These three are brilliant! Their movies and quotes decades later still resound and are repeated (and recognized by nearly everyone over 40) in every day life. Stay healthy guys! Thank you for the laughs that keep on giving!!!!
I can't imagine anyone but Robert Hays as Ted Striker, so it all worked for the best. As for Dave, it took years for the right filmmakers to craft the perfect role for him. "Would you like to buy a monkey?"
Similar in re Blazing Saddles. So glad that Richard Pryor was a writer on the project. As great as Pryor was, glad that he made way (by his own unreliability) for Cleavon Little to play the part. And, oh my, how different the Waco Kid would be if played by Gig Young (also proved unreliable - drunk) instead of Gene Wilder.
Yep - this was still at a time when TV talk shows usually avoided promoting rival networks programs or just mentioned them as being "on another network."
Wow! This is pretty funny. That interview had a lot of strange things, but that's Dave's show in a nutshell. Anyway, when Dave's audition for Airplane came up, it was like we were all watching a younger Dave. The Dave before he got on late night TV.
This was a brilliant video, Police Squad flopped at the time, but has since become legendary, great to see the people behind it, happy that they made it work better with The Naked Gun films. Also had no idea Letterman ever tried to become an actor, glad he ended up where he did.
I don't think Police Squad really flopped, as I recall it - they just took it off the air. That happened to a lot of things. Like, the television series Logan's Run was actually popular, but that was taken off the air. Battle Star Galactica was enormous popular, but too expensive.
Hey listen to this for it is something amazing I have to tell you! I was always a big fan of the Airplane stuff - even Kentucky Fried Movie and of course I watched the Police Squad TV show as the aired for the first time (and was heartbroken with its short run) and loved the Naked Gun films, of course. But I also loved Airplane II, but it wasn't until like a year or two ago that I learned these guys had nothing to do with that sequel! Like I don't know the story behind it or whatever but someone else wrote the screenplay and it was produced and directed without their involvement. I was shocked. You literally can't tell. It's a really great job of copying their tone and style. It really freaked me out. Anyway, you can get back to your regular business now. Thank you for your time.
What a great clip. I remember watching this when it first aired. I hope they eventually release the old Police Squad shows. I've got an old copy, but there has never been an official release anywhere.
I love hearing Dave reacting to how much the movie cost and how much it made and then how it compares to today's movie making. Made for 3 million and made 100+ million is mind-blowing when a film these days need to make 2.5x the cost to be considered a success.
in my town back in '81, actually '81-'85 Rocky Horror, Kentucky Fried Movie, Stallone's Nighthawks, & Nightwing were competing Friday-Saturday MIDNIGHT $1.00 MOVIE showing at 4 different theaters in our town. '83-'85, they ran 2am 2nd movie like Stallone's Paradise Alley, Lord of the Rings (Rotoscope Animation version), Ssss (medical experiment turns guy into snake-man), Caddyshack, Animal House, & Andromeda Strain. I took my wife several times before we married, and we keep going to them for several years after we married.
6:03 - It took me a few minutes online to discover that actress is Toni Kalem. She played Angie Bonpensiero on Sopranos many years later. I watched the "tape" several times as I was absolutely gobsmacked, as I recognized her but couldn't place why I knew her face so well. Oh well, mystery solved. thanks google!
Police Squad clip is an homage (or rip off) of Abbott and Costello's famous "Who's On First" bit. Worth finding if yoo haven''t seen it, cuz you're young.
Hey, they lied about skeet surfing being the new hot sport in America (at 12:30)... Wasn't there a bit in "Top Secret" that had skeet surfing? Val Kilmer surfing and shooting the shotgun.. If so, this is pretty wild that they had a joke about that at least a couple of years before they implemented it in a movie...
If had not seen Zero Hour a couple of times as a kid on TV, I don't think Airplane in 1980 would have been so funny. Lloyd Bridges, Leslie Neilson and Robert Stack playing their parts semi straight was funny.
You have a great eye. There is a tweet from May of last year from a woman who says it is her good friend Toni Kalem who auditioned with Letterman for Airplane. Toni Kalem played Angie on the Sopranos. Well done.
