14 Thanksgiving Movies and TV Shows You Can Stream Right Now

4 minute read

If you don’t want Thanksgiving to end, then grab a turkey drumstick for a snack and feast your eyes on these holiday-themed movies and TV shows that we’ve drummed up — highlights of what’s available to stream online via Netflix, Hulu, YouTube, or Amazon’s Instant Video section.

Movies

Bean (1997): In what’s arguably the best depiction of stuffing a turkey in recent movie history, the hapless Mr. Bean (Rowan Atkinson) looks for his misplaced watch in a turkey that has already been stuffed, and is then found bumbling around the kitchen with the bird stuck over his head.

A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (1973): The gang gathers around a ping-pong table as Snoopy carves the turkey for the Peanuts version of this tradition. Charlie Brown keeps up the tradition of missing the football.

Rocky (1976): Paulie (Burt Young) throws the Thanksgiving turkey out the window in a rage, so Rocky (Sylvester Stallone) and Adrian (Talia Shire) bust out of there and go to a nearby ice skating rink where they start to get to know each other.

Miracle on 34th Street (1947): The film features footage shot during the 1946 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. According to Turner Classic Movies, Santa Claus, played by Edmund Gwenn, “was given the task of riding in the actual Santa Claus float during the parade and climbing to the top of the Macy’s marquee. The crowds were not aware at the time that it was Gwenn waving to them.”

Brokeback Mountain (2005): Tense Thanksgiving dinner scenes spark fights over carving the turkey and watching football — acts that have been analyzed (here and here) as symbols of masculinity.

Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987): Steve Martin is a businessman scrambling to get home for Thanksgiving after a snowstorm delays his flight in this John Hughes farce. John Candy plays a pesky salesman who tags along for the ride.

The Ice Storm (1997): Another film that involves a storm hitting around Thanksgiving, this family drama stars Kevin Kline, Tobey Maguire, and Christina Ricci.

Home for the Holidays (1995): Fun fact: It supposedly took 64 turkeys to shoot this Thanksgiving flick, directed by Jodie Foster.

House of Yes (1997): Guy introduces fiancée to his eccentric family over the holiday, including a sister who reenacts JFK’s assassination with pasta and sauce.

ThanksKilling (2009, 2012): Sometimes watching a movie that’s so bad it’s funny can be a great way to bond. For instance, consider these two films, one about a homicidal turkey that hunts college kids, and another that features characters described as “Flowis the rapping grandma” and “Rhonda the bisexual space worm.”

TV

(In case you can’t stand to be sitting with your relatives for the length of a feature film)

The West Wing (“Shibboleth,” Season 2, Episode 8): White House press secretary C.J. Cregg (Allison Janney) has to figure out which of the two live Thanksgiving turkeys left in her office is more photogenic for the president to pardon.

How I Met Your Mother (“Slapsgiving,” Seasons 3, 5, 9): This day of thanks is also a day of getting slapped in the face for Barney Stinson (Neil Patrick Harris). However, the HIMYM team apologized for the martial arts-themed “Slapsgiving 3,” because it was considered racist.

Gilmore Girls (“A Deep-Fried Korean Thanksgiving,” Season 3, Episode 9): Lorelai (Lauren Graham) and Rory (Alexis Bledel) have four Thanksgiving dinners to attend — and there’s some college admissions drama thrown in the mix.

Friends (“The One with the Thanksgiving Flashbacks,” Season 5, Episode 8): The cast reminisces on the time Joey (Matt LeBlanc) and Monica (Courtney Cox) both got their heads stuck in turkeys in dramatic ways — memorably, Monica’s is even wearing sunglasses.

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Write to Olivia B. Waxman at olivia.waxman@time.com