10 Best Thanksgiving TV Episodes

8. Family Guy - Thanksgiving

One of the more controversial entries here, the Family Guy episode merely titled Thanksgiving was the subject of much critical debate upon airing in 2011.

The episode centres on the Griffin family Thanksgiving dinner. All the family's friends and neighbours have shown up to celebrate, but before they get the chance, Joe's son Kevin shows up, claiming to have returned from the Iraq war. Later, it's revealed that Kevin left the war not because of medical discharge, but because he had become jaded by the cause itself, leading him to desert the rest of his fellow troops.

What follows is a commentary on war and its negative effect on individual lives. It may have been controversial, and a little on the nose, but it's an episode that very much attempted to engage with our perception of war and terrorism, something infinitely relevant to the world today. While not entirely successful, it's a Thanksgiving episode that promotes discussion, and that's no bad thing.