The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Arts
6 — Wednesday, November 30, 2022 

Thankful for Thanksgiving TV

Once the clock strikes 12 on the 
first of November, I can practically 
feel the urge to switch into “holiday 
season mode.” Starbucks starts selling 
those snickerdoodle hot chocolates 
that I begrudgingly enjoy, Hallmark 
pumps out one romantic Christmas 
movie after another and Hobby Lobby 
sells out of the holiday decor they’ve 
had on the floor since July. I try not to 
get swept up in the Christmas spirit 
until December, but it can be tough, 
what with all of the mass marketing 
propaganda, 
endless 
Christmas 
movies and Phoebe Bridgers’ annual 
emotionally devastating Christmas 
song cover. Now I promise I’m not 
a curmudgeonly old grinch. I just 
hate when everyone blatantly skips 
over my favorite holiday of the year: 
Thanksgiving!
In all fairness, other than “Planes, 
Trains and Automobiles” and the 
“Charlie Brown” specials, there 
aren’t many beloved Thanksgiving 
films. But when it comes to TV, no 
other holiday has got it beat. Frankly, 
it’s too early for Christmas fluff 
specials, so here are five shows with 
Thanksgiving-themed episodes that 
belong in the television hall of fame.
“Friends”

I had to start with the classic. 
Could there be a more iconic set 
of Thanksgiving episodes? Season 
after season, “Friends” delivered. 
And I mean, really delivered. Even 
in its earliest seasons, they set the 
tone for every tradition to come, 
from Chandler’s (Matthew Perry, 
“17 Again”) hatred of the holiday to 
Monica’s (Courtney Cox, “Scream”) 
relentless efforts to put dinner 
together, only for it to spiral into 
disaster. Widely regarded as a fan 
favorite, season five’s “The One with 
All the Thanksgivings,” gives us the 
infamous scene in which Chandler 
tells Monica he loves her for the 
first time … while she’s dancing 
around with a turkey on her head. 
My personal favorite is “The One 
Where Ross Got High” for having that 
lightning speed round of confessions, 
Rachel’s (Jennifer Aniston, “The 
Morning Show”) beef dessert trifle 
and Joey’s (Matt LeBlanc, “Joey”) 
maternity pants. I’d also be remiss 
not to mention my mom’s (and a lot of 
people’s) favorite, “The One with the 
Rumor,” mostly because it’s “The One 
with Brad Pitt.”
“Friends” is about “that time 
in your life when your friends are 
your family,” so naturally, it’s sappy 
and sort of sweet that out of all the 
holidays, Thanksgiving is the one the 
show is most known for. Besides, what 

else is there to watch on cable TV on 
Thanksgiving Day? Football?
“Friends” is currently available to 
stream on HBO Max.
“Gossip Girl”
Mmm. Whatcha say.
If you have no idea what I’m 
talking about, you probably haven’t 
watched this scene, which is, no joke, 
the greatest Thanksgiving dinner 
scene in television history, featuring 
each dramatic exit from the table 
set to Jason Derulo singing in the 
background, the abrupt cut-aways 
to Lily (Kelly Rutherford, “Melrose 
Place”) drinking in the kitchen and 
Eric’s (Connor Paolo, “Revenge”) 
deadpan delivery of “Your sweet 
potatoes are bland.” With this 
episode, “Gossip Girl” boldly asks the 
question: How many backstabbing 
betrayals can one pack into a single 
three-minute scene? It’s truly a 
commendable effort as it balances 
multiple feuds and petty grievances 
simultaneously; the camera barely 
catches a break as it jumps from one 
pair to the next, each line of dialogue 
sparking a chain reaction of shocking 
reveals and vexed responses.
“The Treasure of Serena Madre” 
isn’t just a good Thanksgiving episode 
but one of the series’ very best. Every 
character sitting at that table is 
silently fuming at the person to their 
left, with Blair (Leighton Meester, 

