B. J. and the Bear
B. J. and the Bear (stylized as B.J. and the Bear) is an American action comedy television series which aired on NBC from February 10, 1979, to May 9, 1981. Created by Glen A. Larson and Christopher Crowe, the series stars Greg Evigan. The series was produced when the CB radio and trucking craze had peaked in the United States, following the 1974–1976 television series Movin' On, the number one song "Convoy" (1975) by C. W. McCall, as well as the films White Line Fever (1975), Smokey and the Bandit (1977), Convoy (1978), and Every Which Way but Loose (1978).
| B. J. and the Bear | |
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| Theme music composer | Glen A. Larson |
| Opening theme | "B.J. and the Bear" |
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| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 3 |
| No. of episodes | 46 (list of episodes) |
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| Running time | 45–48 minutes |
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| Release | |
| Original network | NBC |
| Original release | February 10, 1979 – May 9, 1981 |
| Related | |
| The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo | |
The theme song, also titled "B.J. and the Bear", was written by Glen Larson and performed by Greg Evigan.[1]
Premise and storylines
Greg Evigan stars as Billie Joe "B.J." McKay, a professional freelance itinerant trucker who travels the country's highways in a red and white Kenworth K-100 Aerodyne (a COE semi truck) with his pet chimpanzee Bear (played by Larretta deWayne Ball, named after Bear Bryant, the famed football coach for the University of Alabama[2]). In the pilot movie, it is stated that he had spent two years in Vietnam as a medical helicopter pilot, had been a captain and earned the Distinguished Service Cross. He was a prisoner of war in North Vietnam at the Hanoi Hilton for four months in 1973 after his helicopter went down over the DMZ. Episodes typically deal with B.J. uncovering or getting mixed up with crime in the area he's traveling through, and a local resident—usually, a young, beautiful woman—appealing to him for help.
A frequent guest star in the first season is Sheriff Elroy P. Lobo (Claude Akins,[3] who previously starred in the trucking series Movin' On), whose character eventually spun off onto his own show The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo along with guest character "Waverly" Ben Cooper.
Two episodes in season two, "Eyes of Texas" (1979) and "The Girls on the Hollywood High" (1980), were designed as prospective pilots for a series about a pair of private detectives called Heather Fern (Rebecca Reynolds) and Caroline Capodi (Lorrie Mahaffey in the first one, Heather Thomas in the second). The latter episode has cameo appearances from John S. Ragin and Robert Ito as their characters from Quincy, M.E. (also a Glen A. Larson series).[4]
In 1981, when the show returned for its third season with the two-part episode "B.J. and the Seven Lady Truckers" (not to be confused with the season two opener "Snow White and the Seven Lady Truckers", also a two-parter), B.J. has settled down to run Bear Enterprises, a trucking company based in Los Angeles. His nemesis is Rutherford T. Grant (Murray Hamilton), the corrupt head of the state's Special Crimes Action Team, who is a secret partner in a competing trucking company. Because of Grant's harassment, B.J. is unable to hire experienced truckers, and is forced to hire seven beautiful young female truckers, consisting of Grant's daughter Cindy (Sherilyn Wolter), twins Teri and Geri (Candi and Randi Brough), no-nonsense Angie (Sheila Wills), Samantha (Amanda Horan Kennedy), Callie (Linda McCullough), and a busty blonde nicknamed "Stacks" (Judy Landers), along with a female dispatcher, Stacy (Susan Woollen).
Though Universal has not yet released BJ and the Bear on home video, bootleg editions are available on DVD.
