Between [the kisses given by Willard Scott] and counting all of the balloons destroyed by the wind, the 1993 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade had all the makings of a fine drinking game.
- Take a shot whenever the hosts appear to go off-script. If you're not sure, drink anyway.
- Two if it's Willard Scott doing the ad-libbing. Oops, you're dead.
- Take a shot for every balloon that doesn't look like it's supposed to. This will usually take the form of a body part looking deflated.
- And another if the balloon is actually damaged (i.e. Superman having his arm torn off in 1986).
- Two if it's from before 1997.
- Down your drink if a balloon doesn't make it to the camera crew and they have to show archive footage.
- Take a shot for everytime Willard Scott does or says something potentially flirtatious with his female cohost.
- For 1998-2005, take a shot whenever Katie Couric says something smarmy directed at Matt Lauer.
- And again if he does it back.
- For any pre-1993 parades, take a shot when Dick Schneider adds "magic" to a musical number.
- Take another shot if it looks off or otherwise invokes Special Effects Failure.
- Take a shot for...
- (Pre-2000) any performers who are middle-aged/elderly and/or passé (Bert Parks, Ann Miller, Carol Channing).
- (Post-2000) any gratuitous hitmaking acts of the year (Ashanti, Rachel Platten, Jordin Sparks).
- Take a shot whenever a singer looks unprofessional while lipsyncing.
- Again if they miss their cue.
- Take a shot for every act who is on an NBC show at the time they're appearing in the parade (this does not count the hosts).
- Take a shot for every bad pun.
- Again if they take note of how bad the pun is.
- If this is during the Katie era (1991-2005), take another shot if she reacts to the pun with an "Arf!"
- Take a shot if a family member (e.g. kids, spouse) is mentioned.
- Another if they're actually shown.
- Take a shot for every instance of laughter.
- Take a shot whenever a marching band performance has some sort of gimmick.
- Take a shot if a marching band plays any of the following:
- A song about New York (e.g. "Theme from New York, New York", "On Broadway", "42nd Street")
- A showtune ("Don't Rain on My Parade" from Funny Girl is a frequent player here)
- A song about their state (bonus points if it's their official state song)
- Any combination of the three
- Take a shot for every Cash-Cow Franchise that shows up.
- Take two if it's a franchise that gets represented continuously every year (e.g. Peanuts, SpongeBob SquarePants, McDonalds, Pokémon, Sesame Street).
- Take a shot for every Unintentional Period Piece.
- For rewatches only:
- Take a shot for any promoted NBC show, that only lasted 1 season. Depending on the year, you might even be intoxicated before the Parade arrives at 34th Street.
- Take a shot for every highlighted Broadway production that wound up closing within the following year (excluding limited engagements or NBC's live productions).
- Take a shot for every musician or band that is hyped by the hosts as "the next best thing"...and only to become forgotten over time.
- Take a shot for a float or balloon of something that didn’t last as a series.
- Take a sip, for every time the parade uses searchlights (IN BROAD DAYLIGHT) to "highlight" a balloon.
- Take a shot everytime NBC decides to cuts to commercial before an older novelty balloon crosses the Macy's mat. Take two if it's Harold the Firefighter/Police Cop.
- Take a shot, if they show the stock footage of the two minor league baseball players waving to the crowd.
- Take a shot for anytime the Sweater & Glove wearing 'America Sings' group performs at the start of the parade.
- Take a shot, whenever an announcer mentions how some marching band members "have never been to New York before". Take two, if they say some band members have never been "on a plane before".
