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-- Flightless Eps -
"Turkeys Away" (WKRP in Cincinnati)
Season 1, Episode 7
Airdate: Oct. 30, 1978
Written by: Bill Dial
Directed by: Michael Zinberg
"Feeling left out by the recent changes around the station, Arthur Carlson (Gordon Jump) decides to launch his own Thanksgiving promotion. With the help of Herb (Frank Bonner) and Les (Richard Sanders), the 'Big Guy' turns a routine turkey giveaway into a comic catastrophe."
#WKRP #TurkeysAway #Thanksgiving #AsGodAsMyWitness #TurkeyDrop
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I miss Dad. Great video. Well researched. Pops ended up getting his Emmy for Franks Place.
Hugh was your dad? That's cool. Rest well, Pops.
Glad you enjoyed it
@@tvsbesteps Your dad gave me some great moments with my dad. thanks for that.💜
The phrase "Oh the humanity!" was the funniest line for the absurdity of how it was used. It fit Les and his personality perfectly. Your dad knew people far better than the suits at CBS.
Shortly before he passed away I saw Gordon Jump sitting in the appliance section of our local furniture mart doing a Maytag appearance. He looked so lonely and dejected, which was totally in character, but the general shopping public was completely ignoring him. Against my wife’s wishes I marched right up to his table and proudly said “As God is my witness I thought turkeys could fly.” He got such a huge smile on his face. We talked for a good 10 minutes and he even signed a Maytag Repairman 8x10 picture for me with “Your friend Arthur ‘Big Guy’ Carlson, Gordon Jump.” That picture is still on the wall in my home office. It is one of my most cherished memories. He was such a nice, sweet, and funny man.
I've read/heard a few similar stories recently. Celebrities end up being isolated from the general public and can end up feeling alone/lonely.
you're a lucky person to have met him. I'm glad to see he enjoyed it too.
What a great anecdote! It sounds like it was a wonderful moment for both of you!
I also saw him doing an appearance as the Maytag Guy and spoke with him about WKRP and got a photo as well. If I recall correctly it was in Cleveland in the mid 80s. I was thrilled to discuss WKRP with him and tell him how much I enjoyed his work. Heck of a nice guy.
❤❤❤ I’m so glad you went with your instincts. I can see the interaction had a big impact on you too.
I'm still mad WKRP got cancelled after just four seasons. That's how great the show was. It's a true classic.
And the reboot kinda sucked. A Big Kinda.
The most underrated line in the episode was when Loni Anderson told someone who called in to complain about the deaths of the turkeys "But a lot of turkeys don't make it through Thanksgiving".😂
You have me cracking up, as I had forgotten that scene. Thanks.
Ms. Anderson is so beautiful that people forget she's a great comedic actor!
The more iconic line I think is "For those of you who just tuned in, the Pinedale Shopping Mall has just been bombed with live turkeys!"
Film at eleven!
Les Nessman's live commentary was priceless. "They're hitting the ground like bags of wet cement!"😂😂😂
My husband quoted that one forever.
Growing up in the Cincinnati area, WKRP was 'our' show. 'The Who' concert episode has always stayed with me. WKRP was a great show with lots of heart.
Yeah that one was tough to watch. I remember that happening like it was yesterday, I actually saw a documentary about it a few years ago.
11 people never made it back from that one.
My older brother was at that concert and for hours we didn't know if he was ok or not. Scary!
Right after that concert, for the rest of the tour, Roger Daltery reportedly kept forgetting lyrics on stage. He said he couldn't get over the shock.
It was 1980, it was the first tour they did without Keith Moon. We were getting ready to go to the show, had the TV on. It was the who episode. I stopped looked at the TV, I got a chill. We still went.
An absolute classic in television history! Even though she wasn't mentioned, Jan Smithers was the most beautiful woman in television at that time. I was in love with her!
The entire cast were great, but Les Nesman's reporting that day was hilarious. What a great show.
Nessman's Hugh Wilson-written script did a great job of threading the needle, maintaining the style of WLS Chicago's reporter Herb Morrison coverage of the Hindenberg blimp crash (en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Live_audio_recording_from_the_scene_of_the_Hindenburg_disaster_1937-05-06_19-25_EST.oga) and hitting the comedy timing necessary to make the episode one of the most memorable in TV history.
