Fabulous tales from the movie trenches…

I don’t know how many times I’ve watched this movie - it has to be dozens. It’s one of those movies the whole family can agree on for its humour and sheer ridiculousness. A spoof, a parody, it’s been hard to characterize it so I was thrilled to see this title pop up on NetGalley. Not only would I find out what this movie was all about, I would hear it from the writers, actors and directors themselves…

Told in a conversational style, so many questions and behind the scene tidbits were shared by the creators, people who worked with and for them, but also fellow fans who loved it just as much as I did. From humble beginnings that they never forgot, the Zuckers and Abrahams shared their journey from their start in the mid-west to the wilds of Hollywood. They had a shared vision for a funny movie that was shaped and honed in front of any audience they could gather. Their vision never wavered, even at the lowest points...

Like their movie, the book had me laughing and smiling all the way through, relishing in each comment, revelation and behind-the-scenes secret. The style was low-key and felt so much like the familiar movie I’ve loved for decades…

For fans of Airplane!, this is a must read. If you’ve never heard of the movie, or watched it, I am shocked but happy that you are in for such a treat. And read this book!

As a big fan of the movie Airplane! I couldn’t wait to get my hands on this ARC (thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for making that happen). It was such a treat reliving the movie through this behind-the-scenes expose. Having finished the book now I can’t wait to rewatch the movie for the umpteenth time.

Where this book is a 4 instead of a 5 for me is in the early to mid chapters that focused on the trio’s evolution. While necessary to tell the back story, some of these chapters ran a bit long and didn’t hold the attention of the Airplane!-driven parts. It was an interesting parallel reading that the first Airplane! cut was a 100min and the directors realized they had to trim the fat and got it to 87min. Otherwise, I’d consider this essential reading for Airplane! fans and cinephiles.

"Surely You Can't Be Serious" is a delightful book for all ardent fans of Airplane! one of the funniest movies of all time. One viewing was never enough.. Many of us remember the howls of the audience, so loud we missed some dialogue, and the rapid-fire visual gags we caught only when we saw it for the fourth time. This was unique - Being united in laughter and surprise is a rare experience! It was interesting to learn how collaborative this effort was. Brilliantly conceived and inspired by the Arthur Hailey scripted movie, Zero Hour!, it features straight-arrow actors the ZAZ team grew up watching, and have obvious affection for, playing straight, deadpan, not "in on the joke" actors. Robert Stack and Lloyd Bridges caught in absurd situations and reacting responsibly is great comedy.. Lots of Irreverent, non-PC humor is revisited - Who can ever forget Barbara Billingsley speaking Jive, Peter Graves asking a kid if he liked gladiator movies, Leslie Neilson "counting on" the flight crew, and the hilarity of every scene featuring the late, brilliant Stephen Stucker as an air traffic controller with a bizarro point of view. So many perfect set-ups! The authors delve into their history as founders of Kentucky Fried Theater, creators of R-rated Kentucky Fried Movie (warning for kids: R-rated nude photos from this prior movie is included here) where they honed their craft of getting big laughs. It is wonderful that the authors share the spotlight by highlighting the contributions of some of the supporting actors who came up with some of the best improvisations, resulting in oft-quoted jokes and gut-busting laughs. Shout out again to Stephen Stucker for improvising so many great lines apart from the original script! Funding struggles to make the movie highlight the fact that some get this style of humor, and others do not. The tribe that gets it will love this book. What a big hit the movie was and how timeless it is, with many fans still watching it and sharing it with their grandkids. If you still cherish the memorable experience of viewing Airplane! with a packed audience in 1980, you will enjoy this deeper dive into the making of the movie and the personalities and previous unsung heroes behind it. It was a blast to revisit. Don't miss this flight! It's a lot of fun.

