Uploaded October 2023 | Updated September 2026, 2 days ago
Recorded October 23, 2023
In conversation with comedian and author James "Murr" Murray
Surely You Can’t Be Serious is a behind-the-scenes making-of oral history of the 1980 comedy classic Airplane!, as told by its equally legendary writers and directors David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker. Featuring anecdotes by the film’s stars, it also delves into the making of fan-favorite scenes and the organic (read: pre-Internet) evolution toward its place in the pop culture pantheon. Zucker and company, also the auteurs of the cultishly adored Kentucky Fried Movie and Top Secret!, each branched out into further film success. Zucker himself went on to direct a plethora of film comedies, including The Naked Gun franchise, BASEketball, Scary Movie 3 & 4, and many others, as well as writing and producing Scary Movie 5. He is also the author of the memoir Before the Invention of Smiling, an unconventional version of his family history. What can we make out of his books? Well, we can make a hat, or a brooch, or a pterodactyl….
James Murray is one of the hosts of the long-running and popular TruTV improv program Impractical Jokers. Also the co-author of the Awakened and Area 51 Interns series of sci-fi novels, he has toured solo as a standup comedian, starred in TBS's The Misery Index, and appeared in numerous other television shows and films.
Recorded October 23, 2023
In conversation with comedian and author James "Murr" Murray
Surely You Can’t Be Serious is a behind-the-scenes making-of oral history of the 1980 comedy classic Airplane!, as told by its equally legendary writers and directors David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker. Featuring anecdotes by the film’s stars, it also delves into the making of fan-favorite scenes and the organic (read: pre-Internet) evolution toward its place in the pop culture pantheon. Zucker and company, also the auteurs of the cultishly adored Kentucky Fried Movie and Top Secret!, each branched out into further film success. Zucker himself went on to direct a plethora of film comedies, including The Naked Gun franchise, BASEketball, Scary Movie 3 & 4, and many others, as well as writing and producing Scary Movie 5. He is also the author of the memoir Before the Invention of Smiling, an unconventional version of his family history. What can we make out of his books? Well, we can make a hat, or a brooch, or a pterodactyl….
James Murray is one of the hosts of the long-running and popular TruTV improv program Impractical Jokers. Also the co-author of the Awakened and Area 51 Interns series of sci-fi novels, he has toured solo as a standup comedian, starred in TBS's The Misery Index, and appeared in numerous other television shows and films.
