Top 10 Thanksgiving Episodes

Back for more? Here are the meat of potatoes of Thanksgiving episodes. Please make room for these holiday treats in your mind and schedule. And please don’t forget to have a great Thanksgiving this Thursday.

5. Mad About You: Giblets for Murray

Remember that first Thanksgiving you had your parents over to your house? Yeah, it hasn’t happened for me either. But this episode captures the feeling of creating your own holiday traditions as an adult. Of course, Paul and Jaime quickly leave their adult Thanksgiving behind as they make multiple trips to the store to try to fulfill everyone else’s holiday quirks. The real mayhem begins when the dog helps himself to the turkey.

+8 for Jamie throwing the 2nd replacement turkey out the window
-1 for too much character smoking, that’ll kill you, you know
7 Wishbones

4. Cheers: Thanksgiving Orphans

Food fight! You get flying food, Birdzilla and more during this holiday spread. The Cheers gang, apparently without any family to spend TG with, decide to meet at Carla’s to celebrate. Diane is hilariously uptight as usual. My favorite gem from her teaches the true meaning of TG: “I don’t think watching television was the Pilgrims’ original intent when they created the holiday.” Well-said, Diane. I think that they meant for us to eat a lot of food and play family games.

+ 8 for Diane’s Pilgrim costume
8 wishbones

3. Gilmore Girls: Deep Fried Korean Thanksgiving

Gilmore Girls offers a delectable blend of four dinners and two fast-talking girls to bake up one great episode. I admit this one would be better watched with Gilmore Girls knowledge under your belt, but it still brings general Thanksgiving charm to the table. I especially love when Sookie’s prized turkey gets deep fried (along with everything else on the table). Good fun. That reminds me – I’ve never had fried turkey for the big day. Anyone know if it’s tasty?

+ 9 wishbones for the girls lamenting that they skipped the rolls after attending 3 TG dinners and 1 abridged one
- 1 wishbone for overdramatic drama over Rory’s application to Yale.
Total: 8 Wishbones

2. Friends: The One with the Rumor

There is much debate over which Friends TG episode is the best. I picked this one because Brad Pitt guest starred in it, and he is awesome. Thanks Brad for Fight Club, Seven and many other thrilling movie experiences. Even if you prefer “The One Where Ross Got High” or “The One With All the Thanksgivings” better, this one still piles on the laughs. The revelation of the “I Hate Rachel Green” club and all the rumors that come pouring out after that provide a well concocted holiday treat.

+9 Wishbones for Brad’s mouthed threats to Rachel across the Thanksgiving table
9 Wishbones

1. WKRP in Cincinnati: Turkeys Away

Poor Mr. Carlson, he’s the old guy on the block who bugs all the cool young people. Feeling left out of the newly Rock oriented WKRP, he plans a fantastic Thanksgiving promotion to put the station on the map. He does manage to leave a mark, but not the kind he expected. Let’s just say that live turkeys don’t fare well when dropped out of helicopters. Famous last line from Carlson: “As God as my witness, I thought Turkeys could fly.” Thanks for learning that lesson the hard way, so we didn’t have to.

+10 for Les’s live report of the Turkey drop. “Oh the humanity!”
- 1 for slow buildup to the hilarity
9 Wishbones

SAN DIEGO — When the name Sean Astin comes up, most people associate the actor with his roles in "Lord of the Rings" and "The Goonies" where he plays both leader and loyal friend. What may come as a surprise is Astin’s current project in Disney’s "Special Agent Oso."

Not well-known for his voice-over work, the veteran actor leads the children’s series as Special Agent Oso. The series celebrates the classic spy genre, centering on an adorable stuffed panda bear that works for U.N.I.Q.U.E (United Network for Investigating Quite Usual Events). Special Agent Oso helps children problem solve matters from raising awareness about the environment to personal safety.

This series has since become a success and ranked No. 1 in its timeslot after its debut in April 2009, beating its competition by 12 percent among kids 2-5.