“Monte Carlo”) carelessly stirring the 
pot about matters she’s uninvolved 
in, Serena (Blake Lively, “A Simple 
Favor”) flirting with Nate’s (Chace 
Crawford, “The Boys”) cousin in 
front of his wife and Rufus (Matthew 
Settle, “Band of Brothers”) telling 
dad jokes, which is a crime in and of 

itself. As always, this show thrives 
upon chaos and incestuous conflict, 
and what other holiday quite so 
perfectly presents itself as a backdrop 
for long-held resentment and passive-
aggressive comments brewing under 
the surface of a flawless dinner 
spread? Although none of the show’s 

other Thanksgiving episodes hold 
a candle to season three for that 
theatrical dinner exit sequence alone, 
the award for most on-theme title 
goes to “Blair Waldorf Must Pie!” 
because, duh.

SERENA IRANI
Daily Arts Writer

 
‘Stranger at the Gate’ shows the power of compassion

‘She Said’: A hard-hitting 
exposé on the story that 
brought down Harvey 
Weinstein

Content Warning: This article 
contains mentions of sexual assault.
Based on the book of the same 
name by Jodi Kantor and Megan 
Twohey, “She Said” tackles the 
true account of how these two 
investigative journalists, played 
by Carrie Mulligan (“Promising 
Young Woman”) and Zoe Kazan 
(“The 
Big 
Sick”) 
uncovered 
and wrote a story that would 
dismantle the power of a serial 
sex offender and set the #MeToo 
movement in motion.
The film finds Twohey and 
Kantor working at the New York 
Times in 2016 as they investigate 
Harvey Weinstein (“Shakespeare 
in Love”) — formerly one of 
Hollywood’s 
most 
powerful 
and successful film producers 
— and the allegations against 
him of sexual misconduct in the 
workplace.
In 2020, the New York justice 
system convicted Weinstein of 
two counts of rape and sexual 
assault and sentenced him to 23 
years in prison. Two years into his 
sentence, Weinstein now stands 
for a second criminal trial in Los 
Angeles. He has pleaded not guilty 
to all seven charges against him: 
two counts of rape and five counts 
of sexual assault. If convicted, 
Weinstein faces a sentence of 
up to 135 years in prison. “She 
Said” — released on Nov. 18, 
2022, just over a month after the 
trial was officially underway — 
brings attention to a story that 
revolutionized the conversation 
on sexual harassment in the 
workplace.
The trial and the horrific 
testimonies 
that 
accompany 
it 
represent 
much 
more 
than 
Weinstein. 
“She 
Said” 
understands this — the most 
Weinstein 
himself 
physically 
contributes is his voice and the 
back of his head. The correct 
choice, without question. The true 
story of how the king of Miramax 
Films (and of Hollywood, for that 

matter) abused his power for 
decades without consequence is 
symbolic of a system that protects 
abusers and silences victims in 
the workplace. “She Said” takes a 
stand against all the Weinsteins 
of the world and the institutions 
that tend to shield them from 
the consequences of their guilty 
actions.
The film’s opening sequence 
follows Twohey as she publishes 
a 
story 
exposing 
sexual 
misconduct by former President 
Donald Trump ahead of the 
2016 presidential election with a 
named source, which led to the 
firing of political commentator 
Bill O’Reilly at Fox News after 
misconduct allegations against 
him surfaced. This serves as 
the prelude to the film’s central 
story and begs the question, 
asked by Times editor Rebecca 
Corbett 
(Patricia 
Clarkson, 
“Sharp Objects”), “Why is sexual 
harassment so pervasive and so 
hard to address?”
“She Said” dials in on the 
grueling process of chasing leads, 
approaching sources, minding the 
law, toeing the line of ethics and 
pulling thread after thread. By 
following the nearly impossible 
operation of breaking a story of 
this magnitude, with no shortage 
of intimidated and legally gagged 
sources, we see just how easy it 
would have been for Weinstein’s 
behavior to never come to light. 
The film is slow and methodical. It 
shares its naturalistic, procedural 
cinematic approach with Tom 
McCarthy’s 
2015 
“Spotlight,” 
which followed The Boston Globe’s 
operation to expose the cover-up 
of child sexual abuse within the 
Roman Catholic Church. Both 
films are sobering, as they keenly 
observe the thrill and drama of 
all-consuming 
investigations 
into corrupt systems of deceit 
and intimidation. Mulligan and 
Kazan honor Twohey and Kantor 
with memorable performances, 
their 
emotional 
vulnerability 
expressing just how passionate 
and personal reporting can get.

