Funny / Masters of the Air

Funny moments in Masters of the Air, because while War Is Hell, sometimes it can be funny as hell.

Per Wiki policy, spoilers are unmarked.

"Part One"

• Buck laments that Bucky burdened him with a nickname so similar to his own, instead of just calling him by his name (Gale) Even his girlfriend calls him Buck.
• During the flight to Greenland, we see the crewmen huddled in the back of the plane arguing over whether to call it "Alice From Dallas" or "Alice, Our Palace," after one of the crew's girl back home. One of the pilots requests to see Alice's photo again, and it gets passed up for him to reveal that Alice is an Amazonian Beauty, flexing her muscles in sleeveless top in the photo. The pilot admits that she's a pretty good girl to name the bomber after.
• Buck's journey to Greenland and then to England gives the impression of a responsible friend following in the trail of chaos left behind by his hard-partying friend:
  Buck: Sergeant, I don't know what went on, but he told me that that should make up for it.
  Bartender: You see that? Broken narwhal tusk? He pulled it down off the wall, pretended to be a unicorn. Ripped two of my couches, broke almost every glass in the bar.
  Buck: I see.
  Bartender: You know, usually I can spot a troublemaker, but your friend seemed fine. Till he started to sing.
  Buck: Yeah, that sounds about right.
• Buck helps Claytor with the collar of his cold weather gear, and Claytor comments on how much he likes Buck's aftershave. Buck replies that that's how close he wants Claytor to stick to his wing on the mission.
  • Once they take off, Buck and Claytor's planes have a near-miss, and Claytor comments on Buck's very nice aftershave again.

"Part Two"

• The Running Gag of Bucky jumping up to do something impulsive, while Buck grabs him and shoves him back down without looking at him.
• Crosby is airsick again, and ends up throwing up in his helmet on the way to Norway. When they start taking flak, he puts on his helmet without thinking of it, but doesn't have any problems at first because the vomit froze solid. At least until his body heat starts thawing it out during a tense moment...
• Crosby's mic pack fails while he's trying to relay the new course to Bucky and Blakely, so he climbs up into the cockpit and reaches across Bucky to point in the direction they need to go. After a moment, Bucky gets distracted looking at Crosby's gloved hand. Possibly because it may be partially covered in vomit after the helmet incident, or possibly because Crosby has left his hand resting on Bucky's chest during their conversation.
• After they return to base, several people comment that Crosby shares a surname with Bing Crosby, and asks if he can sing.
  Crosby: I got kicked out of choir.
• Bucky tries to sing several times throughout the episode, and is stopped by his buddies every time, until he finally gets a hold of a microphone during a big band concert and belts out a spirited rendition of Irving Berlin's "Blue Skies."
• When Curt calls to let Buck and Bucky know he's alright, Buck tells him to get back soon, because Bucky misses his Little Spoon.
  Curt: I'm the Big Spoon!
• Three of the bombardiers stare at Helen and Tattie from across the officer's mess. When Helen notices them staring, they all give shy waves.
• Douglass needs to make Helen laugh so he can win a two dollar bet. She can't laugh on cue, so he needs to tell a joke:
  Douglass: What’s the difference between a hippo and a Zippo?
  Helen: I don't know. What's the difference?
  Douglass: Well, one’s really heavy, the other’s a little lighter. [Flicks open his lighter]
  [Tattie laughs and offers her cigarette for him to light]
  Helen: Think you hit a bull’s-eye.
  • It's also worth noting that Tattie is, as established in dialogue, the daughter of General Carl Spaatz, at the time the commander of all allied air forces in Northwestern Africa, and one of the fathers of the Eighth Air Force.
• The airmen decide to have a bicycle race in the chow hall, which Buck is well on his way to winning before he wipes out on his final turn, leading to a pileup of crashed airmen and bicycles. Before the race is cut short by an air raid, Buck is trying to drag his bike to the finish line. And shoving Bucky back down onto the floor to keep him from winning.

