Thanksgiving Day TV Schedule: Your Guide to Macy's Parade, Football, Specials

The big day is here and you've handled it before—juggling cooking times and corralling kids with when your favorite Thanksgiving Day special or football game comes on TV.

Here's the 411—a brief television guide that may help you plan your day. All times Pacific.

Please note this list is far from complete. There is such a thing as too much television.

8 a.m. Top Chef Thanksgiving on Bravo Contestants prepare for Thanksgiving, according to Bravo. For further inspiration, see THANKSGIVING RECIPES: How to Cook a Turkey Five Different Ways and Thanksgiving Recipes: How to Make Stuffing and Other Favorite Side Dishes.

9 a.m. The 86th Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on NBC The parade starts in real time at 6 a.m. in New York City, but is broadcast in California on a three-hour delay, according to NBC. So expect to find the parade on television from 9 a.m. to noon.

9:30 a.m. Houston Texans at Detroit Lions on CBS The first of three NFL games this Thanksgiving Day. The Texans are 9-1 and the Lions are 4-6 so far in 2012. Detroit started hosting games on Thanksgiving in 1934 and the Lions have a Turkey Day record of 33-37-2, according to the NFL.

Pop Quiz: Which is the oldest—the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade or the Detroit Lions' traditional Thanksgiving Day home game? The answer is below.

11:30 a.m. “Thanksgiving with Your Godfather” Marathon on AMC Back-to-back broadcasts of The Godfather and The Godfather Part II. Hollywood.com notes it was best to leave The Godfather Part III for another day, “considering how that movie has been known to ruin appetites.”

1:15 p.m. Washington Redskins at Dallas Cowboys on FOX The Redskins are 4-6 and the Cowboys are 5-5. Dallas started hosting Thanksgiving Day games in 1966 and the Cowboys are 28-15-1 on Turkey Day, according to the NFL.

4 p.m. A Family Thanksgiving on Hallmark This movie features an attorney striving to become partner at her New York law firm, according to Hallmark. She bumps her head and wakes up as a wife and mother of two. With Daphne Zuniga and Faye Dunaway.

4:30 p.m. Texas Christian University at Texas on ESPN The Horned Frogs are 6-4 and the Longhorns are 8-2, according to the NCAA.

5:20 p.m. New England Patriots at New York Jets on NBC The Patriots are 7-3 and the Jets are 4-6. In previous Thanksgiving Day games, the Jets are 4-3 and the Patriots are 2-2, according to the NFL.

8 p.m. A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving on ABC This holiday special first aired in 1973, according to ABC.

9:30 p.m. Bad 25 on ABC Filmmaker Spike Lee examines the legacy of Michael Jackson's 1987 album Bad, according to ABC.

Pop Quiz Answer: The first Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade was in 1924, a decade before the Detroit Lions began hosting Thanksgiving Day football games.

OK, if that's not enough television for Thanksgiving you can always rent a video. Enjoy the day—and the leftovers.

(Psst! Looking for just football? Check out Your Guide to NFL Football on Thanksgiving Day.)