November 30, 2021 What Hits the Airwaves Doesn't Always Fly

The Liberty Gazette

November 30, 2021

Ely Air Lines

By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Here’s hoping you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and called to mind many things for which you’re thankful, whether they fly or not. 

Remember the 1970’s sitcom about a radio station, WKRP in Cincinnati? The cast and crew had a lot to be thankful for with the episode, “Turkeys Away.” The show had been on the air only four months and was about to be canned, but this one saved it as audiences gobbled it up, and TV Guide marked it as the fortieth greatest episode of any series in television history.

Feeling job insecurity with the hiring of a new program director, station manager, Arthur Carlson (played by Gordon Jump), comes up with a holiday promotion idea to be the whipped cream on the pumpkin pie: twenty turkeys would drop out of the sky – gifts that would bless some lucky people out shopping in the mall.

“Dr. Johnny Fever,” the popular DJ (played by Howard Hessman), closes out the last notes of a song and cuts to Les Nessman (played by Richard Sanders), the station’s news reporter, who positioned himself in the mall parking lot for the big surprise. The beat of rotor blades (which sound like a Bell-47 bubble-type helicopter) accompany Les as he begins his play-by-play, first reporting an object falling from the aircraft, and openly wondering if it’s a parachutist. Realizing it’s a turkey, and more are following, the scene unfolds into chaos, with turkeys hitting the parking lot “like bags of wet cement,” and people running for cover. 

Back at the station, the staff who huddled around Johnny Fever anticipating a live, feel-good report, quickly realize the plan has run afoul. Fever cuts back in with, “For those of you who have just tuned in, the Pinedale Shopping Mall has just been bombed with live turkeys.” 

Not to worry, fellow animal lovers, no turkeys were injured in the making of the show. It all fell to the nerdy Nessman to ignite listeners’ imaginations, as one must do in radio. The actors all said it was difficult to keep from laughing while filming that segment. 

WKRP went on to complete a four-year run and was later revived for another three years. It was nominated for eighteen awards, including Emmy, Golden Globe, Humanitas, and TV Land, scoring wins twice.

This much-loved script was written by Bill Dial, who wrote and produced many television shows, including some Star Trek episodes. He even appeared occasionally in WKRP as the radio station’s engineer, Bucky Dornster, and acted small parts in other shows, too. 

But Episode 7 of Season 1 went down in history as his best, the fan favorite, which ends as Les Nessman returns to the office in a daze and explains the rest of the story. “The turkeys mounted a sort of counter-attack. It’s as if they were somehow organized.” 

While Nessman served up the meat of the show, the real gravy came in the closing line by Mr. Carlson. “As God as my witness, I thought turkeys could fly.” 

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