Jul 2, 2026 · 55 min · 12 segments
Airplane! (1980) is a comedy masterclass that works because it layers a relentless joke factory — minimum 264 jokes across 88 minutes — onto a dead-serious dramatic through line about a PTSD-afflicted…
Was the idea for this motion picture a well-planned, well-thought-out vehicle, or something more accidental in nature? It was completely by accident, and Jerry will explain why
it was.
We just happened to be there at the studio, and there it was, and so we filmed it.
We are the luckiest three guys.
It's a relentless joke factory that works because it's played dead seriously.
And it has this dramatic through line that acts like a clothing line to seamlessly and relentlessly hang jokes upon.
The plot could be a straight drama.
We all watched a movie on late night television called Zero Hour.
And we thought, gee, but it was a real serious flying movie.
And we thought, this is funny as it is.
And if we just do a little bit of writing, we can make it into an actual comedy.
And so we did that.
So a former war pilot with PTSD is forced to land a plane in an emergency after the other pilots are poisoned.
Oh, really quickly.
Can you tell us the formula that you used?
It's an 88 minute film.
And there was at least a joke every 20 seconds.
Like the longest I went without seeing a joke was 20 seconds.
So at least every 20 seconds, there's a joke.
And then if you take 88 minutes, times 60 divided by 20.
That gets you to, I'll give you the exact number.
A minimum of 264 jokes.
A joke every 20 seconds.
Three jokes a minute.
And they're good jokes, right? I wouldn't say that there was any.
Was the idea for this motion picture a well-planned, well-thought-out vehicle, or something more accidental in nature? It was completely by accident, and Jerry will explain why
it was.
We just happened to be there at the studio, and there it was, and so we filmed it.
We are the luckiest three guys.
It's a relentless joke factory that works because it's played dead seriously.
And it has this dramatic through line that acts like a clothing line to seamlessly and relentlessly hang jokes upon.
The plot could be a straight drama.
We all watched a movie on late night television called Zero Hour.
And we thought, gee, but it was a real serious flying movie.
And we thought, this is funny as it is.
And if we just do a little bit of writing, we can make it into an actual comedy.
And so we did that.
So a former war pilot with PTSD is forced to land a plane in an emergency after the other pilots are poisoned.
Oh, really quickly.
Can you tell us the formula that you used?
It's an 88 minute film.
And there was at least a joke every 20 seconds.
Like the longest I went without seeing a joke was 20 seconds.
So at least every 20 seconds, there's a joke.
And then if you take 88 minutes, times 60 divided by 20.
That gets you to, I'll give you the exact number.
A minimum of 264 jokes.
A joke every 20 seconds.
Three jokes a minute.
And they're good jokes, right? I wouldn't say that there was any.
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