Classic Thanksgiving TV Programs & Commercials

For those who wish that society wasn't in such a rush to go from Halloween to Christmas, enjoying some classic Thanksgiving television specials, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, and a variety of commercials related to the holiday are a priority.
Pull up a chair at the adults table and arm yourself with a fork and spoon as we serve up some of our favorite Thanksgiving television programming from the 70s, 80s, and 90s!
If you enjoy the video, please consider liking it, commenting on it, and even subscribing to the channel. We'd love to have you join in on the fun!
RetroDaze Website: www.retro-daze.org
RetroDaze is a nostalgia related channel that celebrates EVERYTHING from our childhoods, mostly from the '70s, '80s, and '90s. This includes movies, TV shows, video games, toys and action figures, comics and magazines, music, and much more!
Celebrating Yesteryear - In this series of videos, we explore a variety of nostalgic subjects with an emphasis on being both informative and entertaining. We take inspiration from some of our favorite nostalgic channels here on KZbin, including Recollection Road and Rhetty for History.
RetroDaze Channel -
/ @retrodaze
Visit the GenXGrownUp channel to enjoy more content from your host, Jon! -
/ @genxgrownup
Written By: Anthony J. Rapino
Hosted and Narrated By: Jon Reddick
Produced and Edited By: Anthony D. Grate
#nostalgia #thanksgiving parade #macy's thanksgiving parade#a charlie brown thanksgiving #80s #rhetty for history #recollection road #garfield's thanksgiving #thanksgiving commercials #thanksgiving tv shows #thanksgiving specials #thanksgiving on tv #thanksgiving tv ads #vintage thanksgiving shows #thanksgiving memories

[@bluejedi723]

I"m old enough to remember when 95% of all stores were closed Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Da and Easter Sunday

[@RetroDaze]

Yeah, that’s certainly not the case nowadays.

[@loftus4453]

I’m with you. Nothing but gas stations and hospitals open on the big holidays.

[@LindaMerchant-bq2hp]

There was no storming the stores on black fridays

[@lizlocher3612]

Of course, Charlie Brown Thanksgiving is a classic, but there ARE two different ones, as I have them on DVD, the second one being The Mayflower with all the characters living out the first trip from England on that ship telling the history of Thanksgiving, including the Indians who helped them learn how to fertilize the crops with fish so they would actually grow!!! It is super cool as well,!!! And I TOTALLY remember watching The Wizard of Oz they broadcast every Thanksgiving evening, as that was the only time during the year you could catch it on TV n we ALWAYS watched it after dinner!!! Garfield also was excellent, as was Planes Trains n Automobiles!!! I know there were a few more but I am 66 n can't remember them right now!!! Thanks for the walk down Recollection Road!!!

[@RetroDaze]

That Charlie Brown special with the characters on the Mayflower is pretty memorable. Not many Charlie Brown specials featured adults. But that one has quite a few!

[@arnisdaddy7905]

My all time favorite Thanksgiving sitcom episode is a "Mr Ed" episode where Mr Ed explains to Wilbur how it was actually a horse (of course) that made the first Thanksgiving day possible. The episode then drifts into a hilarious showing of what "actually" happened, with all the usual cast of characters playing the various Pilgrim and Indian parts. It is a priceless episode of what was already a funny series. I do miss the simpler times when Americans were more patriotic and shared in the thanks-giving of this holiday.

[@RetroDaze]

That sounds perfect for the season! We may have to search that episode out and give it a watch.

[@JWaldenVoiceOvers]

I actually always preferred the Garfield and Charlie Brown Thanksgiving specials over their Halloween counterparts... Probably because that what we had recorded at home from TV with our VCR! I never had a copy of their Halloween specials until DVDs came into existence. Bugs Bunny's Thanksgiving Diet is another favorite of mine that we had recorded from broadcast and I used to watch a lot.

[@RetroDaze]

There’s no doubt that having some of these programs on tape was a big influence on our perceptions of them. I’m a fan of Watership Down and the Popeye movie because of that very thing.

[@crystalsage8186]

I absolutely love Thanksgiving! It’s a shame that there aren’t more specials devoted to it-especially in recent years. I feel lucky to be a child of the 70s and 80s. You just can’t beat Charlie Brown and Garfield specials in general, & the Thanksgiving ones are awesome! Also, I like The Thanksgiving that Almost Wasn’t and The Mouse on the Mayflower. Thanks to videotape and KZbin, my children were able to enjoy those classics from my childhood as well. I really enjoyed this episode, and look forward to next week. Thanks!

[@RetroDaze]

That’s awesome! We’re glad this one really impacted you. Those two specials, The Thanksgiving That Almost Wasn’t and The Mouse on The Mayflower have been previously mentioned in the comments! They are so under appreciated!

[@EeliusAstaroth]

Forgot about The Mouse and the Mayflower. That one was a really good one ❤

[@barb-jm7990]

I saw the WKRP Thankgiving show when it aired and, although funny, I felt sorry for the dropped turkeys that could not fly. We did not have these commercials where I live, but I LOVE the salt and pepper commercial! And, I never knew that Garfield's vet's last name was Wilson!

