If you like your coffee black, like your men. If you speak jive. If you know a hospital is a building with patients in it. Then it sounds, to us, like you know exactly what kind of movie you like, andyou’reready for the absurd genius that isAirplane!, now streaming onPluto TV. Released in 1980,Airplane!is more than just a spoof — it’s one of the sharpest, silliest, andmost relentlessly quotable comedies ever made. Written and directed by the iconic trio ofDavid Zucker,Jim Abrahams, andJerry Zucker(collectively known as ZAZ), the film is a near shot-for-shot remake of the 1957 dramaZero Hour!, only reimagined as pure comedy. And not justacomedy — it’sthecomedy, the one that redefined what cinematic parody could be.
The genius ofAirplane!isn’t just in its jokes (though there are thousands) — it’s in how straight they’re delivered. ZAZ were adamant that their cast, includingLeslie Nielsen,Robert Stack,Lloyd Bridges, andPeter Graves, play it completely seriously. No winks, no smirks. Just hard-boiled melodrama delivered in a world gone completely mad. And it works — brilliantly.
FromJulie Hagerty’s deadpan reactions to“We have to get this woman to a hospital”(followed by“A hospital? What is it?”), to Nielsen’s legendary line“I am serious. And don’t call me Shirley,”Airplane!operates in a universe where everyone is sincere — even when the cockpit crew includes a co-pilot played byKareem Abdul-Jabbar.
Was ‘Airplane!’ a Success?
ZAZ originally planned toshoot the filmin black-and-white, on a prop plane, matchingZero Hour!in tone and texture. ButMichael EisnerandJeffrey KatzenbergatParamount Picturessaw more potential. They convinced the team to shoot in color, use a jetliner, and bring the film up to date without losing the old-school drama bones that made the parody work. “You may go on to make this movie in black and white and on a prop plane, and it may be very successful,” Eisner said. “But it won’t be at this studio.”
Turns out, he was right. The movie made $84 million on a $3.5 million budget and launched the comedy careers of ZAZ, Nielsen, and several others, paving the way forPolice Squad!,The Naked Gun, and every modern spoof that tried (and often failed) to match it.Airplane!is now on Pluto TV.