Episodes
Pilot (1978)
| Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|
| "The Foundlings" | Bruce Bilson | Glen A. Larson & Christopher Crowe | October 4, 1978 |
Season 1 (1979)
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "Odyssey of the Shady Truth" | Christian I. Nyby II | T : Michael Sloan S/T : Kenneth Realman | February 10, 1979 |
| 2 | 2 | "Shine On" | Christian I. Nyby II | Chris Lucky & Frank Lupo | February 24, 1979 |
| 3 | 3 | "A Coffin with a View" | Ray Austin | Michael Sloan | March 10, 1979 |
| 4 | 4 | "Deadly Cargo" | Cliff Bole | Michael Sloan | March 17, 1979 |
| 5 | 5 | "Never Give a Trucker an Even Break" | Christian I. Nyby II | S : Richard Lindheim S/T : Frank Lupo | March 24, 1979 |
| 6 | 6 | "Lobo's Revenge" | Bruce Bilson | S : Glen A. Larson & Richard Lindheim S/T : Michael Sloan | April 7, 1979 |
| 7 | 7 | "The Murphy Contingent" | Rod Holcomb | Frank Lupo & C. R. O. Christopher | April 14, 1979 |
| 8 | 8 | "Wheels of Fortune" | Bruce Bilson | Glen A. Larson | April 21, 1979 |
| 9 | 9 | "Crackers" | Michael Caffey | S : Glen A. Larson S/T : Michael Sloan | April 28, 1979 |
| 10 | 10 | "Lobo" | Bruce Bilson | S : Michael Sloan S/T : Glen A. Larson | May 5, 1979 |
Season 2 (1979–80)
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | |
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| 11 | 1 | "Snow White and the Seven Lady Truckers: Part 1" | Christian I. Nyby II | S : Glen A. Larson S/T : Michael Sloan | September 29, 1979 | |
| Guest stars Sonia Manzano, and Andre the Giant. | ||||||
| 12 | 2 | "Snow White and the Seven Lady Truckers: Part 2" | Christian I. Nyby II | S : Glen A. Larson S/T : Michael Sloan | October 6, 1979 | |
| Guest star Sonia Manzano | ||||||
| 13 | 3 | "Cain's Cruiser" | Charles R. Rondeau | Robert L. McCullough | October 13, 1979 | |
| 14 | 4 | "Pogo Lil" | Bernard McEveety | Richard Kelbaugh | October 20, 1979 | |
| 15 | 5 | "Cain's Son-in-Law" | Charles R. Rondeau | Frank Lupo | October 27, 1979 | |
| 16 | 6 | "Run for the Money: Part 1" | Bruce Bilson | S : Glen A. Larson & John Peyser T : Michael Sloan S/T : Sidney Ellis, Frank Lupo & Robert L. McCullough | November 3, 1979 | |
| Crossover story with The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo. | ||||||
| 17 | 7 | "The Eyes of Texas" | Bruce Bilson | Glen A. Larson | November 10, 1979 | |
| 18 | 8 | "Mary Ellen" | Frank Beascoechea | T : Sidney Ellis & Michael Sloan S/T : Jimmy Sangster | November 17, 1979 | |
| 19 | 9 | "Gasohol" | Charles R. Rondeau | S : Richard Bluel & Pat Fielder T : Robert L. McCullough | November 24, 1979 | |
| 20 | 10 | "B.J.'s Sweethearts" | Jeff Gold | Michael Sloan | December 1, 1979 | |
| 21 | 11 | "Fly a Wild Horse" | Christian I. Nyby II | Richard Kelbaugh | December 8, 1979 | |
| 22 | 12 | "Silent Night, Unholy Night" | Vince Edwards | Michael Sloan | December 15, 1979 | |
| 23 | 13 | "Fire in the Hole" | Bruce Kessler | S : Richard Kelbaugh T : Sidney Ellis | January 12, 1980 | |
| 24 | 14 | "Siege" | Michael Preece | S : Glen A. Larson S/T : Michael Sloan | January 19, 1980 | |
