TVSquad

This is either great news if you like Martha Stewart and Rachael Ray or a warning if you don't like them, but it's interesting news nonetheless: Martha is going to do Rachael Ray's show and then the very next day Rachael will be on Martha's* show.

Yup, Martha will appear on Rachael's show on November 12 to show Rachael how to make a Thanksgiving centerpiece, and then on November 13 Rachael will appear on Martha's show and Martha will teach her how to make a Thanksgiving dessert. Notice that on both shows it's Martha who will be doing the teaching?

I don't know why Greek isn't talked about more. It seems to have everything all those other nighttime soaps have: a young cast, quirky characters, hip music. Maybe being on ABC Family means it gets lost in the shuffle.

Last night's episode was actually a Thanksgiving episode (they're a little ahead of things I guess), with Casey and Rusty's parents going off to Maui and stranding them on campus. What did you think?

[Watch clips and episodes of Greek at SlashControl.]

It'll be how I met Lily's dad on How I Met Your Mother. Chris Elliott has been cast as Lily's father on the CBS sitcom, a character who is supposedly something of a good-for-nothing parent. Elliott is hilarious and specializes in playing these kind of goofy roles. On Everybody Loves Raymond, for instance, his was Robert's overly familiar brother-in-law, Peter, who liked Ray just a little too much.

On HIMYM, Lily's dad will appear for the upcoming Thanksgiving episode on November 23. According to Michael Ausiello of EW.com, there will be series of flashbacks to illustrate exactly what's what with Lily and her father, why their relationship is "troubled." I'm hoping for more from this casting than Eric Braeden as Robin's dad; they never really used him right.

Wait, what? It's Thanksgiving? Already? Again? This doesn't seem right, as I still haven't washed last year's turkey grease from my television (how I eat my dinner is nobody's business but mine). Well, I guess it's time to think about the lovely things we have and give thanks to whatever vengeful supernatural entity is in charge of television. Thank you for...

30 Rock: The guest stars are getting a little exhausting at this point, but I still love each and every character that is on that show. I am especially thankful for all the Tracy Jordan quotes. Yes, I will live every week like it's Shark Week.

• At 8, CBS has a new Survivor.
• ABC has A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving again at 8.
• TBS has four Friends Thanksgiving episodes starting at 8.
• Cartoon Network has a new Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends movie at 8.
• Also at 8: ESPN has College Football, Texas A&M vs. Texas.
• At 9, CNN has CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute.
  
• HGTV has a new Rate My Space at 9.
  
• Nickelodeon has two Thanksgiving episodes of Home Improvement at 9.
• Spike has a new TNA Impact! at 9.
• Hallmark has the movie An Old-Fashioned Thanksgiving at 9.
• At 10, HGTV has a new House Hunters.
• MTV has a new Paris Hilton's My New BFF at 10.
• Current TV has the special Thanksgiving Countdown: 25 Pods We're Thankful For at 10.
  
• At 11, Lifetime has a two-part Will & Grace Thanksgiving episode, then a Frasier Thanksgiving episode.

Check your local TV listings for more.

After the jump, the late night talk show listings.

It's Thanksgiving morning right now and I'm sitting in my dad's kitchen watching people cook. I'm thankful for so many things this year, but since this is a TV site, let's talk about the things in TV that I'm thankful for--things besides the murder that the poor Detroit Lions are going to face at the hands of the Tennessee Titans today.

1. Netflix Watch Instantly
I've had Netflix basically since its inception, but with all of the TV that I watch, my Netflix movies have had a bad habit of collecting dust for months (I finally sent No Country for Old Men back after about six months on top of my DVD player). Even though I've known about the Watch Instantly feature for a while, I've never actually tried it out. I just watched Friday Night Lights Season 2, and let me tell you. it's so nice to just hit "Next" and have all of the episodes right there without having to change disks. Does that make me ridiculously lazy? Probably. I don't care.

(S05E03) Three episodes in and while Top Chef has been fun with really good challenges and interesting food, something is missing. Or maybe it just hasn't simmered to the surface yet. I'm talking about conflict, drama, hatred. Everybody is just too damn happy with each other.

I mean, last night the only nasty interaction was one chef flipping a finger at the other -- which Bravo actually blurred out, give me a break -- and Jamie commenting that she's fed up with Dave. Compared to previous seasons, that's pretty tame. Turn up the heat, guys and gals. Let's see that "too many cooks spoil the broth" energy.