I recall the second best episode was the one in which everyone was trying to convince Herb to go to the hospital for some badly-needed tests or procedure. Nothing worked. Then Jennifer, bless her heart, challenged him to a wager - to draw the high card. If he lost, he had to go to the hospital, and if he won, he got ... anything he wanted (meaning her).
She then drew a very low card, despondant that she would lose and have to honor her bet. Then Herb, who had been after her since the beginning of the series, drew a card which presumeably beat Jennifer's. Without showing anyone his card, he slipped it back in the deck pretending he lost. I still get choked up thinking about Jennifer caring enough to make that bet, and about normally sleezy Herb doing the right thing.
It was good but the 2nd best episode was the bomb one and Johnny Fever running from the "Phone Police" he thought was coming after him.
I will always be a Mary Ann guy on Gilligan's island and a Bailey guy on WKRP!
One of the best episodes of TV ever written. Johnny Fevers facial expressions as Les Nessman narrates the event are priceless.
It’s amazing to think that Richard Sanders (Les Nessman) was only 38 years old. I always thought of him as the old man of the station.
😀 Amazing, isn't it? A lot of Hollywood is like that. I had a friend like that. When I first met him, I thought for sure is was several years older. It turned out, he was 18 days younger than me.
Sanders really projected such a repressive attitude that made Nessman so much an older character.
I think the bow tie did it for me. 😅
You forgot to mention the iconic Fever line, “The Pinedale Shopping Mall has just been bombed with live turkeys. Film at eleven.” (Remember this is radio.)😊
🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂
WKRP is one of the most classic sitcoms ever and Turkey’s Away is the cherry on top.
I remember when that episode aired. It was instantly a memorable episode that people have talked about in the years since.
To this very day, I remember Les Nessman “oh my God, ladies and gentlemen, the turkeys are hitting the ground like wet cement!” One of the funniest lines I’ve ever heard on TV in my life. I remember almost falling off the couch laughing when I was watching TV after I heard that. And same for.” as God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly”
As they themselves are covered in turkey feathers!
I was a teenager when this episode came out. I couldn’t catch my breath because I was laughing so hard. Tears running down my face. My mother was the same. The next day it was the talk of the school. Everyone loved it. It’s still one of the funniest bits I’ve seen on tv.
“As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly” is the best line in the history of television! In fact wild turkeys can fly, but domestic ones can’t.
Not taking anything away from The Reds, or The Bengals, but WKRP really put Cincinnati on the map.
You are right.
I was from north of Cincy.. this show was great!
@@49gagah prior to WKRP, Nobody outside of Cincinnati, couldn't even SPELL it, let alone tell you where Cincinnati is located.
Loved the episode with Johnny and Venus drinking on air with the cop testing them.
The best part is Les saying "Something just came out of the back of the helicopter. It's a dark object..perhaps a skydiver plummeting to the earth from only 2,000 feet into the air. There's a second and a third. There's no parachutes yet-OH, MY GOD!!"
You can even buy t-shirts that say "I Survived the WKRP turkey giveaway at Pinedale Shopping Mall" to this day.
I was a DJ (a real one who actually cued up ad-carts and LP cuts-yeah I'm old) in a small town station when this show premiered. The best compliment I can give it, besides EVERY episode being laugh-out-loud funny, is how accurate it is.
Thanks for sharing!
That's true. The majority of it was spot on. The only time I grip my teeth a little bit is when I watch Johnny cue up a record. After you do it a few thousand times you will get to the point where it's muscle memory to drop the stylus palm the LP forward catch it with your thumb as soon as you hear audio and then back it up a half turn. I did get a kick out of the issue in the first one where it cuts back to him and his first rock and roll LP is still spinning but the tone arm has jumped to where it's sitting on the label. I sign out take once that showed where he got so wound up that he pulled the mic stand out of the counter and somehow in the process of fixing that and redoing the shot they bumped the tone arm and nobody caught it
@@JimDean002 THAT brought back some memories....THANKS!
I belive that this one of the funniest scenes ever put on TV
Younger people that grew up in the age of streaming dominating the industry may not realize how much a power "lead-in" show could do to make a new show into a hit show. Putting WKRP after M*A*S*H was a brilliant idea, since the shows were so similar in tone, yet so different in setting.