MAYA RUDER
Daily Arts Writer

Photo courtesy of Karl Schroder

Read more at MichiganDaily.com

SABRIYA IMAMI
Managing Arts Editor

Design by Francie Ahrens

“I think (there) are two really 
major problems in our society right 
now: We’re closed off from each 
other, 
and 
we’re 
unforgiving,” 
director Joshua Seftel said in a virtual 
interview with The Michigan Daily.
Seftel’s short documentary film 
“Stranger at the Gate,” produced by 
The New Yorker, tells the true story of 
Mac McKinney, a man who planned 
to attack a masjid and instead 
turned to Islam. The film makes its 

viewers aware of the importance 
of addressing the problems Seftel 
highlights and, more importantly, 
impresses upon them the desire to 
change the way we as people in a 
society interact with each other. 
McKinney, a veteran, was taught 
during his time in the military to see 
Muslims as enemies. He intended to 
act on this belief when he returned 
to Muncie, Indiana; he planned an 
attack, gathered materials to make 
a bomb and intended to blow up the 
Islamic Center of Muncie.
He arrived at the masjid and was 
met with pure, simple compassion. 

Dr. Saber Bahrami, a member of 
the Muncie Muslim community, 
saw McKinney and hugged him, 
the way he would any individual 
there for prayer. Another person, 
Jomo Williams, saw McKinney 
looking troubled and asked how he 
could help. Bibi Bahrami, a woman 
who people liken to Mother Teresa 
because of how she accepts people 
into her home, invited McKinney as 
a guest, even after learning what he 
intended to do.
McKinney, a man who intended 
to do harm to this community, was 
treated with kindness, and that made 

all the difference. He was moved by 
their compassion and chose to learn 
from them and, eventually, join them. 
He turned to Islam in spite of his 
initial beliefs regarding Muslims. He 
is proudly Muslim to this day. 
Documentaries 
detailing 
tragedies are particularly difficult to 
watch. To know that these struggles 
you’re watching as entertainment 
are real experiences and feelings that 
people have gone through is hard to 
reconcile. When watching “Stranger 
at the Gate,” I felt this to a degree I 
had never experienced before. As a 
Muslim, to hear about this man’s plan 
to attack a masjid, a place of worship, 
was terrifying.

puzzle by sudokusnydictation.com

By Hoang-Kim Vu & Christine Simpson
©2022 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
11/30/22

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle

Edited by Patti Varol and Joyce Nichols Lewis

11/30/22

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:

Release Date: Wednesday, November 30, 2022

ACROSS
1 French “Thank 
you”
6 Political alliance
10 Strongbox
14 Starters
15 New York school 
named after a 
Scottish isle
16 “Grand slam” 
awards acronym
17 African herbivore
18 “Double 
Indemnity” genre
19 Filmmaker 
Ephron
20 Shoplifting?
23 Huffy mood
24 Pacific Northwest 
st.
25 “Lady Bird” 
Oscar nominee 
Metcalf
29 Insider trading?
32 Male with horns
35 Road goo
36 Cushioned seat
37 La madre de su 
prima
38 Family docs
41 Food with altered 
DNA
43 Martin’s “The 
West Wing” role
44 Lobby group for 
seniors
46 Big primate
48 Erodes
50 Money 
laundering?
54 Depress
55 Group of whales
56 Greeting Down 
Under
60 “I did nothing 
wrong!,” or an 
apt title for this 
puzzle?
63 Essential nutrient 
for the immune 
system
66 Pulled strings?
67 Bushy-tailed 
canines
68 Field
69 Aware of
70 Singer Patsy
71 Dollop
72 Blast from the __
73 Snow vehicles