You can certainly tell that the gentlemen sitting right next to Dave is the older of the 3 gentlemen. The middle person of the 3 comedians is obviously younger than the two partners of his. I could be wrong, but also, they are all very witty. Police Story or whatever it's called had to be a huge hit because the clip they showed was funny and clever. I'm sure they got the idea from "Who's on First" performed by Abbott & Costello. I could be wrong on that score as well, these are just guesses. David Letterman was probably the youngest of all four of these individuals but that's also guessing.
I, along with David and Jerry Zucker and Mr. Abrahams, would like to know the who, what, when, where and why on what Dave knew in this sketch. Dave, were you acting? Because it looks like you are freaking mortified that they are about to show this audition tape. Glad to hear about "Surely you can't be serious: the true history of Airplane", an oral reading with basically everyone. I was hoping you would put this up today!
Never knew any of this. Pretty cool. Dave should be proud of that audition. I think he could maybe been a actor too. But, I think he would be better in dramas or maybe dark comedies. More serious roles I think.
the funny thing is the actor they used was a terrible actor too.... or played as a terrible actor in airplane. i think dave would have fit in that character just fine. most the acting was wooden, part of the charm.
14:32 Sally Decker : Well, when I first heard the shot, and as I turned, Jim fell. Capt. Ed Hocken : He's the teller, Frank. Det. Frank Drebin : Jim Fell's the teller? Sally Decker : No, Jim Johnson. Det. Frank Drebin : Who's Jim Fell? Capt. Ed Hocken : He's the auditor, Frank. Sally Decker : He had the flu, so Jim filled in. Det. Frank Drebin : Phil who? Capt. Ed Hocken : Phil Din. He's the night watchman. Sally Decker : If only Phil had been here! Det. Frank Drebin : Wait a minute, let me get this straight: Twice came in and shot the teller and Jim Fell. Sally Decker : No, he only shot the teller, Jim Johnson. Fell is ill. Det. Frank Drebin : Okay, then after he shot the teller, you shot Twice. Sally Decker : No, I only shot once. Capt. Ed Hocken : Twice is the hold up man. Sally Decker : Then I guess I did shoot Twice. Det. Frank Drebin : Oh, so now you're changing your story. Sally Decker : No, I shot Twice after Jim fell. Det. Frank Drebin : You shot twice and Jim Fell? Sally Decker : No, Jim fell first and then I shot Twice once. Det. Frank Drebin : Well, who fired twice? Sally Decker : Once! Capt. Ed Hocken : He's the owner of the tire company, Frank. Det. Frank Drebin : Okay. Once is the owner of the tire company and he fired Twice. Then Twice shot the teller once. Sally Decker : Twice. Det. Frank Drebin : ...and Jim fell and then you fired Twice. Sally Decker : Once! Det. Frank Drebin : Okay. All right, that will be all for now, Ms. Decker. Capt. Ed Hocken : We'll need you to make a formal statement down at the station. Sally Decker : Oh, of course! Det. Frank Drebin : You've been very helpful. We think we know how he did it. Sally Decker : Oh, Howie couldn't have done it. He hasn't been in for weeks. Det. Frank Drebin : Well.
The sequel made only $27 million dollars. I had no idea that none of these guys were involved in it! It uses MANY of the same gags as the first movie, so maybe that's why people didn't care for it.
I guess no-one caught the joke here ...... that Letterman did a screen test for Kentucky Fried Movie but didn't get the part, that's why they made a screen test scene for their appearance here.
Ummmm....no. That audition was dogshit terrible. You don't hire an actor because they can't act. That's like hiring a doctor because they can't doctor.
Who would have guessed that "Police Squad" would only make it to 6 episodes? But Leslie Nielsen has, I think, the correct reason for this: The humor in "Police Squad" (and "Airplane!"), because there are so many VISUAL gags, require the full attention of the viewer. Unlike other comedy series where you can enjoy the show while doing other things, "Police Squad" really needed undivided attention. In a movie theater this type of humor is fine because you are there for that specific purpose, but at home it's a different story. Luckily the studio saw the potential of that humor and decided to make the movie(s).
Yes the original was better. Airplane 2 wasn’t awful. I did like the nerd shaving in the bathroom throughout the turbulence and the increased blood on his face was hysterical.