Surely You Can't be Serious: The True Story of Airplane
After reading the first chapter of this book, I decided we needed to see the movie again. My husband happily agreed. After finishing the book, I now want to watch it again to see things I learned about. This was a fun book to read - so much behind-the-scenes stuff! Airplane directors Jim Abrahms and David and Jerry Zucker relate their personal and professional histories in conversation form, with help thrown in here and there from other celebrities. It is almost like being in a room with them as they banter back and forth. I learned a lot about the making of "Airplane" of course, but also about movie making, determination, and perserverance. I was especially happy with the epilogue, as I found myself wondering what had been going on with them in the years after "Airplane" (and now I know!). If you are a fan of "Airplane" (and seriously, who isn't?) you owe it to yourself to read this book. I was lucky to get an uncorrected digital copy to review, but will probably purchase a physical copy when it is released!

First, thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this delightful book. I also must admit to absolutely LOVING the movie, Airplane! for many years and viewings, and when I saw this story of its inception, I was hooked. I should also proclaim my love of "behind the scenes" "making of..." books. I find them fascinating and this one did not disappoint. The story is told through the voices of ZAZ (David Zucker, Jim Abrahams and Jerry Zucker) along with many others involved in the making of the movie, but including younger comedians, actors, writers, directors, producers, etc, who were influenced and inspired by the film. It's a long list of big names along with many behind the scenes professionals whose work helped make the movie what it is. The story starts way back when the guys were kids growing up in small town Wisconsin with Mrs. Zubatsky and what they call her "law." You'll have to read it to find out--it's what allowed them to even attempting to make a movie without any knowledge or training on how to do that. The book is full of inside stories of how they managed to convince all those serious actors ( and Kareem!) to take on a comic project with three complete unknowns. Partial answer: along with a fantastically funny script, they had a LOT of key people who believed in them along the way.

It's a funny, fascinating story that had me going back again to see the movie and then again to watch it more closely for all the little bits they mention. I anticipate a third viewing with my son who has somehow never seen it. Guess I neglected his education in comic film (although we did watch a lot of Monty Python!).

READ it, and I'd suggest getting the actual physical book because there will be lots of photos, and they are just not as compelling (or easy to see) on an eBook. It might be fun to hear the audio, especially if they have recordings of the various people commenting, but that was not available as a preview and you'd miss the photos then as well.

Thank you for the EARC NetGalley and St Martins Press. This book is for anyone who wants a deeper dive into the hilarity that is Airplane! There are tons of great interviews, photos and fabulous stories from behind the scenes of the movie as well as how the movie came to be. You are saying to yourself “Surely you can’t be serious” and I say to you “I am serious - and don’t call me Shirley”. Great read!

Have you ever seen the movie Airplane! ? Surely You Can't Be Serious is the story of how David Zucker, Jim Abrahams and Jerry Zucker came to make Airplane! There are stories from high school. Stories of their improv theater in Milwaukee (later with an iteration in LA) There are lots of hilarious anecdotes about the evolution of Kentucky Fried Movie. And the stories of the hoops they had to jump through to get Airplane! made the way they wanted. There are comments and stories from several actors that were in the movie as well as recollections from the various production people.

So many funny stories - a great read if your looking for some laughs or just interested in how movies are made.

A book about Airplane!? What is it? It's pieces of paper with pictures and words on them, pressed between colorful covers, but that's not important right now.

I've been a fan of this groundbreaking, earnestly-comical movie ever since I saw it the first week it opened in Seattle, back in the summer of 1980. I've always been a fan of puns and playing with the meanings of words, so I was charmed right from the get-go. If you are too, you've probably watched the movie a dozen times already.

I'm not going to keep typing out "David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, Jerry Zucker" when it's much easier to call them "Team ZAZ". I'm certainly not going to call them Shirley. This book is refreshingly honest, and lacking the slick editing/airbrushing of history, as we take a look at the chain of events that led up to the making of a classic. Team ZAZ freely admits to mistakes and rookie errors made along the way. The actors are honest about their reactions and experiences. Robert Hays even admits to how much (or should I say how little) he was paid - and explains why he got a 'bonus' of less than a hundred bucks.

