Turkey Day

There was something refreshingly pedestrian about last night's episode of The Middle. It wasn't about abundance and excess, because as a middle-class situation comedy, the current economic state doesn't reflect having plenty and living beyond your means. Frankie and Mike are doing their best to get by. But they're not bitching about it. That's part of the reason why I'm enjoying this show so much. Like me, Jason also liked this episode quite a bit.

Frankie had to work on Thanksgiving, that's true, and she did protest about that, but not the fact that the family has to plot out their Black Friday shopping at the mall to get every bargain imaginable. They don't complain about being strapped. They accept that they have to cut coupons and be thrifty.

Like the remnant carpet for the bedroom as an anniversary gift, The Hecks are accepting of their middle class.

• At 4:30AM, TCM has a marathon of Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers movies.
• At 6, TLC has a Cake Boss marathon.
• At 7, USA has a House marathon.
• At 8, Syfy starts their James Bond movie marathon with Dr. No.
• At 8:30, Cartoon Network has a Tom & Jerry marathon.
• At 9, NBC has The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, then the National Dog Show.
• CBS has highlights from parade on The Thanksgiving Day Parade on CBS at 9.
• Discovery has a Mythbusters marathon at 9.
• TV Land has a Brady Bunch marathon starting at 9.
• There's a Golden Girls marathon on Hallmark at 9.

Well, we know that the singers from Glee were not welcomed into the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade thanks to NBC's territorial attitude. Still, that doesn't mean we won't be watching on Turkey Day. NBC, in fact, will feature one of their own prominently that morning -- 30 Rock's Jane Krakowski will be singing an original song on a float.

It will not be a typical Jenna floppola, either. It's a song being written by the Emmy nominated team of Wesley Whatley and William Schermerhorn. And in case you don't know, Jane's a Tony-winning star who is not only hilarious as Jenna, but a really fine singer/dancer/actress.

That's not all. Alan Cumming is also set to perform in the parade, and it sounds like a doozy, too. He'll sing the Sinatra classic, "That's Life" on the M&M float. What the song, Cumming and Sinatra have to do with M&M candies is anyone's guess.

Are there TV shows and/or movies that you watch every Christmas? If you're like me, you try to catch It's A Wonderful Life, Miracle on 34th Street, Bad Santa, A Charlie Brown Christmas, Rudolph and other specials. And on Halloween we have, well, Halloween and It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.

But what about Thanksgiving? Do you have any TV traditions for this holiday?