David Zucker is one-third of the comedy writing-directing-producing trio that brought us Airplane! and the Naked Gun franchise. Before participating in a conversation with Mayor Eric Garcetti and his filmmaking partners at the Million Dollar Theatre after a screening of Airplane!—the mayor’s pick for Zócalo and KCRW’s “My Favorite Movie” series—he talked in the Zócalo green room about Davy Crockett, following a dream to L.A., and his recurrent dream of bacon-wrapped hot dogs.
What’s your least favorite cliché?
The one I hate the most is “LOL.” Oh and “to make a long story short.”
Who was your childhood hero?
Davy Crockett. He wore very cool buckskin clothes and shot a flintlock rifle. He went to Congress and served three terms representing his district in west Tennessee.
What—or whom—do you love to hate?
Pretentious people.
If you didn’t live in Los Angeles, where would you be?
I can’t imagine living anywhere else. Maybe I’d be back in Milwaukee. It never occurred to us [David and his brother, Jerry Zucker] to leave, but we did because we wanted to get into movies. Our parents were very sad when we left, but they were comforted by the fact that surely we’d be back in six months.
Your mother Charlotte had cameos in a couple of your films. Which of her appearances is your favorite?
She had a pretty good role in Ghost. She was a bank officer in a scene with Whoopi Goldberg. And she had a great role in the first Naked Gun—she had a scene with Ricardo Montalbán. She was no amateur—she appeared in college and stage productions. She acted her whole life.
Where do you come up with your best ideas?
Mainly just by observing regular life. I get ideas from everywhere. Like playing around on the computer. You know those things that come up saying you can download the new version of Adobe? It’s hard to resist taking the time to download. So I wrote a joke in the latest script—it’s a spy spoof. This guy is behind enemy lines and the guard is coming … and he downloads Adobe in the middle of all of this.
How many pairs of shoes do you own?
I own probably a dozen, but I only wear about three.
What profession would you practice in your next life?
I’d probably do what I’m doing now. I don’t want to be doing anything else—I still want to be writing comedy.
What’s your favorite under-the-radar L.A. spot?
My backyard. I have a tree house. My other favorite place is Coldwater Canyon Park where TreePeople has an amphitheatre and put on shows. It’s a fabulous place.
It’s your last meal; what are you going to eat?
Bratwurst, of course. My favorite guilty pleasure is a bacon-wrapped hot dog. There’s a booth at the [Brentwood] farmer’s market on San Vicente. I dream of having that for lunch.