Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I'll be leaving soon for turkey, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie, and the rest, but here's a list of five notable (I won't say best) Thanksgiving-themed TV episodes.

Gossip Girl, "Blair Waldorf Must Pie"
Season 1's Thanksgiving episode was filled with drama. Rufus and Lily's relationship was revealed after an uncomfortable dinner shared by Rufus' wife. Flashbacks gave the first real glimpse of party-girl Serena, and of Dan's brief encounters with her. And Blair's storyline centered on pie. It showed Thanksgiving can be for Gossip Girl what Chrismukkah was for The OC.

How I Met Your Mother, "Belly Full of Turkey"
So many great aspects to Thanksgiving featured in this season 1 episode. The main story revolved around Lily spending the holiday with Marshall's family while she thinks she might be pregnant. Of course, she finds all their traditions horrifying. Baskiceball, a combination of basketball and hockey, Marshall admits is basically just an excuse to beat each other up. But the more dangerous tradition is Marshall's mom's seven layer salad, in which funions and gummy bears are separated at every layer by mayonnaise. Yuck. Back in New York, Ted and Robin learn Thanksgiving is the most popular volunteer day of the year. And Barney shows them Thanksgiving at a strip club.

Friends, "The One Where Ross Got High"
Friends is easily the master of Thanksgiving episodes, with 9 great ones to choose from. I'm limiting myself to two here. I chose this one not for the story of Ross blaming Chandler for his pot smoking in college, but for the subplot in which Rachel combines the recipes for a chocolate trifle and shepherd's pie. Watching everyone not know how to tell her there is no meat in trifle is funny. Watching Joey eat everyone's portion and love it is hilarious.

How I Met Your Mother, "Slapsgiving"
You just got slaaaaaaapped. Across the faaace. You just got slapped. Yeah that really just happened. And everybody saaw it. And everybody laaaaaughed and claaapped. Cause it was awesome. When you. Got slapped.

Friends, "The One With Chandler in a Box"
My top Thanksgiving episode goes to this Friends ep in which Joey makes Chandler spend Thanksgiving in a box after kissing his girlfriend. Chandler chiming in on everything from inside the box is funny, but the best is when Joey accuses him of not taking the box seriously enough.

Also, on the subject of Thanksgiving episodes, aren't you glad you didn't have to cook your turkey in a toaster oven like the contestants on last night's Top Chef? Difficulties aside, there were plenty of dishes that looked good, namely pumpkin tiramisu. Fabio knows what I look for on Thanksgiving. The Foo Fighters were also some of the best judges that have been on in awhile. Less sophistocated than the celebrity chefs and more fun than the regular people, their judging style of "yes! bacon is awesome!" was a nice change. But losing Richard this early seems a bit of a shame, after his amusingly awkward character assessments, such as calling Leah "the fun, flirty girl with the nice rack," and Tom Colicchio the "hot, gay icon, bear of a man."

Now go enjoy your turkey!