Appreciation: "Oh My God, They're Turkeys!"

Today 6:00 AM PDT by Joal Ryan
WKRP in Cincinnati cast CBS/mptv.net

Maybe you know turkeys can't fly. But Mr. Carlson...Well, he didn't.

WKRP in Cincinnati's "Turkeys Away," maybe the funniest and, in terms of sheer bird casualties, deadliest holiday-themed TV episode of all time, was written by Bill Dial. (View the entire episode at Hulu.com.)

Dial died June 2 at his home in South Carolina, various sources, including WKRP's "hometown" newspaper, the Cincinnati Enquirer, reported this week. He was 66.

Dial acted in, as well as helped write the 1978-82 sitcom. (He popped up a couple of times as station engineer Bucky Dornster.) Later, he coexecutive produced the Jerry O'Connell sci-fi series Sliders and scripted episodes of Star Trek: Voyager and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

But it is for dreaming up one, fatally flawed publicity stunt that Dial will be best remembered. Certainly, Mr. Carlson never forgot.


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