I can't tell if that was a bit or an actual audition Dave did for the film. Dave didn't seem to say or do anything funny in the clip, just the scene as it was written.
I can't believe how terribly unfunny the Zucker/Abrams guys are in-person. It's awkward and uncomfortable to watch them straining to somehow be clever and witty while lumbering through poor timing and stilted delivery. I'm glad they stuck to writing and directing, where they did very well, rather than spending time talking about their work.
I still have the “Naked Gun” trilogy on DVD and each movie has a Zucker/Abrahams/Zucker audio commentary. If you want awkward and uncomfortable, try listening to them have to talk about O.J. for three straight DVDs.
![Robin Williams - Chlamydia, Your Dad Is Here! - 5/5 Appearances In Chronological Order [Mostly HD]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/GsYl_thySnM/mqdefault.jpg)
Fun fact: During each ad break, the glasses and white jacket would be transferred from one guest to the next, finally ending with Dave.
lmao i love these little things they did
Thanks! I probably would not have noticed had you not pointed that out...thats just what a keen sense of detail I have 😊
Thank you for everything Don.
Subtle perfection
That's why one of the Zuckers takes money out of the jacket (Dave's) and puts it in his own pants pocket.
Never thought I'd use the word endearing to describe David Letterman but the wink at 7:00 is indeed endearing.
This was a screen test of extraordinary magnitude. You have our gratitude.
"Take him to Detroit !"
These three are brilliant! Their movies and quotes decades later still resound and are repeated (and recognized by nearly everyone over 40) in every day life. Stay healthy guys! Thank you for the laughs that keep on giving!!!!
These guys are my heroes Airplane is my all time favourite Parody film and the one that set the bar for that genre ❤
This is a terrific interview. Those guys were hilarious. And, it's fun to see Dave's screen test.
I can't imagine anyone but Robert Hays as Ted Striker, so it all worked for the best.
As for Dave, it took years for the right filmmakers to craft the perfect role for him.
"Would you like to buy a monkey?"
Oh, it's not just that. Dave's performance was baaaaad. Like, reeeeeeaaallly bad.
Similar in re Blazing Saddles. So glad that Richard Pryor was a writer on the project. As great as Pryor was, glad that he made way (by his own unreliability) for Cleavon Little to play the part. And, oh my, how different the Waco Kid would be if played by Gig Young (also proved unreliable - drunk) instead of Gene Wilder.
The screen test was a fake, right?
@@ronflatter1235 Nope. He really did a screen test. And it was apparently really, really bad.
@@trekkiejunk. His timing with the spit take ……😢
All of my biggest comedic influences come crashing together! Love this!
So awesome how they were able to show the actual clip from Police Squad!
Yep - this was still at a time when TV talk shows usually avoided promoting rival networks programs or just mentioned them as being "on another network."
Wow! This is pretty funny. That interview had a lot of strange things, but that's Dave's show in a nutshell. Anyway, when Dave's audition for Airplane came up, it was like we were all watching a younger Dave. The Dave before he got on late night TV.
This was a brilliant video, Police Squad flopped at the time, but has since become legendary, great to see the people behind it, happy that they made it work better with The Naked Gun films. Also had no idea Letterman ever tried to become an actor, glad he ended up where he did.
neilsen....a god.
He also had a guest appearance on Mork & Mindy. Robin Williams, who he knew from his stand-up days, hooked him up with that gig.
Let's not forget his on camera work on Mary Tyler Moore's variety show "Mary". Good stuff.
I don't think Police Squad really flopped, as I recall it - they just took it off the air. That happened to a lot of things. Like, the television series Logan's Run was actually popular, but that was taken off the air. Battle Star Galactica was enormous popular, but too expensive.
@@fuzzywzhe compared to the reboot, it was terrible.
So much fun to see that screen test footage!! Thank you!
OMG...
"Skeet Surfing" is a classic bit from Top Secret.
This interview predates Top Secret by a couple of years, so maybe the writers of that movie watched this episode.
