From: Airplane!
Genre: Movies
Who said it?: Dr. Rumack
The story behind the quote: This week’s quote comes the 1980 spoof comedy, Airplane! A pastiche of disaster movies of the 70’s such as Airport, The Poseidon Adventure, The Towering Inferno and, most especially, Zero Hour!, Airplane! focuses on a former fighter pilot traumatized from the war, who is forced to take command of a commercial airliner when the assigned pilots are incapacitated. The film has an all-star cast, including the likes of Peter Graves, Leslie Nielsen and Robert Stack. These actors were actually known for more serious roles, so having them perform comedy just adds to the humor of the situation.
The quote comes in the middle of the film. Former fighter pilot Ted Striker (played by Robert Hays) is called into the cockpit by Dr. Rumack (played by the aforementioned Leslie Nielsen). As he has determined the pilots are incapable to land the plane, Dr. Rumack asks Ted Striker if he can do just that. Ted replies with the phrase “Surely you can’t be serious” and Dr. Rumack does reply that he is serious before perhaps misunderstanding the first word and delivering the quote.
As kind of a continuance of the gag, as Dr. Rumack’s first name is never given, fans have comically concluded that his first name is indeed Shirley.
Geek wisdom: Names are important as they are going to be linked to who you are. However, sometimes, some people just don’t want to be called a certain way so it’s important to also respect their wishes.
My Geek Wisdom 