20 Behind-the-Scenes Tales from Airplane! That Showcase a Flawless Comedy Launch

      Here are some behind-the-scenes stories from Airplane! that we believe you will find entertaining.

      But First

      Credit: Paramount

      Airplane! nearly didn’t get made. Initially, studios failed to recognize the potential in a script that approached the disaster movie genre with serious comedic intent, which had to be seen to be appreciated. It was also vital to cast Ted Hays and Julie Hagerty as the romantic leads to keep the audience engaged amidst the surrounding absurdity.

      However, once brothers Jerry and David Zucker, along with their friend Jim Abrahams, demonstrated their comedic talent with the cult classic Kentucky Fried Movie, they received the green light to create Airplane!, which has become one of the most cherished comedies.

      Now… here are the behind-the-scenes stories from Airplane!

      The Studio Preferred Bill Murray or Chevy Chase

      Warner Bros.

      The writers-directors of Airplane!, David and Jerry Zucker and Jim Abrahams — collectively known as ZAZ — originally aimed for their actors to deliver a serious performance, opting to cast dramatic stars. However, Paramount Pictures believed that the 1980 comedy should feature prominent comedic actors of the time.

      “The studio kept insisting that we bring in certain actors to audition,” David Zucker recalled in ZAZ’s insightful 2023 book Surely You Can’t Be Serious: The True Story of Airplane. “Comedians like Bill Murray and Chevy Chase.”

      Both Chase and Murray eventually appeared in another major 1980 comedy, Caddyshack (above).

      Leslie Nielsen Carried a Fart Machine

      Paramount – Credit: C/O

      Before Airplane!, Leslie Nielsen was primarily recognized for his dramatic roles, but he was also known for carrying a device that emitted noisy flatulence sounds.

      “I think the little fart machine he always carried helped him cope with a career filled with serious drama,” Jerry Zucker noted in Surely You Can’t Be Serious: The True Story of Airplane!

      “A friend of his made it for him. I remember he was selling them on set, and soon the entire crew had them, leading to a constant barrage of farting noises. I could never get mine to work well, but Leslie… mastered it like a virtuoso.”

      Kareem Abdul-Jabbar recounted that Nielsen would press the button “whenever we were doing dialogue. At first, I thought he might just have some kind of digestive issue.”

      The PA Announcers Were A Real-Life Couple

      Paramount – Credit: C/O

      ZAZ struggled to find the appropriate actors for the feuding PA announcers’ lines, so they sought out the actual couple who recorded real airport announcements.

      “We asked them to come in and try it out. They nailed it,” Jerry Zucker mentioned in Surely You Can’t Be Serious.

      Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker Enjoyed Mocking Serious Shows

      Future Airplane! star Robert Stack in The Untouchables. ABC – Credit: C/O

      Jim Abrahams and brothers Jerry and David Zucker grew up together, with their fathers partnered in a real estate business.

      In their 2023 book Surely You Can’t Be Serious: The True Story of Airplane!, Jerry Zucker said they spent countless hours watching serious television shows like The Untouchables, Sea Hunt, and Mission: Impossible — “shows where characters took themselves very seriously, and we’d often blurt out absurd lines for them to say.”

      With Airplane!, “we actually got those same tough-guy actors to deliver the lines we always imagined they would say.” This included stars like Robert Stack from The Untouchables, Lloyd Bridges from Sea Hunt, and Peter Graves from Mission: Impossible.

      This was the genesis of their comedic approach — mix total seriousness with complete absurdity.

      ZAZ Were Lifelong Fans of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

      Paramount – Credit: C/O

      Surely You Can’t Be Serious features a letter that Jim Abrahams, then 25, wrote to The Milwaukee Sentinel, decrying its negative coverage of Abdul-Jabbar, who was at the time known as Lew Alcindor. (Abdul-Jabbar played for the Milwaukee Bucks from 1969-75.)

      Years later, ZAZ cast Abdul-Jabbar in Airplane! as a parody of the trend of action films casting sports figures.

      In the film, Abdul-Jabbar pretends to be simply co-pilot Roger Murdoch, despite a young boy calling him out as Abdul-Jabbar.

      The Creators of Airplane! Inspired Willem Dafoe

      Willem Dafoe in American Psycho. Lionsgate. – Credit: C/O

      As young adults, ZAZ set up a comedy theater in Madison, Wisconsin with their friend Dick Chudnow, naming it Kentucky Fried Theater after the fast-food chain.

      A young Willem Dafoe attended an early performance of the Kentucky Fried Theater Show in the early 1970s, when his sister Dee Dee