Vincent Price's Thanksgiving Special

Presented as a TV Land rerun of a 1958 broadcast, Vincent Price welcomes viewers to his gloomy mansion and offers a gruesome invented history of Thanksgiving. Clark Gable carries in the turkey along with a suggestive remark about his current film, and Alfred Hitchcock arrives having eaten half of the stuffing on the way over. A heavily medicated Judy Garland wrecks their short Pilgrim playlet and ends up crawling across the floor, prompting a sponsor break that lasts only seconds. Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball then bring plantains instead of pie, and Desi's bongo song about a Cuban Thanksgiving collapses when his wife insists on joining in. As Price attempts to sign off, Garland begins pleading with a portrait of George Washington and Hitchcock takes his time coming to deal with her.

This was the first installment of SNL's Vincent Price holiday special series. According to SNL Archives, reruns substitute dress-rehearsal footage for Desi Arnaz's song and for the final minute, because the stage lights went dark during the live broadcast.