WKRP in Cincinnati

John is getting better. I've still got the cold and cough, but it's mostly a head cold. John may make me go to the doctor tomorrow - we'll see. But we're still planning on having some of the girls come this weekend. In the meantime, this story was in the news today.

Cincinnati hosts annual frozen Turkey Bowl
City heralds Thanksgiving with event using birds in place of bowling balls

Updated 12:11 p.m. ET, Mon., Nov. 24, 2008
CINCINNATI - Cincinnati is warming up for Thanksgiving with its traditional Turkey Bowl, an annual outdoor event using frozen turkeys in place of bowling balls.

Contestants will try to knock down 10 pins Tuesday by sliding rock-hard birds down a lane on a holiday season ice skating rink in downtown's landmark Fountain Square.
The person with the highest score after three rounds wins $100 cash and "WKRP in Cincinnati" DVDs including the series' famous "Turkeys Away" episode.

That's the one about a station promotion in which live giveaway turkeys are dropped out of a helicopter to their deaths because the station manager thought turkeys could fly.

The frozen birds used in Turkey Bowl are discarded store turkeys not intended for anyone's table.

Just in case you don't remember this classic TV show...






WKRP in Cinncinati's Turkey Drop Episode
The Classic Sitcom "Turkey Drop" Radio Promotion From 1978

"As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly!!!" -- Arthur Carlson, WKRP in Cincinnati

The above quote is from the famous WKRP in Cincinnati episode where Station Manager, Arthur Carlson (played by Gordon Jump), arranged to have live turkeys dropped from a helicopter as an advertising stunt.

The TV "Drop"
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, played by Richard Sanders:

"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 Hindenburg tragedy has there been anything like this!"

Based on Reality
Oddly enough, this famous WKRP episode was loosely based on a real event! Back in 1946 (some sources say 1945), Yellville, Arkansas inaugurated the "Turkey Trot Festival" which included a wild turkey calling contest, a turkey target shoot, a Miss Drumsticks Pageant and oh yeah: a live turkey release from the roof of the courthouse.

After a few years, someone thought it might be fun to actually toss the poor gobblers out of a low-flying airplane for the event. This repeated for a number of years until 1989 when a national animal-rights protest cast the event in a bad light and the "National Enquirer" splashed a photo of the event across the nation forcing promoters to abandon the turkey drop.

Sometimes, real life is funnier - or plain stranger - than anything you can make up.