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30 greatest Thanksgiving episodes of all time

By Reed Gaudens

385848 12: Actors (l-r): Courteney Cox Arquette as Monica Geller and Lisa Kudrow as Phoebe Buffay star in NBC's comedy series "Friends" Episode: "The One Where Chandler Doesn''t Like Dogs." (Photo by Warner Bros. Television)
385848 12: Actors (l-r): Courteney Cox Arquette as Monica Geller and Lisa Kudrow as Phoebe Buffay star in NBC's comedy series "Friends" Episode: "The One Where Chandler Doesn''t Like Dogs." (Photo by Warner Bros. Television) /
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BEVERLY HILLS, CA – AUGUST 04: Actresses Rachel Bilson (L) and Jaime King speak during the ‘Hart of Dixie’ panel during the CW portion of the 2011 Summer TCA Tour held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on August 4, 2011 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)
BEVERLY HILLS, CA – AUGUST 04: Actresses Rachel Bilson (L) and Jaime King speak during the ‘Hart of Dixie’ panel during the CW portion of the 2011 Summer TCA Tour held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on August 4, 2011 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images) /

27. Hart of Dixie

Episode: Season 1, Episode 9, “The Pirate & The Practice”

What’s on the menu: There’s nothing normal about the Thanksgiving holiday celebration in BlueBell, Alabama. While they surely devour the Southern classics, the town diverges from the usual aesthetic of the holiday. Swapping Sabrina’s pilgrims for pirates, Hart of Dixie rings in its first Thanksgiving with an introduction to Planksgiving. It’s an elaborate holiday that you could only experience in the fantasy land that is BlueBell.

As BlueBell legend has it, Planksgiving was started by town founder Cyrus Lavinius Leremiah Jones when the town welcomed pirates seeking refuge from a hurricane. The story is sometimes reversed with the pirates taking pity on BlueBell after the hurricane leveled their town, but either way, the town dresses up as pirates and has a fish fry in the center of town to commemorate the special occasion in their quirky town’s history. Zoe intends to head home to New York for the holiday, but that BlueBell pull is too strong and weird to fight.

Why we’re thankful for it: Hart of Dixie quickly became a feel-good escape, and some would say it all began with the unique episode “The Pirate & The Practice.” The Thanksgiving episode served up the classic 2000s WB feels and helped to set a buoyant tone for the series. Zoe Hart, try as she might, couldn’t help but get caught up in the Planksgiving fun despite Wade’s flirtations and Brick’s red tape. She actually starts to fit in a little… almost… maybe. Also, any show that dresses up Wilson Bethel as a pirate is something to be thankful for.

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