How Airplane! Became a Comedy Legend
Timeless Wisdom with Dennis Prager
Salem Podcast Network
4.7 • 2.3K Ratings
🗓️ 21 May 2026
⏱️ 40 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In this special episode of Timeless Wisdom, Dennis Prager celebrates the 30th anniversary of the classic comedy film Airplane. Joining him are the film's creators, the Zucker brothers and Jim Abrams, who share stories behind the making of this iconic movie. From its humble beginnings as a parody of a 1957 melodrama to its enduring popularity, the trio discusses how they managed to make people laugh for three decades. They also talk about the challenges they faced, including getting a PG rating and working with a star-studded cast, including Leslie Nielsen and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | On today's episode of Timeless Wisdom. |
| 0:03.4 | One of the funniest movies ever made in any language on any planet in any universe, airplane. |
| 0:09.2 | So who do we have in studio? |
| 0:10.7 | This is really a special, a special hour, folks. |
| 0:13.8 | We have in studio the writers, the producers, the directors, the Zucker brothers, and Jim Abrams, who made this. I'll ask you the obvious, |
| 0:23.4 | does it seem like 30 years? Does it seem like 30 days? Does it seem like a century? I mean, |
| 0:29.2 | you're sitting here. This put you guys in the center of Hollywood and the world. That's coming up on |
| 0:35.1 | timeless wisdom with Dennis Prager. If you're eating less, staying disciplined, and the weight still isn't coming off, the problem may not be your effort. It may be your metabolism. After years of stress, dieting, and lack of sleep, the body adapts. It slows down and holds on to fat. That's why Ph.D. weight loss focuses on your metabolism first, so your body stops working against you. |
| 0:55.9 | Mention Prager today and receive two free weeks plus free food, a $1,500 value. Call 864-644-1900. |
| 1:04.0 | That's 864-644-1900. |
| 1:07.3 | Welcome to Timeless Wisdom with Dennis Prager. |
| 1:11.1 | Here, thousands of hours of Dennis's lectures, courses, and classic radio programs, |
| 1:15.5 | and to purchase Dennis Prager's Rational Bibles, go to Dennis Prager.com. |
| 1:25.3 | You are listening to the best of the Dennis Pranger show. |
| 1:50.4 | Stand by the most extraordinary chain of events ever swept up into high adventure. |
| 1:53.0 | Never has the spoon been so big. |
| 1:55.0 | You ever been in a cockpit before? |
| 1:57.9 | No, sir. I've never been up in a plane before. |
| 1:58.8 | Peter Graves. |
| 2:00.7 | You ever seen a grown man naked? Karim Abdul-Jabar. My name is Roger Murdoch. I'm an airline pilot. Leslie Nielsen. This woman has to be gotten to a hospital. A hospital? What is it? It's a big building with patients. That's not important right now. Lloyd Bridges. Johnny, what can you make out of this? This? Well, I could make a cap. What a brooch? Aterdackel. Robert Stack. All right, Steve. Let's face a few facts. And we hope you enjoy the rest of your flight. Julie Haggerty. By the way, is there anyone on board who knows how to fly a plane? |
| 2:37.3 | Can you fly this plane and land it? |
| 2:38.7 | Robert Hayes. |
... |
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