"This is another fine mess" as Laurel And Hardy liked to say in their movies. And a fine mess the 2025 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade certainly was. I watched it on Peacock and I can''t figure out how this parade is the 99th. For one thing the parade lineup was very weak and how these performers were chosen to be in this parade is a mystery. For one thing it consisted of mostly rap and hip-hop artists and singers from the 90's and they should've picked popular artists of today. I also can't figure out why Debbie Gibson was featured in the parade and they had her sing Only In My Dreams rather than a new song and the only logical reason they chose Debbie Gibson to sing Only In My Dreams was the new float by Serta dealt with dreams. One artist that Mom really liked but they never let him sing a whole song was Andrea Bocceli's son and I can't believe how they only let him sing for five minutes then cut him off for a commercial break but putting him on the Rao's Pasta Knight float was a smart choice. Also in the new balloons for 2025 did we really need a new Buzz Lightyear balloon and the only reason they did this was to market Toy Story 5 which hasn't even hit theaters until next year. I also saw a lot of commercial floats and when I see these I think "what are we doing?" "commercial research or watching a parade?" and also I found that The Rockettes performance was the weakest this year and they could've picked better outfits for The Rockettes like dress them like snow princesses or cute Santa outfits. Also I felt that they rushed Santa Claus's arrival and Santa Claus appeared for a short time then was gone in a flash. The only saving grace of this parade was the Disney Destiny float which I had a hard time finding but found the clip on Youtube and it was well done in my eyes. The Pac-Man balloon was also a favorite of my mom's because she loves Pac-Man and the Mario balloon which I also found the clip on Youtube was very cool " Now if only they had an Assassin's Creed float I would like to see that someday" But all in all Macy's should've done a better improvement with this year's parade before putting it on NBC and Peacock because after all when a handyman gets a job they have to fix the kinks before working on the job when needed and the final thing that annoyed me was the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade themed Liberty Mutual commercials that kept popping up during commercial breaks and really they weren't needed in my point of view
Overall Grade: D
What did you think of the 2025 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade?

Another odd thing I noticed on the parade is that for some reason Elmo appeared and I can't figure out why Elmo was even there but how he got interviewed by Hoda and Savannah i'll never know. Another reason I can't figure out is when the Sesame Street float appeared and Christopher Jackson sang with the Sesame Street cast they sang the Sesame Street theme and I cannot figure out the reason for this and what it looked like to me is that they wanted to promote the show's Netflix debut. Past parades the Sesame Street cast and the featured guest singer on the float would sing original songs or new Sesame Street songs but whoever made this decision should've had them sing an original song not the iconic Sesame Street theme

How this year's Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade scored giant ratings is a mystery? Because I think Macy's wanted this year's parade to be successful and they think the same thing will happen with the 100th parade next year. But I think what Macy's should do for future parades is in their entertainment lineup get singers that are very popular and get groups that are huge today. But why the parade picks bands from the 70's and singers from the 80's and 90's like Chicago Foreigner and singers like Darlene Love and Dionne Warwick and Cher and it makes me think they attract the 70's-80's fans and if they were to have singers from today it would bring the parade big ratings to NBC. Second why did they put the Radio City Rockettes at the end before Santa arrived and when you get the general picture it used to be that in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade The Radio City Rockettes used to be after the Broadway acts and would introduce the parade when it arrived at Herald Square but whoever decided to put The Radio City Rockettes at the end with Santa Claus made a wrong move because you cannot put a performance at the end with Santa Claus. I think that for the 100th parade they should improve it and bring it back to the old formula it used to have

I mainly think Macy's wants to give future Thanksgiving Day Parades a whole new image and starting with the 2025 parade this is just the beginning of the new image. But I wish that Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parades would limit the Broadway musicals to four and not have a whole preshow of them and just go to the parade and I can't figure out why they do this? And when Santa Claus makes his arrival at the end of the parade they should make him say "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Holidays" not just have him wave to the crowd