The holidays, as joyous as they are in general, are usually the worst days for couch potatoes like me. Outside of parades, nonsensical sporting events, and movies centered around the occasion’s theme, there’s little of interest to watch.
Luckily, one of my favorite cable channels is running a marathon of one of the old-time classic shows from my childhood. For twenty-four hours I can watch back-to-back episodes of Rod Serling the twilight zoneincluding Burgess Meredith in “World Enough And Time” and Billy Mummy in “It’s A Good Life.”
Other stations sometimes show continuous episodes of particular series, thus lending credence to the term TV marathons. However, the literal running event, usually consisting of at least several miles, has rarely been used in television show plotlines.
Here are six of the sitcoms that have featured marathon-centric episodes, most of which involve a regular character undertaking the task of running a long distance.
The office
Dundee-Mifflin Paper Company regional office manager Michael Scott (played by Steve Carrel) signs up his eccentric employees for the Scranton, Pennsylvania marathon, each ending with unique experiences as the race progresses.
king of queens
In the episode “Big Dougie”, Doug (played by Kevin James) volunteers on the Big Brother show and tries to impress his young protégé, even to the point of running a 10K marathon.
how i met your mother
Ted (played by Josh Radnor) remembers the time he trained for the New York City Marathon, a memory that also involves a variety of side stories.
Seinfeld
While the main characters don’t actually run in the marathon, Jerry (played by Jerry Seinfeld) and Elaine (played by Julia Louis Dreyfus) compete to see how best to deliver the all-important wake-up call to a friend who’s on the run. favorite to win.
The league
Andre (played by Paul Scheer) and Pete (played by Mark Duplass) train for a race in an episode appropriately titled “The Marathon” in this FX sitcom.
Modern Family
On a show called “Run For Your Wife,” Phil (played by Ty Burrel) challenges Claire (played by Julie Bowen) to compete with him in a marathon, believing they need a hobby to cope with their recent empty nest. lets win, but while celebrating Phil is hit by his daughter Haley in the driver’s Ed car.