One-Shot Wednesday
On Wednesdays, guess the Chicago-based movie or television show from one screenshot.
Airplane!
Airplane! is a 1980 film comedy that parodies popular 1970s disaster movies like Airport (1970), The Poseidon Adventure (1972), Earthquake (1974) and The Towering Inferno (1974). More specifically, Airplane! borrows its story, characters, and some lines of dialogue from an earlier disaster drama, Zero Hour! (1957).
In today’s screenshot, a member of ground control accidentally sends a plane crashing through the airport terminal’s window. As the plane breaks through, people scatter right and left. One woman even throws her baby in the air before she runs (look for the pink blanket near the airplane's nose).
For all the hijinks, watch the short clip below.
While Airplane! was not shot in Chicago, the flight in the story is headed here (from Los Angeles). And Chicago is mentioned nearly 40 times in the screenplay.
One of the silliest Chicago references in the film comes in this short insert. As a radio DJ says, “This is WZAZ in Chicago, where disco lives forever,” the airplane flies over WZAZ's tower, destroys its antenna, and kills the signal.
Hardcore Airplane! (or Chicago movie) fans can even buy a WZAZ Chicago t-shirt.
Welcome to One-Shot Wednesday!
Think you’re a Chicago screen buff?
On Wednesdays, we post one still from a movie or TV show filmed or set in the Windy City. Your mission? Guess the title!
You've already seen this week’s image above. If you're feeling nostalgic, explore the full archive of past challenges to keep the fun rolling.