials aren't quite the classics that Rankin/Bass and Peanuts specials are, but in the days before Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network, Gen X kids took their cartoons where they could get them.
Thanksgiving is less than two weeks away, so it's not inappropriate for me to present this cartoon. "The Voice of the Turkey," produced by defunct cartoon studio Harvey Films in 1950, features a game of cat and mouse between human and turkey on Thanskgiving. There is running, there is ax grinding, there is cartoon slapstick. Plus, it stars Arnold Stang as voice of the turkey, so you can't go wrong.
I have a surprising wealth of Thanksgiving material at the blog; simply search the term "Thanksgiving" in the search bar at the top of the page or click the tag in the "May I Help You Find Something" section to the right. Some video links are broken, but if you leave a comment requesting me to repost it, I'll be happy to do so.
Hello everyone! I'm sure you're busy wrapping things up before the holiday weekend, so I'll get right to it!
Today's offering is a well-remembered Thanksgiving episode of Happy Days, as the cast recreates the first Thanksgiving in full pilgrim regalia. This episode is a lot of fun, despite how silly it is--and probably because of it! I haven't seen this since I was a kid, so I'm thankful to share it with you now.
Happy Thanksgiving!
But wait--what's this?
REJOICE! The holiday season is officially upon us! My favorite time of the year by far! Please stay tuned the rest of the year, as we're gonna have more holiday fun than you can shake a candy cane at.
Coming in under the wire (9pm) for Tuesday, this week's Overlooked TV is a revisit of an animated special I discussed two years ago.
No Man's Valley is a special produced by Lee Mendelson and Bill Melendez, the creators of the Peanuts specials, about a condor who tries to find a sanctuary for his animal friends when their habitat is threatened by human developers. It aired on November 23rd, 1981, right after A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. In my original article, I mentioned the rarity of the special, having only aired once on network TV and only being available on VHS very briefly in the mid 80s. Except for one televised promo, no footage of the special was available anywhere.
Until now.
Posted online just six months ago, I am happy to present the show in its entirely as it aired on WBBM Channel 2 in Chicago that November night in 1981. Thanks to the Museum for Classic Chicago Television, please enjoy No Man's Valley!
To quote Charlie Brown, "another Halloween has come and gone." I hope yours was a safe, happy, and healthy one. Mine--not so much.
A very strong stomach virus infected our house this weekend, putting most of us down for the count this week at one point or another. My poor 11-year-old son even missed trick or treat because of it. Suffice it to say, the 2017 Halloween season ended on a very down note. Which is not to say there weren't things I enjoyed this season--my kids had a fun time at their school's Trunk or Treat the Friday before Halloween, so there's that. Plus, I caught some good horror movies, did some spooky reading, and enjoyed having not one but TWO Halloween mood tables. If you don't know what a mood table is, check out the origin here.
But enough about my busted Halloween--how was yours? Please let me know in the comments. I hope you had a great one!
It's time to put the 2017 Halloween season into its coffin, where it will sleep a sound repose until it rises from the grave to become Halloween 2018 next October. Until then, I hope you enjoyed the 2017 Countdown to Halloween!
You notice that? The smell of fire and brimstone has turned into--*sniff sniff*--turkey and gravy!
This is the last non-holiday season weekend of the year. Jingle bells and mistletoe are almost here! But before we stuff our stocking, we stuff our faces at the Thanksgiving table, most likely after taking in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on TV. That's where today's subject comes in--sort of.
In 1965, the Underdog balloon made it's debut in the parade, and to celebrate it, this special Thanksgiving-themed episode aired on NBC TV immediately after the parade. Simon Bar Sinister has yet another overly complicated plan to take over the city, including ruining Thanksgiving! Leave it to Underdog to save the day. Enjoy! And please excuse the racism of the Goofy Gophers.
Unfortunately, parts 3 and 4 have the embed feature disabled, so please see the direct link for the rest of the episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OauSu_7dV34.
With Thanksgiving just a little more than a week away, I'm happy to present this week's Tuesday's Overlooked TV-Movie, the 1986 Disney production "The Thanksgiving Promise."
"Promise," which aired as an installment of the anthology series Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color, stars the late Lloyd Bridges, as well as sons Beau and Jeff (in an uncredited minor role). In this story, a young boy is conflicted when he becomes emotionally attached to an injured Canadian goose that he has promised to prepare for Thanksgiving dinner.
And well--that's it! There's little information about the plot on the Internet, which I find strange as it has majors stars and was produced by Disney. For all the details, we'll just have to sit down and give the movie a--gander. GANDER! GOOSE! GET IT? HOW DO I DO IT? HOW DO I DO IT?
Coincidentally, next Wednesday, November 23rd is the 30th anniversary of the movie's original airing on ABC. I'm featuring it this week instead because, with the actual holiday next week, you might not have time to see it then. Enjoy!
This week's Tuesday's Overlooked is about as overlooked as you can get. I didn't know this program existed until today, and info about it on the Web is scarce. Of course, the scarcer it is, the more I want to know about it!
The program in question is the 1981 animated TV special No Man's Valley. Based on a children's book published that same year, Valley is about one Elliot Condor, whose habitat is threatened by human development. It's up to Elliot to find a place known as No Man's Valley, a land no human has ever inhabited and therefore a great new home for Elliot and his animal friends. The special was produced by Lee Mendelson and Bill Melendez, who of course created the legendary Peanuts specials.
What little information I can find lists the premiere date as November 23rd, 1981 on CBS, paired with A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. Here is a promo for the two specials that year.
It was in coming across this promo on YouTube that I learned about the special's existence. I have no recollection whatsoever of seeing this special ever, and as far as I can tell, 1981 may be the only year it aired. Voice actors for the special include Arnold Stang (whose voice is ubiquitous in 70s and 80s cartoons), Richard Deacon (The Dick Van Dyke Show), and Joe E. Ross (Car 54, Where Are You?).
There are no clips on YouTube or Dailymotion and no DVD release I could find. It was released on VHS in 1986, according to the library database of Case Western University (I had to dig deep for this info). It wouldn't surprise me if they have the only surviving copy!
If anyone out there has any memory of this special at all, please let me know if the comments section. Thanks!
UPDATE AS OF 1/28/16: Reader Juan Aguirre notified me that he recently acquired an original cel from the special's production, for which he's graciously given permission for me to post above. Thanks Juan!
Happy Thanksgiving everybody! I'm just popping in for a quick minute before I join my family for the big day. Here are cool "appetizers" to whet your whistle for turkey with all the trimmings. Enjoy these Thanksgiving pics!
From my family to yours, Happy Thanksgiving!
But wait, what's this?
Ho Ho Ho! Let the 2014 Holiday Season officially begin!
Hello everyone! Here we are, about to start the best time of the year in my opinion, the holiday season! Usually by this time, I've served ample helpings of fun Thanksgiving programs to you, but personal and work responsibilities have kept me from doing that this year. Better luck next year, I hope!
However, after looking over Thanksgivings past, I see that there's some good stuff that you may have missed if you're a new reader. So why not serve some "leftovers" from the past for your enjoyment today?
