TV Quote of the Day (‘WKRP in Cincinnati,’ With a Disastrous Turkey Promo)

Les Nessman [played by Richard Sanders] [reporting from the Pinedale Shopping Mall]: “I'm here with hundreds of people who have gathered to witness what has been described as perhaps the greatest turkey event in Thanksgiving Day history. All we know for sure is that in a very few moments there are going to be a lot of happy people out here. Now the crowd is...”

[passers-by gawk at Les]

Les: “The... the crowd is uh... curious but well behaved. And I think I hear something now. Uh... The crowd is moving out into the parking area. And... oh yes! I can see it now. It's a... it's a... helicopter and it's coming this way!”

Andy Travis [played by Gary Sandy] [listening from the studio]: “A helicopter?”

Les: “It's flying something behind it and I can't quite make it out. It's a large banner and it says H A P P Y... T H A N K S...” [The rest of the crew in the studio simultaneously spells out the rest, as if helping him along.] “giving... from W... K... R... P! What a sight, ladies and gentlemen. What a sight. The 'copter seems to circling the parking area now. I guess it's looking for a place to land. No! Something just came out of the back of a helicopter. It's a dark object, perhaps a skydiver plummeting to the earth from only two thousand feet in the air... There's a third... No parachutes yet... Those can't be skydivers. I can't tell just yet what they are but... Oh my God! They're turkeys! Oh no! Johnny can you get this? Oh, they're crashing to the earth right in front of our eyes! One just went through the windshield of a parked car! This is terrible! Everyone's running around pushing each other. Oh my goodness! Oh, the humanity! People are running about. The turkeys are hitting the ground like sacks of wet cement! Folks, I don't know how much longer... The crowd is running for their lives. I think I'm going to step inside. I can't stand here and watch this anymore. No, I can't go in there. Children are searching for their mothers and oh, not since the Hindenberg tragedy has there been anything like this. I don't know how much longer I can hold my position here, Johnny. The crowd...”

Dr. Johnny Fever [played by Howard Hesseman] [listening from the studio]: “Les? Les? Les, are you there? Les isn't there. Thanks for that on-the-spot report, Les. For those of you who've just tuned in, the Pinedale Shopping Mall has just been bombed with live turkeys. Film at eleven.”— WKRP in Cincinnati, Season 1, Episode 7, “Turkeys Away,” original air date October 30, 1978, teleplay by Bill Dial, directed by Michael Zinberg