When George Kennedy appeared as the flustered Captain Ed Hocken in Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad, it was something he had been looking forward to for years.
He had originally been offered the part of McCrosky in Airplane! He had to decline due to his busy schedule filming the regular Airport movies and the role was given to Lloyd Bridges instead. (It probably didn't help that he would have burned bridges with Universal Studios had he chosen to make Airplane!)
Luckily for him, the Airport franchise had completely flamed out so he could take on any roles he chose without causing any problems for his career by the time he got the phone call for Naked Gun.