Blast Magazine talked with Astin about "Special Agent Oso," and its upcoming second season, which premieres Saturday July 10 at 8 a.m.

BLAST MAGAZINE: Special Agent Oso is a wonderful children’s show, how did you come across this project?

SEAN ASTIN: They offered it to me. I was doing a show in London and I got this package. Before I even read the cover letter there was this big fat color illustration of Oso (laughs). I was like "Oh yeah, that is me." In fact, the first show I did was over the phone from this studio in London and I was patched through. So I did the pilot episode before ever meeting the creator. It was pretty cool. I think they just knew from my other movies that I was Oso.

BLAST: Most people are not familiar with your voice-over work as much as your live action films. What’s the process been like for you? And how is it different than working on a live set?

SA: We’re into the second season and we’ve all developed the sort of friendships you would on a live-action show. We pretty much all work it out together, and the guys Ford (Riley), and Jamie (Mitchell), who I like to affectionately refer to as "the other side of the glass," are there so it’s like a radio play you put together.

BLAST: What does your family, especially your kids, think of the show? And hearing your voice as such an adorable character?

SA: They were incredibly excited when the first season premiered. They saw that Dad, the guy who hangs around the house all the time, does something. They got comfortable with it, you know? Their friends all knew that their dad was the voice, and that was cool for them. I would come in once and a while and read for them. Everybody wanted me to do the Oso voice and that kind of stuff, so that was really cool. Recently they just got to meet the Oso walk around — which is this life size cuddly Oso that walks around (and meets people). Something happened I don’t know, but they came home and were glued to the television. They were like, "we met this guy, and he’s awesome. We’re on the inside track now. We love Oso." I think my four year old who will be five in the coming weeks is the perfect target and demographic for us. She latched on to it the most. Recently the title song was nominated for an Emmy in Best Original Song, which we’re very proud of, and my oldest (daughter) knows all the lyrics.

BLAST: The visuals and design for the show is done wonderfully. It easily gains a child’s attention. There are a lot of fun elements to "Special Agent Oso."

SA: ("Special Agent Oso") is bright and colorful. The voices are up-toned, it’s very pleasing. The gadgets are all fun and the kids seem to know the spy universe pretty well. The way they do the discoveries and (set up) the organizational skills themselves are fun. (For example) Oso will come down from his helicopter to help solve a problem, but then he’ll make a mistake. So you’ll have these little kids teaching him, and showing him how to do it correctly.

BLAST: This doesn’t just make it engaging for the kids but for the adults as well.

SA: I think that’s because when you’re teaching a kid how to do something, like a puzzle, repetition is important. I think most parents are like me, you want to be deliberate and explain everything to them. You can tell when you’re losing them. They’re not really focused anymore; they’re bored with what you’re saying. Oso breaks things down with his "paw pilot" this little PDA he’s got (on the show) into these basic steps. You’re going to do this, then that, and (so forth). Then you’re going to know how to do it. As a parent watching my kid connect with that is pretty cool.

BLAST: And that’s the thing that’s great with this show, it also takes on subjects which generally are harder to perhaps conceptualize for a younger crowd.

SA: They really do this year. They push the envelope with that as far as I’m concerned. I saw the scripts come through and thought, "Wow we’re going to tackle this?" And one is about the importance of telling the truth. A little girl breaks a vase, her grandma’s vase, and their dog is around. She has to decide what to do: Is it important to tell grandma the truth? Or blame it on the dog? And when she learns it is important to tell the truth, she has to learn how to apologize about it. Modeling the importance of apologizing is so critical. And another one that’s big this season is about what to do if you get lost; cutting right to the core of issues for little kids. In terms of themes, there’s this big push within the administration and around the country about physical fitness. So (the show) made a concerted effort this year to put an element of physical fitness in there: playing catch, miniature golf, how to ride your scooter, and how to play football. I like that element in being part of this animated show, you’re contributing to people’s health and not just entertaining.

