Bill Dial William Allen Dial , better known simply as Bill Dial , was a writer , producer and occasional actor who wrote for and . He co - wrote the story ( after Jim Trombetta ) and wrote the teleplay for . He then wrote the episode . For " Voyager " , he wrote the initial teleplay for the first season episode . He appeared in 1983 as an extra in a privately funded feature titled " Nature ' s Way " later retitled " Don ' t Change My World " , a family drama , produced by George Macrenaris , directed by Robert Rector and distributed , according to unsupported rumors , among captive audiences of ship bound submariners . Ben " Cooter " Jones also appeared in the Atlanta production . He was perhaps best known as a writer and producer on the hit CBS comedy series " WKRP in Cincinnati " , which revolved around the staff of a struggling radio station . Dial wrote five episodes for this series during its first season ( 1978 - 79 ) , the most famous of which was his first , entitled " Turkeys Away . " In this episode , WKRP manager Arthur Carlson drops twenty live turkeys from a helicopter over a shopping center as a publicity stunt to promote Thanksgiving . The turkeys plunge to their deaths as shoppers run for their lives , and a shaken Carlson later remarks , " " As God is my witness , I thought turkeys could fly . " " " Turkeys Away " was named by " TV Guide " as the fortieth greatest episode of any series in television history . Dial also appeared in two episodes of " WKRP " , playing the station ' s beer - drinking engineer , Bucky Dornster . One of those episodes ( 1978 ' s " Hold Up " ) featured Hamilton Camp . Dial ' s only other acting credit was the 1977 feature film , " The Lincoln Conspiracy " . This drama was directed by James L . Conway and starred John Anderson as the ill - fated Abraham Lincoln . Whit Bissell and veteran " Star Trek " assistant director Jerry Fleck were also part of the cast . After " WKRP " , Dial became executive producer and writer on the short - lived NBC series " Harper Valley P . T . A . " and " Legmen " ; the latter series starred Bruce Greenwood . Dial was also writer and creative consultant on the CBS hit 1980s detective series " Simon & Simon " . He later became a producer ( and , later still , a supervising producer ) on this series . In addition , Dial co - wrote and executive produced the 1985 made - for - TV movie " Code Name : Foxfire " , which later became a short - lived series on NBC . Both the movie and the series starred guest actress Joanna Cassidy ; the movie was directed by Corey Allen . Dial also co - wrote and executive produced the 1988 TV movie remake of the film " The Absent - Minded Professor " . The remake was directed by Robert Scheerer and featured Ed Begley , Jr . in the cast . Sometime during the 1980s , Dial enlisted future " Enterprise " guest star Jim Beaver to help create a series for CBS which would depict true stories detailing the bravery of American police officers . Ultimately , however , the show was taken out of Dial ' s hands and it was turned into the action series " Top Cops " , which aired on CBS from 1990 through 1993 . Afterward , Dial became a writer and executive producer on the CBS science fiction series " E . A . R . T . H . Force " , starring Clayton Rohner . The series ran for three episodes in September 1990 . Dial then wrote an episode of ' CBS comedy series , " Evening Shade " . In 1991 , Dial was asked to become an executive producer and writer on " The New WKRP in Cincinnati " , a follow - up series to the 1970s sitcom which Dial worked on over a decade earlier . " The New WKRP " aired in syndication for two seasons , from September 1991 through May 1993 . Dial moved on to write an episode of of the syndicated series " Time Trax " entitled " The Gravity of It All , " which ended up guest - starring John Schuck . After his work on " Deep Space Nine " and " Voyager " , Dial and one of the writers and producers of those shows , Michael Piller , teamed up to create the 1995 UPN series " Legend " , which starred John de Lancie . However , this series ended after only twelve episodes , after which Dial joined the writing and production staff of the hit science fiction series " Sliders " . He worked on this series from 1998 until its end in 2000 . Most recently , Dial was a writer and executive consultant on the Spike TV series " 18 Wheels of Justice " , which aired for 44 episodes from January 2000 through June 2001 . Afterward , he retired from show business and moved to Beaufort , South Carolina , where he died of a heart attack on . He was 64 years old .