The holidays often cause a whole helping of mixed emotions for queer people. Aside from getting thrown in the same room with horrible distant family rarely seen, Thanksgiving provides more than just a chance to eat for some. Whether family visits fly off the table or the food disappoints, many LGBTQ+ television shows offer a glimpse of the holiday spirit.
Find here the best queer Thanksgiving episodes that still make us smile.
1. Will & Grace “H-mo for the Holidays” (Season 2, Episode 7)
Few shows celebrated the holidays like Will & Grace, but any fan will say that Jack (Sean Hayes) and Karen (Megan Mullally) stole the show. Jack, one of the gayest characters ever created, reveals that his mom (Veronica Cartwright) doesn’t know he’s gay, giving their queer Thanksgiving feast some spice and sparks.
2. Master of None “Thanksgiving” (Season 2, Episode 8)
Few shows ever amass the level of acclaim as this episode of Master of None, which helped propel it into Emmy contention while making Lena Waithe a household name. The masterpiece episode follows Denise (Waithe) telling her mother (Angela Bassett) that she’s queer. The series and its creators experienced controversy recently, but this episode remains one of the most lauded, holidays or not.
3. Unhhh “Thanxgiving” (Season 1, Episode 32)
This YouTube series may be one of the most influential for modern drag queens, and it’s just two cross-dressers in front of a green screen. RuPaul’s Drag Race season seven sisters Trixie Mattel and Katya covered it all in almost seven years and 200+ episodes. Still, their first queer Thanksgiving episode remains one of the series’ best.
4. Modern Family “Punkin Chunkin” (Season 3, Episode 9)
Cameron (Eric Stonestreet) and Mitchell (Jesse Tyler Ferguson) take center stage on Thanksgiving day when the latter questions the truthfulness behind the former’s stories. Modern Family dominated television for over a decade for a reason, with its queer characters having a large part to play.
5. Will & Grace “Lows in the Mid-Eighties” (Season 3, Episodes 8 & 9)
To outdo its previous season’s stellar queer Thanksgiving episode, the gay sitcom doubled its length. It took viewers back to the 80s, showing the origin story of how the titular duo became friends. The episode also includes how Jack and Will met, how Karen and Rosario met, and the tale behind Will and Grace dating (and then quickly breaking up). While most holiday episodes provide filler or fluff, this series highlight offers some of the most crucial moments for the characters and their stories.
6. Bob’s Burgers “Turkey in a Can” (Season 4, Episode 5)
No episode best showcases Bob’s Burgers‘ talent for juggling absurd and wholesome humor. When Bob’s attempts at cooking the family turkey dinner get sabotaged, he goes on a manhunt for the culprit while protecting the backup. The episode includes a queer detour illustrating that queer inclusion in comedy can be for everyone.
7. Will & Grace “Moveable Feast” (Season 4, Episodes 9 & 10)
Firmly into the groove that would propel the series beyond 200 episodes, Its fourth season used its queer Thanksgiving episode to highlight the show’s many recurring characters. It’s a highlight of what the show succeeds at the most while covering all its bases and making jokes every step of the way.
8. Superstore “Black Friday” (Season 2, Episode 10)
In the capitalist age, Thanksgiving exists synonymously with Black Friday, the self-proclaimed busiest shopping day of the year. With people lining up at 3 am, Superstore shows the other side of the holiday for retail workers. While the show never captured a massive fanbase, it perfectly illustrated the best of 2010s sitcoms.
9. Schitts Creek “Turkey Shoot” (Season 1, Episode 7)
Still capitalizing off the “rich to poor” reality for the Rose family, “Turkey Shoot” saw David (Dan Levy) and Stevie (Emily Hampshire) head off into the woods for an actual rural Thanksgiving. While no doubt hilarious, the episode highlights the often hard-to-find middle ground between two worlds coming together.
10. High Maintenance “Ex” (Season 1, Episode 6)
Despite focusing on a weed dealer in New York, the web series turned HBO series managed to provide poignant and queer storytelling when it wanted to. The end of the show’s first season dares to take the truth behind the characters’ weed smoking to a heartfelt and extraordinary place.
11. Modern Family “Thanksgiving Jamboree” (Season 8, Episode 7)
Returning to the Dunphy household, queer icons Cam and Mitchell decide to host Thanksgiving dinner, bringing chaos and holiday humor. The episode throws the entire family together for a rapid-fire descent into the hilarity of family.
12. Glee “Thanksgiving” (Season 4, Episode 8)
Season four of Fox’s musical comedy found a good chunk of its cast having graduated and moved on… for a while. With the graduates on break, longtime characters like Mercedes (Amber Riley), Quinn (Dianna Agron), and Santana (Naya Rivera) return to their stomping grounds to help out competition preparations. In New York City, Rachel (Lea Michelle) and Kurt (Chris Colfer) celebrate alone before the arrival of Kurt’s boss, who happens to be Sarah Jessica Parker.
13. Orange is the New Black “Fucksgiving” (Season 1, Episode 9)
Netflix’s success as a streaming giant comes down to its initial series debut of Orange is the New Black, a dramedy about a well-to-do woman sent to prison. The episode not only shows the cold cruelty of the prison system but fully gives itself to the characters’ queerness. Who’d guess a haircut from Laverne Cox could bring up such philosophical questions about love and gender?
14. Will & Grace “Queens for a Day” (Season 7, Episodes 10 & 11)
After taking some time off from the holiday-themed episodes, Thanksgiving returned, taking the group to Queens. The episode follows Will (Eric McCormick) and his boyfriend Vince’s (Bobby Cannavale) attempt to impress the latter’s mother. With the end of the series imminent, the episode showed the series still contained some gas needed for a fire episode.
15. Lady Gaga & The Muppets Holiday Spectacular (2013)
Alright, this special was a one-off, but few holiday specials will make excite like Lady Gaga’s collaboration with The Muppets, where they sang songs off her then-recently released “ARTPOP.” While this sounds like a gay boys’ fever dream, the special provides RuPaul guest tracks, Gaga at her campiest, and an hour of covers by The Muppets.