Skip to main content

'Wkrp in Cincinnati' Fans Will Never Forget the 'Turkey Drop' Episode

A man in a blue shirt leans over a desk with a microphone, surrounded by people in a room.

Classic TV shows like ‘WKRP in Cincinnati’ lasted for 90 episodes and gave us countless laughs. It seems each classic TV show has that one classic episode that everyone remembers because of its impact on pop culture.

A man in a blue shirt drinks from a cup while others interact in the background.

WKRP’s iconic show had to be the ‘Turkey Drop’ episode. When he gets on the mic, Dr. Johnny Fever is surrounded by other DJs to throw it live to Les Nessman outside the local shopping mall.

Les gets on the mic and welcomes listeners to the WKRP great turkey give-away. ‘All we know for sure is that in a very few moments, there are going to be a lot of happy people out here!’ says Nessman.

A man in a vest and tie is being interviewed by a woman holding a microphone.

He begins to hear some noise and reveals it to be a helicopter hovering over the mall. Les slowly reads the banner, squinting and struggling as Johnny makes hand gestures to try to help him along. He reads it painstakingly slowly, ‘Happy Thanksgiving from WKRP.’

Les tells the audience that a dark object has appeared from the helicopter, and he guesses it is a skydiver. He reports that there are more dark objects coming from the chopper. Then, he gets concerned, saying, ‘There’s no parachutes yet!’ The audience is laughing along.

A man in a blue shirt sits at a desk, holding a phone to his ear, with others in the background.

Les concludes it can’t be skydivers but admits that he doesn’t know what the objects are before yelling, ‘Oh my god, they’re turkeys!’ He reports that the turkeys are crashing to the earth all around them. According to Nessman, the crowd is running in a panic, and one turkey smashes through a parked car’s windshield.

Les cries, ‘Oh the humanity, the turkeys are hitting the ground like sacks of wet cement!’ Johnny loses his microphone feed in the chaos and thanks Les for that ‘on-the-spot’ reporting. Dr. Johnny tells the listeners, ‘For those of you who just tuned in, the Pine Dell shopping mall has just been bombed by turkeys. Film at 11!’ At the close of the episode, the boss, Mr. Carlson, walks in with his suit ripped and tattered. He tells the WKRP team, ‘As God as my witness, I thought turkeys could fly.’

There’s still plenty of WKRP in Cincinnati - Turkey Drop episode to enjoy on AmazonAd. Buying through us lets us earn some much-needed income, and it keeps the cats happy too.