Jim Abrahams 1944-2024

November 26, 2024 2:06 PM

Shirley, you can't be serious. Abrahams, a film director and writer behind hit slapstick comedies like “Airplane!,” “Hot Shots!,” the “Naked Gun” series and more, died Tuesday, his son Joseph confirmed to Variety. He was 80.

With his childhood friends Jerry and David Zucker, Abrahams formed the filmmaking trio, called Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker, and popularized the spoof genre of the 1980s.

“Jim Abrahams redefined the boundaries of humor through groundbreaking works like ‘Airplane!’ and ‘The Naked Gun’ series. Together with Jerry and David Zucker, he transformed satire into an art form, inspiring generations of comedians and filmmakers and leaving an indelible mark on the world of comedy,” said the National Comedy Center executive director Journey Gunderson in a statement.

posted by JoeZydeco (56 comments total)

Godspeed ye out of the white zone, Jim and remember: there is no stopping in the red zone.
posted by ApathyGirl at 2:11 PM on November 26 [14 favorites]

RIP to the A of ZAZ, the filmmakers who largely defined my taste in comedy when I was a kid. Those films were plainly formative to me, as I went on to study and write about film comedy "professionally."

I met Abrahams (pronounced "Abrams," btw) once, in, I think, 2001, when I was a grad student at UW-Madison, his alma mater. He was an invited guest who spoke at the Wisconsin International Film Festival, which I co-programmed. I chatted briefly with him and he was kind and friendly. Somehow, I resisted the urge to ask him if he'd ever been in a Turkish prison.
posted by Dr. Wu at 2:12 PM on November 26 [21 favorites]

Frank: It's the same old story. Boy finds girl, boy loses girl, girl finds boy, boy forgets girl, boy remembers girl, girls dies in a tragic blimp accident over the Orange Bowl on New Year's Day.

Jane: Goodyear?

Frank: No, the worst.

.
posted by lalochezia at 2:12 PM on November 26 [29 favorites]

WZZ, where disco has gone dark.
posted by Ickster at 2:12 PM on November 26 [3 favorites]

.
posted by evilDoug at 2:16 PM on November 26

"I don't know where I'll be then, Doc, he said ... but I won't smell too good, that's for sure."

.
posted by dragstroke at 2:17 PM on November 26 [9 favorites]

Looks like I picked the right week to schedule a Naked Gun rewatch.

.
posted by Greg_Ace at 2:29 PM on November 26 [16 favorites]

Last week I bought the Police Squad DVDs on the day I discovered my wife had never seen the series.
posted by CheeseDigestsAll at 2:31 PM on November 26 [7 favorites]

May he rest in peace - thank you for the laughter - not just Airplane, but Police Squad, Top Secret, and more. Airplane and Top Secret - arguably the two funniest movies ever made. Compared to all other movies, they were entirely different kinds of movies altogether.
posted by davidmsc at 2:35 PM on November 26 [13 favorites]

They were entirely different kinds of movies.
posted by Aznable at 2:37 PM on November 26 [32 favorites]

I still think the locksmith gag and "that's when I developed my drinking problem" are two of the funniest moments in cinema.

OK - one more - "Hey! It's Enrico Palazzo!"

RIP.
posted by fortitude25 at 2:42 PM on November 26 [12 favorites]

We re-watched Airplane! recently and then watched Zero Hour!, which it was based on. I'm not sure which watching order is preferable, but if you like Airplane you need to see the "serious" original.

.
posted by queensissy at 2:44 PM on November 26 [9 favorites]

The locksmith gag is unbelievably great.
posted by Dr. Wu at 2:47 PM on November 26 [8 favorites]

They were entirely different kinds of movies.
posted by sixswitch at 2:58 PM on November 26 [4 favorites]

I will never forget the first time I saw Kentucky Fried Movie. After 40+ years I still hurt from laughing. RIP.

.
posted by UhOhChongo! at 3:01 PM on November 26 [5 favorites]

Very sad news. If anybody needs me, I'll be in the Japanese garden.
posted by PlusDistance at 3:08 PM on November 26 [3 favorites]

A few months we were visiting friends and realized my spouse had never seen The Naked Gun. That was that evening's entertainment sorted.

Thanks for the laughs, they were and are still needed.

.
posted by mollweide at 3:17 PM on November 26

I picked the wrong week to stop sniffing glue

.
posted by thecaddy at 3:30 PM on November 26 [6 favorites]

Did he die in a hospital?
What's that?
It's a large building with people in it, but that's not important now.
posted by Czjewel at 3:44 PM on November 26 [7 favorites]

-"Cigarette?"

-"Yes, it is."
posted by Liquidwolf at 3:51 PM on November 26 [5 favorites]

They were entirely different kinds of movies.
posted by nickggully at 3:57 PM on November 26 [3 favorites]

"I see a certain kitten still knows how to scratch."
posted by Greg_Ace at 3:57 PM on November 26 [1 favorite]

.
posted by Lesser Spotted Potoroo at 4:10 PM on November 26

While Kentucky Fried Movie is pretty problematic lately, my first exposure to these guys.

And then they tightened up the bits for Airplane!

Brief setup...

Punch line
Punch line
Bad Pun
Punch line
Recurring joke
Punch line
Another bad pun

And haven't ever seen The Naked Gun, nor Police Squad.

