Thanksgiving Day Fare on TV: ‘Twilight Zone,’ parades, football
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Television is offering a feast of holiday programming, including KTLA’s annual ‘Twilight Zone’ marathon, Thanksgiving day parades, plenty of holiday cooking advice and a triple helping of NFL football.
“Top Chef” 6 a.m., Bravo: Guess Who Is Coming to Thanksgiving Dinner: The chefs prepare Thanksgiving dinner.
Movie: ‘An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving” *** (2008) 6 a.m., Hallmark: Jacqueline Bisset, Ted Atherton. In the 1800s, a wealthy woman tries to reconnect with her estranged, widowed daughter and four grandchildren.
“McDonald’s Thanksgiving Parade” 6 a.m., WGN: Chicago celebrates the holiday with a parade of balloons, floats, marching bands, equestrian units, performance groups and celebrities.
“Today” 7 a.m., NBC: A Thanksgiving meal with chef Bobby Flay; actress Marlo Thomas. (N)
“Good Morning America” 7 a.m., ABC: Laurence Fishburne; door-buster sales; chef Sara Moulton on Thanksgiving meal preparation. (N)
“Rachael Ray” 8 a.m., KCAL: Chef Bobby Flay talks about carving a turkey and what to do with leftovers.
Movie: ‘A Family Thanksgiving” ** (2010) 8 a.m., Hallmark: Daphne Zuniga, Faye Dunaway. An ambitious attorney awakes in an alternate reality as a wife and mother of two.
“The Thanksgiving Day Parade on CBS” 9 a.m., CBS: “The Insider” co-host Kevin Frazier and correspondent Christina McLarty present highlights of the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York; John Fogerty performs; performances by the Broadway casts of “Anything Goes” and “Memphis.” (N)
“Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade” 9 a.m., NBC: New York’s annual event features floats and marching bands. (N)
“The Twilight Zone” 9 a.m., KTLA: Number Twelve Looks Just Like You: An ugly duckling can be stunning in a world of beautiful people.
“The Twilight Zone” 9:30 a.m., KTLA: People Are Alike All Over: An astronaut (Roddy McDowall) experiences Martian hospitality.
“NFL Football” 9:30 a.m., Fox: Green Bay Packers at Detroit Lions. (N) (Live)
“The Twilight Zone” 10 a.m., KTLA: The Trade-ins: After 50 years of wedded bliss, John and Martha Holt decide that it would be nice to start it all over again.
“The Twilight Zone” 10:30 a.m., KTLA: Stopover in a Quiet Town: The morning after a wild party, a couple wake up in a totally unfamiliar and artificial place.
“The Twilight Zone” 11 a.m., KTLA: On Thursday We Leave for Home: The leader (James Whitmore) of a colony stranded on an asteroid resists rescue. With James Broderick.
“Heirloom Meals’ Thanksgiving” 11 a.m., KCET: Family recipes for the holidays include cranberry-stuffed acorn squash, Brazilian cheese rolls, chipotle-spiced pumpkin pie and roast turkey.
“The Twilight Zone” Noon, KTLA: The Lonely: Convicted of murder, a man is sent to a deserted asteroid in space to serve a 40-year prison sentence.
“Paula’s Home Cooking” Noon, Food: Southern Thanksgiving Leftovers: Recipes using leftovers from Thanksgiving dinner.
“Martha and Friends — Martha’s Best Thanksgiving” Noon, Hallmark: Martha Stewart comes up with holiday crafts, tasty treats and an adventurous surprise.
“Man v. Food Nation” Noon, Travel: The Feast Special: Adam visits the best places to have holiday feasts around the world.
“The Twilight Zone” 12:30 p.m., KTLA: The Invader : A woman battles two miniature aliens from another planet in a battle of size versus scientific weapons. With Agnes Moorehead.
“NFL Football” 1 p.m., CBS: Miami Dolphins at Dallas Cowboys. (N) (Live)
“The Twilight Zone” 1 p.m., KTLA: The Odyssey of Flight 33: On the way from England to America, a jetliner and its crew travel backward in time.
“Barefoot Contessa” 1 p.m., Food: Turkey: Not Just for Thanksgiving: Herb-butter roast turkey; Parmesan popover; creme brulee.
