Herb Voland Movies

This spoof of the Airport series of disaster movies relies on ridiculous sight gags, groan-inducing dialogue, and deadpan acting -- a comedy style that would be imitated for the next 20 years. Airplane! pulls out all the clichés as alcoholic pilot Ted Striker (Robert Hays), who's developed a fear of flying due to wartime trauma, boards a jumbo jet in an attempt to woo back his stewardess girlfriend (Julie Hagerty). Food poisoning decimates the passengers and crew, leaving it up to Striker to land the plane, with the help of a glue-sniffing air traffic controller (Lloyd Bridges) and Striker's vengeful former captain (Robert Stack), who must both talk him down. Along the way, we meet a clutch of stock disaster movie passengers like the guitar-strumming nun, a sick little girl, a frightened old lady, and two African-American travelers whose "jive" has to be subtitled. Leslie Nielsen portrays the plane's doctor, launching a new phase of the actor's career that carried him through the next two decades in several similarly comedic roles. The trio of directors Jim Abrahams, Jerry Zucker, and David Zucker responsible for the film would eventually go on to solo careers, but not before making Top Secret! and Ruthless People. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

One of the bigger non-cartoon moneymakers for Disney in the 1970s, The North Avenue Irregulars is predicated on the premise of the "Neighborhood Watch" system. Priest Michael Hill (Edward Herrmann), newly arrived on North Avenue, decides to buck the patriarchal notions of his superiors by delegating church responsibilities to the neighborhood women. Since the ladies include Vickie, Jane, Anne, Claire and Rose (Barbara Harris, Karen Valentine, Susan Clark, Cloris Leachman and Patsy Kelly), we're well primed for a surfeit of feistiness. Father Michael entrusts the church funds to Rose, who loses it all at the race track. In trying to retrieve the cash, he comes up against an influential bookie ring, controlled by several of the above-suspicion town officials. The wily priest responds by organizing the ladies of his congregation into the North Avenue Irregulars, a two-fisted crimefighting unit. There's slapstick aplenty within the film's 99 minutes, including the expected comic car crash. North Avenue Irregulars is based on a (drawn-from-life?) novel by the Reverend Albert Fay Hill. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

When first asked to attend a costume party held by the Interracial Awareness Society, George Jefferson (Sherman Hemsley) refuses. He quickly changes his mind when it turns out that one of the guests is a man whose business George dearly covets. Suffice it to say that someone wearing a mask says "the wrong things" to someone else wearing a mask in the course of the festivities. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Lamont (Demond Wilson) is convinced that he has lucked upon a bargain when he spends 20 dollars on what he is told is a rare antique commode. What our hero doesn't realize is that he is being played for a sucker by a team of clever con artists. This Sanford and Son episode was adapted from "The Three Feathers," a 1970 installment of the series' British prototype Steptoe and Son. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Hollywood comes to South Korea when General Clayton (Herb Voland) orders the members of the 4077th to appear in a filmed documentary. Disgusted by the intrusive moviemakers and the idiotic propaganda slogans he's being forced to recite, Hawkeye (Alan Alda) sabotages the epic and produces his own movie -- a zany Marx Brothers-style farce, with himself in the role of Yankee Doodle Doctor. Despite all the wackiness, there's a serious message lurking somewhere within Hawkeye's cinematic masterpiece. "Yankee Doodle Doctor" originally aired on October 22, 1972. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In the second episode of a two-part story, Esmerelda again accidentally causes George Washington (Will Geer) to materialize in the Stephens living room -- and this time George has brought along his wife, Martha (Jane Connell). As Mrs. Washington drinks in the wonders of Samantha's modern kitchen, George insists upon defending himself in court from the public disturbance and assault charges he'd accrued in the previous week's episode. To top it off, Larry and Darrin lose an account thanks to Washington's inability to tell a lie. Written by Michael Morris, "Father of Our Country" first aired on February 26, 1972. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The worldwide charitable organization UNICEF was evidently a pet project of Screen Gems producer Harry Ackerman, who touted the organization's good works in virtually all of his TV programs. Case in point is this episode of Bewitched, which first aired on March 27, 1969. Samantha uses her witchcraft for a good cause when millionaire Mr. Haskell (Herb Voland) reneges on his 10,000-dollar pledge to UNICEF in order to shower luxuries upon his flashy girlfriend, Lila Layton (Sharon Vaughn). "Twitching for UNICEF" was written by Ed Jurist. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi