Ah, Thanksgiving. Never mind the excellence of food and family, Turkey Day is one of the biggest television holidays of the year. In the morning there’s the ubiquitous Macy’s Parade and in the afternoon, countless football games. But what’s that you say? Not much of a footballer? And you’ve watched the parade so many times you could literally name every float if prompted?
Well, I can sympathize with that. My family has to begrudgingly re-explain the finer points of football to me each Thanksgiving, and I’ve never been much one for parades. Instead, I prefer the day’s other seasonal pickings, those intended for a somewhat younger audience. Whether or not you dabble in this demographic as much as I do, hear me out: This year’s lineup is on our side.
From 1:00 to 8:30 p.m. CST, Cartoon Network will be airing an Adventure Time marathon. If you’ve somehow missed watching this show (or at least catching some of the huge buzzsurrounding it), this is the perfect time to hop on the ol’ bandwagon. It’s a wacky adventure-comedy that draws on the conventions of the genre, as well as snippets of videogame and RPG jargon, weird anachronisms and a pinch of innuendo tossed gracefully over the heads of the show’s intended audience. Adventure Time is fully of Thanksgiving-worthy morals and life-lessons while always staying true to its hilarious oddball roots. If that’s not enough to convince you to tune in, last year’s Thanksgiving episode qualified for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short in 2011. Plus the show has won like a bunch of a other awards.
Sticking with the weird millennial cartoon block on Cartoon Network, Regular Show's Thanksgiving special will be airing again at 12:30 p.m. CST on Thursday. This show is known for its off-beat humor akin to the now-nixed Chowder and Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack. If you’re not sure if that’s quite up your alley, the show’s creator is responsible for this bizarre but amazing animated sketch. Regular Show is a little less weird and disturbing than said sketch, but if it tickled your fancy, give the game coverage a rest and flip over to Cartoon Network.
Last but certainly not least, Lady Gaga will be on The Muppets on Thanksgiving night on ABC starting at 8:30 p.m. CST, performing with Kermit and a slew of other stars. Sir Elton John, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, RuPaul and Kristen Bell will all make special guest appearances with Gaga herself slated to perform a number of tracks off her new album. While ARTPOP turned out to be more an ARTFLOP, Gaga may prove her relevance by dueting with Jim Henson’s timeless creations.
And if none of this is sufficient to distract you from your family’s inane conversations and the epic ache that will undoubtedly fill your stomach on Thanksgiving day, there are alwaysthe classics.