BLAST: You’re going to have some special guest appearances this season like Mel Brooks. How does it feel having them involved?

SA: It’s validation. You do an animated show for the Disney Channel, and you look at your peers like Jenna Elfman or Rita Morena and you sort of go, "So they probably have kids or nieces and nephews who watch the show. " These are people who like the Disney Channel and are cool enough to go out of their way to be in an episode or two. So it’s a validation to what we’ve been doing these past years.

BLAST: Your films, especially earlier the works, has been a big part of some people’s childhoods. How does it feel knowing the work you’re doing now is a part of your own children’s childhood?

SA: I’ll tell you how, they’re making toys! I brought home from work the other day the new Oso car set, and you would have thought I brought the Hope Diamond. Everyone in the house just gravitated to it!
I know there is "The Goonies" toy, and "The Lord of the Rings" toys. So you talk about going into the popular culture and finding a place in people’s hearts. But when it comes right down to it, I’m another toy (laughs).
___

Toy or not, Sean Astin certainly has an aptitude for embodying memorable characters for generations of kids, and "Special Agent Oso" is no exception.

"Special Agent Oso" premieres Saturday July 10th (8:00-8:30 A.M. ET/PT), and continues with new episodes at the same time every Saturday from July to August.

The ship has landed. Team Blast has arrived in a snowy, cold, and windy Boston to bring you a wealth of steamy hot PAX East 2010 coverage straight from the Hynes Convention Center in downtown.

We’ll be here Friday through Sunday, and in that time we’ll play every game on the floor, sit in on every panel humanly possible, and bring you all the exclusive videos, interviews, and b-roll you can stomach.

Keep it locked and loaded at Blast Gaming all day for a flood of gaming coverage.

Believe me, the line is full now.

Blast Magazine, the gaming section in particular, is looking for a gaming news writer.

We already muster up enough keystrokes to write between 5 and 15 news stories every day, but we’re not yet satisfied.

We cover the inner and outer workings of the gaming industry seven days a week. We stop at nothing to keep our readers informed in a timely, effective, and well-thought out manner. We’re no IGN, but we damn well try.

Getting back on point, we’re looking for a new writer.

To write for the gaming news section you must have a deep understanding, appreciation, and adoration of, the video game industry as well as, and we cannot stress this enough, a Gorilla-grip-type firm grasp of the English language and all of its intricacies. If you don’t know the difference between its and it’s or then and than, we don’t want you.

This position is not paid, but the lessons you’ll learn, the contacts you make, and the followers you amass on Twitter, will undoubtedly be a positive influence on your journalistic career in many tangible and intangible ways.

If you think you have what it takes to join our staff, send me an email at Makuch.E@BlastMagazine.com with the following:

Your name, an alphabetical (just kidding!) listing of every gaming machine you own, what you believe your strong point in writing or otherwise, is, why you want this position, your favorite game of all time, and two writing samples.

The writing samples should mirror something we write every day, that is, a news piece with all the pertinent information. Look at Kotaku, Joystiq, IGN for points of reference. The stories should be brief, informative and interesting. Feel free to be as creative as you see fit, realizing no one wants to read regurgitated information. Creativity and a conversational tone are two integral facets of alluring writing!

Blast Magazine has no office. We’re virtual. Wear your pajamas to work and eat pancakes while you write, we don’t care! As long as you don’t get syrup on the keyboard of course!

We’re looking for one writer at the moment so we’ll review your samples and choose the very best individual for the job. Send us your best, we look forward to hearing from you!

BlastMagazine.com is proud to be sponsoring the Faulkner-Sagoff RUNWAY Gala on October 22 at the InterCOntinental Hotel here in Boston.

The RUNWAY Gala is a night of fashion and fundraising for one of the best causes of all — breast cancer care. So cue the music, lower the house lights, and join Blast as we are very proud to cover and be a part of a night of fashion supporting the Faulkner Hospital Faulker-Sagoff Centre.

