TheBile 0 #1 March 11, 2004 WKRP's Thanksgiving Fiasco Radio Show. The "Turkey Drop" Promotion From 1978 This quote is from the “WKRP in Cincinnati” episode where Station Manager, Arthur Carlson, arranged to have live turkeys dropped from a helicopter as an advertising stunt. Unfortunately, this turned out to be a serious miscalculation. The poor birds plunged to earth, never even having a chance. Their tragic "last flight" was relayed to WKRP listeners by reporter Les Nessman : “It's a helicopter, and it's coming this way. It's flying something behind it, I can't quite make it out, it's a large banner and it says, uh - Happy... Thaaaaanksss... giving! ... From ... W ... K ... R... P!! No parachutes yet. Can't be skydivers... I can't tell just yet what they are, but - Oh my God, Johnny, they're turkeys!! Johnny, can you get this? Oh, they're plunging to the earth right in front of our eyes! One just went through the windshield of a parked car! Oh, the humanity! The turkeys are hitting the ground like sacks of wet cement! Not since the Hindenberg tragedy has there been anything like this!” Gerb I stir feelings in others they themselves don't understand. KA'CHOW ! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mr2mk1g 10 #2 March 11, 2004 Good story and a "great" image... but I doubt the radio report would have really included the phrase "oh the humanity..." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jb092 0 #3 March 11, 2004 I remeber seeing that one on reruns a few years ago. What could possibly go wrong? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Skystorm 0 #4 March 11, 2004 Gene Police: "YOU!! Out of the pool, NOW!!!" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dterrick 0 #5 March 11, 2004 QuoteGood story and a "great" image... but I doubt the radio report would have really included the phrase "oh the humanity..." Yes, it did. Really. I still piss myself laughing at that episode ... and the one with Johnny taking the 'imapired reaction time test' ...well and most of the rest of them, too. -Chyy Chyy Rod-ri-gweez indeed! Dave Life is very short and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend (Lennon/McCartney) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ryoder 1,590 #6 March 11, 2004 QuoteGood story and a "great" image... but I doubt the radio report would have really included the phrase "oh the humanity..." Yes it did. When the Hindenburg disaster occurred, WLS reporter Herbert Morrison was doing a live radio broadcast. Even though he was in shock at what he was seeing, he kept talking, describing what was occurring. If you google for it, you can find the audio online. When Les Nesman does his narration of the turkey drop, he is mimicing the style and emotion of Morrison's 1937 radio report, even including the verbatim phrase "oh the humanity"."There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mr2mk1g 10 #7 March 11, 2004 I know the R101 disaster involved the phrase - thats why I didn't think it would be repeated as because of the infamy of that broadcast it's now totally cliche. I didn't realise that the WKRP show was a fiction - I thought the posting related to a reportedly real event and thus I didn't buy it. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PhillyKev 0 #8 March 11, 2004 Yes it did. When the Hindenburg disaster occurred, WLS reporter Herbert Morrison was doing a live radio broadcast. Even though he was in shock at what he was seeing, he kept talking, describing what was occurring. I believe he was also fired for losing his composure as a news man. I guess he was the unwitting father of tabloid tv journalism. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WILDBILLAQR 0 #9 March 11, 2004 Oh man! I haven't seen that show in years. just one question, When Less was re-hirerd, wasen't that when he got his "own office"?---------------------------------------------- "Thats not smoke, thats BUCKEYE!!" AQR#3,CWR#49 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nutz 0 #10 March 11, 2004 "I've got a monkey on my foot!" That one always cracks me up. "Don't! Get! Eliminated!" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
canopycandy 0 #11 March 11, 2004 Here in Cincinnati, people still make jokes about the "flying" turkeys. I think that episode might have been the only one actually filmed in Cincinnati. I could be wrong, though. (The opening credits were filmed here too.) Oh, and here's some mildly interesting trivia -- the radio station building in the show is the building my company used to be in. (We moved a couple years ago to a bigger and better place.) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AndyMan 7 #12 March 11, 2004 I have often maintain that episode, and specifically that scene is quite simply the funniest one ever put on television. May Gordon Jump rest in peace. _Am__ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
crapflinger2000 1 #13 March 11, 2004 I like the one where Fever thinks god told him to be a golf pro. __________________________________________________ What would Vic Mackey do? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dch31969 0 #14 February 17, 2006 According to www.imdb.com, the actor who played Les Nesman was given tapes of the Hindenberg footage as inspiration for his coverage of Turkeygate. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
