471: David Zucker—Thanks for the Parking Spot episode artwork

EPISODE · Feb 17, 2026 · 1H 29M

471: David Zucker—Thanks for the Parking Spot

from The Way I Heard It with Mike Rowe · host The Way I Heard It with Mike Rowe

Mike talks with comedy legend David Zucker, the creative force behind the movie Airplane! Zucker shares what it took to make Airplane!—pitching a spoof no one quite understood, casting serious actors to deliver absurd lines with a straight face, and why making his co-writers laugh was the secret sauce to pleasing the audience. He also discusses his new "Master Crash" course, where Zucker teaches the dos and don'ts of spoof comedy writing. Along the way, we learn how John Landis landed National Lampoon's Animal House, helping ignite a new era of irreverent filmmaking. It's a fast, funny conversation about risk, rebellion, and earning your parking space the hard way.

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471: David Zucker—Thanks for the Parking Spot

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This episode is 1 hour and 29 minutes long.

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This episode was published on February 17, 2026.

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Mike talks with comedy legend David Zucker, the creative force behind the movie Airplane! Zucker shares what it took to make Airplane!—pitching a spoof no one quite understood, casting serious actors to deliver absurd lines with a straight face, and...

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