Presented by Suffolk Healthcare, this exciting event will preview the works of Boston’s hottest up and coming young designers from the School of Fashion Design. Guests will vote for their favorite alongside celebrity judges, including TLC’s “A Makeover Story” coach Gretchen Monahan, “Project Runway” alums Emmett McCarthy and Kevin Christiana, jewelry designer Tonya Chen Mezrich and Boldfacers.com founder Lisa Pierpont.

The evening will honor Men with Heart, a group of men committed to fighting breast cancer. They are husbands, sons, fathers and brothers of women touched by breast cancer.

The Faulkner-Sagoff Breast Imaging and Diagnostic Centre provides a patient-centered approach to breast cancer detection and prevention, making it one of the leading centers for breast health care in New England and in the country. In the decades since its establishment in 1971, the Centre has cared for well over 100,000 women.

For even more information on the event, visit Faulkner Hospital’s website.

We at Blast do our best to bring you, the faithful reader, both prolific and readable news stories, reviews, previews, and analysis of the industry, but today we’re pleased to introduce “Chibi Gamer,” our take on the lighter side of the heavy news stories that we run each day. Chibi Gamer is your one-stop hot spot for all things personal and less serious in respect to our and your favorite hobby: video games!

So far we’ve run pieces detailing the hottest nerd icons, and licensed games that don’t suck, but we won’t stop there and your input, in comments, will drive the direction we take in the future. So tell us exactly what you want to see, and your dream will become a manifested reality!

To access Chibi Gamer, hover your mouse over the “Blast Blogs” tab on the Blast front page and scroll all the way to the bottom to reach Chibi Gamer.

Chibi Gamer

With E3 2009 nearly upon us, rumors are flying high, emotions are flaring up, and our wildest hopes and dreams will soon either be validated or painfully crushed.‚  What will we learn this year about the pastime we love so much?‚  Who will be the winners, the losers, and the face-palming failboats of the show?‚  Will we see a PS3 price cut, an Xbox 360 motion controller device, or a Wii Zelda title?

The answers to these epic questions will be answered in just a couple short weeks, but for now, we’ve compiled the hopes, predictions, and thoughts regarding E3 2009 from Blast’s video game contributors for your reading pleasure.

John M. Guilfoil — Editor-in-chief (attending this year)

Last year was my first E3 after dreaming about going every year since 1998 when I started reviewing video games. I would read about it in magazines and talk to other reviewers about the spectacle of the Electronic Entertainment Expo. I still have an old CD-ROM issue of Interactive Entertainment magazine where they talk about going to E3. In its old form, it was larger than life.

Then I went last year.

Blah.

It felt like an investor’s summit. There was no energy. No excitement. And worst of all, there wasn’t any news!

Now this year the hype is back, and the energy feels high. I’m finding myself more pumped for my second visit than my first.

Last year was the year of music games — even Disney brought a music title to the mix. I get the feeling that the focus is on multiplayer and massively multiplayer online games. Nexon has already unveiled a new mode for their 2 million-user Combat Arms. Fallen Earth is showcasing some interesting, Fallout-esque visuals.

I also am confident that we’ll see both a new Mario and a new Zelda announcement. Nintendo has to pull a rabbit out of its ass this year after making the biggest splash in the belly flop contest that was last year’s E3. I feel like Microsoft is really comfortable with their lead, so anything huge from them would be a surprise. It’s Sony that I can’t make a call on. We’re at the end of PS2, PSP is still flat, and PS3 is trying to get momentum.

I like to scope out the little guys. Last year I liked what I saw from D3.‚  I’m curioius about what I’ll see this year from smaller developers.

Majesco — I’m a sucker for retro — is showing off a new “a boy and his blob” game, which I’m excited for.

