Here’s your streaming guide for Thanksgiving weekend

Welcome to The Queue – the pilot episode.

My name is Kevin Slane, entertainment and culture editor at Boston.com, and I have a plot thoughts on films and television.

I wrote my first movie review when I was 10 — a handwritten eulogy for Jake Gyllenhaal’s “October Sky” posted exclusively on my parents’ refrigerator.

In the years that followed, I began writing viewer recommendations for my college newspaper, then Boston.com, and as of today, this newsletter.

The Queue will be a bi-weekly newsletter, giving you two full weeks to dive into these streaming recommendations. With the exception of this initial shipment, The Queue will be released on Fridays to help you plan your weekend streaming.

Today I’m focusing on Thanksgiving and holiday streaming options. But in the future, I want to know what interests you. Send me an email to [email protected] with your suggestions.

Holiday Movies Are Like a Cottage Industry

Many channels and streaming services follow the Hallmark Channel formula of showing cheaply made movies with interchangeable titles like “How to Fall in Love by Christmas,” “Christmas Under the Lights” and “Christmas with a Handsome Prince which has a sensible seaside.” Irish cottage.

Earlier this month, I published a guide to the 100+ new holiday movies for 2024 to help separate the wheat from the chaff.

I’ve chosen one film from each major service to highlight, but for anyone who has finished the Christmas movies, the full schedule is available to you. And if you’ve seen any, don’t hesitate to leave me a review.

If you’re more into holiday specials, I have some important news: For the first time in over 50 years, “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” and “Frosty the Snowman” will *not* air on CBS .

Instead, NBC has the rights to the Rankin and Bass specials. At least they’re still on TV, unlike “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” which Apple made available only to Apple TV+ subscribers.

If you want to know exactly where and when to watch your favorite holiday specials — including the 48 hours non-subscribers can watch the Peanuts special — check out my complete guide to holiday specials.

For those who want to break from tradition, there are also a handful of new streaming holiday specials hosted by some of your favorite celebrities.

Netflix has a special with Sabrina Carpenter (December 6), while Prime Video has a puppet-filled special from comedian Jeff Dunham. Speaking of puppets, Max has six Sesame Street holiday specials in his library.

Check out the full list of holiday 2024 streaming specials.

Play or jump

For some, November is another month to consume holiday content. But I like to leave room in the calendar for Thanksgiving-specific entertainment.

PLAY: “Planes, Trains and Automobiles” (1987)about a grumpy marketing executive (Steve Martin) trying to get home to his family for Thanksgiving with the help of a kind but deeply annoying traveling salesman (John Candy) is my annual go-to movie after the turkey. (Paramount+ Or Pluto TV)

PLAY: “Bob’s Burgers” (2011–present) is the sitcom that most consistently celebrates the spirit of Thanksgiving. Hulu tapped into that spirit by creating a playlist of Thanksgiving episodes full of Bob (H. Jon Benjamin) whispering sweet nothings to his turkey, Linda stocking up on wine, and the Belcher kids finding exciting new ways to complicate the festivities . (Hulu)

PLAY: For those who prefer their holiday entertainment with a twist, Newton native Eli Roth’s slasher film “Thanksgiving” (2023) is a bloody story set in Plymouth and tells the story of a killer disguised as a pilgrim punishing greedy shoppers after a Black Friday tragedy. (Netflix)

JUMP: Unless you are an Apple TV+ subscriber, you have already missed the 48-hour window that allows “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving” (1973) free for non-subscribers. Watch it if you can, but don’t reward Apple with your credit card information for taking a free-for-everyone special for almost 50 years and locking it away in its content vault. (Apple TV+)

Queue and A

In a 2021 interview, Chris Evans explained that he was impressed by a fellow student a few years ahead of him at Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School, saying, “He was a bit of a celebrity in my mind.”

What an award-winning actor Was Evans referring?

Hint: In addition to growing up in Lincoln, this actor was in the 2012 movie “Lincoln.”

The first person to send the correct answer to [email protected] receives a personalized streaming recommendation!

End credits

This is the conclusion of the opening edition of The queue. If you are a fan, consider recommending this newsletter to your friends.

PS: If you come across an awesome movie or TV show, send me an email. I’m always looking for things to queue up and your recommendation may appear in a future edition of the newsletter.

Until the next one, happy stream hunting everyone!

— Kevin

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