If you were a Gen Xer, there’s a good chance you wore out a VHS copy of Airplane! or memorized enough one-liners to annoy your friends. More than 45 years after the comedy first crash-landed in theaters, fans have a chance to relive the experience through the national Airplane! Live tour, featuring the film’s stars, Robert Hays and Julie Hagerty. I was lucky to see the film, hosted with the live Q&A by Hays and Hagerty when a very thoughtful friend bought tickets for us to attend in Philadelphia.
Audiences first watch Airplane! on the big screen, laughing along with a packed theater just like it was 1980 again. After the credits roll, Hays and Hagerty take the stage for a live conversation about making one of the funniest movies ever filmed. They answer questions, tell behind-the-scenes stories, and revisit classic scenes. There are currently three shows remaining on the tour.
The joy of hearing a packed theatre of fellow Gen Xers laughing just before such timeless punchlines like “and don’t call me Shirley” was unique and fun to behold—there’s a cult status to the film that could be adapted into Rocky Horror Picture Show-like experiences. In what happened to be the inaugural stop on the tour, film stars Hays and Hagerty couldn’t say enough about how much joy it brought them, to listen backstage as the audience laughed at the film’s hilarious moments. “Listening to the crowd made our hearts warm and full,” said Hagerty.
When Airplane! debuted in 1980, nobody knew what to expect. Directed by Jim Abrahams and brothers David and Jerry Zucker, the film spoofed the disaster movies that dominated theaters throughout the 1970s. Instead of playing for laughs, Hays and Hagerty delivered every ridiculous line with complete sincerity, making the nonstop absurdity even funnier. That straight-faced delivery helped turn it into a box office smash that earned more than $170 million worldwide.
For many Gen Xers, Airplane! is one of those endlessly quotable movies that seemed to be playing at somebody’s house every weekend. Whether it was the inflatable autopilot Otto, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar insisting he was just Roger Murdock, or poor Ted Striker trying to get over his fear of flying, nearly every scene became part of pop culture.
Hays and Hagerty don’t simply reminisce about the “good old days.” They share stories about working with cast members like Leslie Nielsen, Lloyd Bridges, Peter Graves, and Robert Stack, reveal how some of the movie’s most memorable gags came together, and reflect on why audiences are still laughing all these years later. Because audience questions are part of every show, no two appearances are exactly alike.
In an age when Hollywood’s determined to remake everything, Airplane! remains proof that some movies are one of a kind. The jokes still land, the visual gags come so quickly you’ll probably catch something new like we did (rows of mayonnaise jars at the “Mayo clinic” we hadn’t remembered), and hearing the stars tell stories in person adds another layer to a film many people already know by heart.
For anyone who grew up rewinding VHS tapes, quoting movies with friends, and believing that comedy didn’t need explosions or superheroes, the Airplane! Live tour is a welcome trip back to a time when being silly was enough to fill a theater with laughter. Moderator Dan Pasternak does a great job of keeping the Q&A flow going while inserting rare unseen clips from the originally low-budget film: a key grip still on screen holding equipment, a shot from the Saturday Night Fever dance sequence where Robert Hays and his stunt double are on-screen at the same time.
Audiences also learn that Sigourney Weaver turned down the script because she wouldn’t say the “sit on your face and wriggle” line, and you see clips like when David Letterman auditioned for the lead role; Chevy Chase was also in the running. Both Hays, whose father was a fighter pilot in the Marine Corps, and Hagerty, attribute the success of the film to the same thing: not trying to be funny. Says Hagerty: “If you approach it like you’re gonna be funny, you’re not gonna be funny.”