Lead-ins were everything in the years before home video recording allowed viewers to time-shift everything they watch.
Richards Sanders' performance MADE that episode the classic it became.
Turkeys Away is one of the best episodes of TV sitcoms ever.
I worked in radio as a Board Operator after college in the 1990s . It was a new oldies rock station.
I first saw WKRP when I was younger in the 70s.
When I saw WKRP on DVD years later, I was a little surprised by how close to actual terrestrial commercial radio station the show was. I mean I knew whoever wrote and created the show actually worked in radio.
As crazy as Turkeys Away was, that episode and other episodes of WKRP worked because it was rooted in authenticity and reality.
Funny and at times very serious, The Venus Flytrap vietnam war story episode is beyond top notch.
As a 'young person' back then, who remembers the episode; I was rolling on the floor laughing. What an awesome episode - I really loved WKRP.
The two funniest sit com episodes of the 70's: WKRP Turkey Drop and Barney Miller Hash Brownies.
can't forget Taxi - Jim's driving test "what.....does......a.....yellow.....light......mean"
And don't forget Chuckles the Clown from the Mary Tyler Moore show 😂
Richard Sanders was a customer of mine at a car service department I worked at 30 years ago. He was a gentleman, and a pleasure to work with. I asked him if people often opened imaginary doors for him, and he smiled and said, "All the time." A very humble and nice person.
I was doing a printer repair at Susquehanna Broadcasting's corporate offices in York PA in the late 90's. There was a large portrait in the room of a former president of the company. The name of the man in paint? Arthur Carlson who had retired from the comapny in 1994. I had no idea the character was named after a real person in the radio business. The secratary there told me that he and Gordon Jump had become friends.
WKRP is a smartly written, smartly played series. Sadly we seldom see it’s like these days.
At 14, I had no idea the "Oh the humanity" was a Hindenberg reference, but to me, that was the line of the show, it was hillarious. It was several years before I learned of its origin.
I just learned of it now (that episode aired 1 week after my ninth bday). 😮
My family was watching the turkeys episode when it aired, and we were ROLLING!!!! OMG, my dad was crying he was laughing so hard. WKRP was one of my favorite shows growing up.
That episode is some of the funniest on television. My sister and I would laugh hysterically at it. Three years ago on Thanksgiving I sent her the clip of the ending and wished her Happy Thanksgiving. It was our last conversation. She died that night, way too young, so that episode will always have a special place in my heart now.
Tracy,
I'm so sorry for the loss of your sister. Isn't it great to go through life sharing the same sense of humor with someone so close to you...
I hope that as the pain recedes, you will be able to enjoy the many fun and funny memories you had together.
@@mousetreehouse6833 thank you ☺
I stil remember Les Nessman ruining Chi Chi Rodrigues' name - Chy Chy Rod-ri-guez.
After that episode,we always referred to the golfer as "Chy-Chy"! 😅
To this day i pronounce it that way lol
You're just jealous that you never won the Silver Sow or Buckeye News Hawk awards.
This is the only episode that I actually remember. It was hilarious. Never before and never since have I ever laughed so hard at an American sitcom .
WKRP was a great show! I also remember the Turkey Drop episode. I laughed and laughed LOL
Thus proving that nothing is more unbelievably funny than real life! And don’t forget Johnny’s great line, “ Folks, if you just tuned in the Pinedale Shopping Mall has just been BOMBED with live turkeys. Film at 11 “
As god as my witness, I thought turkeys could fly… funniest line ever…
"As god *IS my witness..."
As
I had just graduated from college, I saw this on a little 13 inch RCA color TV. I loved WKRP from the first episode.
I remember “Turkeys Away” from childhood. I think it was a re-broadcast because I was 5 in 1978. I saw it with my Dad. Could NOT Stop Laughing
same here with my dad. we were in tears. a great memory ever since
My friends and I still sometimes use "As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly" as a catchphrase when something goes pear-shaped in our plans.
Gordon was a devout Mormon and friend Very serious about his faith but with a gentle sence of humor We miss him
My mother, to this day, will send me a text with a link to Les reporting on the turkey drop. I can still hear the boss saying "With God as my witness, I thought turkeys could fly!"
