THURSDAY
NOVEMBER 24
2016

BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

 

NBC, 9:00 a.m. ET

Of the TV parade coverage today, this one, on NBC, is the most tenured and traditional – and today’s the day when those particular attributes should count for something. So watch as Matt Lauer, Savannah Guthrie and Al Roker work their way through the 90th edition of Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade, and recount the history that goes all the way back to the first. And goes back, in fact, to a Felix the Cat balloon, which will be represented, in modernized form, in today’s parade. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
 
  
 
 

FXX, 12:00 p.m. ET

Back in 2014, FX’s sister network FXX put itself on the map by presenting a marathon of all 552 episodes then produced of Fox’s The Simpsons – a 12-day marathon that set records as the longest TV marathon in history. Well, history marches on, as does The Simpsons. Today at noon ET, FXX presents a new compilation of Simpsons episodes, a mega-marathon that now covers 600 episodes, presented over 300 hours, represents 27 seasons, and will take 13 days to complete, finishing up at midnight on Dec. 7. Be forewarned: the last marathon was addictive, and once you tune in, it’s hard not to settle in. I expect no less from this marathon. Alan Sepinwall and Matt Zoller Seitz, in their new book TV: The Book, rank The Smpsons among the best television series ever made – and it’s easy to agree with them. The slow but delightful Simpsons march down memory lane begins at noon.

 
  
 
 

Fox, 4:30 p.m. ET

Here’s another long-standing Thanksgiving Day tradition: the Dallas Cowboys, once called America’s Team, playing on Turkey Day. This time they face the Washington Redskins – and I wonder how much thought the NFL gave in putting together this particular holiday game schedule. On a day we’re supposed to be recalling and revering the first Thanksgiving and all it represents, are the Cowboys facing an appropriate opponent? It’s a somewhat uncomfortable thought, whether the Redskins win or lose today. Oh, well – at least the Redskins aren't playing the Rhode Island high school football team, the Pilgrim Patriots…
 
  
 
 

PBS, 8:00 p.m. ET

TELEMOVIE PREMIERE: In 1985, PBS imported a fabulous Candian CBC miniseries version of the Lucy Maud Montgomery story, starring Megan Follows in the title role, and Richard Farnsworth and Colleen Dewhurst as the crusty siblings who reluctantly take in the bubbly young orphan girl. More than 30 years later, another delightful new version comes along, also on PBS – a taste, at least, dramatizing just the start of young Anne’s story – that’s perfectly positioned as a Thanksgiving night treat for the whole family. Ella Ballentine stars as this new incarnation of Anne, and Martin Sheen and Sara Botsford co-star. For a full review, see David Hinckley’s All Along the Watchtower. Check local listings.
 
  
 
 

Comedy Central, 9:00 p.m. ET

And now for something completely different. If it’s full-family holiday entertainment you want, look elsewhere. But if, after Thanksgiving dinner, you’re eager to get on to the next big televised holiday fixation, and you’re decidedly irreverent and not easily shocked, then this South Park mini-marathon may be for you. It gathers all the episodes featuring the most improbable animated characters in the history of Christmas TV holiday specials: a talking piece of excrement called Mr. Hankey, the Christmas Poo. And yes, he’s featured in more than one South Park special. As Bette Davis once famously proclaimed, “What a dump!”

 
  
 
 
 
 
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David Bianculli

Founder / Editor

David Bianculli has been a TV critic since 1975, including a 14-year stint at the New York Daily News, and sees no reason to stop now. Currently, he's TV critic for NPR's Fresh Air with Terry Gross, and is an occasional substitute host for that show. He's also an author and teaches TV and film history at New Jersey's Rowan University. His 2009 Dangerously Funny: The Uncensored Story of 'The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour', has been purchased for film rights. His latest, The Platinum Age of Television: From I Love Lucy to the Walking Dead, How TV Became Terrific, is an effusive guidebook that plots the path from the 1950s’ Golden Age to today’s era of quality TV.