Both Zuckers and Jim Abrahams return to the big screen for 1980's Airplane! after the ridiculous Kentucky Fried Movie. If one tried really hard, it might be possible to figure that in some way this film, in addition to lampooning staid dramas of the period, also did a bit of pretty forward thinking social examinations of class and background - that's a stretch though. Beginning with the premise that a former Air Force pilot's stewardess girlfriend is leaving him with his only recourse being to follow her on the plane, Ted Striker (Robert Hays) sets off a brilliant tirade of nonsensical jokes, miscues and other assorted low brow chortles.

Although, Hays, who plays the Striker character, isn't going to be familiar to most audiences today, a great deal of the cast will be. There's obviously Leslie Nielsen, who would have his career reinvigorated in the light of this comedy, but then also making an appearance is the mom from Happy Days - Marion Ross -and translates some jive for a stewardess. But Kareem Abdul Jabar, who was still playing in the NBA, puts in a good deal of screen time as well as the co-pilot who eventually passes out from eating the fish - don't eat the fish. And while there're sundry other players that do add a great deal to the film, it's Lloyd Bridges, who viewers find smoking copious cigarettes, drinking liquor and huffing glue throughout the film, that is probably the most singularly humorous.

That being said, the film obviously has its share of gags - the rule being, things come in threes. And since Striker has had to struggle with a fear of flying since leaving the Air Force, he's developed a few foibles that explicate how deep this problem actually is. In probably the most humorous joke that gets revisited a few times here, Striker says that he's developed a drinking problem. While viewers may know what that means in daily life, what the means in Airplane! is that when he lifts a glass to his lips, Striker inexplicably dumps the beverage on his chest or face. That's comedy. There're probably a few things that won't translate to more modern audiences, but the fact that this film sports such an enormous cast should entertain just about anyone who's up for this kind of comedy - whoever that actually is.

Airplane! won't be recalled for it's craft or the accolades it received upon the film's initial run, but it does count as the pronouncement of David and Jerry Zucker alongside Jim Abrahams - also collectively known as ZAZ -  as a sort of weird, chaotic triumvirate of comedic misfortune. And while the careers of each of these men continued to have at least a tie to the world of dumb comedies Jerry Zucker's directed a few more series efforts - including the award winning Ghost. It's kind of a stretch to imagine these grown men conceiving of such wide ranging fare as this, but that's probably why they're famous and I'm sitting here think about them.