November 25, 2020

Happy Thanksgiving!


It's been that kind of year, hasn't it? In our particular circle of Hell, we've been told that we can't get together with family and friends for Thanksgiving unless we all constitute part of a "household." It's not surprising that something like this would happen at Thanksgiving, and I'd expect the same thing to happen at Christmas and, if they can get away with it, at Easter. 

It's all part of celebrating a "Thanksgiving Like No Other," although, not having been around during the Thanksgivings of World War II, for example, I don't know how accurate that label is. After all, it's one thing to apart from your loved ones due to a quarantine, but it's something altogether different when that loved one is overseas fighting a war for your freedom, or sitting somewhere in a POW camp, or even dead. Perhaps all wartime Thanksgivings are ones like no other, which begs the question as to whether or not they might even be more common than not. Maybe there's no such thing as "normal"; maybe there never was.

There's nothing wrong with being outraged about injustice; in fact, we'd be a pretty sorry lot if we weren't. (Just how one defines injustice is, of course, another question.) But tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and while it's very easy to kvetch about things, as I've been doing in the past couple of paragraphs, there's still a great deal to be thankful for, if you're willing to be fair and reasonable about it. On the balance sheet of life, many of us still have more assets than debits. I prefer to look at 2021 as a year with an opportunity for improvement. True, there are many reasons to think that next year will be even worse (and I'm not just talking about the virus, either), but other than doing what little we can about our own lives and circumstance, what else can we do? What's the old saying: let God and let go? Well, that's about it.

I'm thankful, as always, for your patronage, your comments throughout the year, and your continued interest in classic television. I appreciate the TV Guides you've allowed me to borrow, and the friendship you've given me freely. I'm grateful for the mere fact that this platform allows me to write about something that interests me, and that it interests many of you as well. I'm always excited about things that bring back warm memories, such as these two pieces from TV Party!, the outlet that gave me my first opportunity to write about classic TV. If watching those shows doesn't make you feel better, at least for a little while, then you're a candidate for a Grinch story about Thanksgiving. 

For you and your friends, family and loved ones, wherever you are and whatever you're doing, please accept my very best wishes for a blessed and happy Thanksgiving. Unless you still think turkeys can fly, you're well ahead of the game. TV  

6 comments:

  1. Have a great Thanksgiving, Mitchell and thank you for what you do to preserve the history of TV. It's a welcome part of my existence each week and I am happy to contribute when I can. Les Nessman's facial expression from the infamous WKRP Thanksgiving episode sums up 2020 perfectly!

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  2. Per imdb.com

    Les Nessman: Oh my God! They're turkeys! Oh no! Johnny can you get this? Oh, they're crashing to the earth right in front of our eyes! One just went through the windshield of a parked car! This is terrible! Everyone's running around pushing each other. Oh my goodness! Oh, the humanity! People are running about. The turkeys are hitting the ground like sacks of wet cement! Folks, I don't know how much longer... The crowd is running for their lives. I think I'm going to step inside. I can't stand here and watch this anymore. No, I can't go in there. Children are searching for their mothers and oh, not since the Hindenburg tragedy has there been anything like this. I don't know how much longer I can hold my position here, Johnny. The crowd...

    Later...

    Arthur Carlson: As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly!

    Happy Thanksgiving everybody!!!

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  3. "If they can get away with it"? By they, I assume the people who are trying tos save our lives? I am thankful for "them" who are working against so much stupidity.

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  4. Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours, Mitchell. I'm sure neither of us ever expected to live through a year where gathering with family and friends over dinner could be punishable by fines or imprisonment. No wonder we love the TV shows of the past.

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  5. "As God as my witness, I thought Turkeys could fly".
    Can't really blame him, until the end of WWII they all could. Post-war, domestic ones lost that ability do to being bred for maximum breast meat. Like an overloaded plane they're too heavy to get/stay airborne.

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Thanks for writing! Drive safely!