Biggest question mark: Atari. I crowned them in Blast and in the Boston Globe with some of the best potential games of E3, and I have no idea what they’re bringing this time around, despite repeated inquiries. Either way, I still root for them.

Marc Normandin — Games Editor

Supposedly, this year’s E3 is supposed to be more like we as gamers want it to be, rather than the mostly boring financial meeting it has become. That’s great news for those of us that enjoy the slow drip of gaming news, and should also mean that the show should have more megaton announcements for all three of the big guns–Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo.

Sony and Microsoft will continue their struggle to control the future of gaming in HD, and there has been a lot of loud whispering in regards to motion-controlled options for both the PS3 and the Xbox360, so expect to hear something about that at the show. Sony went big last year with their show, displaying many games that blew us away, but at the same time, did not even release during 2008–expect to see more of those games in detail, given this is the next year’s show. There’s also this year’s big PSP lineup, which was mostly teased earlier this year, with little in the way of additional info coming forth since. Microsoft has been quiet with their published exclusives lately, so it seems like the time to announce one (or three) is now, at the show. Personally, I feel like they need to. Yes, they have the momentum in a way due to the larger install base and the back catalog of games, but as the PS3 releases more self-published exclusives and receives some of the very good to great 360 games with additional content or fewer bugs‚  (Eternal Sonata, Tales of Vesperia, the “exclusive” Fallout 3 DLC), Microsoft may start to see their grip loosen.

Nintendo needs to make up for last year’s show. It isn’t that it was as horrendous as some made it out to be–there were some neat things that came out of it, including the soon-to-be-released Wii Motion Plus–but the fact that they claimed the “core” audience would be happy–an impossible task that many are taking notice of–was their downfall as far as expectations go. They have been very tight-lipped about what is going on at the show this year, which makes wonder if they have something up their sleeve. Expect a lot of attention on the Wii, given the DSi has been the focus for the past year or so. Pikmin 3, which was informally announced last year, would go a long ways towards healing some wounds, were a vtrailer or gameplay video to surface. Same goes for a new Mario, Zelda, etc., or a new “core” IP. IGN has been saying that Retro Studios (Metroid Prime) has something in the works that will rock all of our socks off, so maybe E3 is when we will see that unveiled.

Eddie Makuch — Gaming News Reporter

First off, I cannot fathom a more exciting and alluring event for fans of the video game sector than that of the E3 convention.‚  Thousands of video game journalists as well as publishers and developers will flock to Los Angeles in the beginning of June to finally reveal what has long been rumored as well as catch fans and journalists alike completely off guard with the perennial unbelievable announcement.

As a disclaimer, I would classify my specific thoughts as on the more wild side of we are likely to see, but are not impossibly farfetched, at least I think so.

Sure we’ve heard rumors of a PS3 price cut, or even a total “slim” redesign, but will Sony cave and take an even further loss per console as a good PR move?‚  I have this rumbling in my gut that is telling me Sony has geared up and will show up hard at E3 with some head-rolling announcements.‚  However, what I feel is more likely than a PS3 price cut/redesign, is that of the official announcement and reveal of the latest PSP model, complete with the eschewing of the UMD drive as well as larger screen, touch functionality, and more effective internet capabilities. If 2009 is to be the year of Sony, a new PSP and some significant and exciting PS3 information absolutely must be shown.

On the Microsoft side of things, I strongly believe they’ve got some mammoth tricks up their sleeves, including possibly the long rumored Xbox 360/Zune hybrid.‚  No I do not expect the “Zune 60″ to have phone capabilities, as Microsoft already has a firm grip and devotion to their Windows Mobile user base, rather an entry to the portable gaming and music sector.‚  Someone has to fend off the iPhone don’t they?‚  I feel if correctly implemented, with the best the Zune has to offer combined with the untapped Microsoft handheld gaming, fueled by XNA possibly, the “Zune 60″could truly be a force to be reckoned with.‚  On the more believable side of announcements I think Microsoft will show off Halo 3: ODST because really, what is E3 without more Halo?‚  The overarching theme for the Microsoft showing at E3 2009 I believe will be not only the slew of new titles but also the company’s further involvement in the Xbox 360 as a home entertainment device, whether that be a revolutionized Netflix service, or any number of social networking capabilities (Facebook, Twitter) made available on the Xbox 360 itself.‚  The goal is to keep us plugged in as much as possible right?

