Guess We Picked the Wrong Week to Talk About “Airplane!” (1980)

About this episode

The episode humorously discusses the film 'Airplane!' and its unique blend of serious plot and comedy.

It’s our third season, and we’ve decided that it’s time to take a more serious approach to appreciating the art of film, film history, and the craft of filmmaking. April Fools! It’s “Airplane!” (1980) An airliner full of passengers gets hit with food poisoning, the crew goes down, and the only hope is a washed-up pilot with a bruised past. That plot sounds like a straight disaster thriller and that’s exactly why “Airplane!” works: it uses a perfectly serious skeleton and then fires jokes at y...

People in this episode

Hosts: Brad Shreve, Tony Maietta

Topics covered

• film appreciation
• film history
• comedy
• disaster film
• filmmaking

Keywords

• Airplane!
• comedy film
• 1980
• film history
• disaster thriller

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Airplane!

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