The holidays, as joyful as they are in general, are usually the worst days for couch potatoes like me. Outside of parades, mindless sporting events, and movies centered around the theme of the occasion, there’s little of interest to watch.

Fortunately, one of my favorite cable channels is broadcasting a marathon of one of the classic shows of yesteryear from my childhood. For twenty-four hours I can watch back-to-back episodes of Rod Serling the twilight zoneincluding Burgess Meredith on “World Enough And Time” and Billy Mummy on “It’s A Good Life.”

Other stations sometimes show continuous episodes of particular series, thus lending credence to the term binge-watchers. However, the literal running event, usually consisting of at least several miles, has rarely been used in TV show plotlines.

Here are six of the sitcoms that have featured marathon-focused 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 his eccentric employees into the Scranton, Pennsylvania marathon, each ending up 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) flashes back to 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 who is the best choice to give the important wake-up call to a friend who is 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 appropriately titled episode “The Marathon” of 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 car Ed.