I saw this episode the night it aired, I laughed so hard it's a wonder I didn't break a rib.
Domestic turkeys can fly, a little (unless their wings are clipped). If you drop one from a second-floor balcony, it can probably flutter to the ground uninjured. But if you drop one from an airplane or helicopter … well, you know the rest.
To this day I still use the line, "As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly." Now and then, someone recognizes it and we start laughing and spouting our favorite quotes from the series. Those who remember WKRP, usually remember it fondly. I look for clips from the show on TH-cam all the time. And I dream about Bailey Quarters, as I did so often in 1978.
My favorite part of this now is watching the cast trying not to crack up and just giving up. Reminds me of watching the carol Burnett show.
My father and I laughed so hard and so long the night that episode aired - super memory. I also loved Johnny Fever’s line after Les was trampled by the panicked crowd and his live transmission went dead. Johnny heard the dead air, paused and then dryly came on…”Thanks for that on-the-spot report, Les. For those of you just tuning in, the Pine View Mall has just been BOMBED with live turkeys!……Film at eleven.“. His deadpan delivery of that line slays me every time.
The “film at eleven” part had me laughing so hard my stomach hurt!
To his day, I still find this episode hysterical
Me, too!
You are not alone. I share it every year on FB and the world agrees.
Loved WKRP from the first time it aired.
Back when TV was still funny and entertaining!
This is the funniest sitcom episode in the entire history of sitcoms. It is perfect comedy.
This is my favorite episode! I worked in a middle of the road radio station..and we actually had a news reporter very similar to Les Nesman..
Did he have his own door?
I worked at a small newspaper and our advertising man was exactly Herb Tarlek (minus the suits.)
I'm old enough to have seen the greats in comedy and without any reservations I can say that Turkeys Away is by far one of the funniest things I've ever seen on Television.
Was it really in 1978????? I can still laugh when thinking about this episode (and many others)! 45 years!!!
I remember my parents and I all cry laughing as we watched this episode when it first aired.
My brothers and I loved the show from day one. To this day I still laugh hysterically at this episode. I’m laughing at this.
“Booger!” 😂
Hubby and I did too. We're from Ohio and thought it was the best. Got to meet Gary Sandy when he was in town . Very friendly and upbeat guy. We took pictures with him, sadly they got lost somehow.
This was my favorite show and episode. I was married for many years to someone in the radio business, and I can absolutely say that the people he worked with had all of the characteristics of the people at WKRP. The sales people were a lot like Herb, the General Manager’s were typically a doofus who never knew what was going on, and there was always a jock that was like Johnny. There are so many stories about the different stations (up and down the dial) that he could write a book.
I "bought" the episode on Amazon Prime just so I can watch it every Thanksgiving. LOL
Growing up in the 80's, I practically lived on reruns of this show! WKRP, Night Court, News Radio, etc.
I always loved the way Les narrated the turkey drop like it was the hindenburg disaster 🤩
BTW. There is a licensed WKRP.
WKRP-LP, a low-power radio station (101.9 FM) licensed to serve Raleigh, North Carolina, United States
Wonder if there is the adversary station WPIG!
I remember seeing this and it was probably the biggest, longest, and hardest (no pun intended) paralyzing session of laughter I ever had in my life.🤣😎
Definately one of my favorite episodes.
As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly. LOL
I watched this with my dad. I remember him laughing like it was yesterday.
I can still remember my father laughing so hard that tears were streaming down his face while watching this episode.
The “Wizard of Oz” and “Turkeys Away” are my Thanksgiving go-to’s that I just cannot miss each year.
In 1992 Gordon Jump was in my city at an appliance store doing Maytag promotions. I went to see him and got him to sign my high school yearbook with that infamous line.
Good memories.
One of my favorite episodes from one of my favorite TV shows of all time! Awesome! They just don't make shows like this anymore.
This one, Barney Miller, and Benson!
Who could forget the turkeys hitting the ground, oh the humanity.
One of the other "best TV episodes" is the last of the Bob Newhart show where he ran an inn in Vermont. He woke up in bed with Susann Pleshette, his wife from his previous show, implying that it had all been a dream.