Every time Team ZAZ landed another big-name actor, they reacted with wonder, astonishment, and delight. These emotions seem to be a theme in their lives. From the day they packed up everything in a big truck and left the Midwest, to nabbing the perfect building to rent for their wacky stage performances out in Hollywoodland, they simply could not believe their luck! That sense of wonderment never left the team, and is responsible for Airplane! being the endlessly funny, timeless classic that it is. That feeling is captured in the anecdotes collected here.

This book isn't written as a formal manuscript. It's an entirely different kind of book, altogether. (I'll pause while you take that bait.) Instead, it's a big collection of pictures and anecdotes from and about everyone who had anything to do with the movie. Luckily for us, Team ZAZ and the cast and crew of the movie are a talkative, excitable bunch.

Everyone happily shares their first impressions of the project. Most of the cast didn't 'get it' but came along for the ride, anyway. It was always cheering to read the anecdote where one of the principal actors finally realized what was going on and 'got it'.

Something I didn't realize, and loved learning more about, was the fact that Team ZAZ made Hollywood history. Airplane! was the first movie to have three people working as a team to direct a movie. Hollywood didn't accept this arrangement easily, but the team refused to have it any other way. After you learn how far they'd already made it in life as a trio, you wouldn't have it any other way, either.

This book is for fans of Airplane! of course, but should also appeal to young hopefuls needing inspiration as they struggle for their own big break. Fans of 1970s improv theater culture will get a kick out of it too.

My thanks to David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, Jerry Zucker (Team ZAZ!), St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for allowing me to read a digital advance review copy of this book. This review is my honest and unbiased opinion.

Synopsis (from Netgalley, the provider of the book for me to review.)
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Surely You Can't Be Serious is an in-depth and hysterical look at the making of the 1980s comedy classic Airplane! by the legendary writers and directors of the hit film.

Airplane! premiered on July 2nd, 1980. With a budget of $3.5 million it went on to make nearly $200 million in sales and has influenced a multitude of comedians on both sides of the camera.

Surely You Can’t Be Serious is the first-ever oral history of the making of Airplane! by the creators, and of the beginnings of the ZAZ trio (Zucker, Abrahams, Zucker) – charting the rise of their comedy troupe Kentucky Fried Theater in Madison, Wisconsin all the way to premiere night. The directors explain what drew them to filmmaking and in particular, comedy. With anecdotes, behind-the-scenes trivia, and never-before-revealed factoids – these titans of comedy filmmaking unpack everything from how they persuaded Peter Graves to be in the movie after he thought the script was a piece of garbage, how Lorna Patterson auditioned for the stewardess role in the back seat of Jerry’s Volvo, and how Leslie Nielsen’s pranks got the entire crew into trouble, to who really wrote the jive talk. The book also features testimonials and personal anecdotes from well-known faces in the film, television, and comedy sphere – proving how influential Airplane! has been from day one.

Four decades after its release, Airplane! continues to make new generations laugh. Its many one-liners and visual gags have worked their way into mainstream culture. This fully organic expansion of the ZAZ trio’s fan base, prompted solely by word-of-mouth, is no surprise to long-time fans. When all around us is in flux – laughter is priceless.

Although the movie may seem dated now, at the time it was just about the funniest thing ever to show up on the screen … and oh, that dishy Robert Hayes. I thoroughly enjoyed this book – I am a serious lover of disaster movies, so Airplane fit the bill perfectly as it was such a play on those “Airport” movies as well. The book is laugh-out-loud, and I loved the trivial points I can now spout at hubby.
#shortbutsweetreviews

. (PS – if you have read this review and love disaster movies, shoot me a message … I have some excellent ones to suggest….and books such as “Drowning” and “Falling” by TJ Newman if you want to stay in the plane-disaster-realm..and don’t forget “Departure” on the telly – we’ve done airplanes, trains and now ferry boats coming in August of this year!)