[@RetroDaze]

Alright! It’s always nice to be able to dole out nostalgia AND new information at the same time. 😉

[@ctbinary42]

Thank you for showing clips of not just the funniest thanksgiving sitcom episode but the funniest sitcom episode ever! That WKRP episode always, always makes me bust a gut laughing😂

[@RetroDaze]

A work of genius, that! 😆

[@AutisticPhantomOtaku]

I feel like the 1972 Thanksgiving special, the Thanksgiving that almost wasn't, should have at least gotten a mention. I remember watching it on Cartoon Network back in the '90s. I think you can still watch it today if you know where to look.

[@donnaweingarten3007]

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday!!! Nothing required to spend money on! Just bring a dish, relax and talk!!!

[@RetroDaze]

Exactly!!! What more could you want?

[@yamihoole]

Thanksgiving the forgotten middle child of holidays. The Everybody Loves Raymond Thanksgiving episodes were usually hilarious (like the one where Debra wanted to cook fish instead of turkey). When Food Network used to have their Thanksgiving Live shows I used to watch those. King of Queens had a hilarious episode of them getting into antics at the grocery store the day before Thanksgiving

[@RetroDaze]

There were a surprising amount of good Thanksgiving episodes out there. But they tended to be forgotten after the holiday.

[@sarahlove1374]

garfield thanksgiving when grandma helps!

[@RetroDaze]

That’s the best part!

[@ShadeofJeremy]

The Garfield and Peanuts specials I watch every year. I also liked the Berenstain Bears special. I'm thankful that Thanksgiving doesn get played up as much really. I never get burnt out on it like the rest. Oh, and the Wiz commercial. I want that Brother typewriter. My parents got me one like that when I graduated high school. That hit a different nostalgia for me seeing it.

[@RetroDaze]

Awesome! Two nostalgic memories in one . 😆 Also, that Berenstain Bears special… need to dig that one up.

[@ShadeofJeremy]

Meet Bigpaw. It's here on KZbin. I started looking for it after watching your video. I don't currently have a copy of it.

[@RetroDaze]

@@ShadeofJeremyCool. Time to go check it out.

[@bridgetmccracken1381]

Used to love watching The mouse on the Mayflower!!!

[@RetroDaze]

That’s one that definitely gets overlooked. A great choice though!

[@stoptheworldandletmeoff]

The only pagan day I enjoy celebrating for a very long time. It's about harvest and abundance, just like God speaks of in the Bible. Only I celebrate it daily. But this day is special to me and reminds me of how blessed I am and who provides those blessings to me. I love my day of ThanksGiving 🍽️🦃🌿🕊️

[@SoUtHMeMpHis]

🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏

[@HarkWhoGoesThere]

The 1990 movie "Avalon" is a good Thanksgiving watch; also I like to watch the Thanksgiving "Friends" episodes and "The Wonder Years" had one too that I haven't seen in years. I, too, hate how commerce wants to jump straight to Christmas even before Halloween is over, and how Thanksgiving is reduced to "Black Friday Eve," or even worse, "Black Thursday." It was a whole separate thing from Christmas when I was a kid!!!🍁🦃

[@RetroDaze]

Well said! As for those Thanksgiving episodes and Avalon, very cool. Hadn’t heard of that film. Gonna look that up.

[@roostergriffin]

"Turkeys Away" is indeed iconic. However, coming in at a respectable second place is The Bob Newhart Show's Thanksgiving offering, "Over the River and Through the Woods." In this episode, Bob (who has squirmed out of visiting his in-laws for the holiday) and his guy friends get hammered and order Chinese food in lieu of the world's smallest turkey.

[@RetroDaze]

😆 Excellent. Love finding out the personal favorite sitcom episodes of everyone. Adding that one to the watch list.

[@annasantostefano6826]

It's so true and so odd how there is no thanksgiving commercials about food and such and only black friday or thanksgiving sales. Oddly, the only commercial regarding thanksgiving/holiday food was yesterday on thanksgiving, weird. I miss the commercials I grew up seeing. Seems like they stopped doing thanksgiving food commercials about 5 years ago or so at least. I love Thanksgiving.

[@RetroDaze]

Agreed. It’s unfortunate we don’t get some of the creative Thanksgiving commercials like those from our youth.

[@unclelazlo4287]

WGN broadcasts a history of The Bozo show every Thanksgiving. A true classic!

[@RetroDaze]

That’s a unique thing for a Thanksgiving program. Wonder how that became a thing?

[@tyneishalewis9917]

Wonderful video! Thanks as always for posting. It does feel like Thanksgiving is a bit overshadowed by Halloween and Christmas. Thanksgiving just wasn't Thanksgiving without food, family, Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, and A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving special. I kept wondering why Charlie Brown or even Sally just didn't call Patty and clear up the misunderstanding when I watched it as a kid. My Mom watched this video with me, and remembers WKRP in Cincinnati fondly. Looking forward to your video on Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade!

