# Surely you know who died yesterday \[Jim Abrahams\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [November 27, 2024, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surely-you-know-who-died-yesterday-jim-abrahams/1010855 "2024-11-27T16:27:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2024, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surely-you-know-who-died-yesterday-jim-abrahams/1010855/21 "2024-11-27T17:57:33Z")
> [@FinsToTheLeft](#): > > You dropped your fake dog poop. What fake dog poop? ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2024, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surely-you-know-who-died-yesterday-jim-abrahams/1010855/22 "2024-11-27T18:11:04Z")
I recommend “Surely You Can’t Be Serious”. It puts the film in context. Did you know - it was written before _Kentucky Fried Movie_? I never knew there was a Kentucky Fried Theater, and how Stephen Stucker came to be part of the group. Lost of quotes from the actors, including Leslie Nielsen commenting about, of all his work, he’s remembered most for “surely you can’t be serious”. > **[Amazon.com: Surely You Can't Be Serious: The True Story of Airplane!:...](https://www.amazon.com/Surely-You-Cant-Be-Serious/dp/1250289319)** > > Amazon.com: Surely You Can't Be Serious: The True Story of Airplane!: 9781250289315: Zucker, David, Abrahams, Jim, Zucker, Jerry: Books Maybe this isn’t the best place to say this, but I loved Airplane II as much as the first. At lest one of the ZAZ trio has said they’ll never watch it, I think they’re missing a funny movie, but…I can see their point. ---
**Author:** ![goodkitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b38774/32.png) [@goodkitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/goodkitty)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2024, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surely-you-know-who-died-yesterday-jim-abrahams/1010855/23 "2024-11-27T18:16:52Z")
> [@FinsToTheLeft](#): > > The Zuckers and Abrams were great examples of the genre, but Abbot & Costello, The Three Stooges, and The Marx Brothers did it first. 3 Stooges? Mostly slapstick. Not a big Fan. Abbott and Costello? Ok a few good bits. Marx Brothers? Definitely in comic genius territory, but every scene/ storyline with Zeppo was a comedy killer. I don’t think had Airplane had a single serious character. The closest example I could think of is “It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World”. Not as funny as Airplane, but is filled with silly humor. But Spencer Tracy is the Zeppo. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2024, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surely-you-know-who-died-yesterday-jim-abrahams/1010855/24 "2024-11-27T18:18:32Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Maybe this isn’t the best place to say this, but I loved Airplane II as much as the first. At lest one of the ZAZ trio has said they’ll never watch it, I think they’re missing a funny movie, but…I can see their point. They actually addressed _Airplane II_ in the Q&A session I saw with them, too. Paraphrasing what they said, back in '84: After _Airplane!_ became a huge hit, Paramount executives came to them. “That was great! We want you to make a sequel!” The ZAZ trio said, “no, we’ve now done all of the good disaster-movie jokes; we want to spoof something else next.” Paramount: “No, no, really, we want an Airplane! sequel, not something else.” ZAZ: “Really, we don’t want to do a sequel.” Paramount: “Well, you see, we own the rights, so we’re going to make a sequel, with or without you guys.” ZAZ: “Have fun with that, we’re out.” ---
**Author:** ![veryfrank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/87869e/32.png) [@veryfrank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/veryfrank)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2024, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surely-you-know-who-died-yesterday-jim-abrahams/1010855/25 "2024-11-27T18:29:17Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Maybe this isn’t the best place to say this, but I loved Airplane II as much as the first. At lest one of the ZAZ trio has said they’ll never watch it, I think they’re missing a funny movie, but…I can see their point. I enjoyed it when I was a kid, before I had any idea about writers or directors or film production, and until I was in my teens I just assumed it was the same people who made the sequel. Ken Finkelman, who wrote and directed it, would later go on to create the brilliant and seminal Canadian sitcom _The Newsroom_ (no relation to the Sorkin one), so he had talent, but _Airplane II_ was really a product of its dire time. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2024, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surely-you-know-who-died-yesterday-jim-abrahams/1010855/26 "2024-11-27T19:25:08Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Maybe this isn’t the best place to say this, but I loved Airplane II as much as the first. If nothing else … (a minute): [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/JswFF2dKiLM/hqdefault.jpg "Airplane II: The Sequel - "Over Macho Grande"") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JswFF2dKiLM) ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2024, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surely-you-know-who-died-yesterday-jim-abrahams/1010855/27 "2024-11-27T19:30:04Z")
I’m another who liked _Top Secret_ but not _Airplane II_. ZAZ were the secret sauce. Accept no imitations. _Kentucky Fried Movi_e had a contemporary competitor called _The Groove Tube_, which spawned Chevy Chase’s newsman persona. Both are products of their time, watchable only to see what taking off the blinkers of comedy would lead to. But you weren’t a proper collegian without adding them to your repertoire. Olson and Johnson’s [Hellzapoppin’](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0033704/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1) is somehow even more forgotten. The team turned the Marx Brothers up to 11 for a triple-speed Broadway show that involved the audience and every part of the theater. It ran longer than all three Marx Broadway shows combined. The director had an impossible task to take a show built around breaking the fourth wall and turning it into a movie, but he did a jaw-droppingly good job. And your jaw will drop at some of the sight gags. It’s available on YouTube. If you liked ZAZ, you have to give _Hellzapoppin’_ a try. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2024, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surely-you-know-who-died-yesterday-jim-abrahams/1010855/28 "2024-11-27T19:39:41Z")
> [@goodkitty](#): > > The closest example I could think of is “It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World”. Not as funny as Airplane, but is filled with silly humor. I was underwhelmed by _It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World_. But I quite liked _Rat Race_, which is often compared to it, and which was directed by Jerry Zucker (though AFAIK with no involvement by Jim Abrahams). ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2024, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surely-you-know-who-died-yesterday-jim-abrahams/1010855/29 "2024-11-27T19:39:49Z")
Let me know if there is any change in his condition. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/TDCjw0TKQ8E/hqdefault.jpg "Top Secret: He's Dead") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDCjw0TKQ8E) ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2024, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surely-you-know-who-died-yesterday-jim-abrahams/1010855/30 "2024-11-27T19:45:21Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Olson and Johnson’s [Hellzapoppin’](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0033704/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1) is somehow even more forgotten. The team turned the Marx Brothers up to 11 for a triple-speed Broadway show that involved the audience and every part of the theater. It ran longer than all three Marx Broadway shows combined. The director had an impossible task to take a show built around breaking the fourth wall and turning it into a movie, but he did a jaw-droppingly good job. And your jaw will drop at some of the sight gags. It’s also available on a bootleg DVD, the quality of which is very good. I agree, great movie, and you also get to see what made Martha Raye a star. I have another O & J movie, which is awful. I’ve looked for the follow up of Hellzapoppin’, Crazy Street, I think, also with Shemp Howard, but haven’t found it so far. It used to run on NY TV. As for Airplane, don’t anyone listen to the commentary track. ZAZ make it sound like every joke bombed and the movie was terrible. Even while you laugh. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.winston_oboogie/32/2945_2.png) [@Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Winston_OBoogie)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2024, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surely-you-know-who-died-yesterday-jim-abrahams/1010855/31 "2024-11-27T19:56:54Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > Mean Teenaged Mustard saw “Kentucky Fried Movie” oh so many decades ago and thought it was the funniest thing ever created. > > I recently re-watched it just to see if the comedy held up. > > It did not. Oh, c’mon. I have three words for you: BIG JIM SLADE I’m sure Teenaged Mustard laughed his a$$ off at that one, and I think it holds up. Yeah, the racial stereotypes in “A Fistfull of Yen” don’t hold up, but it’s more about making fun of Hollywood and movie tropes. I get what you’re saying - many of the individual jokes don’t hold up well, but the concepts are still hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2024, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surely-you-know-who-died-yesterday-jim-abrahams/1010855/32 "2024-11-27T20:05:59Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > I was underwhelmed by _It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World_. An absolute failure. I’ve never understood the praise it gets. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2024, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surely-you-know-who-died-yesterday-jim-abrahams/1010855/33 "2024-11-27T20:45:59Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > Mean Teenaged Mustard saw “Kentucky Fried Movie” oh so many decades ago and thought it was the funniest thing ever created. Ditto. My one buddy had parents who weren’t so strict with patental controls on their Blockbuster card and we watched KFM time & again in 7-8th grade. It was absolutely sidesplitting, laughing so hard my tummy hurt. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2024, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surely-you-know-who-died-yesterday-jim-abrahams/1010855/34 "2024-11-27T20:51:41Z")
