20 Behind-the-Scenes Tales from Airplane!, Undoubtedly the Most Hilarious Film Ever Created

      Here are some behind-the-scenes stories from Airplane! that we think you’ll find entertaining.

      Firstly, Airplane! nearly didn't get made. Initially, studios failed to recognize the potential of the script, which parodied disaster movies while maintaining a serious tone that needed to be seen to be appreciated. It was also vital to cast Ted Hays and Julie Hagerty as the romantic leads, ensuring that the audience remained engaged despite the surrounding absurdity.

      However, after brothers Jerry and David Zucker and their friend Jim Abrahams showcased their comedic talent with the cult classic Kentucky Fried Movie, they were granted the opportunity to create Airplane!, which has become one of the most cherished comedies of all time.

      Now, let’s delve into the behind-the-scenes tales of Airplane!

      The Studio Preferred Bill Murray or Chevy Chase

      Warner Bros.

      The writers and directors, David and Jerry Zucker along with Jim Abrahams, collectively known as ZAZ, always envisioned their actors delivering straight performances, preferring to cast dramatic stars. However, Paramount Pictures believed that since the film was a comedy, it should feature popular comedic actors of the time.

      “The studio kept sending requests for various actors to audition,” David Zucker stated in ZAZ’s insightful 2023 book, Surely You Can’t Be Serious: The True Story of Airplane. “Comedians like Bill Murray and Chevy Chase.”

      Ultimately, Chase and Murray starred in another major 1980 comedy, Caddyshack.

      Leslie Nielsen Carried a Fart Machine

      Paramount

      Before Airplane!, Leslie Nielsen was recognized for his serious roles but was also known for having a device that emitted crude noises.

      “I think the little fart machine he always had might have been his way of dealing with a career filled with serious drama,” Jerry Zucker mentioned in Surely You Can’t Be Serious: The True Story of Airplane!

      “A friend made them for him, and I recall him selling them on set. Eventually, the whole crew was using them, and all you could hear were constant farting sounds. I could never get mine to work properly, but Leslie… played it like a maestro.”

      Kareem Abdul-Jabbar remembered that Nielsen enjoyed pressing the button “whenever we were engaged in dialogue. Initially, I thought he must have some sort of digestive issue.”

      The PA Announcers Were a Real Couple Who Made Airport Announcements

      Paramount – Credit: C/O

      ZAZ struggled to find suitable actors to portray the arguing PA announcers, so they sought out the actual couple who recorded airport PA announcements, who had once sold the PA system to the airport.

      “We invited them in to give it a shot, and they did it flawlessly,” Jerry Zucker said in Surely You Can’t Be Serious.

      Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker Enjoyed Mocking Serious Shows Growing Up

      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 being business partners in real estate.

      In their 2023 book, Surely You Can’t Be Serious: The True Story of Airplane!, Jerry Zucker shared that they spent countless hours watching serious television shows like The Untouchables, Sea Hunt, and Mission: Impossible — “shows where the characters took themselves so seriously, and we would blurt out ridiculous lines for them.”

      In Airplane!, “we actually got those same tough-guy actors to say the lines we always wished they would have delivered,” which included Robert Stack from The Untouchables, Lloyd Bridges from Sea Hunt, and Peter Graves from Mission: Impossible.

      This became the foundation of their comedic approach — to play it completely straight amidst total absurdity.

      ZAZ Were Lifelong Fans of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

      Paramount – Credit: C/O

      Surely You Can’t Be Serious includes a letter written by a 25-year-old Jim Abrahams to his local newspaper, The Milwaukee Sentinel, criticizing its harsh treatment of Abdul-Jabbar, who was then known as Lew Alcindor (playing for the Milwaukee Bucks from 1969 to 1975).

      Years later, ZAZ cast Abdul-Jabbar in Airplane! as a spoof of the trend of action films featuring athletes.

      In the film, Abdul-Jabbar pretends to be just co-pilot Roger Murdoch, not Abdul-Jabbar, despite a young boy pointing him out.

      The Creators of Airplane! Inspired Four-Time Oscar Nominee Willem Dafoe

      Willem Dafoe in American Psycho. Lionsgate.

      During their youth, ZAZ established 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 Kentucky Fried Theater show in the early 1970s, accompanied by his older sister Dee Dee at the University of Wisconsin.

      “That really made me