Before There Was “Turkey’s Away,” There Was The Exploding Whale Of Oregon

Before there was the greatest Thanksgiving skit of all time, the “Turkeys Away” episode of WKRP in Cincinnati, there was its real-world antecedent, the 1970 news report of the Exploding Whale of Florence, Oregon.

This from Twisted Sifter:

On November 12th, 1970, Paul Linnman delivered a legendary news report on a whale carcass that had washed up on the shores of Florence, Oregon.

Authorities somehow thought using dynamite was the best way to dispose of the deceased sperm whale. Things quickly went awry and the infamous news report is often cited as one of the Internet’s earliest viral news clips.

On it’s 50th anniversary, the Oregon Historical Society had the original 16mm footage that Doug Brazil filmed that day with Paul Linnman converted to 4K resolution.  . . .

The only thing missing is Linnman saying, “As God is my witness, I thought the whale would just disintegrate . . .”