[@RetroDaze]

Awesome! Really glad you enjoyed this one Tyneisha! You’re right. Those things are absolute necessities for a proper Thanksgiving.

[@karenflieger7529]

I LOVE that Publix ad! I have those salt & pepper shakers somewhere!

[@RetroDaze]

Nice! They have quite a fan base actually.

[@jayme69]

We don't have Thanksgiving over here in the UK but I always watch Planes, Trains and Automobiles if that counts :-) Keep up the awesome work!

[@RetroDaze]

Thank you Jayme! Hey, watching PT&A is close enough. Maybe scarf down a turkey sandwich while you watch.

[@AnthonyJRapino]

As I was researching for this episode, I read that little by little, some families in the UK have started to celebrate Thanksgiving. I'm very curious to hear if you find that to be true, or if you haven't heard of anyone doing this?

[@jayme69]

@@AnthonyJRapino Not here in Scotland. The closest thing we have is Harvest Festival where we're thankful for the taking in of a good harvest/crop and collect food (typically tins of food, rice, pasta etc) to give to those less fortunate.

[@AnthonyJRapino]

@@jayme69 That sounds really nice. Thanks for the reply. I was skeptical of the claims and starting thinking it was perhaps more likely Americans living in or visiting the UK that were celebrating.

[@daniellebaskin4533]

Thanksgiving weekend is tomorrow

[@RetroDaze]

We hope yours is a great one!

[@lavenderflowersfall280]

Hey!!!! Haven't you ever seen hey Arnold or rocko's modern Life or Rugrats thanksgiving?!! 😅 And while not historically accurate, Pocahontas can always put you in a bit of a Thanksgiving mood. 90s kids at least had some optionsn

[@RetroDaze]

Great recommendations!

[@lavenderflowersfall280]

@@RetroDaze 😎 ty

[@LindaMerchant-bq2hp]

I never got off on when oh dad carves cuts the turkey when mom could of just done it as well

[@RetroDaze]

Agreed. Better, probably.

[@Randytherumbler]

Even fewer people nowdays ever knew how television was back in those days. Not young people born in the 2000's 2010's. Us Gen X ers that were born in the sevenites. And I sure remember the days when we had always been watching commericals between TV shows or sitcoms. Oh. Kmart commericals. JCPenney's. Don't remember Macy's animated commericals. But remember watching Snoopy and the Cabbage Patch Dolls commericals,too. But what about food commercials of Pizza Hut? McDonald's. Wendy's? Woolworth's? Ahhh. NOBODY hardly remember those days anymore. Garfield? The animated series? Hardly. Peanuts animated series...... It had been a timeless classic back then. Until one day,it eventually had been discontinued. Thanksgiving Dinner animated series. I don't remember that,but I'm sure it had happened at they always had appeared in thise commericals.

[@RetroDaze]

Speaking of McDonald’s seasonal commercials, one makes an appearance in the Christmas Programming episode.

[@EeliusAstaroth]

The earlier Christmas products are sold the more I resent the holiday. Also don't care if Thanksgiving had a bad rep from it's origins. I still enjoy what it became in my lifetime when it comes to traditions. We can still acknowledge the past mistakes and continue the traditions of what it became thereafter. It doesn't make you insensitive just aware and not interested in cancel culture when their solutions are worse if provided any at all after saying you can't celebrate something then leave you with an empty space for something like xmas to take over nearly 3 months in now. Although, I will say if you want people to be desensitized about Christmas then they're doing it right. Something else they should consider is holiday pay and time off. Good job letting people have an excuse to make you work or underpay you around the holidays 🙃

[@RetroDaze]

It’s never really been a celebration of the origins for me anyway, but instead a celebration of family and blessings.

[@EeliusAstaroth]

@@RetroDaze exactly ❤️ had a grandma that lived through the great depression. She lived to be 100 before passing, was a major source of inspiration despite having a simple existence (which if I'm being honest the work she did wasn't so simple), and one of the major holidays our family's actually got together at was Thanksgiving. After her passing and all this cancel culture crap it's all but a faint memory now 😢 I think it's more horrid to ruin traditions that aren't doing harm than letting people do harmless celebrations while still being informed of historical origins that were based on a past existence that no longer is.

[@RetroDaze]

It seems a much better thing to carry on the meaningful traditions in honor of things we cherish universally, as opposed to destroying them and erecting nothing meaningful in their place.

[@SoUtHMeMpHis]

I now like Canada's version of Thanksgiving and also Boxing Day. Both their history is very interesting and especially the history of the yule log. Then there's tv station WPIX's history with the yule log fireplace scene that nobody mentions 😢🦃❄️🤶🎄🎁🦌🎅🎀🕯🧸🪀☃️

[@AnthonyJRapino]

The Yule Log will very likely end up in the holiday/Christmas programming episode. 🙂It's a tradition I still enjoy.

[@RetroDaze]

Makes us warm and fuzzy inside just thinking of it!