Airplane!
by Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker
Mentioned 2 times across 2 shows · first heard Oct 2025 on SmartLess.
The general take
The host grew up loving Airplane! as part of a formative wave of surreal, dumb comedy that shaped her sensibilities—she groups it with Monty Python and Pee-wee Herman as the kind of live-action cartoony stuff where creators get to bend reality however they want. It clearly left a mark as a permission structure for weird, rule-breaking humor.
About
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST COMEDY BOOKS OF 2023 AT VULTURE Surely You Can't Be Serious is an in-depth and hysterical look at the making of 1980's comedy classic Airplane! by the legendary writers and directors of the hit film. Airplane! premiered on July 2nd, 1980. With a budget of $3.5 million it went on to make nearly $200 million in sales and has influenced a multitude of comedians on both sides of the camera. Surely You Can’t Be Serious is the first-ever oral history of the making of Airplane! by the creators, and of the beginnings of the ZAZ trio (Zucker, Abrahams, Zucker) – charting the rise of their comedy troupe Kentucky Fried Theater in Madison, Wisconsin all the way to premiere night. The directors explain what drew them to filmmaking and in particular, comedy.
Who said what
- GH
Good Hang with Amy Poehler👍 Recommends
…discussing influential comedy movies from childhood
“How important was Naked Gun and Airplane to you growing up? Big. All the surrealistic, dumb, cartoony, live-action stuff, I loved. Monty Python, those, Pee-wee, later Strangers with Candy, things like that where you bend the world and make it be whatever you want it to be.”
Good Hang with Amy Poehler — What Makes the Guests of 'Good Hang' Laughat 31:24 
Edgar Wright👍 Recommends
…discussing influential comedy films from his childhood
“I mean, I'm still like a huge comedy fan and, you know, the best comedy films that just like, you know, obviously when I was growing up things like the Zucker Brothers films. Yeah. Zucker, Abraham Zucker. I shouldn't leave Jim Abrams out. But you know, that things like Airplane and Top Secret, those films are huge for me.”
SmartLess — "Edgar Wright"at 52:28
Listener reviews
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