Cooking up a Thanksgiving TV dinner

It may be a bit soon to talk turkey about Thanksgiving but if Christmas candy and tree lights can already be on the store shelves, I don't see why not.

Thanksgiving is a holiday that has been getting the short shift more and more often as time goes on, which is such a shame. It's one of the best holidays as the need for it's simple themes of food, family and appreciation for what you have in life are most keenly felt right about now.

Fortunately, TV does manage to honor the day still and in that spirit, I give you a tasting menu of Thanksgiving themed television goodies, all of which focus on the actual preparing of the meal. The kitchen is to Thanksgiving what the decorated tree(or lighted menorah) is to the upcoming winter holidays, the focal point of the occasion,so let's step over to the stove and see what's cooking:

FOOD NETWORK FESTIVITIES: Both Food Network and The Cooking Channel adore this holiday and it's understandable, given that this is pretty much their suppertime Super Bowl. From specials like Thanksgiving Live! and Extra Virgin: A Tuscan Thanksgiving to specially themed episodes of Chopped and Guy's Grocery Games, all of the hands are on deck to create the ideal feast.

 What should be truly fun is seeing what Cutthroat Kitchen comes up with for their first Turkey Day show and how off the wall Chopped will get for it's Thanksgiving showdown. Last year, the judges had an After Hours turn at the turkey platter with pumpkin pie ice cream and giblet gravy, quite the odd sauce combination that makes you say "Kids, don't try this at home!":

IT'S JUST DINNER,CHARLIE BROWN: There are so many favorite scenes and humorous bits to choose from on A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, but surely in the Top Ten is the food prep sequence where Snoopy and the boys set up a little culinary assembly line.

What amazes me are the number and variety of toasters available in Charlie Brown's kitchen. Those side loaders alone are cool yet how did he and Linus find so many on such short notice? Did they go all True West and pull off a quick toaster heist? Then again, that sounds more like Snoopy's department:

THOSE DEEP FRIED TURKEY BLUES: On the third season of Gilmore Girls, Lorelai and Rory were in the midst of their four meal marathon when they stopped by Sookie and Jackson's and witnessed the deep frying of the holiday "gobbler."

Sookie was rather distraught over the whole thing, as her stance on what should and should not be deep fried was pretty firm. However, I suspect that most of their dinner guests enjoyed the well cooked bird along with the Thunderdome antics involved in making it so:

A TRIFLE AMONGST FRIENDS: While Monica was the established chef on Friends, Rachel did try her hand at cooking on one Thanksgiving as she set out to make a "traditional" English trifle.

Unfortunately, her mix-up of that recipe with the filling for a shepard's pie made for a dessert that only Joey's cast iron stomach could love(lucky for her the rest of the gang was nice enough to pretend to like it, even on the balcony or in the bathroom):

So, be on the lookout for your favorite shows to celebrate the spirit of Thanksgiving(just before they take their mid-season break, that is) and don't just plan on the Macy's parade or football for your family viewing time. That's what DVD sets and online streaming are for,folks, to schedule your happy holiday watching.

Speaking of happy, Mystery Science Theater 3000 will be hosting another Turkey Day Marathon that you can watch either at Shout! Factory or their Youtube channel.

 A better silly savory way to celebrate this special day is hard to find and how best to settle the debate between stuffing and potatoes than via a presentation from Servo and Crow, I ask you? (I'm a potatoes gal, for the record):