If you’re like me, you recognize 1980’s “Airplane!” as a stroke of absolute comedic genius courtesy of the Zucker brothers.  Without the endless parade of groanworthy one-liners and sight gags, we wouldn’t have other gems like its 1982 sequel (“Airplane II: The Sequel”), “Top Secret!”, the “Hot Shots” series, or The “Naked Gun” series.  I always thought it was a spoof of those “Airport” disaster movies from the 1970s, but apparently I was wrong.

Reporter: What kind of plane is it?

Johnny: Oh, it’s a big pretty white plane with red stripes, curtains in the windows and wheels and it looks like a big Tylenol.

As revealed to me this afternoon by one of my staff, the Zuckers actually lifted their masterpiece, almost line-for-line, from an obscure 1957 drama called “Zero Hour!”.  The plot’s the same (a bad fish dinner incapacitates the crew) and the lead character’s name (Ted Stryker) is even the same.  It’s like all they did was re-shoot many of the scenes and tack on a silly punchline at the end.
Anyway, I thought it was interesting…