| 25 | 15 | "Through the Past, Darkly" | Charles R. Rondeau | S : Steven C. Kurzfeld, Glen A. Larson & Chris Lucky T : Robert L. McCullough S/T : Frank Lupo | January 26, 1980 | |
| 26 | 16 | "Bear Bondage" | Bruce Kessler | S : Richard Lindheim T : Frank Lupo & Robert L. McCullough | February 2, 1980 | |
| 27 | 17 | "B.J. and the Witch" | Charles R. Rondeau | Sidney Ellis | February 9, 1980 | |
| 28 | 18 | "The Good, the Bad and the Beautiful" | Christian I. Nyby II | Robert L. McCullough | February 16, 1980 | |
| 29 | 19 | "The Girls on the Hollywood High" | Bruce Bilson | S : Ron Friedman S/T : Glen A. Larson | February 23, 1980 | |
| 30 | 20 | "The 18-Wheel Rip-Off" | Gil Bettman | S : Sidney Ellis S/T : Michael Sloan | March 22, 1980 | |
| 31 | 21 | "The Friendly Double Cross" | Keith Atkinson | S : Frank Lupo T : Robert L. McCullough | March 29, 1980 | |
Season 3 (1981)
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date |
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| 32 | 1 | "B.J. and the Seven Lady Truckers: Parts 1 & 2" | Christian I. Nyby II | Michael Sloan | January 13, 1981 |
| 33 | 2 | ||||
| 34 | 3 | "The Fast and the Furious: Part 1" | Christian I. Nyby II | Robert L. McCullough | January 20, 1981 |
| 35 | 4 | "The Fast and the Furious: Part 2" | Christian I. Nyby II | Michael Halperin | January 27, 1981 |
| 36 | 5 | "Intercepted Pass" | Georg Fenady | Rogers Turrentine | February 3, 1981 |
| 37 | 6 | "Down & Dirty" | Michael Preece | Rogers Turrentine | February 10, 1981 |
| 38 | 7 | "Beauties and the Beasts" | Christian I. Nyby II | Story by : Ken Pettus Teleplay by : Robert L. McCullough & Tom Sawyer & Michael Halperin & Richard Christian Matheson & Thomas E. Szollosi | February 17, 1981 |
| 39 | 8 | "Blond in a Gilded Cell" | Christian I. Nyby II | Robert L. McCullough | March 3, 1981 |
| 40 | 9 | "For Adults Only" | Daniel Haller | Tom Sawyer | March 10, 1981 |
| 41 | 10 | "A Bear in the Hand" | Christian I. Nyby II | Michael Halperin | March 17, 1981 |
| 42 | 11 | "Seven Lady Captives" | Christian I. Nyby II | Tom Sawyer | March 24, 1981 |
| 43 | 12 | "S.T.U.N.T." | Daniel Haller | Story by : Michael Sloan & Richard Lindheim Teleplay by : Michael Sloan | March 31, 1981 |
| 44 | 13 | "Who Is B.J.?" | Peter Crane | Michael Sloan | April 25, 1981 |
| 45 | 14 | "Detective Finger, I Presume" | Gil Bettman | Robert L. McCullough | May 2, 1981 |
| 46 | 15 | "The Two Million Dollar Hustle" | David Phinney | Story by : Tom Sawyer Teleplay by : Tom Sawyer & Robert L. McCullough & Michael Halperin | May 9, 1981 |
References
- Robinson, Mark (2011). Encyclopedia of Television Theme Songs. McFarland. p. 26. ISBN 9780786465170.
- Witbeck, Charles (June 24, 1979). "'BJ and the Bear': a silent interview with Sam the chimp". Chicago Tribune: J3.
- "Claude Akins; actor in classic movies". St. Louis Post-Dispatch: 4. 1994-01-28.
- Lee Goldberg, Unsold Television Pilots: 1955 through 1989, 1990, pp. 352-353, McFarland, ISBN 0-89950-373-X
External links
- B. J. and the Bear at IMDb (Pilot)
- B. J. and the Bear at IMDb
- B. J. and the Bear at epguides.com
Works by Christopher Crowe | |
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