From the editor: A holiday to remember

Obviously this is Thanksgiving week.

You know and fear the stories: six lane highways running bumper to bumper, even past the mall exits; airport security lines clogged by once-a-year novices clumsily untying shoes or elbowing their way back through the masses to toss a jacket on the conveyor belt; hour long waits to pay for a tin of cranberry sauce as someone up ahead grills the cashier about turkey recipes.

AAA Travel Services anticipates that more than 43 million Americans will venture 50 miles or more to gather with family, watch a little football then head back home to battle the Black Friday mob. On Wednesday and Friday, 90 percent of those planning to travel will get to know the interior of their cars in great detail. Most of the rest come to envy those up in business class, as they squeeze into narrow airline seats.

Thanksgiving is, by any standard, the most American of holidays. Fossil fuels make the weekend possible. So do credit cards. It celebrates family, but in a frenetic way that saps us of time while pumping money back into the economy, ending up with people slumped around the television.

But television has treated the holiday with scant respect. The lead up to Christmas is spiced with classics: “It’s A Wonderful Life,” “Miracle on 34th Street,” “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer,” “Frosty the Snowman,” “Elf,” and so many more it is difficult to sort them. There are about a dozen versions of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” available each year, from Albert Finney in “Scrooge” to Bill Murray in “Scrooged.” Just about every sitcom has recorded a take on the ghosts of Christmas, as well.

Fans of history—and bloodshed—can tune into coverage of the Christmas stand of the 101st Airborne at Bastogne during World War Two, recall Vietnam’s Tet Offensive (Tet being a holiday) or relive Chicago’s bootleg era Valentine’s Day massacre.

Although we tend to associate it with fireworks, the true meaning of Independence Day can be found in the HBO mini-series “John Adams” or the Broadway musical “1776.” Easter features such memorable small-screen offerings as “Jesus of Nazareth” and the film version of “Jesus Christ, Superstar.”

But Thanksgiving? Oh, there is a Charlie Brown special—but it ranks well behind the Charlie Brown Christmas show and “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.” The latter calls attention to Halloween, of course.

Yeah, there is a parade, but it pales in comparison to those on New Year’s Day. Given the frigid sidewalks of New York and the risk of a deflating Snoopy balloon smothering your stretch of concrete, a morning in the blissful California sun lolling with the Tournament of Roses wins every time. Indeed, the best we’ve ever done in honor of Thanksgiving is WKRP’s holiday half-hour, sparked by Arthur “Big Guy” Carlson’s memorable line “As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly.”

 I’ll admit that some families may treat Travel Wednesday, Thanksgiving Thursday, Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, etc. with greater reverence, focusing only on the part about giving thanks.

But there is the matter of football—and of stuffing yourself so full that lounging in front of the flat screen watching all three games makes more sense than whatever it was the Pilgrims did to honor the … oh, yeah. They just sat around and ate.

Of course, Thanksgiving draws upon ancient celebrations and commemorates something from this nation’s past. But we’ve expanded far beyond the sanctuary, the City on a Hill, envisioned by earlier New Englanders. If all we remember of it is the desire to brave crowds and distances, to spend money and expand beltlines to gather with family members once a year, the holiday serves its purpose.

That’s a difficult message to capture on television.