The special received critical acclaim and gave ABC its best ratings in four years for its respective time slot on Thanksgiving Day.

Katie Couric interviews Lady Gaga about her life and the inspiration behind her music at the Convent of the Sacred Heart in Manhattan, the school she attended as a child.

[1][2] Gaga also performs nine songs to a small audience of friends and family, including "Born This Way", "Marry the Night", "You and I", "Hair" and "The Edge of Glory", as well as covers of Irving Berlin's holiday classic "White Christmas" and Nat King Cole's "Orange Colored Sky".

[3][4][5] She also sings a duet with Tony Bennett of "The Lady Is a Tramp", originally from the 1937 musical comedy Babes in Arms,[6] featuring the work of Gaga's trumpeter, Brian Newman.

"[11] Gaga received dresses designed by Giorgio Armani, Stéphane Rolland, Azzedine Alaïa, and Martin Grant.

[12][13][14] A promotional photo of Gaga was released that shows her "going full ice princess", which Erin Strecker of Entertainment Weekly presumed would be her primary apparel.

After watching the preview, a staff member of Idolator commented that it "reminds us of our own family Turkey Day get-togethers: there are people running around in ridiculous attire, someone's crying and the hostess is a (Mother) Monster of sorts.

Gaga's special aired simultaneously with reruns of The Simpsons on FOX, Person of Interest on CBS, and The Secret Circle on The CW.

Total viewership increased by 23% (1.3 million viewers) from the previous year's Thanksgiving special, singer Beyoncé's 2009 concert I Am... World Tour.

Calling it engaging, Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly opined that A Very Gaga Thanksgiving was "disarmingly direct, sincere, and unpretentious".

[24] Dave Itzkoff of The New York Times said that while viewers might have thought they were viewing a "dream or a hallucination", they were watching "an actual holiday special".

[31][32] On November 22, 2011, iTunes Store began selling an exclusive EP of the live performances from the special, which included "White Christmas", "Orange Colored Sky", "You and I", and "The Edge of Glory".