Shirley It Can’t Be that Old?!?: The 40th Anniversary of "Airplane!"

“Airplane!” was the brain-child of writers and directors Jim Abrahams, David Zucker and Jerry Zucker, who had previously helmed 1977’s “Kentucky Fried Movie.”

The simple plot of Ted Striker (Robert Hayes), a pilot who has developed a fear of flying and must land a passenger flight, after the other pilots fall ill, targeted disaster movies like “Airport,” but also skewered “Jaws,” “Saturday Night Fever” and almost every other genre.

What also set “Airplane!” apart from previous film parodies was its use of serious Hollywood actors like Lloyd Bridges, Robert Stack, Peter Graves and Leslie Nielsen, who all played their roles stock-serious, which makes the proceedings all the more funnier. In fact, “Airplane!” opened up a new film career for Nielsen as a comedic actor.

Left to Right: Julie Hagerty, Lorna Patterson, Leslie Nielsen, and Peter Graves discuss a fishy situation in the cockpit.

Additionally, “Airplane!” never stops for even a glimpse of a serious character moments, but’s instead jams what seems to be every minute and corner of the screen with one-liners and sight gags.  The film plays like a long playing “Looney Tunes” cartoon, or issue of “Mad” Magazine.

Ted Stryker (Robert Hayes) can't shake his drinking problem.

This has led to scenes that now live-on in film comedy infamy.  Otto the Autopilot, “Fasten Seatbelt” signs translated humorously (“Putana da Seastbeltz”) and a literal plane ticket for the “smoking section” are just some of the indelible, at times almost subliminal, sight-gags.

Then, there’s the dialogue:

“Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue”

Lloyd Bridges and Robert Stack picked the right week to stop taking themselves too seriously.

“A hospital?  What is it?

It’s a big building with patients, but that’s not important right now.”

And, of course:

“Surely you can’t be serious?!

I am serious...and don’t call me Shirley.”

Released on July 2, 1980, “Airplane!” was not only a box-office hit, it also coincided with the boom of cable TV and VHS throughout the ‘80’s, which led to the multiple viewings of the film and securing its place in comedy history.

“Airplane!” even gave way to a slew of copycat-like parody films (some created by Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker), but all of them pale in comparison to the surprise and the originality of “Airplane!”

This summer’s 40th anniversary is the perfect time to revisit what many consider to be a perfect comedy.  And, if you’ve never seen it, well the only, correct response to that is, “Shirley, you can’t be serious!”