That was Newhart. The Bob Newhart show was the one with SP.
Well the thing is, wild turkeys can fly well enough to survive a drop from height just fine, domesticated turkeys not so much.
This is one of the moments from my childhood that I can remember very clearly...
Somethings are truly unforgettable!
Yep. When I think about WKRP, I immediately think of this episode 🙉
The WKRP Phone Cops episode was also one of my favorites too.
When I saw the episode and laughed my head off of Les' reaction, my mother scolded me, telling me that throwing out live turkeys wasn't funny.
I'll never forget when Les was talking about golfer Chi Chi Rodriguez and pronounced his name Chai Chai Rod-je-gueeze.
Don't forget "Apple-a-CHEE-a"!!
Or calling Chihuahuas “ chee huah huahs”
The Carol Burnett Show/ "Gone With the Wind"/Curtain dress😂😂😂
"Went With The Wind"
"WENT with the Wind" was the title on Carol Burnett, the curtain rod was a stroke of genius..
WKRP is one of the greatest sitcoms of all time, hugely underrated. It’s a shame it didn’t last
WKRP is a classic show and the turkey drop is one of the funniest episodes. I also liked the Who tragedy episode, I thought for a show that was pretty much just out and out comedy they handled the situation with class.
I remember when that happened. It was a pretty awful night in southern Ohio after that. A lot of people were worried about their friends and relatives that had went to that show, and since cell phones weren't a thing yet it took a long time to see if they were okay, or if you had to go downtown.
Oh yes, another great episode was the fight at a Cincinnati Reds game between the mascot WKRP carp, and their rival station WPIG pig. It was hilarious!!!
“Fish Story!”
A radio station in North Vernon, Indiana changed its call letters to WKRP about the early 1990s. To kick off their new identity, they held a turkey drop from a helicopter over a shopping center in the town - but with toy turkeys.
As a sports stringer for a newspaper, I covered a high school football game where WKRP was broadcasting in the same booth. And would you believe it, their sports broadcaster looked a lot like Let Nessman (though he was quite confident and relaxed).
In the big guy's defense, WILD turkeys can fly.
But not very gracefully lol.
I saw this episode the night it aired and laughed myself off my chair! I’ve seen it several times since and it’s still the funniest part of a show almost ever! When Les Nessman started describing the turkeys coming down and then he slid right into the comments for to the Hindenburg disaster! Perfect! I wish I could see this who show from the start again - loved it, along with several of the other mentioned shows! MTM had great shows!!!
This was back in the day when you had to choose which ONE show to watch during the time slot and which ones youd be missing. And it could take years and years before you might see the shows you missed in syndication. Maybe youd never.
Weird to think about it.
3 main channels and a few second dial channels.
I can’t think of a single contemporary comedy television show that has made me laugh as hard as this show in this episode. Another great line was the initial hysteria of “Oh my God they’re turkeys!“
The Chuckles the Clown's funeral episode of Mary Tyler Moore deserves a video on this channel, just sayin'! 😂😂😂
One of the funniest episodes in sitcom history. My side hurt I laughed so hard!
Clearly, one of the best sitcom episodes ever made.
I mean, it's gotta be in the Top 25, right?
I saw the original airing in junior high on my black and white t.v.. I remember laughing so hard!
I enjoyed this show from the very start. The night this thanksgiving episode aired i was rollung around the couch laughing out loud .i had not ever seen something as funny on any t.v. show before
single handedly the greatest thanksgiving story ever...
It is the best, but I also have to mention the episode of Bob Newhart where Bob stays home without Suzanne Pleshette and orders Chinese with his friends. “More good to go!”
I absolutely loved WKRP and Turkeys Away was genius.
Boy, this was a classic episode! I remember my buddies and I cracking up the next morning when this one aired. Another classic WKRP was one with Herb wearing the Carp mascot outfit, fighting in the bathroom with another radio station mascot.
WPIG🤣🤣🤣❤️❤️
Yep. That's another fav of mine also
I loved WKRP? Turkeys Away was histerical! Every time I think about WRKP I remember the line “As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly.”😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂
I was born in 1979 and even in my childhood I had the fortune of watching a rerun of this classic. From then on WKRP was an instant lasting memory.