THE STORY BEHIND THE FAMOUS “WKRP TURKEY FIASCO”

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Almost anyone who has worked in radio has a story about a station promotion that went off the rails. Perhaps the most famous “splat” was in the classic WKRP episode Turkeys Away. What most people don’t know about Turkeys Away is that it was based on a station promotion that actually happened. 

Hugh Wilson, the creator of WKRP

Hugh Wilson was the creator of WKRP. 

He based many of WKRP’s best episodes based on experiences he had with WQXI, a legendary Top 40 station in Atlanta. 

At the time, Wilson operated an ad agency in Atlanta and he hung around with folks who worked at WQXI.

In the late 1970s Wilson moved to Los Angeles to write for Mary Tyler Moore (MTM) Productions. 

While at MTM, he pitched the idea that became WKRP to Grant Tinker, the head of MTN. Tinker bought it and CBS-TV gave it the green light. WKRP debuted in fall 1979.

In 1980, Wilson was looking for a Thanksgiving-themed holiday program for WKRP. He remembered an incident that happened at WQXI when the station sponsored a turkey giveaway promotion.

The WQXI DJs in the early 1970s

WQXI staged the free turkey event at a strip mall in Atlanta. The station planned to toss live turkeys off the back of truck and let people in the assembled crowd catch their own holiday bird.

When the day arrived for the promotion, the WQXI DJs learned that the turkeys were not alive but were frozen. 

The DJs decided to stick with the plan and throw the frozen turkeys from the back of a truck to the waiting crowd. 

This was a big mistake.

“As God as my witness I thought turkeys could fly!” 

Arthur Carlson, GM, WKRP, Cincinnati

When the frozen turkey’s hit the ground they made a big, messy splat. 

The cold birds splintered and turkey parts spread everywhere. Children cried and adults headed for cover.

Wilson spun the WQXI incident into WKRP’s Turkeys Away. The episode became a huge hit and saved WKRP from being cancelled.

Here is part of the famous scene from Turkeys Away:

And, here is the entire episode of Turkeys Away:

If you are a WKRP fan and like trivia check out the trivia contests at FunTrivia.com [link].