Watching 'WKRP' turkey drop video remains a Thanksgiving tradition

CLEVELAND, Nov. 24 (UPI) -- A nearly 40-year-old sitcom was the talk of Facebook Thursday.

Users were sharing and commenting on WKRP in Cincinnati's classic 1978 "Turkeys Away," Thanksgiving episode, which featured radio reporter Les Nessman [played by Richard Sanders] covering an ill-fated publicity stunt in which live turkeys were dropped out of a helicopter over a shopping center.

"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 horrible! People are running around, pushing each other. Oh, the humanity! ... The turkeys are hitting the ground like sacks of wet cement!" Nessman furiously reported.

Following the carnage, shocked station manager Arthur Carlson [played by Gordon Jump] delivers the knockout punchline, "As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly."

Cleveland News 19 posted the clip, noting how watching it has become a holiday tradition since YouTube revived it several years ago.

Q95.iheart.com also shared the hilarious video with the message, "Time to watch one of the greatest Thanksgiving moments ever seen on American Television!"

The show ran 1978-82 and starred Gary Sandy, Loni Anderson, Frank Bonner, Jan Smithers, Tim Reid and Howard Hesseman.