The Thanksgiving Special

"The Thanksgiving Special" is the twelfth episode of thefifth seasonof the American animated television seriesRegular Show, as well as the 128th episode of the series overall. AThanksgiving special, the episode aired onCartoon Networkon November 25, 2013.
The episode drew in 3.04 million viewers, making it the most viewed episode of the fifth season.
Mordecai and Rigby inadvertently ruin the preparations for the park'sThanksgiving dinnerby playingfootballin the house. The other park workers decide to replace the meal before their families arrive, refusing to let Mordecai and Rigby help. The duo then sees a commercial on television advertising a contest to write a commemorative song for the holiday with the chance of winning aturducken. They decide to enter the contest, but quickly find that writing the song is not as easy as they thought.
Meanwhile, Benson, Pops, and Skips go to the store for anotherturkeyand subsequently get in a fight with a trio of Thanksgiving enthusiasts over the last one in stock, which is eventually run over on the street. Muscle Man and High-Five Ghost go out for more sides and get in anend zonedance competition with football player Broc Stettman. All the while, Thomas goes to the airport to pick up the park workers' families. Mordecai and Rigby get caught in traffic and ride from Margaret's father via hishelicopter. They arrive just in time to enter, still very unprepared. The previous entry, in which billionaire Richard Buckner paid a group of professional singers to write and perform, is the clear favorite.
As Mordecai and Rigby are about to start, Thomas informs them that their families’ flights have been delayed to the following day. They decide to sing about how family and friends are more important than food, with Buckner's back-up musicians joining in, and win the contest, only for Buckner to steal the turducken. The rest of the park workers, who witnessed the live stream, decide to work with their rivals to get it back. Mordecai and Rigby board Buckner'sblimp, where he explains why he was after the turducken – it has a goldenwishbonecapable ofwish fulfillmentthat he intends on using to gain the rights to Thanksgiving and have all his employees thank him, much to their shock. The duo fight Buckner with help from their friends; however, they fall out of the blimp, but not before seizing the wishbone and replacing it with spoons. Buckner attempts to make his wish, only to discover Mordecai and Rigby's deception moments before the blimp is crashed, killing him. Just when they are about to fall to their own deaths, Mordecai and Rigby wish to be returned home as they break the bone just in time. After appearing back at the house, Thomas informs them he was mistaken about the flights being delayed – he had mistakenly checked the departure schedule instead of the arrivals, to everyone's frustration – and their families, along with Broc and his team, the contest's organizer Farmer Jimmy, some of Buckner's singers and the enthusiasts, are already there and have replaced the dinner. Benson gives Mordecai and Rigby a toast thanking them for saving Thanksgiving as the episode culminates.
The episode was written andstoryboardedby Benton Connor, Toby Jones, Andres Salaff, and Calvin Wong, and was directed by series creatorJ. G. Quinteland supervising producer Mike Roth. The episode includes guest starsTerry Crews,Chord Overstreet,LeToya LuckettandJosh Keaton. The episode also includes two original songs, "What Are You Thankful For?"  and "Chewing on Freedom".
According toJ. G. Quintel, the episode "[had] some really awesome songs", but the crew "ended up having to record the people in the songs all at separate times", which proved challenging.
The episode was watched by 3.04 million viewers.
Alasdair Wilkins ofThe A.V. Clubwrote that the special was "A worthy companion to last year’s brilliant Christmas special", complementing the special for "all the things associated with thanksgiving: food, football, good cheer, and most importantly family". Wilkins also complemented the family and friendship bonds throughout the show that the special has shown.Austin Allison fromColliderplaced the special as one of the "Top 10 Cartoon Thanksgiving Animated Specials to Gobble Down This Season", praising the special for managing to "ring in the true meaning of the holiday of being thankful for the ones closest to you, through song-form and hamboning."
Paul Le also placed the special as one of the "14 Best Thanksgiving Episodes in Animated Television, Ranked", stating that "Regular Showis always weird, but this Thanksgiving special takes the cake. Or should we say, "turkey?"".
Stettman'sfootball jerseyresembles the jersey used by theNFLteam, thePittsburgh Steelers, in the 1970s. Thewater towerin the episode also has the current logo ofCartoon Network. The episode's main antagonist, Richard Buckner, is a parody of businessman, television host, and futureUnited States PresidentDonald TrumpandWalmartandSam's ClubfounderSam Walton.