“As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly.”
“As God
is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly.”
Happy Thanksgiving everyone, as I
hope it is a great day for you!
Times have been a little depressing
lately for many people in the country so I thought it would be great to give
you a couple of laughs today. It will only take a few minutes of your
time . . . about the time it takes to have a cup of coffee so take a break and
give yourself a little smile and for me every time I hear or see this it gives
me a good belly laugh.
There aren't as many classic
Thanksgiving episodes of TV shows as there are classic Christmas episodes.
But there are several we remember fondly, including this one.
It's the "Turkeys Away"
episode of WKRP in Cincinnati that originally aired on October
30, 1978. Station Manager Carlson tries to come up with a special
promotion for the station and, well, you'll see what happens.
WKRP in Cincinnati was a
sitcom by Hugh Wilson who was in sales and part time disc jockey for WQXI radio in Atlanta, Georgia in
the late 60’s and early 70’s. I think a lot of the television show was
based on the time period he spent in Atlanta.
The show was about the wacky
characters and zany antics at a dysfunctional Top-40 station . . . was a
wonderful comedy that was funny because it was rooted just enough in reality.
Back in the '70s and early '80s everyone loved WKRP because it was probably
like most people’s jobs or home, people trying hard to work through the
realities of everyday life.
“Turkeys Away” I think was loosely
based on a WQXI promotion at Lenox Square Mall in the late 60’s where several
turkeys were dropped from a helicopter over the parking lot close to the old
bowling alley in the mall. My dad who bowled there every week took us to
watch the holiday promotion before his tournament started later that
afternoon. It was a combination of funny, disbelief, and horror as the
turkeys hit several cars and bounced off the pavement. It was captured so
well in this timeless episode.
Enjoy!
“As God is my witness, I thought
turkeys could fly.”
Another one of my favorites is this
long ago event.
Thanksgiving is the anniversary (52nd)
of a major event in American history.
This hippie guy tried to do a favor
for his friends and got arrested for it.
I’m talking . . . of course . . .
about Arlo Guthrie and his true-if-exaggerated tale about the Alice’s
Restaurant Massacree.
On Thanksgiving 1965, Arlo Guthrie visited friend
Alice Brock and her husband at their home, a church in Great Barrington,
Massachusetts, and did them a favor by taking out their garbage. The dump was closed that day, so Guthrie and a
friend dropped the garbage off a cliff where other locals had previously
dropped trash. Guthrie was arrested the following day, and the mark on his
record miraculously kept him out of Vietnam by making him ineligible for the
draft.
This slice of Americana is
timeless in the fact that it is still funny after forty years and the issues
during that time are still relevant today.
Thanksgiving wouldn't be Thanksgiving
without listening to Arlo Guthrie's Alice's Restaurant (mp3). Regardless
of how you observe it, I hope you have a happy one!
Remember, if you want to end wars and
stuff, you gotta sing loud!
You can get anything you want, at Alice's Restaurant.
You can get anything you want, at Alice's Restaurant.
Walk right in it's around the back
Just a half a mile from the railroad track.
You can get anything you want, at Alice's Restaurant.
Enjoy the day, give thanks for our
many blessings and do something unexpected for someone you do not know as it
makes our world a better place.
Peace everyone and may God Bless!
Ice
Comments
Cheers!