There’s a lot more to Thanksgiving than just the food.
How to Watch
Watch Saturday Night Live Saturdays at 11:30/10:30c on NBC and next day on Peacock.
You might watch football, catch a nap, or watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, and some even line up way too early for Black Friday. However you spend the day, watching Saturday Night Live‘s annual special is an excellent Turkey Day lead-in.
Hope you’ve got an appetite for a buffet of Thanksgiving-themed SNL sketches from the past 50 years, from musical tributes to commercial parodies to dinners that go horribly, hilariously wrong to cat adoption events filled with sexual tension. Don’t miss A Saturday Night Live Thanksgiving, which compiles two hours of the best SNL sketches about and inspired by the holiday.
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Below, find out how to get in on the Thanksgiving giggles this year.
How to watch the SNL Thanksgiving Special
A Saturday Night Live Thanksgiving airs Wednesday, November 26 at 9/8c on NBC, and will stream the next day on Peacock.
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In the meantime, prepare yourself for turkey day with a few reliable faves.
Back Home Ballers (Season 40)
SNL‘s girl group era gave us album-worthy addictive tracks (we’d still appreciate a streaming release), and “Back Home Ballers” was top tier and highly relatable. Starring Host Cameron Diaz, this video aired November 22, 2014 (and we’re still rapping Leslie Jones’ “Bowls, bowls, all type of bowls” on the regular).
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A Thanksgiving Miracle (Season 41)
Matthew McConaughey hosted on November 21, 2015 with Musical Guest Adele, and she lent her song “Hello” to an all-time classic pre-taped sketch. When a family dinner gets out of control with conflicting political and social opinions, a little girl saves the day by playing the song. It’s such a powerful track that it saves the day and restores peace to the table.
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Thanksgiving Parade (Season 42)
When Kristen Wiig returned to host in Season 42, she played her most terrifying role ever: a giant Madeleine balloon. Alongside Bobby Moynihan and Mikey Day, she proved no one should ever see those things up close. “Kristen Chenoweth,” played by a doll, also cameoed in this 2016 sketch when she got tangled up in one of the balloons while performing a song from Wicked.
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Paul Simon’s Monologue (Season 2)
Paul Simon’s Monologue Worries
Paul Simon began his 1976 episode dressed like a giant turkey. He sang “Still Crazy After All These Years” before getting fed up with the concept and going backstage to yell at Lorne Michaels. It’s a short and sweet gag that really captured the attitude of the show’s early seasons, but it’s also just Paul Simon singing in a turkey suit. He can’t even fit through the door!
