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The 79th Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade was held on November 24, 2005, in New York City and shown to viewers live on NBC that same day from 9 a.m. to noon EST. It was hosted by Katie Couric, Matt Lauer and Al Roker. The lineup featured 14 giant helium balloons, 28 novelty/ornament balloons and balloonicles, 27 floats, 10 marching bands, 1,600 cheerleaders, a host of celebrities and large performance groups, and the one-and-only Santa Claus.
Listed below are the parade elements that appeared in the 2005 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. They are categorized by unit type, with their respective sponsors in bold. Home locations of talent ensembles are featured in brackets, and guest star’s float appearances are indicated in bold.
Bold denotes a new parade element, an underline indicates a unit that was brought back after an absence, strikethrough denotes a unit that was sidelined from the march, and an asterisk (*) signifies an element that was retired after the 2005 Parade.
Balloons[]
Giant Balloons[]
Scooby-Doo(Warner Bros. Consumer Products) - 1st time
A strong cold front blew through New York City on Thanksgiving Day, bringing with it gusty winds. During the three-hour Parade, winds measured 17 mph sustained with 22 mph gusts at 9 a.m., 15 mph sustained with 26 mph gusts at 10 a.m., 15 mph sustained with 23 mph gusts at 11 a.m., and 14 mph sustained with 25 mph gusts at noon.[1] Because of the winds, the balloons flew lower than usual, and caused the following accidents:
A handling line on the M&M's-sponsored Red and Yellow Brighten the Holidays balloon caught on a lamppost in Times Square, causing one of its lighting fixtures to fall into the crowd. Two sisters from Albany were injured by the falling debris and were hospitalized, before being released later that day.
The bottom of the Ice Cream Cone was partially deflated.
Trivia[]
The 2005 NBC broadcast was the first to be broadcast in high-definition.
2005 was the final time Katie Couric would host the NBC broadcast; she was replaced the following year by Meredith Vieira.
NBC's telecast of the 2005 Parade was sponsored in part by Fisher-Price and Buick.
Celebrities interviewed in the official broadcast's first hour included John Krasinski and Rainn Wilson (The Office), Peter Reckell (Days of Our Lives), Adrien Brody (King Kong), and Harry Connick, Jr. (The Happy Elf).
The 2005 NBC telecast won the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Special Class Directing, and was nominated for the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Special Class Special.[2]
