Deadpan vaudeville days, Buster Keaton developed his deadpan expression. Keaton realized that audiences responded better to his stony expression than when he smiled, and he carried this style into his silent film career. The 1980 film "Airplane!" was performed almost entirely in deadpan. Many popular American sitcoms use deadpan expressions to deliver dry humor, including "Curb Your Enthusiasm", "Arrested Development", and "My Name Is Earl". More recent examples are Andre Braugher as Captain Raymond Holt from the TV show "Brooklyn Nine-Nine", Jennette McCurdy as Sam Puckett in "iCarly", and Louis C.K. in "Louie". Another example is the comedy of Steven Wright.
Goodbye Pork Pie cinema as it showed that New Zealanders could make successful films about New Zealand. It was the first really financially successful New Zealand film of modern times. "Goodbye Pork Pie" was filmed chronologically over six weeks in late 1979, following the north to south route taken by the film's protagonists. Filming began in the northern town of Kaitaia and ended in Invercargill, near the bottom of the South Island. Director Geoff Murphy, who co-produced the film with Nigel Hutchinson, had been good friends with star Tony Barry (Smith) as well as Bruno Lawrence before "Goodbye Pork Pie". The three had