Today's What's Alan Watching? newsletter coming up just as soon as my name is Titty Gajillions...
What's next?
Thanksgiving week has been surprisingly busy. Next week is a bit slower, but paid subscribers will still be getting the following:
- My recap of The Chair Company season finale;
- My spoiler take on the first batch of Stranger Things Season Five episodes; and
- My recap of the sixth episode of Pluribus.
Catching up
Lots to read since last week's newsletter, including:
- My latest Chair Company recap speculated about potential creative pitfalls, now that we know there will be a second season, and especially after this penultimate episode was both the plottiest and least funny:
Alan Sepinwall
- Speaking of the challenges of comedic mysteries in their second seasons, I wrote about the dropoff from A Man on the Inside's first year to its second, even though there was still plenty I enjoyed:
Alan Sepinwall
- For What Else Is Alan Watching? bonus tier subscribers, I did a sequel to my TV Shows That Don't Exist essay, this time looking at memorable instances of shows that were produced but never aired:
Alan Sepinwall
- I wrote a spoiler-free review of these new Stranger Things episodes, which stick to the show's formula, but are a notable step up from Season Four just by virtue of having all the characters back in Hawkins the whole time:
Alan Sepinwall
- And I recapped this week's Pluribus, where the Others gave Carol some time to think, which in turn may have led her to uncover one of their secrets:
Alan Sepinwall
Odd and/or end
- I was recently a guest on the podcast Downstream, where host Jason Snell and I chatted about the current state of both TV and TV criticism. If you're curious about how I decide what to review, and how, there's a whole lot of that in here:
Relay
Talking turkey, take two
Alan Sepinwall
I said that last week's list of memorable Thanksgiving episodes wasn't meant to be exhaustive. Nonetheless, I left out so many good ones — some suggested by all of you, some that occurred to me after I hit publish — that I felt it worth spotlighting them today, in case anyone's still feeling in a holiday mood.
No How I Met Your Mother episode is ever going to top "Slap Bet," but its first sequel, "Slapsgiving," is awfully good. There's a solid post-breakup story about Ted and Robin — back before they became so toxic that no one sensible would ever think that the show should end with them getting back together, right? — that includes an excellent running gag where Ted pictures Robin's 41-year-old boyfriend as elderly Orson Bean. Mostly, though, there is Marshall getting overconfident about giving Barney his third slap, followed by Lily as Slap Bet Commissioner declaring that Marshall can't slap Barney on Thanksgiving, followed by Barney acting so obnoxious that this happens:
"The Gang Squashes Their Beefs" is not only a great holiday episode, but a great It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia episode, which ends as only an attempt by the Gang to do something good can end:
On the more serious end of things, Lena Waithe deservedly won an Emmy for writing the fantastic Master of None episode that follows her character across multiple Thanksgivings, as she very gradually comes out to her family:
The most memorable West Wing Thanksgiving moment is when President Bartlet calls the Butterball hotline. But Season Two's "Shibboleth" is a much better overall episode, which concludes with this lovely scene between POTUS and Charlie:
Probably my worst omission was not mention any of the eligible entries from Bob's Burgers, which has owned the holiday as well as any series ever. Almost any would be a fine choice. Here, it's a toss-up between "An Indecent Thanksgiving Proposal," where Mr. Fischoeder hires the Belchers to pose as his family, and Bob drinks way too much absinthe; and "Turkey in a Can," where Bob's turkeys somehow keep ending up in the toilet. I'll go with the latter, if only because it includes Bob canonically coming out as bisexual:
Sticking with animation, "Bart vs. Thanksgiving" is an incredibly sweet early Simpsons episode, with Bart upsetting everyone, Lisa most of all, with his behavior before the holiday meal begins:
King of the Hill is another one that has abundant options, but I'm fond of "Spin the Choice." It not only has Peggy inflicting the overcomplicated titular game on their holiday guests, but a great story where John Redcorn's attempt to teach Joseph about his true heritage instead helps Bobby learn about the darker side of Thanksgiving:
Finally, we're juuuust past the 50th anniversary for "Over the River and Through the Woods," The Bob Newhart Show episode where Emily is out of town on Thanksgiving and Bob and his friends have much, much, much too much to drink:
That's it for today! What did everybody else think?
