With Thanksgiving around the corner, the focus is often on the gathering of family, the celebration of traditions and the giving of thanks. But what about the unsung hero of the holiday? That’s right the turkey. They’re often derided for being lame and edible, but they’ve also provided some gosh darn good television. And yes that “gosh darn” is for the first of our Ten Entertaining Turkey Moments:

Sarah Palin Ironic Turkey Pardoning

While Sarah Palin valiantly talks about pardoning one very special turkey, we get a peek at other, obviously less special turkeys, getting slaughtered in the background. Happy Holidays.

The West Wing Does Turkey Pardoning Right

President Bartlet pardons not one but two turkeys to save them from slaughter. However, he admits that as president he can’t even really pardon a turkey but he can buy one.

South Park Puts Gobbles In The Spotlight

Timmy finds a kindred spirit in disabled Gobbles the Turkey. Not only does Gobbles get to keep his life, he gets to star in the school play.

Monica Does The Turkey Dance

Friends can certainly do a Thanksgiving episode right. And in this one, we learn that nothing says love quite like dancing around with a turkey on your head.

WKRP in Cincinnati Drops The Turkey Bomb

In this classic, chaos ensues as a helicopter dumps turkeys. Though the birds don’t make an actual appearance on screen, you know they’re there and that they’re entertaining.

Tom the Turkey Gets Revenge!

After Tom the Turkey saves the Simpsons gang from the Great Pumpkin, the kids make the mistake of mentioning how they eat turkey. Tom then goes on the attack and everything ends happily ever after.

A Flying Turkey And Other Bad Stuff Too

Tom Hanks struggles a little bit when it comes to the cooking in The Money Pit. The kitchen goes up in flames but at least the disaster ends with an impressive flying turkey.

The Turkey’s A Little Overdone

There’s nothing wrong with the turkey… it’s just a little dry.

The Not-Quite-Turkey Turkey Dinner

So what if it’s Tofurkey... at least it looks like a Turkey, right?

Kramer Is A Turkey

In the Butter Shave episode of Seinfeld, Kramer takes up shaving with butter (naturally). After roasting in the sun, though, Newman can only see Kramer as a delicious, delicious turkey. The clip is surprisingly hard to find, but you can get the idea here.