As far as Nintendo is concerned, I am hoping, praying, and crossing my fingers for a new Zelda Wii title as well as more information regarding Spirit Tracks for the DS.‚  Nintendo President Satoru Iwata stated last year that the core Zelda teams are hard at work, but is it time for a new Wii Zelda?‚  I just don’t know.‚  While I would absolutely love more Zelda, I don’t believe it would be out of the realm of possibility to see another Mario platformer, but where do they go next if space is the final frontier?

Also, as is long rumored, the Netflix service may finally find its way to the Wii console, which would quell any fan clamoring for a DVD drive. ‚ Overall, I do not expect too much from Nintendo at this year’s showing, but I think they’ve got to address the core, at least a bit more than last year.

As a pre-show wrap up I believe a scary thought surrounding this year’s show is that of major announcements and reveals being turned to white noise based on the sheer volume of parties involved.‚  If we do end up seeing a high number of spectacular reveals and announcements from every company they won’t feel as important, and this frightens me.

Chase Gharrity – Games Correspondent

My prediction for Microsoft is their unveiling of the highly rumored motion sensing device for Xbox.‚  However, instead of being just an add-on, I think the folks at Microsoft will be presenting a look into their next-gen system.‚  The new system will have full body motion sensing capabilities, offering a gaming experience unlike any other.‚  Furthermore, I foresee an extended look at Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and a preview for Fallout: New Vegas complete with Xbox-exclusive DLCs.

Nintendo will also look to ruffle some feathers with their motion sensing technology.‚  Because it seems to be so trendy, I will predict that there will be an announcement and preview for Pikmin 3.‚  No new Zelda or StarFox titles will be mentioned, but I do expect a new Pokemon version or two to be announced for the DS.‚  Also, be on the lookout for some cool new Wii controller add-ons for upcoming games.

Unlike Microsoft and Nintendo, Sony will stay away from any motion sensing announcements.‚  Instead, Playstation fans should expect some news regarding a nex-gen PSP (Perhaps with cellular phone technology?‚  Maybe Netflix movie streaming via WiFi?).‚  Also, I predict a massive price drop for the PS3 and some exciting upcoming game announcements, previews and demos.

Stephen Greenwell — Games Reviewer

The Anticipated: Like any other geek with a pulse, I’m very interested in seeing what Square Enix is up to with Final Fantasy XIII, and there is always the chance that they’ll use E3 as an opportunity to formerly announce the sequel to The World Is Not Enough… Please? ‚ Pretty please?

The Dreaded: Well, now that Duke Nukem Forever’s status is back to canceled (this month), I suppose we don’t have that to kick around anymore, Nixon-style. ‚ I will instead add my voices to the many worrying about all the shovelware and generic casual gaming crap being developed for the Wii. ‚ At some point, people are going to get overwhelmed by all of the shoddy games being produced, and I’m worried that actual good, engaging and simple games – for example, what the new Punch-Out seems to be – will be forced out by the maddening crowd.

The Random: Looking at the floorplans for E3 is a fascinating example of how high school social dynamics repeat themselves throughout life for me. ‚ Atlus is my favorite company, but Nintendo’s booth is six times as big, with a fire aisle… And Sony has two booths as big as Nintendo’s. ‚ Gamespot does not make games and has a larger booth than Atlus. ‚ Square Enix just bought Eidos, but both have booths. ‚ And has a bigger booth than a dozen small gaming companies.

There you have it, exactly what we are expecting out of this years’ show, but what about you?‚  How do you see the convention going down?