Hey listen to this for it is something amazing I have to tell you! I was always a big fan of the Airplane stuff - even Kentucky Fried Movie and of course I watched the Police Squad TV show as the aired for the first time (and was heartbroken with its short run) and loved the Naked Gun films, of course. But I also loved Airplane II, but it wasn't until like a year or two ago that I learned these guys had nothing to do with that sequel!
Like I don't know the story behind it or whatever but someone else wrote the screenplay and it was produced and directed without their involvement. I was shocked. You literally can't tell. It's a really great job of copying their tone and style. It really freaked me out. Anyway, you can get back to your regular business now. Thank you for your time.
I finally watched his audition tape. I feel great!
I still have the Kentucky Fried Movie in my collection, that shower scene was a standout in my first and 100th viewing!
What a great clip. I remember watching this when it first aired. I hope they eventually release the old Police Squad shows. I've got an old copy, but there has never been an official release anywhere.
At 12:27 the sport of skeet surfing actually got visualized in the hilarious movie Top Secret with Val Kilmer.
Three chairs for our guests # Hip hip 😂
I love hearing Dave reacting to how much the movie cost and how much it made and then how it compares to today's movie making. Made for 3 million and made 100+ million is mind-blowing when a film these days need to make 2.5x the cost to be considered a success.
Had Dave got the lead in the movie the entire history of the 1980s onward could have been vastly different. It's a butterfly effect moment.
Maybe. You could also say the same if he had done a better job in that Mork & Mindy episode
It would have been a totally different decade, altogether...
@@nowthatsjustducky It would have been a totally different decade.
@@nowthatsjustducky It would have been a totally different decade.
Now I know what "Police Squad!" would of sounded like with a laugh track.
Three Geniuses
Once Dave retired, late night TV ended in my opinion. In 2023 they suck! When I saw Kentucky Fried movie, it was rated X and I snuck in!😂
in my town back in '81, actually '81-'85 Rocky Horror, Kentucky Fried Movie, Stallone's Nighthawks, & Nightwing were competing Friday-Saturday MIDNIGHT $1.00 MOVIE showing at 4 different theaters in our town. '83-'85, they ran 2am 2nd movie like Stallone's Paradise Alley, Lord of the Rings (Rotoscope Animation version), Ssss (medical experiment turns guy into snake-man), Caddyshack, Animal House, & Andromeda Strain.
I took my wife several times before we married, and we keep going to them for several years after we married.
David Letterman can do anything. Almost.
Seinfeld is so young in this episode!
11:21 A little foreshadowing of Dave's later look with specs 👓
Dave always wore glasses, just not on air. He also used to puff on a cigar during the commercial breaks, and in his dressing room.
Thanks so much for posting this.
So much awkwardness at once 😂
Especially the start.
6:03 - It took me a few minutes online to discover that actress is Toni Kalem. She played Angie Bonpensiero on Sopranos many years later. I watched the "tape" several times as I was absolutely gobsmacked, as I recognized her but couldn't place why I knew her face so well. Oh well, mystery solved. thanks google!
4:17 Holy cow before he started talking I thought that was Al Pacino.
What is Dave doing with the pencils at 5:20?
That was a pretty good spit take though
Police Squad clip is an homage (or rip off) of Abbott and Costello's famous "Who's On First" bit. Worth finding if yoo haven''t seen it, cuz you're young.
That's EXACTLY what I was thinking! 🤔
Looks like I picked the wrong day to stop watching Letterman videos.
Hey, they lied about skeet surfing being the new hot sport in America (at 12:30)... Wasn't there a bit in "Top Secret" that had skeet surfing? Val Kilmer surfing and shooting the shotgun.. If so, this is pretty wild that they had a joke about that at least a couple of years before they implemented it in a movie...
If had not seen Zero Hour a couple of times as a kid on TV,
I don't think Airplane in 1980 would have been so funny. Lloyd Bridges, Leslie Neilson and Robert Stack playing their parts semi straight was funny.
Hilarious how they all swapped clothing and glasses between shots and segments. lol
Isn't that the actress who played Angie on the Sopranos? Pretty funny.
She was actually good in this clip, I think. She would have held her own in the film if cast.
You have a great eye. There is a tweet from May of last year from a woman who says it is her good friend Toni Kalem who auditioned with Letterman for Airplane. Toni Kalem played Angie on the Sopranos. Well done.
