Thanksgiving in Review

Christmas television episodes are already starting to roll in, but before we get into them I think we need to look back and reflect on how TV handled Thanksgiving this year. My weekly shows brought some surprisingly great Thanksgiving episodes in 2011. Between the New Girl's turkey in the dryer, The Middle's accurate depiction of a real family's Thanksgiving and Modern Family's heart-warming moments, I'd say this year was a

success.

All good, but if put to a vote I think The Middle would win by a landslide. The show started out with the Heck family gathering at Frankie's parents' house. Her sister, brother-in-law (who we never actually see) and niece are there as well for a few days. Grandma and Grandpa, however, only have one guest room so there are already little issues that are not a big deal at first. The girls chat in the morning about family gossip, and all seems well.

But when you have that many family members in close quarters, it never ends well. Things get a little hairy when Brick is accused of losing his cousin's favorite toy out in the snow and Frankie's sister implies that she should pay for a new one. The passive-aggressiveness and talking behind each others' backs grows until the sisters finally duke it out.

Of course, the fight eventually leads to tearful apologies and sisterly bonding. By the end of the trip, Frankie seems to have forgotten all about what drove her nuts all week long. I think what I love most about this episode is the way it speaks to a true family gathering. Coming over for dinner is one thing, but when you have family staying in the same small house for more than a day or two, it gets ugly. At least in my family it does.

Every year, we all flock from across the country to my grandmother's house in Nevada for a whole week - a house that also has only one guest room. You can't even walk in the living room because it is flooded with sleeping bags, pillows and blankets. The pull-out couch is open until someone yells at someone to close it, my little cousins are running around under foot all day long, my mom is yelling at my grandma to stop cleaning up after my aunt and uncle and their kids, my sister is sitting around doing nothing which aggravates my mother, and I'm cooking all week trying to stay out of the drama of it all. Watching the show, I had visions of my family's past Thanksgivings in all their glory and tears. Every year at least one family member swears she is not going next year, and every year we all return. Maybe we're all gluttons for punishment... Or maybe we're just a typical family. Either way, The Middle nailed my idea of Thanksgiving on the head!