Season 10 · Episode 6 · First aired 20 November 2011

Thanksgiving

Episode 6 of Family Guy season 10 (S10E06), the 171st Family Guy episode overall. Written by Patrick Meighan and directed by Jerry Langford. First broadcast on 20 November 2011.

Story

Lois invites the Quagmires, the Swansons, Mayor Adam West and the Pewterschmidts for Thanksgiving dinner, with feeling still raw between Ida, Quagmire and Brian. Kevin Swanson, reported killed in Iraq, then arrives at the door. He tells his parents that a bomb concealed in a Thanksgiving turkey wiped out his unit and left him unconscious for months, but his account keeps shifting, and under questioning from Joe he admits he went absent without leave and staged his own death. Joe arrests him and Bonnie objects to the lie. Kevin says he had tired of the war and made friends among Iraqis, and the table argues about the occupation. He reminds Joe of a shoplifter his father once let go, and Joe relents. A second Kevin then appears.

Production and reception

Jerry Langford directed and Patrick Meighan, a writer on the series since season four, supplied the script. Ron Jones composed the music. Wikipedia, Thanksgiving (Family Guy)
Kevin Swanson had been voiced by Jon Cryer in "There's Something About Paulie" and later by Seth MacFarlane. Scott Grimes, who voices Steve Smith on American Dad!, took the part here. Wikipedia, Thanksgiving (Family Guy)
Guest voices included Patrick Stewart, Julie Hagerty, Kevin Durand, Max Burkholder, Christine Lakin, Zachary Gordon, Jonathan Morgan Heit, Colin Ford, Jackson Douglas and Karen Strassman. Wikipedia, Thanksgiving (Family Guy)
Nielsen put the first airing at 6.04 million viewers with a 3.1/7 share in the 18 to 49 group, slightly up on "Back to the Pilot". Wikipedia, Thanksgiving (Family Guy)
Kevin McFarland of The A.V. Club graded it C, while Terron Moore of Ology praised the way each of the regular characters was given something to do. Wikipedia, Thanksgiving (Family Guy)

Voices

Voice	Characters
Seth MacFarlane	Peter Griffin, Brian Griffin, Stewie Griffin
Alex Borstein	Lois Griffin, Babs Pewterschmidt
Seth Green	Chris Griffin
Mila Kunis	Meg Griffin
Mike Henry	Soldier #4
Alexandra Breckenridge	Pilgrim's Wife
Max Burkholder	Homeless Kid
Chris Cox	Soldier #3
Mike Desilets	Giant Crab
Jackson Douglas	Military Doctor

Principal voice credits as recorded by IMDb, which lists up to ten credits per episode, so recurring characters can be missing here. Guest voices below come from Wikipedia and TVmaze.

Guest voices

Max Burkholder as Grandchild/Child
Jackson Douglas
Kevin Durand
Colin Ford as Iraqi Child/Pilgrim Child/Younger Kevin
Zachary Gordon as Homeless Little Boy
Scott Grimes as Kevin Swanson
Julie Hagerty as Carol West, Carol
Jonathan Morgan Heit as Child
Christine Lakin as Joyce Kinney
Patrick Stewart as Susie Swanson's monologue, Susie Swanson
Patrick Warburton as Joe Swanson
Adam West as Mayor Adam West
Jennifer Tilly as Bonnie Swanson

Season 10: episode 6 of 23

Season hub with air dates and credits for all 23 episodes

SourceFacts from Wikipedia: Family Guy season 10 and the episode's article (CC BY-SA 4.0). Spotted an error? See corrections.

Provenance

Facts only

Sources: Wikipedia: Thanksgiving (Family Guy)
Wikidata Q7710580
IMDb
TVmaze
Data refreshed: 6 September 2026
Verification: Checked against Wikidata and IMDb: title, date, numbering and credits agree
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Licence: Facts are not copyrightable. Source text on Wikipedia is CC BY-SA 4.0; Wikidata is CC0; IMDb data is used for verification under its non-commercial terms.
Note: The story summary and notes were written for this site from the sources listed, by Claude in Claude Code on 2026-09-08, awaiting editorial review. Facts only; no dialogue is reproduced. Voice credits: Information courtesy of IMDb (https://www.imdb.com). Used with permission. Guest cast data from TVmaze (https://www.tvmaze.com), CC BY-SA.