The Legendary Cheers Thanksgiving Food Fight

As you might expect from a group of people who spend all day hanging out in a bar, the Cheers crew didn't have the richest home life. So it's not that hard to buy the circumstances that led the group to find itself celebrating the holiday together in the show's legendary Season 5 "Thanksgiving Orphans" episode. 

Sam Malone (Ted Danson) had plans with his girlfriend that went south, while Diane Chambers (Shelley Long) had thought she was attending a prestigious event only to learn she was expected to be one of the hired help. Woody Boyd (Woody Harrelson) isn't able to visit his family back in Hanover, Indiana, Frasier Crane (Kelsey Grammer) is also by his lonesome, Cliff Clavin (John Ratzenberger) didn't want to feed the homeless with his mother, and Norm Peterson (George Wendt) didn't want to go to his mother-in-law's house. Since Carla Tortelli (Rhea Pearlman) is alone for the holiday while her children are with her ex-husband, she grudgingly hosts a potluck Thanksgiving at her new house.

When the turkey takes too long and is still undercooked when they sit down to eat, the group's collective frustration boils over and a food fight breaks out.

The kicker comes when Norm's wife Vera makes her only on-camera appearance in the entire run of the series, stopping by Carla's house after the food fight, only to be the unintended target of Diane's revenge against Sam's cranberry splatter, ensuring that her face is still never actually seen.

Cheers ran from 1982 to 1993 on NBC, and is now streaming on Peacock

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Andy Hunsaker has a head full of sitcom gags and nerd-genre lore, and can be followed @AndyHunsaker if you're into that sort of thing.