RIP Leslie Nielsen. As I heard about the passing of the beloved comic actor, I found myself thinking about Airplane. It was Nielsen’s first comedic role and what made that movie so special. When Airplane came out, it was like nothing people had seen before (well, mostly), it wasn’t clever or visually interesting. It was a bunch of dumb jokes barely hanging on a plot that was stolen from an earlier movie and pulling it bits from otherrecentmovies. But, it caught on and became much more popular and influential then anyone expected.

Surely, this little stupid movie can’t be that influential?
Yes it is and stop calling me Shirley, so I can tell you why.

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