“The Martha Stewart Show” 1 p.m., Hallmark: Thanksgiving Dilemmas Solved: Martha answers Thanksgiving questions.
“Veronica’s Closet” 1 p.m., TV Guide: Veronica’s Thanksgiving That Keeps on Giving: Mixed romantic messages from Veronica and Olive (Kirstie Alley, Kathy Najimy) cause confusion for the men (Ron Silver, guest star Mark Harelik) at the Thanksgiving dinner table.
“The Twilight Zone” 1:30 p.m., KTLA: And When the Sky Was Opened: Three astronauts return from man’s first flight into outer space and can’t remember the trip.
“The Twilight Zone” 2 p.m., KTLA: Valley of the Shadow: A reporter (Ed Nelson) visits a town whose inhabitants can manipulate time, energy and matter. With James Doohan.
“The Twilight Zone” 3 p.m., KTLA: The Fugitive: Old Ben has the strange power to change himself into anything, or anyone, he wants.
“The Twilight Zone” 3:30 p.m., KTLA: Third From the Sun: Two men plan to steal a spaceship to avoid the destruction of the planet.
“The Twilight Zone” 4 p.m., KTLA: The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street: Strange occurrences in a small town lead people to believe they are being invaded.
“The Twilight Zone” 4:30 p.m., KTLA: The Long Morrow: An astronaut falls in love just before a long mission.
“The Twilight Zone” 5 p.m., KTLA: To Serve Man: Aliens with ulterior motives show humans how to live peacefully with one another.
“College Football” 5 p.m., ESPN: Texas at Texas A&M : (N) (Live)
“NFL Football” 5 p.m., NFL: San Francisco 49ers at Baltimore Ravens. (N) (Live)
“The Twilight Zone” 5:30 p.m., KTLA: The Eye of the Beholder: A woman’s natural beauty makes her a freak in a futuristic society.
Movie: ‘A Family Thanksgiving” ** (2010) 6 p.m., Hallmark: Daphne Zuniga, Faye Dunaway. An ambitious attorney awakes in an alternate reality as a wife and mother of two.
“A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving” 8 p.m., ABC: The Peanuts gang gathers around Charlie Brown’s pingpong table for an unusual feast; a bonus cartoon is “This Is America, Charlie Brown: The Mayflower Voyagers.”
“The Real Story of Thanksgiving” 8 p.m., History: With its costumed Pilgrims, turkeys and pumpkin pie, the story of Thanksgiving zigzags through American history with surprising twists.
“The Middle” 9 p.m., ABC: Thanksgiving II: Mike reluctantly invites his brother (Norm Macdonald) and father over for Thanksgiving; Sue wants to start a holiday tradition.
“A Hollywood Christmas Celebration” 9 p.m., KCAL: Celebrities gather at the Grove in Los Angeles for holiday festivities that include fireworks and the lighting of 15,000 lights on a 100-foot Christmas tree.
“Radio City Holiday” 9 p.m., HGTV: Thom Filicia transforms the Grand Foyer and Grand Lounge into a holiday wonderland. (N)
“Cake Boss: Family Feast” 9 p.m., TLC: An Italian Thanksgiving feast; turkey cake for the bakery crew. (N)
“A Very Gaga Thanksgiving” 9:30 p.m., ABC: Musician Lady Gaga shares intimate details about her life, her past and her music with Katie Couric; chef Art Smith helps Lady Gaga prepare deep-fried turkey and waffles; performances include a duet with Tony Bennett. (N)
“The 85th Anniversary of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade” 10 p.m., NBC: Looking at past floats, balloons and performances. (N)
“Holiday, Inc.” 10 p.m., HGTV: New York City landmarks, including the Time Warner Center, Lord & Taylor, and Macy’s on 34th Street, are transformed overnight for the holidays. (N)
“Cake Boss: Family Feast” 11 p.m., TLC: An Italian Thanksgiving feast; turkey cake for the bakery crew.
“Radio City Holiday” Midnight, HGTV: Thom Filicia transforms the Grand Foyer and Grand Lounge into a holiday wonderland.
“The Twilight Zone” 5:30 a.m., Syfy: A Quality of Mercy: A newly commissioned officer arrives in the Philippines in the waning years of World War II.
— Compiled by Ed Stockly
Santa Claus at the 2010 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Credit: Ali Goldstein / NBC.