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Surely You Can't Be Serious
Surely You Can't Be Serious: The True Story of Airplane! | David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, Jerry Zucker
5 posts | 6 read | 2 to read
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 Cant 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. With anecdotes, behind the scenes trivia, and never-before-revealed factoids these titans of comedy filmmaking unpack everything from how they persuaded Peter Graves to be in the movie after he thought the script was a piece of garbage, how Lorna Patterson auditioned for the stewardess role in the back seat of Jerrys Volvo, and how Leslie Nielsens pranks got the entire crew into trouble, to who really wrote the jive talk. The book also features testimonials and personal anecdotes from well-known faces in the film, television, and comedy sphere proving how influential Airplane! has been from day one. Four decades after its release, Airplane! continues to make new generations laugh. Its many one-liners and visual gags have worked their way into the mainstream culture. This fully organic expansion of the ZAZ trios fan-base, prompted solely by word-of-mouth, comes as no surprise to longtime fans. When all around us is in flux laughter is priceless.
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MemoirsForMe
MemoirsForMe
Surely You Can't Be Serious: The True Story of Airplane! | David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, Jerry Zucker
post image
Pickpick

In 1977, this hilarious trio took their 1st film(Kentucky Fried Movie)to any & all college audiences. That‘s when I interviewed them for my campus newspaper. They‘ve cracked me up ever since! Their comedy is both groundbreaking & irreverent. Backstories about Airplane, the cast and die-hard fans are a hoot! The flow of the interviews with the film history is a bit wonky. But if you can quote any lines from this crazy movie, you‘ll love this book.

MemoirsForMe David and Jerry Zucker and Jim Abrahams must have started the trend for celebrity cameos in movies simply by having the nerve to ask! Even Ethel Merman and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar said: “Why not!” 1w
Ruthiella I loved this movie and every other vehicle it spawned with Leslie Nielsen or Lloyd Bridges. And please, don‘t call me Shirley! 😜 1w
KellyHamHer @Ruthiella my family still quotes this line to this day!! 1w
See All 10 Comments
TheBookHippie Oh how fun!!! 1w
AmyG Oh wow! I remember so well seeing this with friends and how we all laughed and laughed. 1w
MemoirsForMe @Ruthiella Me too! Leslie was so grateful to these writers for launching his career. They also created Police Squad and The Naked Gun movies. Beau and Jeff Bridges loved seeing their Dad in a comedy for a change. Lloyd had a blast! 1w
MemoirsForMe @KellyHamHer Us too! 😄 1w
MemoirsForMe @TheBookHippie It feels so good to laugh and this book had quite a few! 😄 1w
MemoirsForMe @AmyG I somehow knew you‘d remember this one! This book brought back so many memories for me too. Hard to believe it came out 45 years ago. 😂 1w
TheBookHippie Laughter is such medicine currently. 1w
50 likes10 comments
blurb
willaful
willaful
Surely You Can't Be Serious: The True Story of Airplane! | David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, Jerry Zucker
post image

A soft pick, for fans only. I didn't care for the lack of structure here; it's just interviews pieced together, some read by the people who actually said them and some not. I found it a bit confusing, and I wasn't that interested in the parts that weren't directly concerned with the making of “Airplane.“ But once into that, it was very interesting and often funny. Plus, #ISpyBingo 😁

Faranae It's hard to watch Zero Hour! having first seen Airplane, so the pair are one of my few “I wish I could forget this thing and experience this for the first time again“ items. I'd also really love to get my hands on the original CBC “Flight Into Danger“, which is apparently available for purchase to qualified researchers and otherwise a nearly lost film despite starring James Doohan. 2y
24 likes1 comment
review
rabbitprincess
rabbitprincess
Surely You Can't Be Serious: The True Story of Airplane! | David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, Jerry Zucker
Pickpick

I skipped a fair chunk of the early bit because I wasn‘t actually that interested in Kentucky Fried Theater (ZAZ‘s precursor project), but I can understand why it was included. I was more interested in learning about how the directors translated their vision into an actual movie and what the cast thought of the whole idea of bringing in “serious” actors from B-movies to play the comedy roles.

kwmg40 I loved this movie! 2y
rabbitprincess @kwmg40 I quote this movie a LOT 😂 2y
16 likes1 stack add2 comments
review
booklover3258
booklover3258
Surely You Can't Be Serious: The True Story of Airplane! | David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, Jerry Zucker
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Pickpick

My review of this book can be found on my YouTube Vlog at:

https://youtu.be/uUnkFMMOPHI

Enjoy!

RebL And don‘t call me Shirley. 2y
33 likes1 comment
review
Sara_Planz
Sara_Planz
Surely You Can't Be Serious: The True Story of Airplane! | David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, Jerry Zucker
post image
Pickpick

The influence from the comedies of the 1980's is still felt today and the film Airplane! is one of the most successful and celebrated films from that time. This in-depth history lays out the making of the movie as well as the beginnings of the trio who made it. This history features photos juxtaposed with memories from the people who were there, as well as some of the top comedic voices today who were so influenced by Airplane!'s humor.

rabbitprincess My library ordered this! Glad it was good 😄 2y
44 likes1 comment