DOWN
1 Gas station 
shops

2 “__ Frome”: 
Edith Wharton 
novel
3 Hands-on 
healing practice
4 “Do my eyes 
deceive me?”
5 “My time to 
shine!”
6 Using only ones 
and zeros
7 Least strict
8 “Put a lid __!”
9 Deterrent in a 
parking garage
10 Parodies
11 Before now
12 Pro
13 “Wheels down” 
stat, for short
21 Jupiter or Mars
22 Suede property
26 Spanish wine 
region
27 Deduce
28 “Zounds!”
30 __ chart: 
corporate 
diagram
31 Move one’s tail
32 Males with 
antlers
33 Jeweled 
accessory
34 Like cornstalks?

39 Spot for fast cash
40 Mud wrap venue
42 Possess
45 Human-powered 
taxi
47 Competitive 
video gaming
49 Appetizer served 
with duck sauce
51 Brooklyn NBA 
player
52 Family-style 
Asian dish
53 Journalist Tarbell

57 Carter of 
“Designing 
Women”
58 Modify
59 Agreements
61 Mama’s mama
62 Ozone-
destroying 
chemicals: Abbr.
63 Zig counterpart
64 Not online, online
65 Prefix for 
classical and 
gothic

SUDOKU

WHISPER

“Go BLUE!”
“Ohio State 
have nothing on 
us”

WHISPER

By Chandi Deitmer
©2022 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
11/16/22

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle

Edited by Patti Varol and Joyce Nichols Lewis

11/16/22

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:

Release Date: Wednesday, November 16, 2022

ACROSS
1 Like uncombed 
hair
5 Muslim leader
9 Structure made 
of snow or 
blankets
13 “Gotcha”
14 Walking stick
15 Zones
17 *Netflix 
documentary 
series about a 
controversial 
zookeeper
19 Krispy __
20 Carton sealer
21 Tenant’s contract
23 Abolish
24 Home of the 
NHL’s Blues
25 Floe makeup
27 Period
28 Surgery ctrs.
29 Langley org.
30 *Showtime 
medical drama 
starring Edie 
Falco
33 Surrounded by
35 Razz
36 George Eliot’s 
“Adam __”
37 Sinuous fish
38 Sitar music
42 “Not Gon’ Cry” 
singer Mary J. __
45 Tolkien creature 
corrupted by the 
One Ring
47 *USA series 
about corporate 
crime
51 Caustic solution
52 Lady bird
53 Obtained
54 Iris locale
55 Duty
56 Husky hello
57 Vidalia __
59 SportsCenter 
anchor Linda
61 Thunders
63 Annual Discovery 
Channel 
programming 
event that could 
feature the shows 
in the answers to 
the starred clues?
66 Fight with foils
67 Terrain map, 
briefly
68 Ish

69 “On the double!”
70 Short itinerary?
71 Let the tears flow

DOWN
1 Quick thinking
2 “Starting now?”
3 Public 
defender’s 
offering
4 Like a basso 
profundo voice
5 Sound of disgust
6 Large envelope
7 “Coming of Age 
in Mississippi” 
writer Moody
8 Many a contract 
for a superstar 
player, e.g.
9 Orange skin that 
doesn’t peel?
10 Hockey legend 
Bobby
11 Boston-based 
sportswear giant
12 Salty Japanese 
condiment
16 Word with 
common or good
18 Rider’s controls
22 Korean rice liquor
24 Reminder of a 
scrape
26 __ and paste

31 Girder material
32 Corner PC key
34 Amount owed
37 Big-headed sorts
39 Complete
40 Some northern 
South Americans
41 Visa/MC 
alternative
43 Key part of a 
block party?
44 Tappable image
45 “Bad Feminist” 
writer Roxane

46 Big name in 
vacuums
47 Mooring spot
48 Medal 
recipients
49 Swaddled one
50 Algonquian 
language
58 “Now I get it”
60 “Stop! That 
hurts!”
62 TV pioneer
64 Fishing pole
65 Keystone __

Read more at MichiganDaily.com

Read more at MichiganDaily.com