This book was fun to read. It had some parts that were amusing and some that were laugh out loud funny. ZAZ, as the three refer to themselves, were close friends and shared a very similar sense of humor. The book recounts their days of the Kentucky Fried Theater, their ideas of comedy and comedy timing, and their perseverance in getting the movie Airplane! made. These were three guys who had little experience with Hollywood and the film industry. But they stood by their vision of the movie. As a result, we were all treated not only to a hilarious parody, but one that was fresh and set a new standard for comedy movies. Airplane! continues to entertain new generations.

Along the way you will read of some of the hilarious pranks they pulled. I had trouble sharing them with others without cracking up. You will also read of how and who they cast for the movie, and just as importantly, why these particular actors were chosen. Peppered throughout are testimonials from a number of actors about the impression the movie made on them.

Read this book! You will not be disappointed.

I really don’t know what to make of this book. Ostensibly an oral history of the making of Airplane!, this is more a history of the Zucker/Abrahams/Zucker team, with far more focus on the pre-Airplane! days then the movie. I saw and liked (as a young adolescent) the Kentucky Fried Movie, but I sure did not want a history of that movie. Poorly organized, hardly revelatory, and honestly not worth your time.

I love this genre of movie so this book was extremely interesting. I enjoyed the jokes and the banter info about the movie.

I enjoyed reading about how the actors were selected and the inspiration for the movie Airplane .I especially enjoyed reading how the actors felt about the roles they were given.
#SurelyYouCantbeSerious #NetGalley

This book is as funny as the movie. With plenty of behind the scenes stories and impressions of the great actors they convinced to be in this movie, this book is a must read for anyone who loves cinema or loves the movie Airplane.

Fun to dip into quickly, with some genuine hilarity. I would have appreciated a little more narrative to make it hold together, but the book is a good reminder of how revolutionary this film was.

I have always loved the Airplane movies, so I was excited to read this book. The book is structured like an interview, which was fun. Numerous photos and quotes are included. The authors did a great job, and the book makes me want to check out the movie series again!

Airplane is one of my favorite movies and I love reading about the making of films so this was a perfect combo for me. The book was beautifully done and I enjoyed getting to go on the history of this movie. The authors did a great job in writing this.

This book was so fun! I’ve seen Airplane! countless times, and it never gets old or less funny. Reading about the making of it was a pleasure. And naturally, I want to watch the movie again.
Thanks to #netgalley and #stmartinspress for this #arc of #surelyyoucantbeserious in exchange for an honest review.

More like 3.5. Airplane is one of the best movies ever made. The book should have been a little more than it was.

This isn’t really an oral history of the movie, it’s more of a history of ZAZ (Zucker, Abrahams, Zucker), and an analysis of the movie itself. It takes awhile to get going, and it’s not a linear timeline, but when they talk about Airplane, it’s always worth the wait. I enjoyed learning about the creators and how they got to make the movie. I also enjoyed learning from other people, where it fits in both movies and comedy, but I would have loved more about the movie. How about a sequel guys?

If you like the movie and want all the dirty details, this isn’t your book. If you love the movie and want to know how it got here and why, this is for you. I’d recommend it.


Thanks NetGalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

(Posted on Goodreads. Will post to Amazon and B&N when allowed by them closer to publication date)

This is an interesting journey with three talented comic about the creation of the classic comedy from 1980. The title is slightly misleading as the actual making of the film takes up about 20 - 50% of the book. The rest is a narrative of how the three came together in Milwaukee to found a theatre troupe devoted to sketch comedy that later moved to L.A. This background explains how their form of comedy came together and led to the eventual creation of Airplane!

The structure of the book is also odd. Rather than a straight narrative the story is told in a flashback style and interspersed with quotes and reminiscences from people involved in their various projects. It also includes quotes throughout from entertainers - largely comedians and comedy writers like the creators of South Park, Jimmy Kimmel, David Letterman and so on - about how the movie shaped their future in comedy. To some this structure may be off-putting.

Still, the journey this book takes you on will carry you back to a time when you discovered a very funny film that was unlike anything we’ve seen before or even since. And they do answer (sort of) the question within it that I think everyone might have: Could a movie like Airplane! be made - and received - in the same way today?