Dave Rubin of “The Rubin Report” talks to the creator of Airplane! and The Naked Gun, David Zucker about how he and his brother went from being class clowns in Milwaukee to launching a hit comedy troupe in a bookstore theater; how his first movie The Kentucky Fried Movie became a huge success that made its money back on opening weekend; the struggle to sell Airplane! and why they insisted on casting serious actors like Robert Stack and Peter Graves; how Kareem Abdul-Jabbar landed his role because he wanted a $30K rug; how directing required precise comedic timing; how veteran actors were skeptical of the film until the end; the real origin of The Naked Gun; why Zucker and his team decided to direct their films, how the failed Police Squad! series evolved into The Naked Gun movie; how he was able to remake serious actor Leslie Nielsen into a perfect comedian; why Ricardo Montalbán forced him to rewrite certain jokes; what it was like to work with O.J. Simpson; the original idea to reboot Naked Gun as a Mission: Impossible spoof featuring Leslie Nielsen’s son; how Paramount execs initially loved the script but then gave the project to Seth MacFarlane; why Zucker wouldn’t cast Liam Neeson and disagrees with the reboot's tone and CGI; why Hollywood no longer understands comedy; and much more. Check out the NEW RUBIN REPORT MERCH here: https://daverubin.store/ ---------- #RubinReport #NakedGun #Airplane #TopSecret #DavidZucker #sethmacfarlane #Comedy #hollywood #DaveRubin 0:00 Intro 4:45 How David Met John Landis 9:05 The Making of Airplane! 23:20 Police Squad! 29:50 Top Secret! & Ruthless People 35:40 The Making of Naked Gun! 41:08 OJ Simpson 45:10 Naked Gun 33 1/3 49:30 BASEketball & Other Zucker Films 57:30 David Zucker's New Scripts 1:00:00 The Naked Gun (2025) w/ Seth MacFarlane 1:03:20 David Zucker Has The Original Script! 1:13:00 Mastercrash Course Interested in the current state of comedy? Wondering how a stand up comedian finds humor in this environment of extreme political correctness? Looking for a place where you can get inside the politically incorrect comic minds of people like Bob Saget, Steven Crowder, Nick Di Paolo, Adam Carolla and Roseanne Barr? Check out our playlist of politically incorrect comics: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEbhOtC9klbAdjjO8G8VsUxu_LZVi2ia1 To make sure you never miss a single Rubin Report video, click here to subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJdKr0Bgd_5saZYqLCa9mng?sub_confirmation=1 Looking for smart and honest conversations about current events, political news and the culture war? Want to increase your critical thinking by listening to different perspectives on a variety of topics? If so, then you’re in the right place because on The Rubin Report Dave Rubin engages the ideas of some of society's most interesting thought leaders, authors, politicians and comedians. The Rubin Report is the largest talk show about free speech and big ideas on YouTube. Dave allows his guests to speak their minds and his audience to think for themselves. New videos every week. The Rubin Report is fan funded through monthly and one-time donations: https://rubinreport.com/support ****** Join Dave's Locals community: https://rubinreport.locals.com/ Order “Don't Burn This Country” the follow up to Dave Rubin’s New York Times bestselling “Don’t Burn This Book” here: https://daverubin.com/book/ Buy Tickets for upcoming events here: https://daverubin.com/events/ Dave Rubin's book, "Don't Burn This Book" is available at: www.dontburnthisbook.com LISTEN to The Rubin Report podcast: www.rubinreport.com/podcast See Dave LIVE: https://daverubin.com/events/ Sign up for our newsletter with the best of The Rubin Report delivered to your inbox once a week: http://www.rubinreport.com/newsletter Official Rubin Report Merchandise: https://rubinreport.myshopify.com/ All art on the set are original works by Caylin Rose Janet. Get a print here: https://www.caylinrosejanet.com/rubinreportart.html ****** David Zucker Director, Airplane & The Naked Gun David on X: https://x.com/thedavidzucker ****** Follow Dave on Twitter: https://twitter.com/RubinReport Follow The Rubin Report on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rubinreport Follow Dave on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/daverubin Follow Dave on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rubinreport/?hl=en About Dave Rubin: http://rubinreport.com