Airplane!
It ’s the respectable jest from a pic almost springloaded with them , but what is the origin ofAirplane ! ’s famous " Do n’t call me Shirley " gag?Airplane!was write and directed by Jerry Zucker , Jim Abrahams , and David Zucker , with the comedy being heavily inspired by the 1957 b - movieZero Hour ! , which featured Sterling Hayden ( The Godfather ) . The plot ofZero Hour!featured a World War 2 pilot forced to land an plane after the pilots become sick with food poisoning .
Zero Hour!‘scombination of accidentally uproarious dialogue and aim the silly upshot of the plot of land deathly serious made an impression on Zucker , Abrams , and Zucker , who retain a lot of the dialogue and key chronological sequence from the movie in their script . Airplane!pioneered a new type of writing style put-on where the actors play the movie directly in bitchiness of the derisory events unfolding around them . The filmmaking trio would perfect this case of clowning with 1984’sTop Secret!starring Val Kilmer ( Batman Forever ) andThe Naked Gunfranchise .
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The movie also relaunched the career of stager actor Leslie Nielsen , who appeared in classic such asForbidden PlanetandThe Poseidon Adventure . Airplane!cast Nielsen as Dr. Rumack , with his deadpan carrying into action being the highlight of the motion-picture show . This is particularly genuine of the movie ’s most notable joke , when Rumack work troubled warfare pilot Ted Striker to the cockpit and reveals he ’ll have to fly the sheet . Striker say " certainly you ca n’t be serious ? " to Rumack , who reply with “ I am serious — and do n’t call me Shirley . ”
This jape has been oft reiterate in the year sinceAirplane!‘srelease , making appearances inThe Officeand video gameCall Of Duty 4 : Modern Warfare . It turns out this joke has a simple lineage , with the Zucker brother and Abrahams let on in aVultureinterview it was contain out of their practice session of watching old , serious b - movies with very dramatic dialog and then crafting gags around them . In this casing , they see a movie where a character exclaims " Surely you ca n’t be serious ? " and inhalation expunge when they added the now famous punchline .
WhileAirplane!was a huge succeeder , the trio sit out the inevitable follow - upAirplane II : The Sequel . The sequel reunite most of the cast - excluding Leslie Nielsen - and took position on a infinite shuttle . Striker finds himself having to fell the shuttle too , and William Shatner ( Star Trek ) fix a surprisal appearance as the commander of a lunar al-Qa’ida . While the continuation is n’t direful , it tends to just repeat most of the original put-on to weaker effect , and the movie underperform at the box - office , killing plan forAirplane III .
Airplane!has a lot of great trick but " Do n’t call me Shirley " is easily the most quoted . It ’s doubtful the Zuckers and Abrahams agnize how popular the line would become , and it has gone on to adorn thymine - shirt , memes , and even became the subtitle of the film ’s videodisc release .
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