Dear Keeper of the Dave Vault,
Two words: full episodes
Two words: Music clearance.
You can certainly tell that the gentlemen sitting right next to Dave is the older of the 3 gentlemen. The middle person of the 3 comedians is obviously younger than the two partners of his. I could be wrong, but also, they are all very witty. Police Story or whatever it's called had to be a huge hit because the clip they showed was funny and clever. I'm sure they got the idea from "Who's on First" performed by Abbott & Costello. I could be wrong on that score as well, these are just guesses. David Letterman was probably the youngest of all four of these individuals but that's also guessing.
"Skeet Surfing" is the opening song in the movie Top Secret!
Blows my mind that this was 42 years and 6 and a half months ago.
brilliant minds
I, along with David and Jerry Zucker and Mr. Abrahams, would like to know the who, what, when, where and why on what Dave knew in this sketch. Dave, were you acting? Because it looks like you are freaking mortified that they are about to show this audition tape. Glad to hear about "Surely you can't be serious: the true history of Airplane", an oral reading with basically everyone. I was hoping you would put this up today!
It is scripted, Dave ruined the moustache joke, Dave set up their jokes with his questions. Of course he knew they were going to show the screen test.
$170,000 in 1980 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $635,001.58 today
Never knew any of this. Pretty cool. Dave should be proud of that audition. I think he could maybe been a actor too. But, I think he would be better in dramas or maybe dark comedies. More serious roles I think.
No way. Dave can't act, and he knows it. That audition was terrible.
the funny thing is the actor they used was a terrible actor too.... or played as a terrible actor in airplane. i think dave would have fit in that character just fine. most the acting was wooden, part of the charm.
Imagine three guys from Milwaukee making the funniest material in the country, massively funnier than anything else in Hollywood
$170M is $500M in today's money.
Dave also guest-starred on an episode of Mork and Mindy
Love ya Dave.
Funny guys.
Angie Bonpensiero ( Toni Kalem) was almost in Airplane??!! Never knew that!
This is awesome
i loved the police squad TV show
I lived in Yavne when I first came to Israel. Thank you for the school, guys!
חג שמח ומועדים לשמחה
"Excuse me, Miss... I speak jive!"
Three Seinfelds (walked into a bar) and had a lovechild with David Brenner.
That whole interview was uncomfortable
"Rodger"
Rodger: "Huh?"
8:05 Jack Rollins?
I was wondering that, too.
I had no idea Dave auditioned for “Airplane”!
14:32
Sally Decker : Well, when I first heard the shot, and as I turned, Jim fell.
Capt. Ed Hocken : He's the teller, Frank.
Det. Frank Drebin : Jim Fell's the teller?
Sally Decker : No, Jim Johnson.
Det. Frank Drebin : Who's Jim Fell?
Capt. Ed Hocken : He's the auditor, Frank.
Sally Decker : He had the flu, so Jim filled in.
Det. Frank Drebin : Phil who?
Capt. Ed Hocken : Phil Din. He's the night watchman.
Sally Decker : If only Phil had been here!
Det. Frank Drebin : Wait a minute, let me get this straight: Twice came in and shot the teller and Jim Fell.
Sally Decker : No, he only shot the teller, Jim Johnson. Fell is ill.
Det. Frank Drebin : Okay, then after he shot the teller, you shot Twice.
Sally Decker : No, I only shot once.
Capt. Ed Hocken : Twice is the hold up man.
Sally Decker : Then I guess I did shoot Twice.
Det. Frank Drebin : Oh, so now you're changing your story.
Sally Decker : No, I shot Twice after Jim fell.
Det. Frank Drebin : You shot twice and Jim Fell?
Sally Decker : No, Jim fell first and then I shot Twice once.
Det. Frank Drebin : Well, who fired twice?
Sally Decker : Once!
Capt. Ed Hocken : He's the owner of the tire company, Frank.
Det. Frank Drebin : Okay. Once is the owner of the tire company and he fired Twice. Then Twice shot the teller once.
Sally Decker : Twice.
Det. Frank Drebin : ...and Jim fell and then you fired Twice.
Sally Decker : Once!