I will be eternally grateful that – when “Kentucky Fried Movie” and “The Groove Tube” came to the theater near me as a double-feature – I had pot. Amen. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2024, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surely-you-know-who-died-yesterday-jim-abrahams/1010855/35 "2024-11-27T22:50:08Z")
> [@Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](#): > > Oh, c’mon. I have three words for you: A toy robot? ---
**Author:** ![Dropo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce7236/32.png) [@Dropo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dropo)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2024, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surely-you-know-who-died-yesterday-jim-abrahams/1010855/36 "2024-11-28T00:31:02Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > I have another O & J movie, which is awful. I’ve looked for the follow up of Hellzapoppin’, Crazy Street, I think, also with Shemp Howard, but haven’t found it so far. It used to run on NY TV. _Crazy House_ (1943) is indeed awful and plotless. Obnoxious Olson and slimy Johnson are painfully unfunny as low-budget A&C amid bad shtick, predictable pratfalls, terrible songs, dreary dance numbers and pointless cameos (Rathbone/Bruce among others). Shemp Howard is used as a running gag and there are a few surreal bits (e.g., O & J fired by cannon into the movie studio via animation) – plus a bizarre ending inspired by Oscar the Wilde’s _Salome_ - but it’s hardly worthwhile viewing and arguably less entertaining than _Airplane II_. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2024, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surely-you-know-who-died-yesterday-jim-abrahams/1010855/37 "2024-11-28T02:55:30Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > I was underwhelmed by _It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World_. I’ve read a number of reviews and accounts by critics who’ve said the biggest laugh when they saw IAMMMMW in the theater was when the Three Stooges appeared on the screen as firemen for about 5 seconds. > [@DavidNRockies](#): > > And I still haven’t watched “Zero Hour --” the 1957 movie that “Airplane” basically spoofed. Here’s [just a taste of what you’re missing.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FasDZeNAmlk) ---
**Author:** ![Author\_Balk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Author\_Balk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Author_Balk)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2024, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surely-you-know-who-died-yesterday-jim-abrahams/1010855/38 "2024-11-28T18:14:10Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Some years ago, one of the cable channels(I think it was Turner Classic Movies) ran the two back to back. If “some years ago” is 20-25 or so years ago it was TCM. That’s when I saw them back to back. Airplane! is my 2nd favorite move. Zero Hour! after Airplane is just as good. ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2024, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surely-you-know-who-died-yesterday-jim-abrahams/1010855/39 "2024-11-28T18:53:03Z")
> [@Author\_Balk](#): > > > [@running\_coach](#): > > > > ome years ago, one of the cable channels(I think it was Turner Classic Movies) ran the two back to back. > > If “some years ago” is 20-25 or so years ago it was TCM. That’s when I saw them back to back. Airplane! is my 2nd favorite move. Zero Hour! after Airplane is just as good. I remember TCM doing that more recently, I believe within the past ten years, because I watched them. And yes, I did have trouble not reciting _Airplane_ jokes while watching _Zero Hour_. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2024, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surely-you-know-who-died-yesterday-jim-abrahams/1010855/40 "2024-11-28T20:47:27Z")
> [@Dropo](#): > > _Crazy House_ (1943) is indeed awful and plotless. Obnoxious Olson and slimy Johnson are painfully unfunny as low-budget A&C amid bad shtick, predictable pratfalls, terrible songs, dreary dance numbers and pointless cameos (Rathbone/Bruce among others). Shemp Howard is used as a running gag and there are a few surreal bits (e.g., O & J fired by cannon into the movie studio via animation) – plus a bizarre ending inspired by Oscar the Wilde’s _Salome_ - but it’s hardly worthwhile viewing and arguably less entertaining than _Airplane II_. I knew I got the title wrong. Thanks. Not on YouTube - they only have the trailer. However, I still want to watch it. I hadn’t seen Hellzapoppin’ for 50 years or so when I got it for Christmas. I exiled everyone from the living room when I watched it for the first time, sure it would stand up to my memories. It did. I invited people in to watch the opening, and everyone stayed for the whole thing. Anyhow, off to search for it. ETA found it! Will give a review. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surely-you-know-who-died-yesterday-jim-abrahams/1010855.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surely-you-know-who-died-yesterday-jim-abrahams/1010855.md?page=3)