Around the dial

If you think about that cartoon above, it comes awfully close to cannibalism, don't you think? I mean, look at the leg on the plate? I suppose it could be a chicken leg, although that seems to be bad enough. At least the turkey has both of his; if it looked like he only had one, I think that might have been too much.

So how was your Thanksgiving? Hopefully yours was as satisfying as ours. Despite yesterday's tryptophan mainline, we're back today with the highlights from the week, and we'll start at Comfort TV, where David looks at five classic shows that deserved one more season. Hard to argue with any of them; of the five that David discusses in detail, I'd probably opt for Ellery Queen, which deserved more episodes on general principle alone.

Have you ever wondered why some period movies--Holiday Inn is one that comes to mind--joke about what day Thanksgiving falls on? Martin Grams tells the story of how a squabble between Republicans and Democrats led to the country having to choose between two Thanksgivings. See, this bitter infighting is nothing new. . .

And now on to Christmas! At Silver Scenes, we have a review of the new book, Mister Rogers' Neighborhood: A Visual History, a wonderful look at the much-loved show. Tom Hanks notwithstanding, you almost don't need a movie in order to provide the vivid images that make such a difference.

After a long absence, British TV Detectives returns with The Inspector Lynley Mysteries, a series that I confess to never having seen, though I've seen it on the programming guide many times; I suppose that doesn't count, though, does it?

At The Ringer, Alison Herman and Miles Surrey debate whether or not streaming series should be released weekly or all at once. My own opinion is that once a series is structured for binge viewing, it tends toward serialization; the self-contained episode is replaced by one long story, spread out over several episodes that can be watched one after another. That often leads to overtones of soap operas. But again, that's just my opinion; YMMV.

At Garroway at Large, Jodie uses a small clipping from the Pittsburgh Press of 1939 to serve as a reminder that nobody's perfect, no matter how big a star they are, or are going to be. It should also remind us not to be intimidated by the famous; after all, they are just like us.

Bob Sassone uses a recent encounter at a store to point out how much millennials miss with "their complete lack of interest in anything that happened before Saved by the Bell premiered." He's not talking about television here; he just uses the show as a reference point. But as someone who sees great cultural value in classic television, I share his frustration, and wonder just what it means for the future.

And as you get ready for your post-Black Friday shopping, let Television Obscurities offer you a gift guide to items for that lover of short-lived television shows. (If you need any other suggestions, just click here.) TV