Turkey Day 2018 (MST3K Special)

The 2018 Turkey Day is really a tale of two Turkey Days.  It marked the first time the Turkey Day marathon didn't actually air on Thanksgiving, and that was because Netflix dropped the entire twelfth season of the show on Thanksgiving day, in celebration of the thirtieth anniversary of the show.  The classic episode Turkey Day hit a week prior, which made the occasion less momentous.  In a way, the entire twelfth season is the 2018 Turkey Day marathon.  Unfortunately it didn't have specialized bumpers to go with it.

This year is similar to last year, as Joel Hodgson and Jonah Ray discuss the show in a couch interview format.  The difference between this year and last year is that the previous year's Turkey Day aired after a new season which means the hosts were openly talking about it, while this Turkey Day airs before the new season and Joel and Jonah can't say too much about it except that "It's coming!"  They mostly find themselves talking about the importance of the episodes they've selected for this year, including one from the first season, the introduction to Pearl, and the final episodes of Trace and Frank.

On the subject of our feast full of episodes, 2018 is probably the least appetizing Turkey Day since its inception.  Things get off to a sour start with my least favorite episode of the series, Moon Zero Two, which is a popular first season episode that I clearly just don't jive with.  Things rebound with Warrior of the Lost World (even though it's a repeat from the previous year) and, a personal favorite, Bloodlust.  Samson vs. the Vampire Women isn't quite the low point that Moon Zero Two is, but it's also a dish I don't personally care for.  Classic MST closes out with Laserblast, which is fine enough.  Then to close the marathon we're given the surprise addition of a Jonah episode in Cry Wilderness, which is one of the better episodes of the day, so we end on both a shock and a high point.

If I were to make an observation on the episodes selected, this is really the first Turkey Day to include a season one episode featuring Josh Weinstein since 1995, and it's also the first to show a Jonah/Hampton/Baron episode at all.  They miss a step by not offering an episode from the Sci-Fi era of the show, so we can see Bill Corbett's Crow in action.  There is a missed opportunity to celebrate every era of the series here that's kind of wasted.

As for the twelfth season episodes, I'll save that for a season overview.  Long story short, they don't help nor hurt the marathon in any way.

Moon Zero Two
Warrior of the Lost World (2nd Turkey Day)
Bloodlust!
Samson vs. the Vampire Women
Laserblast (2nd Turkey Day)
Cry Wilderness

Average Rating (out of 4):  2.667

Season 12 Thanksgiving Premieres
Mac and Me
Atlantic Rim
Lords of the Deep
The Day Time Ended
Killer Fish
Ator, the Fighting Eagle

Full 12 Episodes Average Rating:  2.667

These segments are very brief, but the affair concludes with a small sneak peak at the behind-the-scenes of the twelfth season, The Gauntlet.  There was some neat footage and even a few tasty riffs.  Adding into the fact that The Gauntlet can be considered the true Turkey Day marathon this year, the whole shebang is moderately enjoyable instead of a must see.  I wish it wasn't the case, but the Turkey Day magic just isn't here.

Turkey Day 2019 (MST3K Special)

Someone's heart just wasn't in it this year.

Here's the thing about this Turkey Day, while I can appreciate that it was put together while the latest Live Show was still touring and a lot of the cast was unavailable, there isn't a whole lot to say about what's here.  The theme this year is that the Bots are bored while taking a break from the latest tour while all of the humans are visiting with their families for the holidays, including their handler Emily Crenshaw (played by Emily Marsh, who cameos in the first and last segments).  Meanwhile, the Bots due little minute long comedy bits and introduce the next movie.

On the surface, I can see this is partially an ad for the Cheesy Circus Tour show (which I got to see when they toured Boise for one glorious night).  It's mostly them selling their tour cast with Nate Begle as Crow, Connor McGiffin as Tom Servo, and Yvonne Freese as Gypsy's mini-counterpart GPC.  The bits are cute, but that being said, the problem I'm having with this crew being here is that Turkey Day is a celebration of the television series, which means not having the Bots voiced by the crew of the TV series feels very odd.  And people who weren't able to attend the live tours have no idea who GPC and Emily are.  This was especially off-putting as the revival show had recently been announced for cancellation just before this Turkey Day aired, and seeing a cast that is clearly not the TV cast doing these segments wasn't very reassuring or comforting about the future of Mystery Science Theater 3000.

