I'm talking about the famous "Turkey Drop" scene from WKRP in Cincinnati, of course. The reason why it is the best is not what we actually saw, but what was implied by reporter Les Nessman. If anything, the way the scene played out hearkened back to the golden days of radio and the "theater of the mind".
In this episode, entitled "Turkeys Away" and originally broadcast back in October of 1978, Mr. Carlson believes that the station needs a Thanksgiving promotion. So, he decides to have turkeys dropped from a helicopter flying above a shopping mall. What he doesn't realize is that turkeys aren't the greatest fliers, especially while being dropped from 2000 feet in the air. What results is a disaster. Nothing worse to ruin your holiday than a 20 or 30 pound turkey crashing into your car windshield from several thousand feet up.
What makes this scene great is Les' reaction to what he is seeing. His cries of 'Oh the humanity!' call back to the Hindenburg disaster, which he actually mentions. Because Les (played by Richard Sanders) does such as good job describing the calamity around him the staff back at the radio station, as well as the viewing audience, can picture what is going on. And, that just makes it funnier.
Judge for yourself by clicking on the video below.
Mike Henry and Daryl Hall on a Cleveland Show Thanksgiving
The TV Squad Podcast: The Prisoner, '80s TV, soap news and more
Let's talk about spoilers ...
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
11-19-2007 @ 2:34PM
cathy said...
I agree with you. Just reading the headline from your story made me laugh remembering it.
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11-19-2007 @ 4:55PM
elle said...
I remember this so fondly. WKRP was brilliant. The phone cops? Les's "office"? wonderfully wierd
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11-19-2007 @ 2:55PM
C C said...
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes! (Think I love this episode?)
What's really great-"Turkey's Away" was supposedly based upon an event that actually happened and was part of radio lore.
But what happened in real life couldn't possibly top the fictional recreation.
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11-19-2007 @ 2:56PM
Steve said...
I think the best part if afterwards when Mr. Carlson comes in and says "As god as my witness I thought turkeys could fly"
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11-19-2007 @ 3:41PM
colby said...
"... hitting the ground like bags of wet cement!"
ha! classic.
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11-19-2007 @ 3:59PM
Derek said...
Not just the best Thanksgiving scene, ever. This is THE single funniest sitcom scene ever.
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11-19-2007 @ 4:35PM
debrev2002 said...
I'm with Steve, as funny as Les' commentary was, the funniest was Herb and Mr. Carlson coming back to the studio covered in feathers and his "I thought turkeys could fly." Even thinking about it cracks me up.
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11-19-2007 @ 4:35PM
postscript said...
As God as my witness, I thought turkey's could fly ...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzRmwNwKVw8
I remember watching this episode as a child ... It's too bad WKRP didn't last longer ... and worse that they tried to resurrect it.
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11-19-2007 @ 4:55PM
C C said...
I loved Johnny Fever's on-air follow-up: "For those just tuning in, the Pinedale Shopping Mall has just been bombed with live turkeys!"
Details on the true-life incident from tv.com:Many residents of Atlanta remember the tragedy when radio disc jockeys at WQXI dropped live turkeys from a helicopter. Most of the turkeys landed on I-85 in Georgia and all of the turkeys died.
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11-19-2007 @ 5:33PM
iamhoff said...
Memmmorieeeeeeeessss!!
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11-19-2007 @ 5:44PM
Nathaniel said...
A word of article-writing advice: for those of us who have never seen the scene before, it would have been a lot funnier if you hadn't described the whole thing before the video. Same goes for whoever linked the "I thought turkeys could fly" video.
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11-19-2007 @ 5:44PM
Nathaniel said...
Not that it wasn't still funny, though...
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11-19-2007 @ 6:48PM
John said...
"Les's "office"? "
This tape represents where walls will one day be... WALLS!
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11-19-2007 @ 10:33PM
Peanut said...
Jesus, Nathaniel, the scene is 30 years old. How long do we have to say "Spoiler alert"?
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11-19-2007 @ 11:40PM
Phish said...
re peanut: not all of us are as ancient as you are!
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11-20-2007 @ 2:01PM
jmalcolm said...
loved seeing these clips from that episode. It only makes me miss WKRP all over again and wish one of these TVLand or something channels would syndicate the show so we could enjoy all the great moments on this classic TV sitcom.
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11-20-2007 @ 1:28PM
kevjohn said...
I was growing up in Cincinnati when this originally hit the airwaves (remember those?), so needless to say it was a favorite of mine. It was a very uneven show though. Too much drama for those of us expecting a comedy, and too silly for those hoping for a realistic workplace show. Or at least that's what I used to think. But I was just a kid then. Now I see it more as a spiritual predecessor to the U.S. "Office", even moreso than the UK version.
Chi-hua-hua.
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11-20-2007 @ 10:28PM
Phish said...
jmalcolm, just bittorrent the whole series! nobody will notice..........
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11-22-2007 @ 5:59PM
Trevor said...
I think this is arguably the funniest single scene ever in a sitcom.
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