With Halloween now firmly in the rearview mirror, it’s time to turn our attention to Thanksgiving, a holiday featured on TV shows of all genres and styles for decades. These episodes always feature food far too perfect to exist in real life and characters bickering before finally realizing the things they’re most thankful for are one another.
Though we’ll all have to settle for our family’s cooking this year, we all secretly wish we could tuck into one of those picture-perfect Thanksgiving feast. Choosing which fictional TV character we’d want to cook that feast. However, well, that’s a very difficult task
1Sookie S. James
‘Gilmore Girls’
To be fair, there are a lot of characters inGilmore Girlswho would be great at making an epic Thanksgiving meal, but the main one who comes to mind is Sookie St. James (Melissa McCarthy), the best friend of Lorelai and the head chef at the Dragonfly Inn.
Given her impressive background in cooking, it would be hard-pressed to not see how St. James wouldn’t be in-demand to whip up a meal to be remembered, taking a number of traditional Thanksgiving dishes and turning them into something spectacular. You can’t go wrong with having Sookie St. James in the kitchen.
Gilmore Girls
2Alba Villanueva
‘Jane the Virgin’
The matriarch of the Villanueva family, Alba Villanueva (Ivonne Coll)is the voice of reason and the one the main characters turn to whenever there is a problem. Being the matriarch of the family, you know that Thanksgiving is her time, and who wouldn’t want to eat at her table when Alba is in the kitchen making the food?
Not only can Alba cook a great Thanksgiving meal, but, thanks to her Curban heritage, Alba can add a nice dose of Latin flair to her dishes, perfectly blending the flavors of her home country with traditional Thanksgiving staples that will make for a dynamic dinner.
Jane the Virgin
Watch On Apple TV
3Red Reznikov
‘Orange Is the New Black’
Red Reznikov (Kate Mulgrew) may be a convicted felon at the Litchfield State Penitentiary, but she sure knows her way around the kitchen as the chef of the prison’s cafeteria. Red doesn’t believe in cooking the traditional prison slop. She puts love into her food to make it flavorful, which translates into a prison population that actually enjoys the food, not just tolerates it.
With Red already putting flavor into her food, the holidays are the perfect time for her to shine. Thanks to the constraints of Litchfield’s kitchen, she didn’t have any special ingredients to work with, but that would not stop Red from making a spectacular meal for her fellow inmates.
Orange is The New Black
Watch On Netflix
4Monica Geller
This is an easy one. Monica Geller (Courtney Cox) is a renowned New York head chef who pours her heart and soul into everything she cooks. Whether she’s cooking as a means of apology to her husband Chandler (Matthew Perry), leaving chocolates for her demanding neighbors, or preparing a Thanksgiving meal for the most important people in her life, she always excels.
Monica also always ensures she provides a separate vegetarian option for Phoebe that is just as tasty as the turkey, (Lisa Kudrow), proving that she’s capable of adapting to suit her guest’s needs and, above all else, she’s as good a friend as she is a cook.
5SpongeBob SquarePants
‘SpongeBob SquarePants’
Though we’re not exactly sure if Thanksgiving is celebrated in Bikini Bottom, we know that everybody’s favorite fry cook would be able to whip up a Thanksgiving meal that’d have us begging for more. Of course,SpongeBob SquarePants' specialty dish is the Krabby Patty, but we’re sure he’d be able to rustle up a beautiful pumpkin pie and cranberry sauce.
The main problem SpongeBob would face is getting Mr. Krabs to agree to give him the day off work, something the money-obsessed owner of the Krusty Krab is very unlikely to agree to. Perhaps he’ll cook a Thanksgiving meal when he returns for theupcoming fourth SpongeBob feature film.
SpongeBob SquarePants
6Charles Boyle
‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’
Charles Boyle (Joe Lo Truglio) may have dedicated his life to protecting the people of New York, but his real passion lies in the magic of cuisine. Boyle often disgusts the other members of the 99 by using their shared kitchen to cook some of the weirdest and most pungent foods from across the globe.
Thanksgiving at Boyle’s place would definitely be untraditional, but that doesn’t mean we should dismiss it entirely. Though it would be sad to skip out on the turkey, mashed potatoes, and stuffing, we’re certain that whatever Boyle rustled up would be just as delicious.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine
7Ned Flanders
‘The Simpsons’
Ned Flanders, one of the most iconic characters onThe Simpsonswho has appeared in many of theshow’s best Thanksgiving episodes, makes it onto our list for one simple reason. Every drink he pours and every item of food he cooks is treated with all the care in the world. This is demonstrated inThe Simpsons Moviewhen Flanders cheers Bart up with the most delicious and lovingly crafted mug of cocoa we’ve ever seen.
Of course, the downside of spending Thanksgiving with Ned Flanders and his family is the fact that you’d have to sit through an entire afternoon with the devoutly religious and unwaveringly polite Flanders family. Maybe it isn’t worth it after all.
The Simpsons
8Lois Griffin
‘Family Guy’
Though Peter Griffin likes to pretend he hates it, his wife, Lois, is clearly an exceptional cook. Not only has she cooked a Thanksgiving feast for all six members of her family, which is no mean feat, but she has also hosted her neighbors and their families too.
The benefit of celebrating Thanksgiving at the Griffin household, beyond the tasty grub, is the fact that you’re guaranteed to enjoy one of the most exciting and unpredictable Thanksgiving holidays of all time. There will be bickering. There will be cut away’s. And if you’re really, really lucky, you might even witness a bombshell revelation (like Joe’s son returning home) or maybe even an iconic chicken fight.
Family Guy
9Charlie’s Mom
‘It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia’
We don’t know a great deal about the woman responsible for raising Charlie Kelly (Charlie Day), and the few things we do know are rather disturbing, like the fact that she spends every waking second worrying her son will die and that every Christmas morning she would sleep with a variety of men all dressed like Santa.
Despite this, however, we think Bonnie Kelly is a pretty good cook. Why else would Frank (Danny DeVito) be so insistent on having her be his ‘bang maid’. We don’t get to see what she actually cooks for him, but from the way Frank settles into his new life, it’s pretty clear the food (among other things) is out of this world. And if the food was good, maybe Charlie does have some happy holiday memories after all.
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia
10Kitty Forman
‘That ’70s Show’
Kitty Forman (Debra Jo Rupp) is the TV Mom of our dreams. She’s always there to dish out life lessons, be a shoulder to cry on, and remind her husband when he’s being an ignorant old man. Of course, she also loves a drink or six, but we can forgive her that. After all, she deserves it for putting up with Red (Kurtwood Smith).
Kitty can often be found in the kitchen, cooking a feast for her family and her son’s wide array of friends, who all treat the Forman house as if it were their own. Kitty even cooked Thanksgiving on the show, and we’ll be the first to admit it made our mouths water. Hopefully, Kitty will be back dishing out delicious food and furious tongue lashings when she returns to theupcomingThat 90s Show.