But making all of this even more disheartening is the episode selection, which is not only full of episodes that have already had their Turkey Day love, but upon closer inspection is virtually identical to the 2013 Turkey Day marathon.  The only difference is Final Sacrifice is swapped out for Laserblast, which is likely because Shout Factory had lost the rights to show Final Sacrifice.  Even worse, Laserblast was featured on last year's Turkey Day.  This lazy recycling of a Turkey Day just makes the whole experience boring, no matter how good these episodes are.  There is no surprise here, no passion for the selection.  This is just not something I can be enthusiastic about.

Space Mutiny (3rd Turkey Day)
I Accuse My Parents (3rd Turkey Day)
Werewolf (2nd Turkey Day)
Cave Dwellers (3rd Turkey Day)
Laserblast (2nd Turkey Day)
Mitchell (6th Turkey Day)

Average Rating (out of 4):  3.833

Technically with episodes this good, this Turkey Day should be a winner.  But the little things cause it to wilt a little bit and grow stale.  The episode selection is a cut-and-paste job and the bumpers are under par.  It fulfils the Turkey Day needs, but there really should be more to it than this.  Add into the fact that Netflix and Joel had just recently announced that the series wouldn't be picked up for a thirteenth season, this Turkey Day seems tainted and just uncelebratory.

Turkey Day 2014 (MST3K Special)

Joel Hodgson and Shout Factory are back for another round of Turkey Day deliciousness and guessing games.  This time Joel hosts from what looks to be a rather generic office location, and he has some pre-recorded voice-over from Trace Beaulieu and J. Elvis Weinstein reprising their roles as Crow and Tom Servo to back him up.  But Joel does most of the talking while the bots wrestle in the background, as he gives out some more puzzles and clues to allow the viewer to guess what's coming up next on our episode rotation.

This Turkey Day is another six episodes from the series, and it's a fairly solid one.  Magic Voyage of Sinbad gets us off to a rousing start, while Giant Spider Invasion, Lost Continent, and Laserblast keep the midsection constantly entertaining.  It's that pesky Pod People episode that brings me down.  I know it's a fan favorite, but man does that episode bum me out.  Luckily, Pumaman is there to save the day in his Turkey Day debut!  The bookends of this Turkey Day are fantastic.

Additionally, Joel filmed four additional bumpers for the episodes featured on the Volume XXXI DVD set from Shout Factory, which was released earlier that month.  Those bumpers didn't feature the guessing games, but were rather trivia intros as Joel talks about the movies and episode memories.  If one wants to beef this Turkey Day up, those episodes are a convenient way to do so, as we have the solid courses in Jungle Goddess and Squirm, a mildly undercooked Painted Hills, and the flavorful deliciousness of The Screaming Skull.  These four episodes don't offset the average, which makes the Turkey Day quite a solid experience.

The Magic Voyage of Sinbad (3rd Turkey Day)
The Giant Spider Invasion (2nd Turkey Day)
Lost Continent (2nd Turkey Day)
Laserblast
Pod People (2nd Turkey Day)
The Pumaman

Average Rating (out of 4):  3

Volume XXXI Episodes
Jungle Goddess (2nd Turkey Day)
The Painted Hills
The Screaming Skull
Squirm

Full Ten Episodes Average Rating (out of 4):  3

2014's Turkey Day experience will grow significantly higher based on how much one appreciates the Pod People episode.  I stubbornly maintain it's one of the worst of the series, so this Turkey Day gets held back a bit for me.  But for most, the Pod People experience will help make this one of the best Turkey Days of all, and that is something to be thankful for.

Turkey Day 2017 (MST3K Special)

Another year, another Turkey Day.  This is the first Turkey Day since 1997 that aired while Mystery Science Theater 3000 was up-and-running on television, to which we are rewarded with bumpers that are less skits and more colorful discussions with series creator Joel Hodgson and new-stars Jonah Ray and Felicia Day.  They talk about the making of the new series with animated flavor, with some interesting tidbits being tossed in it.

To be perfectly honest, this is one of my favorite Turkey Days.  I love that it's a break from pre-scripted comedy bits and it's just Joel, Jonah, and Felicia discussing the show's return on Netflix.  It's a very satisfying celebration of what the MSTies and the show achieved that year, and I like the casualness to the bumpers.  It's like they're sitting down and relaxing after such a hectic attempt to bring the show back, and reminiscing on what they felt the highlights are.  They discuss Jonah's song "Every Country Has a Monster" (songwriter Paul Sabourin sits in on this discussion), Felicia's chemistry with Patton Oswalt, and the 2017 Live Tour, which quickly turns into a warning that you should never poo in a bus bathroom.

They also discuss their love for the episodes featured.  Joel expresses fondness for The Day the Earth Froze as well as, the Invention Exchange in particular, The Girl in Lovers Lane, while Felicia gushes over Night of the Blood Beast and shudders at Raul Julia's sexual harassment in Overdrawn at the Memory Bank.  I also have a lot to gush about, because this year's episode selection is quite fantastic.  It's a constant stream of good-to-great episodes that kept me watching from beginning to end.  Highlight of the night would be Girl in Lovers Lane for me, though Day the Earth Froze and Blood Beast give it a run for its money.  Weakest episode is unfortunately the closer, Santa Claus, but it's still funny enough to leave the experience on a high.

The Day the Earth Froze (3rd Turkey Day)
Night of the Blood Beast - Both versions on different streams (2nd Turkey Day)
Overdrawn at the Memory Bank
Warrior of the Lost World
The Girl in Lovers Lane
Santa Claus

Average Rating (out of 4):  3.5

The episode selection is both outstanding and a non-traditional and non-boring repeat of "Mitchell...AGAIN, Pod People...AGAIN" that can plague a Turkey Day marathon.  These episodes are both great and a few of them are even overlooked in the grand scheme of the show.  The bumpers themselves are a can't miss experience for people who enjoyed the Netflix series, and Joel closes the Turkey Day on a high by suddenly revealing that a twelfth season is in the works.  Thank you for the greatest gift of all, Turkey Claus!

Turkey Day 2013 (MST3K Special)

A Mystery Science Theater 3000 Turkey Day marathon had not graced the small screen for sixteen years.  In the years since, fans had been compiling their own Turkey Day marathons with their own copies of the episodes.  Alas, it was not the same.  There is nothing better than to see a platform celebrate the show that you love with an experience that all fans can enjoy simultaneously.  A true Turkey Day was dearly missed.

At long last, for the show's twenty-fifth anniversary, Shout Factory decided to revive the tradition on streaming, and thus the new Turkey Day was born.  For the very first time, Turkey Day was hosted by Joel Hodgson (previous Turkey Days were hosted by Trace Beaulieu, Frank Conniff, and Adam West), who had suddenly found himself back in the MST spotlight after avoiding it for quite some time.  He is finally here with us to celebrate the longevity of the little TV franchise that defied the odds and became beloved, and he is here to share some of his favorite episodes with us all.  Joel introduces each episode with a little puzzle to encourage the viewer to guess which episode is next.  Usually it's a blurred picture, but he changes it up with some word games and a "guess the song" round.

The feast of episodes is scaled back to six, but the good news is that this is hands down the best episode selection of any Turkey Day so far.  Each episode is a bonified classic, with my only hesitation about calling it "perfect" being my slight underwhelmed opinion of Final Sacrifice.  But there are enough MSTies out there who consider Final Sacrifice one of the best of the series, so this episode selection is bound to please damn near all MSTies.

Space Mutiny
I Accuse My Parents (2nd Turkey Day)
Werewolf
Cave Dwellers (2nd Turkey Day)
The Final Sacrifice
Mitchell (4th Turkey Day)

Average Rating (out of 4):  3.833

The killer episode selection makes this Turkey Day a contender for the best Turkey Day of all.  Joel's fun and games doesn't quite live up to the antics of Dr. Forrester and TV's Frank, though they keep the Turkey Day plentiful and lively.  This Thanksgiving was tops!

Turkey Day 1994 (MST3K Special)

Let's dance the Batusi, because Adam West is in the kitchen this year!  1994's Turkey Day decides to bypass Best Brains yet again, but at least Comedy Central puts decent effort into it, unlike last year's "Let's film a bunch of nerds in the wild and see what happens" approach.  Getting a host is a solid start to the experience, and Adam West is an absolute delight.  And he's even relevant too, as he's the star of Zombie Nightmare, which debuted in this marathon!  Also a nice touch is that the Turkey Day logo this year is shaped like the Batman logo, in a cute little wink and a nod.

And that's really what the segments are this year, a celebration of the turkeys that make Turkey Day so special.  Not only does Adam West introduce each delectable douse of tryptophan, but he brings in other stars from MSTed movies to help him out.  Robert Vaughn is here to introduce Teenage Cave Man, Beverly Garland is here for a triple feature of It Conquered the World, Swamp Diamonds and Gunslinger, and even every MSTie's favorite womanly figure, Mamie Van Doren is here to show off her curves in Girls Town.  The presentation of each of the segments wasn't entirely different from the 2016 Turkey Day, where a new dish is made based around the movie itself.

The episode course this year features fourteen turkeys, eleven Joel and three Mike, including two episode premieres that bookend it.  And the two premieres are pretty good, including marathon highlight Zombie Nightmare.  Zombie Nightmare was actually filmed much earlier in the season, but it was held off because Comedy Central used it promotionally in an event they called the Fresh Cheese Tour, where they toured episodes of their original programing and played them at college campuses, with Zombie Nightmare being MST's representative (great choice, BTW.  If this episode doesn't turn someone into a MSTie, nothing will).  Also debuting is Kitten With a Whip, which isn't as good as Zombie Nightmare, but is a pretty quality episode on its own.  The only Mike rerun featured is Girls Town, which is also pretty great.  Mike's episodes are pretty solid here.

This is also the first Turkey Day to feature repeated episodes, which is not a huge deal when the Turkeys are as delicious as these.  Mitchell and Gila Monster continue the marathon with grace, though Killer Shrews is a potential appetite spoiler.  The Day the Earth Froze gets us back on track and we mostly stay consistent until Teenage Cave Man, which is slightly undercooked.  Then we get a straight streak of Turkey Day deliciousness with the Beverly Garland/Roger Corman trilogy and Girls Town, before getting a slightly spoiled Gamera vs. Zigra, and finally, the delicious desert of Zombie Nightmare.  Episodes mostly average to be good, with a few greats sprinkled in.

Kitten With a Whip (Episode Premiere)
Mitchell (2nd Turkey Day)
The Giant Gila Monster (2nd Turkey Day)
The Killer Shrews
The Day the Earth Froze (2nd Turkey Day)
Time of the Apes (2nd Turkey Day)
Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (2nd Turkey Day)
Teenage Cave Man
It Conquered the World (2nd Turkey Day)
Swamp Diamonds
Gunslinger
Girls Town
Gamera vs. Zigra
Zombie Nightmare (Episode Premiere)

Average Rating (out of 4):  3

The episodes this year don't average out as great as they did last year, but this Turkey Day is worth it because it celebrates the films themselves with some stellar cameos by our favorite stars knowingly winking at the fans and playing with the joke.  If we can't have the comedians from our favorite show celebrating the holiday with us, this is the next best thing.  That makes this one hell of a Turkey Day.

Sci-Fi Channel's Thanksgiving Marathon - Turkey Day 1997 (MST3K Special)

In transitioning from Comedy Central to the Sci-Fi Channel, Turkey Day took a year off.  Unfortunately this is also the last Turkey Day until 2013, because the Sci-Fi Channel didn't really have the push for Mystery Science Theater 3000 that Comedy Central did, because it was hardly the channel's most popular show (I believe Farscape and Sliders were the big draws of the channel while they had MST).  One could even argue this isn't really a true "Turkey Day," as it wasn't titled as such, didn't feature bumpers, and the marathon wasn't even entirely an MST marathon, as they also showed two Star Wars movies during their prime time slots.

But it's still something of a Thanksgiving marathon of MST episodes, so I guess it counts.

Somewhat gimping this Turkey Day is the fact that the Sci-Fi Channel only really had the episodes produced for their network available to them, which means this is the only "All Mike" Turkey Day (and "All Bill Corbett" by association).  Sci-Fi had aired almost all the episodes for the eighth season by the time they aired this marathon, but for some reason they concentrate very heavily on the second quarter of the episode order.  They start off with their little half-hour "Making of" special, then jump straight into the first episode of their run with Revenge of the Creature.  After that they jump again to Terror from the Year 5000 and then just do a straight run through the episodes produced up until Incredibly Strange Creatures.  It's not so much of a mix-and-match, but more of just a season sampler.

The only real change of pace is the break for the two Star Wars films after Giant Spider Invasion, which is random but kind of funny.  I'm actually having trouble confirming which two Star Wars movies they showed during this marathon, but I'm going to take a random guess and say they were the original and Empire Strikes Back (the only other Star Wars movie other than ignored TV movies at the time was Return of the Jedi, so there is a chance it was an Empire/Jedi double feature).  I'm not against mixing in Star Wars with my MST3K, but showing a movie with a budget amidst a bunch of cheapies?  It might seem more honorable to toss one or two of those made for TV movies they show all the time in there instead.

The Making of Mystery Science Theater 3000
Revenge of the Creature
Terror from the Year 5000
The She-Creature
I Was a Teenage Werewolf
The Giant Spider Invasion
Star Wars:  Episode IV - A New Hope
Star Wars:  Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back
Parts:  The Clonus Horror
The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies

Average Rating (our of 4):  2.857

Restrained episode selection and a lack of bumpers help propel Sci-Fi's lone Turkey Day into the most lackluster one yet for the series, but it's also a fairly easy one to recreate, considering it's only seven episodes and a couple of Star Wars films.  One could even keep the theme alive by using the Rifftrax versions of those Star Wars films should they chose to do such a recreation (I've even linked my Rifftrax reviews above) to help keep the riffing theme consistent.  That being said, it's less of a Turkey Day and more of an Odd Duck.

MST3K Anthology - Turkey Day 1995 (MST3K Special)

At long last, Comedy Central gives the series its due by returning Turkey Day to the show that spawned it.  They finally come to an agreement with the folks at Best Brains to create a whole new set of bumpers for Thanksgiving 1995.  Mystery Science Theater 3000's final Turkey Day on Comedy Central is actually a pretty special one as it's the only Turkey Day to actually be interactive within the show itself.  The bumpers this year are a lead-up to the episode premiere of Night of the Blood Beast, which was filmed with specialized host segments that conclude the storyline of the Turkey Day bumpers that were played throughout the day.

The actual storyline itself isn't too different than the storyline of the 1991 Turkey Day, as Dr. Forrester seeks to rule the world but Frank invited too many guests over for Thanksgiving.  This year changes it up a little bit in that Dr. F is now trying to rule the world to impress his mother, while Frank sent out the invites before he passed away to Second Banana Heaven and Dr. F has to deal with the mess without him.  Guest this year include Jack Perkins (Mike Nelson), Mr. B Natural (Bridget Jones), Pitch (Paul Chaplin), Kitten with a Whip (Kevin Murphy), and Michael Feinstein (Mike Nelson again).  The segments go on as the party gets more unruly, to the point where an intoxicated Jack Perkins finds himself sexually confused by Mr. B Natural.

The festivities actually began before this the Turkey Day did this year, as Comedy Central gifts the fans with a special airing of first season episodes which hadn't been in episode rotation for five years, giving newer fans a glimpse at what the series was like with Josh Weinstein.  The first three episodes were presented without bumpers, but from The Crawling Hand on, the festivities begin.  The first season episode selection is mostly fair but few standouts.  I favor Robot vs. the Aztec Mummy, though some might tend to prefer one of the others.  More familiar episodes begin with a whiz bang triple feature of solid classics Manos, Mitchell, and Outlaw, before cruising at a lower altitude with Skydivers, and almost crashing with Starfighters.  There was a slight break for the Poopie Parade of Values commercial for blooper reel tapes before our final episode feast begins, which is one of the best episodes of the night.

The Robot vs. the Aztec Mummy
The Corpse Vanishes
Robot Monster
The Crawling Hand
"Manos" The Hands of Fate (2nd Turkey Day)
Mitchell (3rd Turkey Day)
Outlaw
The Skydivers
The Starfighters
Poopie Parade of Values
Night of the Blood Beast - Turkey Day Version (Episode Premiere)

Average Rating (out of 4):  3

1995 was a Turkey Day to remember, and Mystery Science Theater 3000's tradition left that channel with a bang.  I would have selected some better first season episodes to show off, but those rare selections were a treat for people who had never seen them.  This is a swell example of a Turkey Day, and it gave us Night of the Blood Beast, which is a must on any Thanksgiving.

Goodbye Turkey Day!  You will be missed!

Turkey Day 1993 (MST3K Special)

Comedy Central wanted to stick with the Turkey Day marathon for another year, but they didn't want to pay for it.  Oh dear!  Apparently money issues hampered this Turkey Day marathon, which saw the channel offer the folks on the show too little money to produce bumpers, leading the MST crew to walk.  One has to wonder how low this offer was, since I imagine the money they were getting was pretty low in the first place, since the previous year saw Trace and Frank being shot with a single camera angle and using the same Turkey prop over and over again.

Comedy Central's solution was to celebrate the MSTies at Turkey Day, so they sent a camera crew to a MSTie party at the house of a lady named Debbie Tobin, who was hosting a Halloween costume party viewing of the original airing of Mike's first episode, The Brain that Wouldn't Die, on October 30th, 1993.  The celebration was filmed with cameras floating around and being shoved in people's faces, where they ask someone to introduce the next episode on the Turkey Day schedule.  Some of them look very uncomfortable with it (there is one point where the editor cuts away late and you get a mildly irritated look from a lady in a Joel costume saying "How was THAT one?") while some seem very enthusiastic in discussing their favorite show (Like, I've never seen such joy in describing the plot of Crash of Moons in my entire life).  The people there love this show, and it seems putting up with a camera crew is worth it just to mingle with other MSTies.

The edit of the segments used is a bit of a killer.  The segments are very fast, and the people wouldn't leave much of an imprint once the episode starts.  Previous Turkey Days were a treat in that you'd get some extra footage of Dr. Forrester and Frank to give you a quick laugh, while these are mostly people being awkwardly followed around and there isn't anything memorable to that.  I mean a lot of these segments are introduced with a shot of Debbie Tobin dancing by herself in front of the house, which is very strange and awkward and makes the place empty rather than hosting a party.  The people who put these segments together likely knew this would be the case, because there are certain things done to try and spice it up, complete with a non-edible Turkey Day "feast" that is being played with a prestigious tune that doesn't match the tone of the party at all, likely evoking an ironic sense of pompousness that doesn't match the series (or the guests).  And they throw in then-Comedy Central announcer Penn Jillette to throw in a joke or two for completeness sake.

But the experience of any given Turkey Day marathon relies on the episodes featured.  This particular Turkey Day features sixteen episodes, thirteen featuring Joel and three featuring Mike, including the debut of Beginning of the End (which was arguably the best Mike episode to date at that point).  The Mike era had only three episodes under its belt before this Turkey Day, meaning the sole exclusion from the line-up was The Wild Wild World of Batwoman, which may have been left to the wayside because either it was too fresh in audience memory or because they were trying to spare the audience from that movie.  At any rate, Mike hadn't really had a bad episode at the time (I think the following week's Atomic Brain was probably the first swing-and-a-miss), so his trilogy closes the marathon with a bang.

Minor ponderous note:  I do wonder what the people at the party thought about plugging episodes that hadn't aired yet.  In a way, these people were given a sneak preview of what was to come, if only just movie titles.  Was MSTie culture of 1993 upset about spoilers?

But most of the marathon is made up of Joel offerings, and what a feast to dig into!  The first five courses are just exquisite, with a rapid fire selection of riffing goodness featuring Russo-Finnish fantasy, Ed Wood, Japanese sci-fi, and, of course, Manos.  We hit a minor lull as we get a lesser Gamera feature as the marathon tries to continue "the Japanity," but there is a quality bounce back with Bert I. Gordon's Earth vs. the Spider.  I would have preferred Amazing Colossal Man over War of the Colossal Beast, but Mr. B Natural is popular enough that it earns a place here.  After that is a mostly solid run from I Accuse My Parents to Mitchell, with only a minor Hercules effort being a hurdle of enjoyment.  But the truth of the matter is that none of these episodes are duds.  The least of them are still just average at worst, which makes this a quality Tukey Day meal.

The Magic Voyage of Sinbad
Bride of the Monster
"Manos" The Hands of Fate
The Day the Earth Froze
Star Force:  Fugitive Alien II
Gamera vs. Gaos
Earth vs. the Spider
War of the Colossal Beast
I Accuse My Parents
Crash of Moons
Hercules and the Captive Women
The Human Duplicators
Mitchell
The Brain That Wouldn't Die
Beginning of the End (Episode Premiere)
Teen-Age Strangler

Average Rating (out of 4):  3.25

The bumpers get praise for their effort, but don't quite live up to Turkey Day standards.  Luckily the experience is saved with the greatest episode selection yet for the holiday, meaning this would be one worth recreating.  Even the bumpers themselves are so slight that it's hard to really be too annoyed by them, and Turkey Day '93 winds up being one for the books in spite of them.