On July 2, 1980, Paramount unveiled a film that would eventually become known as one of the great movie comedy satires. By Ron Pennington On July 2, 1980, Paramount unveiled in theaters Airplane!, ...

Jim Abrahams, the writer-director who helped create comedy classics such as "Airplane!," the "Naked Gun" movies, and the TV series "Police Squad!" has died. He was 80. Abrahams passed away of natural ...

1980 was the year of “The Empire Strikes Back,” but flying under the radar was a $3 million gag-fest called “Airplane!” that featured unknown leads, veteran character actors not at all famous for ...

These days, it often seems like comedy movies that only feature a handful of truly funny scenes can become hugely popular. However, one 1980 classic that is still hilarious today managed to pack a ...

The iconic 1980 film “Airplane!” from the ZAZ directing team, Jim Abrahams, David Zucker and Jerry Zucker parodies the plot and characters from the 1957 disaster flick “Zero Hour!” It broke out as a ...

“Can you fly this plane and land it?” asks a physician named Dr. Rumack after food poisoning fells the flight crew of a jet heading from Los Angeles to Chicago. “Surely you can’t be serious,” says Ted ...

Journal Editorial Report: The week's best and worst from Kyle Peterson, Allysia Finley and Joe Sternberg. Photo: Getty Images When I learned of the death of Jim Abrahams, who along with Jerry and ...

Airplane and Caddyshack don't have a lot in common, save for being two of the best '80s comedies and being released almost back to back.

In which we try to convince you (a) to watch it if you have not, (b) it's at least in the ballpark of almost being as good as ...