.
posted by Windopaene at 4:22 PM on November 26 [2 favorites]

"Spool wouldn't make much sense there..."
posted by Windopaene at 4:24 PM on November 26

for my money, Police Squad is much better than the Naked Gun movies — Leslie Nielsen had a weird dynamic where the harder he tried to sell a joke the less funny he got, but he could deadpan with the best of them, and Police Squad was definitely him at his most

it's unfortunate that they only made six episodes, but, well, at least we got those
posted by DoctorFedora at 4:25 PM on November 26 [15 favorites]

.
posted by gentlyepigrams at 4:58 PM on November 26

I just wanted to wish you good luck; we're all counting on you.
posted by zardoz at 5:24 PM on November 26 [12 favorites]

for my money, Police Squad is much better than the Naked Gun movies

I concur (not that I didn't like the Naked Gun movies). In Police SquadFrank Drebbin was a competent straight man in a screwball world. In The Naked Gun and sequels, he was broader, more slapstick, and his incompetence played up more. And that worked too, but the former was funnier.
posted by stevis23 at 5:51 PM on November 26 [3 favorites]

Z.Z
posted by ckape at 6:13 PM on November 26 [5 favorites]

We know this is a difficult time for you. We would have come earlier but Jim Abrahams wasn't dead then.
.
posted by justsomebodythatyouusedtoknow at 7:18 PM on November 26 [8 favorites]

🛩️
posted by adamrice at 8:51 PM on November 26

Nick, I've tried everything -- the embassy, the German government, the consulate. I even talked to the U.N. ambassador! It's no use, I just can't bring my wife to orgasm.
posted by Rhomboid at 9:01 PM on November 26 [3 favorites]

.
posted by spinifex23 at 10:54 PM on November 26

All the ZAZ movies were formative comedy experiences for me. I truly believe I would not be the person I am today were it not for Abrahams & Co. so tonight I will raise a glass of bourbon to my face and miss my mouth entirely out of respect.

.
posted by slimepuppy at 12:33 AM on November 27 [4 favorites]

1:

"Is this some kind of bust?"

Frank: "Well, it's very impressive yes, but we need to ask you a few questions."

2:

"Drebin?"
"Frank?"

Frank: "You're both right."

.
posted by chmmr at 12:58 AM on November 27 [2 favorites]

.
posted by zekesonxx at 1:22 AM on November 27

Oh, man, sad news. Those movies were right in my comedy wheelhouse. Just a couple of days ago, I was feasting on YouTube first reaction videos of the “I take my coffee black” gag from Airplane. A gag you probably couldn’t get away with today, but still makes people ROFL hard.
posted by Thorzdad at 3:15 AM on November 27

Frank: Nice beaver!
Jane: Thank you. I just had it stuffed.

I love this one because both kids and adults will find it funny but for entirely different reasons.

.
posted by tommasz at 3:24 AM on November 27 [4 favorites]

May all of his movies contain gladiators and all his prisons be Turkish.


.
posted by dr_dank at 3:25 AM on November 27

.
posted by photo guy at 4:51 AM on November 27

.
posted by oozy rat in a sanitary zoo at 5:05 AM on November 27

.
posted by WalkingAround at 5:11 AM on November 27

I'm the DM for a D&D (it's really Pathfinder 2e, for those of you who care) game that's been going on since 2018. Any time any player has their character begin a sentence with "Surely", whatever monster or NPC is there, be it city guard or ancient dragon, will immediately say "Don't call me Shirley". At this point, half the players do it on purpose. RIP.
posted by outgrown_hobnail at 5:17 AM on November 27 [3 favorites]

Did he have the fish?
posted by Capt. Renault at 6:42 AM on November 27 [5 favorites]

Thank you.

I remember watching Wrongfully Accused with my best friend, and when the train peaked out from behind the tree, we had to pause the movie because we fell out of our chairs, laughing.
posted by JustSayNoDawg at 6:50 AM on November 27 [2 favorites]

I didn't know that Abrahams was involved with Kentucky Fried Movie, but I'm not at all surprised. When I was a kid and had a paper route, I used to look at the newspaper ads for movies that I was too young to go see, and while the porn movies (that's when there were still adult theaters) didn't intrigue me, I did want to see Kentucky Fried Movie mostly because of the name. I hope that Abrahams is borne into whatever afterlife he believed in carried in the loving arms of Big Jim Slade.
posted by Halloween Jack at 7:07 AM on November 27 [4 favorites]

RIP.

I still contend that Top Secret was the pinnacle of the ZAZ films, so many great bits: the French resistance (LATRINE!), the Swedish bookstore, the East German Olympic women, the cow, and on and on and on. Skeet surfing forever!
posted by Ber at 7:25 AM on November 27 [6 favorites]

.
posted by snsranch at 7:28 AM on November 27

.

I know you can’t just show Kentucky Fried Movie to people anymore—hardly even to me—but I am still milking “this is not a charade” and “… but it would be WRONG.” And Big Jim Slade? Never not funny.
posted by Countess Elena at 7:59 AM on November 27 [6 favorites]

I just wanted to wish you good luck. We're all counting on you.
posted by zardoz at 12:33 PM on November 27 [5 favorites]

zardoz playing the long game!
posted by Greg_Ace at 1:00 PM on November 27

It's never a bad comment...

"What do make of this...?"
posted by Windopaene at 7:58 PM on November 27 [1 favorite]

Ugh. " What do you make of this..."
posted by Windopaene at 8:07 PM on November 27 [1 favorite]

How about some coffee, Johnny?
posted by Greg_Ace at 9:24 PM on November 27 [1 favorite]

His life was a dream of extraordinary magnitude.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 9:36 PM on November 29 [1 favorite]