Ah, Thanksgiving is here again and... what? You don't remember Thanksgiving? It's that day between Halloween and Christmas where you sit and eat for a few minutes and then dash out to the store amidst a crowd of crazed whackos to get 50% a 200-inch TV. But it wasn't always like that, because back in Louie Anderson's day, people actually made a big to-do about Thanksgiving. The family gets together, works out their differences, and has a nice, peaceful meal at home with kith and kin... or at least, that's how you always HOPE it will go. So how does Louie's family celebrate Turkey Day? Well, this year, it all started when Louie was forced to play the turkey in the Thanksgiving play...again. He hated playing the turkey because everyone in the audience would make gobbling noises at him, and sure enough, this year history repeated itself. What happened next, according to Louie, was that he "fell" into the audience, but hard-ass Principal Halloran claims he threw himself out there and hospitalized several students with "turkey bites." As punishment, she tells him he has to write a report on the history of Thanksgiving. Gee, Principal, why don't you write a book about THAT too, you stuck-up.... anyway, Louie goes about his unpleasant task of finding what the meaning of Thanksgiving could possibly be. According to Ora, it's pumpkin pie. According to Andy, it means a lot of annoying people showing up unannounced. So, next day was the big day, and promptly at noon, all the relatives filed into the Anderson joint. Andy seemed to be in particularly good spirits, mainly because Uncle Sammy hadn't shown up. He was a man Andy despised because of his wealth and ostentatious nature. But sure enough, as Andy takes the kids into the backyard for a game of touch football... Sammy showed up.
Parking his big honking private plane in the middle of the street... yeah, he's going to prison for violating many FAA regulations. Sammy asks if the kids would like a ride in his plane, and they all go... sans Louie, for some reason. I'm assuming Andy prevented him from going, but then he asks Louie if he wanted to go (after the fact) and Louie sarcastically replied "nah." So if Andy did stop Louie from joining the others, then yeah, he's a real jerk. When everyone gets back from their joyride, Sammy presents everyone with a brand new TV with which to watch the Thanksgiving Day parade, containing a float which Sammy sponsored. While Andy's temper cooked, the women were staring hopefully at the roasting turkey in the oven. When it was finally ready, dinner could at last begin. Naturally, Sammy takes it upon himself to tell the story of the holiday, however Andy managed to finally get one over on him and tell a much better story. Feeling jealous, Sammy tried to take charge of cutting the turkey. Andy stops him, telling him to get his own family. They fight over the bird, food goes flying, including the pumpkin pie! Louie lept out to save it...and fell face-first in the traditional confection. Everyone else takes a taste and then a change comes over them: they forgive themselves of all their petty arguments, accusations and how much money they owed, and came together as a family. But where did Sammy go? He was taking off in his plane, but Andy managed to catch him...just as he left the ground. Andy makes a mid-air apology and even offers Sammy a piece of pie he miraculously managed to hold on to, despite the altitude and wind speed. So all was well, and it seemed Ora was right: pumpkin pie pretty much did represent the meaning of Thanksgiving. You think Principal Halloran will buy it? No, but at least Louie had some leftover pie for his time in detention.
Perhaps many of us have families like this, who fight, quarrel, pick at nits, and then one thing can miraculously bring them all together. This episode was a good one, as it really does embody the spirit of Thanksgiving. Andy's story was great, the pumpkin pie explanation rings very true, and it's a good one to watch at Thanksgiving or any time of the year. While the Sammy character was a bit over-the-top, they did round him out nicely by showing he had no family to call his own, so his possessions seemed to be all he had. When all was said and done, Andy was a richer man than him, and he wasn't so proud that he couldn't extend an olive branch...or pumpkin pie branch... of truce. So on this year's fourth Thursday of November, don't just stand in line at Wal-Mart for some foreign-made piece of junk, spend it sitting at the table with your family, and pray you have a much more peaceful Thanksgiving than the Andersons had.
Parking his big honking private plane in the middle of the street... yeah, he's going to prison for violating many FAA regulations. Sammy asks if the kids would like a ride in his plane, and they all go... sans Louie, for some reason. I'm assuming Andy prevented him from going, but then he asks Louie if he wanted to go (after the fact) and Louie sarcastically replied "nah." So if Andy did stop Louie from joining the others, then yeah, he's a real jerk. When everyone gets back from their joyride, Sammy presents everyone with a brand new TV with which to watch the Thanksgiving Day parade, containing a float which Sammy sponsored. While Andy's temper cooked, the women were staring hopefully at the roasting turkey in the oven. When it was finally ready, dinner could at last begin. Naturally, Sammy takes it upon himself to tell the story of the holiday, however Andy managed to finally get one over on him and tell a much better story. Feeling jealous, Sammy tried to take charge of cutting the turkey. Andy stops him, telling him to get his own family. They fight over the bird, food goes flying, including the pumpkin pie! Louie lept out to save it...and fell face-first in the traditional confection. Everyone else takes a taste and then a change comes over them: they forgive themselves of all their petty arguments, accusations and how much money they owed, and came together as a family. But where did Sammy go? He was taking off in his plane, but Andy managed to catch him...just as he left the ground. Andy makes a mid-air apology and even offers Sammy a piece of pie he miraculously managed to hold on to, despite the altitude and wind speed. So all was well, and it seemed Ora was right: pumpkin pie pretty much did represent the meaning of Thanksgiving. You think Principal Halloran will buy it? No, but at least Louie had some leftover pie for his time in detention.
Perhaps many of us have families like this, who fight, quarrel, pick at nits, and then one thing can miraculously bring them all together. This episode was a good one, as it really does embody the spirit of Thanksgiving. Andy's story was great, the pumpkin pie explanation rings very true, and it's a good one to watch at Thanksgiving or any time of the year. While the Sammy character was a bit over-the-top, they did round him out nicely by showing he had no family to call his own, so his possessions seemed to be all he had. When all was said and done, Andy was a richer man than him, and he wasn't so proud that he couldn't extend an olive branch...or pumpkin pie branch... of truce. So on this year's fourth Thursday of November, don't just stand in line at Wal-Mart for some foreign-made piece of junk, spend it sitting at the table with your family, and pray you have a much more peaceful Thanksgiving than the Andersons had.