Det. Frank Drebin : Okay. All right, that will be all for now, Ms. Decker.
Capt. Ed Hocken : We'll need you to make a formal statement down at the station.
Sally Decker : Oh, of course!
Det. Frank Drebin : You've been very helpful. We think we know how he did it.
Sally Decker : Oh, Howie couldn't have done it. He hasn't been in for weeks.
Det. Frank Drebin : Well.
The sequel made only $27 million dollars. I had no idea that none of these guys were involved in it! It uses MANY of the same gags as the first movie, so maybe that's why people didn't care for it.
I guess no-one caught the joke here ...... that Letterman did a screen test for Kentucky Fried Movie but didn't get the part, that's why they made a screen test scene for their appearance here.
Back when you could still promote a movie 2 years after it premiered.
Was Jerry Seinfeld’s dad the milkman in NY, or perhaps a traveling milkman (who filled in when a dairy was in a pinch)?
actually , better than 90% of current actors ...
Hopefully, there will be brand new content of Dave via this TH-cam channel!
At the Audition, under the bedsheet, was Dave actually NAKED?!
Someone run Airpane through an AI and insert Dave!
Does anyone else wonder who it is hiding behind Leslie Nielson? Look at his left arm at 15:08
At the end of Dave’s screen test, did anyone else get up and give him the standing ovation he deserves? Just me? 😂
I always thought this screen test story was a joke.
Young David Letterman looks an awful lot like Michael Shannon, doesn't he?
Dave would have been swell, he would have been great.
This is like a prototype of the Joaquin Phoenix interview, Dave looks genuinely annoyed.
You like movies about gladiators, Dave?
"Scraps is a boy doggie!"
"I don't act"... And that's why he's the best.
Ummmm....no. That audition was dogshit terrible. You don't hire an actor because they can't act. That's like hiring a doctor because they can't doctor.
Why does he look like Andre the Giant?
Who would have guessed that "Police Squad" would only make it to 6 episodes? But Leslie Nielsen has, I think, the correct reason for this: The humor in "Police Squad" (and "Airplane!"), because there are so many VISUAL gags, require the full attention of the viewer. Unlike other comedy series where you can enjoy the show while doing other things, "Police Squad" really needed undivided attention. In a movie theater this type of humor is fine because you are there for that specific purpose, but at home it's a different story. Luckily the studio saw the potential of that humor and decided to make the movie(s).
Did they buy the rights to "Who's on first"?
I am time traveling , back
Oh just a minute, we are confusing nouns and verbs.
Looks like Dave picked the wrong week to quit ....
😂😂❤
Toni Kalem from the Wanderers.....
Pretty low key interview. I guess that was the style in the early 80s that everybody was used to.
Who is the girl in the screen test?
Surely you must be joking?
Please stop calling me Joe King.
Don't call me Shirley.
They had nothing to do with Airplane 2, that's why the movie stunk !
Yes the original was better. Airplane 2 wasn’t awful. I did like the nerd shaving in the bathroom throughout the turbulence and the increased blood on his face was hysterical.
Pay attention to everybody’s clothes
7:00 😉
Doesn't take much effort to clean up tbe vhs audio noise
Surely you can't be serious.
I am serious, and don't call me Shirley.
I can't tell if that was a bit or an actual audition Dave did for the film. Dave didn't seem to say or do anything funny in the clip, just the scene as it was written.
Loved the movie, hated they’re interview!!
Angie Bonspiero
I can't believe how terribly unfunny the Zucker/Abrams guys are in-person. It's awkward and uncomfortable to watch them straining to somehow be clever and witty while lumbering through poor timing and stilted delivery. I'm glad they stuck to writing and directing, where they did very well, rather than spending time talking about their work.
I still have the “Naked Gun” trilogy on DVD and each movie has a Zucker/Abrahams/Zucker audio commentary. If you want awkward and uncomfortable, try listening to them have to talk about O.J. for three straight DVDs.
So true! Surprisingly so!
They are writers and directors. They are not actors or comedians. Most talented comedy writers are not good performers, either.
I miss Barbara and Mary!
Who are Barbara and Mary? 🤔
Wow... Dave was awful!! Lol