"Part Three"

• Colonel Harding notes that it is the first anniversary of the Eighth Air Force's first "Maximum Effort" mission, where they sent up a combined force of... twelve B-17s. The gathered crews chuckle at how small the number sounds.
• When the mission map is revealed, the crews take note that the plan does not have them returning to England:
  Red: It's a Three-Punch combo. And the Krauts will only be able to defend one of them. So... execution and timing will be essential—
  Curtis: Uh, Major? Why does that red line go all the way down to Africa?
  Red: [Looks over his shoulder, as if noticing this for the first time] That is a characteristically astute question, Curt, and I'll answer that in a moment, if I may...
• James Douglass, while his plane is damaged and flying towards the Mediterranean, decides to take the moment to casually enjoy a snack despite the freezing wind blowing in his face as a result of the aforementioned battle damage to the plane.
• After a long and harrowing mission, Buck manages to bring his badly-damaged plane in for a dead-stick landing after they've run out of fuel on final approach. Bucky drives out in a truck to inform him that if he'd just kept the plane in the air a little bit longer, he could have landed it on the actual runway.
  Bucky: It's right over there!

"Part Four"

• As Glenn Dye's crew returns from their 25th combat mission (earning them a trip back to the States), he buzzes the tower in his massive four-engine aircraft, something Cleven was reputed to have once done.
  Egan: He stole your move.
  Cleven: He stole your girl.
  Egan: Heh!

"Part Five"

• Douglass is very concerned that they might have shipped his locker home already. When Crosby asks him what he has in there that's so valuable, he replies that it has more rubbers than he can count. And more than he wants his mother to count.
• Blakely explains that they made it back to England because of Crosby's skilled navigation. And then explains that the emergency landing went well until they crashed into a tree. Which he somehow blames on Crosby's skilled navigation.
  Blakely: Then he managed to navigate us right smack into the only tree for miles, so... Bull's-eye. The guy's a natural. The only tree in East Anglia, he hits it.
  Douglass: ...greatest navigator in the 8th Air Force, right over there, ladies.
• Buck starts dancing with Meatball. Bucky threatens to tell Marge.
• Bubbles wrote a letter to Crosby's wife, but hadn't sent it before Crosby gets back. Bubbles claims that this is very fortunate, because he couldn't think of anything nice to say about Crosby.

"Part Six"

• Crosby is idling away the time waiting for his roommate to show up, and is posing in a mirror wearing nothing but his underwear and his newly-restyled officer's 'crush' cap, and evidently practicing how he's going to talk about his experiences flying. Which is funny enough before his roommate shows up, and he discovers that Subaltern A.M. Westgate is an Englishwoman who is entirely unphased by walking in on an American officer in his underwear and a hat.
  Alessandra: Oh, don’t worry. I’ve seen men in much… [chuckles] …less, Captain. Big family, small house, few doors.

"Part Seven"

• When the POWs get their mail, Buck excitedly opens his letter, and when Buck is asked who his letter is from, Bucky mockingly answers the question in the same tone Buck does, implying that Buck always reacts to mail from his girlfriend this way.
  Buck and Bucky: Maaarge.

"Part Eight"

• A German interrogator tries to repeat the tactic seen by Bucky in Part Six of building rapport by appealing to the American's interests or concerns. The only problem is, the tactic falls hilariously flat when it's a Nazi official trying to do this with African-American airmen.
  Corporal: I love jazz!

"Part Nine"

• Rosie needs to prove to some Soviet soldiers that he's an American:
  Rosie: I-I'm an American! Amerikanski! Roosevelt! Stalin! C-Coca-Cola! Roosev-Roosevelt...
  Soviet Soldier: Amerikanets!
• A bit of Gallows Humor as the POWs are force-marched out of the camp once the Russians invade:
  Prisoner: You okay, Solomon?
  Solomon: As okay as a Jew takin' a midnight stroll in Germany can be.
• During the victory celebrations, several junior officers pin down Colonel Bennet on the bar to pour drinks on him, like he's a football coach getting a tub of gatorade dumped on him after a big game.