10 Turkey Day Specials, From Snoopy to 'Punkin Chunkin' and Gaga

Published: November 23, 2011 @ 9:48 am

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By Kimberly Potts

Whether you like your dinner with a side of flying pumpkins, a knife-wielding Lady Gaga or Snoopy-served jelly beans, you're sure to find something digestible with TheWrap's Top 10 Thanksgiving-Themed Shows. Here they are:

"The Middle" (Wednesday, 8 p.m., ABC)
Marsha Mason and Jerry Van Dyke guest star as Frankie's parents, while Molly Shannon guests as her sister Janet, who clashes with Frankie (Patricia Heaton) over their differing parenting styles when everyone gathers for Thanksgiving. Meanwhile, Mike tries to teach Axl how to pick up girls, while Sue thinks it's an honor to be included in her female relatives' gossip session.

"Modern Family" (Wednesday, 9 p.m., ABC)
Cameron wigs out after Mitchell suggests his charming childhood stories are not believable, Jay thinks he needs to share some constructive criticism with Manny, and Phil wonders if he took a wrong turn when a former neighbor reveals Phil inspired him to become a billionaire. The uniting theme of tonight's Thanksgiving ep? The Pritchetts can sometimes be giant buzzkills. It takes a spirited round of punkin chunkin' (see below) to lift their spirits.

"85th Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade" (Thursday, 9 a.m., NBC)
Daniel Radcliffe, Mary J. Blige, Cee Lo Green, the Muppets and the Rockettes are among the stars who'll participate in the NYC parade, hosted by Matt Lauer and his "Today Show" cohorts and featuring new balloons like Tim Burton's B. Boy and Paul Frank's Julius the monkey. It will also include 11 marching bands, 1,600 cheerleaders and dancers, and 800 clowns. Oh, and while an estimated 50 million people watch the parade at home, nearly three million line the Manhattan parade route to see it in person each year.

"NFL: Green Bay Packers at Detroit Lions" (Thursday, 12:30 p.m. ET, Fox)
Defending Super Bowl champs the Green Bay Packers travel to Detroit to take on the Lions, but the biggest battle of the Turkey Day game has been between Lions fans and halftime performers Nickelback. The Detroit fans, it seems, think the Canadian rockers are too uncool to represent them in the nationally-televised game, and took to the Interwebs to gather more than 50,000 signatures on a petition to get the band replaced. Nickelback responded with a FunnyorDie.com video. Oh look, a link:

"A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving" (Thursday, 8 p.m., ABC)
It's been an annual tradition since 1973 for a reason: there's nothing better to get you in the holiday mood than a few good friends and Snoopy's Thanksgiving feast menu: popcorn, toast, jelly beans and pretzel sticks. The pooch clearly never met a carb he didn't like.