__twocolumncontent.jpg)
Nowadays, the day after Halloween signals the inexorable march to Christmas in retail, on the radio, and increasingly, on cable.
But what about Thanksgiving? Aside from NBC’s longstanding Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade (entering its 89th consecutive year and 63rd on NBC), Thanksgiving has been a blip on the tinsel-laced trail to Christmas, a nexus of marathons long seen as the official start to Christmas programming.
This year is shaping up to be different, with networks capitalizing on viewers—especially those who don’t give a whit about college football—in tryptophan-induced comas.
Lifetime kicks off the festivities Saturday November 21 at 8/7c with Jim Henson’s Turkey Hollow. Starring Mary Steenburgen and narrated by Chris ‘Ludacris’ Bridges, the family flick is based on an original idea Henson had back in the 60s. What’s unique about it is that it’s actually a Thanksgiving movie, a rarity in a sea of Christmas-themed films premiering this time of year.
“We’re kicking off with an actual Thanksgiving movie, which I think is a little bit refreshing than immediately seeing Christmas movies coming out,” said Karen Griffenhagen, senior creative director, on-air promotions, Lifetime. “We’re embracing the holidays as a bigger thing than just Christmas in September or whatever.”
The Henson Company-crafted puppets will be doing press of their own, with select appearances leading up to the premiere, including Steenburgen and the puppets visiting Good Morning America.
“We’re going to have them everywhere,” said Griffenhagen. “We’re very excited about getting these puppets out there as representations of the movie.”
With Turkey Hollow spearheading the holiday, PBS seeks to untangle the story behind it with their award-winning American Experience docuseries presenting Ric Burns’ Pilgrims. The program airs Tuesday, November 24 at 8:00 PM EST, and again on Thanksgiving Day at 9:30 PM EST. Starring the late Roger Rees in his last film performance and narrated by Oliver Platt, Pilgrims reveals the true story behind the Pilgrims and their less than thankful treatment of Native Americans.
Perhaps the biggest event on Thanksgiving Night is Fox’s second annual and star-studded The All-Star Dog Rescue Celebration at 8-10 PM ET/PT. From actress, producer and animal advocate Hilary Swank and Michael Levitt, the Dog Rescue Celebration provides information on the eight million rescue dogs in the U.S. shelter system, with celebrity guests asking for charitable donations to Petfinder Foundation.
The Hallmark Channel, in “Countdown to Christmas” mode since Halloween, is unveiling its first ever “Thanksgiving Week,” featuring five new original movies. While still operating under the overall umbrella of “Countdown to Christmas,” the five-day Thanksgiving Week event has a different graphics package, a turkey replacing their reindeer imaging, and Hallmark staple Candace Cameron Bure hosting.
“Thanksgiving is always a big part of Hallmark Holidays in general,” said Susanne McAvoy, executive vice president, marketing, creative and communications, Crown Media Family Networks. “It is part of Countdown to Christmas, but we are branding it [separately]. It does, from a marketing perspective, have a different graphics package, a different look.”
Thanksgiving weekend has long been a plum spot for marathons, and this year is no different, with Syfy leading the way in counter-programming with a three-day James Bond marathon featuring eight various films from November 26-28.
But Destination America has a different strategy for the tryptophan comatose viewers: let them sleep! Railroad Alaska: Real Time Train Ride acts as DA’s answer to the Yule Log, airing Thanksgiving night from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., followed by an encore.
“When turkey isn’t enough to put you to sleep on Thanksgiving, Destination America has the snoozefest you need,” said the network in a statement.
“Most networks compete to produce the most exciting show, which we already accomplished with our first, ever, live televised exorcism last month,” said Henry Schleiff, Discovery group president. “We also want to own the other end of the spectrum, providing viewers with the single most boring program ever to appear on television during Thanksgiving…even more boring than the Detroit Lions football game.”
Travel Channel has the same idea on Black Friday with Slow Road Live, a real-time 12-hour road trip.
With viewers bogged down in mistletoe and shopping, sometimes boredom is a welcome change.
Tags: