While many shows try to do very special Thanksgiving episodes, most of them degenerate into a muddle of typical family feuding and melodrama. And if we wanted to see disastrous family meals, we would just tune in to Brothers & Sisters on any given week. But every few seasons, at least one great show gives a holiday episode we can be truly thankful for. Here our favorites from the recent and far past:

Tags: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Cheers, Dexter, Friends, Gilmore Girls, Gossip Girl, How I Met Your Mother, Saturday Night Live, South Park, thanksgiving, thanksgiving episodes, The West Wing

In the wake of Ted Kennedy's sad passing, some particularly interesting factoids are emerging about the senator. Namely, that along with quality time spent with his family and friends, he also chose to spend his final days watching every single episode of 24 on DVD. A sound decision -- albeit perhaps an odd one (considering all the political assassinations that occur on the show) -- since 24 is one of the most consistently entertaining (minus a bum season or two) and compelling series of the past decade, if not ever. If I knew I didn't have much time left, Jack Bauer would probably take my mind off of it. Which got us thinking about the shows we'd recommend that the average person with a terminal illness watch if they haven't already before they pass away -- and the shows they should most definitely not waste their precious hours on.

Tags: Battlestar Galactica, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Freaks & Geeks, Grey's Anatomy, Heroes, Lost, Sex and the City, The Office, The Sopranos, The West Wing