Best Episode of WKRP in Cincinnati Ever

In the 1970’s, writer Hugh Wilson pitched a show based on his time working at an Atlanta radio station. Mary Tyler Moore’s MTM Enterprises was starved for a hit after a series of flops greenlit the series WKRP in Cincinnati which debuted to universal acclaim in the 1978 season….and middling ratings. Many believed that the reason for this was strangely the time slot. WKRP in Cincinnati was the kind of smart, hip, and topical series which belonged with other shows of this ilk in the 9 o’clock hour, however the network put it in the 8 o’clock slot, an hour usually deemed for wholesome family viewing. This meant it was regularly clobbered against its competition Little House on the Prairie. Finally at the end of October, the suits finally got the message and moved the acclaimed sitcom to a later time with mega hit MASH as a lead-in as a final chance to see what this show could do. Seizing on this, Hugh Wilson, and credited writer Bill Dial, gave those who tuned an episode of television which has gone down in history as one of the funniest half hours of TV ever produced. What is easily the best episode of WKRP in Cincinnati ever is the Thanksgiving-based “Turkeys Away”.

Seeing his influence on WKRP slipping away as series lead, Andy is turning the station around, manager Arthur has a plan for a grand Thanksgiving spectacle. With a banner reading “Happy Thanksgiving from WKRP” hung by the mall they will release a flock of turkeys onto the masses, oblivious to the fact that they are heavy and flightless birds. Broadcasting the carnage with all the passion of someone witnessing a true scene of horror, WKRP’s fastidious reporter Les bemoans the humanity as the birds fall “like sacks of wet cement”. This leaves the crew of the station to deal with the expected damage control of the fact they had just bombed the local mall with poultry. It all culminates with a disheveled Andy returning, covered in feathers as he proclaims the now immortal line “As God as my witness. I thought turkeys could fly”.

The focus of WKRP in Cincinnati was traditionally the new programming director Andy who is turning around the once failing stations with his collection of colorful on-air personalities like Venus Flytrap, Bailey Quarters and fan-favorite Dr. Johnny Fever. But in the show’s greatest episode these characters take a backseat as WKRP’s least cool employees, station manager Arthur and nerdy Les steal the spotlight. While their moments are now renowned in the history of television, many forget it is not until the final act of the episode that the two of them unleash their comedy prowess on the viewers. Richard Sanders as Les in particular made the most of his screentime purposely basing his performance off of Herb Morrison’s infamous reporting of the Hindenburg disaster. For the rest of his life, Sanders was booked every Thanksgiving to reenact his excited monologue in cities across the country.

Given that Hugh Wilson’s inspiration for the creation of WKRP in Cincinnati was his own experiences as a radio station employee it is a bit amazing and horrifying that the inspiration for “Turkeys Away” was based on a true event. According to Wilson it was the station manager, who was the basis for the character of Arthur no less, who crafted a similar stunt while working at a station in Dallas. While Bill Dial received credit for the screenplay to this episode, it was in fact Wilson who penned the script. As mentioned previously “Turkeys Away” was seen as the chance for this show to prove to NBC execs that they could survive in this new time slot and this episode accomplished the lofty goals placed on it. Ratings rose enough for the network to give Hugh Wilson and his team time to retool their show and give it another shot. By “retooling” Wilson simply changed the color of paper the scripts were typed on, believing in his work and knowing the suits would not know the difference. Once WKRP in Cincinnati returned to the airwaves it ranked only behind MASH and the World Series in viewership.

The importance of “Turkeys Away” was not lost on those responsible for the show, when it was rerun on Christmas they included an introduction from series star Gary Sandy who, in true WKRP fashion, pointed out the irony that the Thanksgiving episode, which originally aired on Halloween was now airing on Christmas. In the years which followed it has been a mainstay on just about every list of the best television episodes ever. To this day stations which show WKRP in Cincinnati in syndication are sure to keep “Turkeys Away” ready to go every November when it comes time for the Thanksgiving holiday.