So Mike has already given you a heads up on what's on TV Thanksgiving, on the geek end of the spectrum, so I thought I'd do a companion piece for the viewers who are wondering what channel the Macy's Parade is on and what time each football game starts. There are also some great marathons on as well.

• Food Network has Thanksgiving shows all day.
• At 7am, ABC's Good Morning, America, CBS's The Early Show, and NBC's Today will have various Thanksgiving segments, including cooking tips (kind of last minute, but every tip helps).
• ABC Family has the movie The Christmas Secret at 7.
• At 8, USA has a House marathon.

• TLC has a Little People, Big World marathon all night.
• At 8, ABC has a new Pushing Daisies, followed by a new Private Practice and a new Barbara Walters Special.
• CBS has a new Old Christine at 8, the new episodes of Gary Unmarried, Criminal Minds, and CSI: NY.
• NBC has the special Rosie Live at 8, followed by new episodes of Deal Or No Deal and Law and Order.
• FOX has a new Bones at 8.
• The CW has two new episodes of Stylista (the second is a clip show) at 8.
• PBS has a new installment of Monarchy at 8.
• The 2008 World Magic Awards airs on MyNetwork TV at 8.
• Discovery has two new episodes of Time Warp at 8.
• TCM has West Side Story at 8.
• At 9, Hallmark has the movie Accidental Friendship at 9.
• At 10, FX has the season finale of Sons of Anarchy.
• Bravo has a new Top Chef at 10.
• A&E has two new episodes of Parking Wars starting at 10.
• Also at 10, Showtime has a new Inside The NFL.

Check your local TV listings for more.

After the jump, the late night talk show listings.

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?

(Originally aired November 22, 2000)

Last year I picked The West Wing's "The Indians in the Lobby" episode as a standout episode of the series. It just so happens that we're blessed with two Thanksgiving episodes of the show that are standouts. This one is called "Shibboleth."

The plots: While President Bartlet has to figure out what to do with dozens of Chinese immigrants who have stowed away on a freighter, Toby tries to get Leo's controversial sister nominated for an education post, C.J. has to pick one of two turkeys who will get to be pardoned by the President, and Charlie goes shopping for the perfect carving knife for the President.

Wow, it's Thanksgiving already?

It seems like only yesterday that we were writing about the upfronts and the new shows, and here we are at the end of November. That means end of year reflection, best and worst lists, and this, what I'm thankful for right now, TV-wise.

1. Mad Men and 30 Rock. How blessed are we that two of the great shows of the past 25 years, one a comedy and one a drama, are on at the same time and we can look forward to them every week? Both are brilliant and addictive in their own special ways, and TV wouldn't be the same without them. And if reports are true, their worlds are about to collide in a truly must-see event. (And a thankful-within-a-thankful for Tina Fey in general.)

There are many Thanksgiving traditions we all enjoy: the turkey, the stuffing, watching football, fighting over the drumstick to see whose wish comes true, and putting up with family members you avoid 363 days of the year (you see them at Christmas too).

There's another tradition, this one TV-oriented: Friends!

It's that time of year again, isn't it? That brief period between the humongous holidays of Halloween and Christmas that television and retail outlets have forgotten about. I talk about Thanksgiving, of course. The holiday of football games, unbuttoned pants, family arguments, and giant Snoopy balloons. It is also the time to give thanks.

Thanks for what? Well, we aren't trading chickens for a gallon of gas yet, so that's something. And, we still have television, which we can eventually trade in for chickens in order to get a gallon of gas. But, since our television shows are more important than driving in many cases, we may just start riding our bikes and eat peanut butter sandwiches instead.

With those happy thoughts, here is what I am thankful for when it comes to the flat screen idiot box.

Thanksgiving is a time for family, right? On TV, our favorite families have been The Waltons, The Huxtables, The Simpsons. But this year a vote has been taken and another family has emerged as America's favorite. The Kardashians. Yes, believe it or not, the People's Choice web site has done a survey and the family chosen by most respondents to spend Turkey Day with are E TV's Kardashians.

Starting at 1 o'clock on Thursday, November 27, E! will broadcast a Kardashian marathon, five hours of Keeping Up With The Kardashians. Yes, if you don't want to watch NFL games -- and considering the fact that we're forced to endure the horrid Detroit Lions every Thanksgiving, the 2008 winless Lions, you may want to turn away -- you can instead watch the rich, spoiled, outrageous Kardashians.

(Of course, there is an NFL connection if you count Reggie Bush, Kim's fiance, the star running back of the New Orleans Saints who's currently injured and not playing.)