Thirty years of Thanksgiving turkey (and pizza) with General Hospital's Quartermaines 

Would it be a General Hospital Thanksgiving if something didn't happen to the Quartermaine turkey? Since 1994, the Quartermaines have not managed to eat a turkey on Thanksgiving. They always try, but there's a reason the local pizza shop has been on speed dial for years.

How General Hospital's Thanksgiving gag all began

It was thirty years ago when Lila's (Anna Lee) beloved pooch Annabelle then proceeded to eat the turkey. Hungry and out of dinner options, the family ordered pizza and that's when the tradition of ordering pizza for Thanksgiving began.

Through the years, the Quartermaine turkey has been ruined in a myriad of ways. In 1995, Lucy Coe (Lynn Herring) was the center of attention on the very first Thanksgiving when the Quartermaines needed a pizza. As a duck owner (who can forget Sigmund?), Lucy was offended when Cook made a duck rather than a turkey. After going off on a tirade and delivering a soliloquy on the horrors of eating duck, the guilty Qs begrudgingly ordered a pizza.

Before there was Sasha (Sofia Mattsson), the Quartermaine cook was just known as...Cook (and later Cook II). In 1996, Cook resigned right before the holiday when AJ (Sean Kanan) used her kitchen to make a sandwich. With nobody to cook the turkey, the pizza shop delivered. Another year Tracy (Jane Elliot) thought it would be fun to force the family into pizza by hiring two goons to break into the Quartermaine mansion and steal the bird.

In 2006, Emily (Natalia Livingston) was so frustrated with her over-privileged family grumbling that they had nothing to be thankful for that year, she gave the turkey dinner to the servants as a gift. The only other option for the Qs was pizza, of course. Three years later, the Quartermaines didn't even bother attempting a turkey. They had pizza pre-ordered and ready to go.

A bittersweet Thanksgiving (with pizza) in 2012

A dozen years ago, the Quartermaines stopped complaining and started reminiscing after cranky patriarch Edward Quartermaine (John Ingle) died in his sleep shortly before the holiday. The family remembered good times and bad with Edward, and clearly, Edward remembered Thanksgiving.

Heather Webber was present for that year's calamity as the escaped mental patient tried to hold the family hostage. Before she was dragged back to Ferncliff, she destroyed the turkey. By the time the Qs called the pizza shop, it was closed. Then, a miracle occurred when pizza mysteriously arrived and the spirits of Edward and Lila looked on as their loved ones enjoyed a holiday tradition.

Olivia's modern-day determination

When Ned Quartermaine (Wally Kurth) married Olivia Falconeri (Lisa LoCicero) in 2017 and moved her into the family mansion, pizza was a no-go. For the last six years, Olivia has done everything imaginable to ensure that the family has a traditional Thanksgiving. With Cook II becoming a famous chef and leaving the Q nest, Olivia thought she had it all figured out.

However, Monica (Leslie Charleson) had all but given up. She even had gourmet pizza pre-ordered in 2018. The next year, she gave the Thanksgiving turkey to the GH staff just so Ned would have to order pizza. In 2021, Valentin Cassadine (James Patrick Stuart) took up residence with the Qs when he believed that Brook Lynn (Amanda Setton) was pregnant with his child. For funsies, he fed the turkey to the dog, Annabelle II.

Perhaps the most comical of Olivia's Thanksgiving Day disasters came in 2022 when Olivia ordered a fresh organic turkey from a local farm that ended up being a little too fresh because it was a live turkey. Sure, it came in a cage but Leo (Easton Rocket Sweda) wanted it to roam free. He even named it Mr. Waddles before letting it walk all through the mansion and eventually eating all of the Italian side dishes that Olivia cooked up.

Everything went wrong again when Lois' (Rena Sofer) mom Gloria (Ellen Travolta) was on the scene. With Lois, Gloria, and Olivia — three Italian women from Brooklyn — on the scene, they felt nothing could go wrong. The turkey and the baked ziti were ready, but as expected, the turkey burned and the fire alarm sprinklers ruined all the sides. The Qs then ordered a Thanksgiving meal from the Metro Court, but Nina (Cynthia Watros) sent them pizza instead. After all, she was testing the restaurant's new pizza oven.

What will Sasha cook up?

This year, Sasha will experience a Quartermaine Thanksgiving from the kitchen. There's little doubt a high-strung Olivia will micro-manage her every move and insist on cooking herself. Between Sasha and Olivia, nothing could go wrong, right?

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Well, of course not. Something is bound to go wrong or it wouldn't be turkey...we mean pizza...day with the Qs.

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