B. J. and the Bear

B. J. and the Bear
Genre	Comedy
Created by	Christopher Crowe Glen A. Larson
Directed by	Gil Bettman Bruce Bilson Daniel Haller Bruce Kessler Christian I. Nyby II Michael Preece Charles R. Rondeau
Starring	Greg Evigan Claude Akins
Theme music composer	Glen A. Larson
Composer(s)	William Broughton Stu Phillips
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	3
No. of episodes	48
Production
Executive producer(s)	Glen A. Larson Michael Sloan
Producer(s)	Lester Wm. Berke Joe Boston Richard Lindheim Robert F. O'Neill
Cinematography	Frank Beascoechea Charles Mills Frank Thackery
Running time	45–48 minutes
Production company(s)	Universal Television
Distributor	NBCUniversal Television Distribution
Broadcast
Original channel	NBC
Audio format	Monaural
Original run	February 10, 1979 (1979-02-10) – August 11, 1981 (1981-08-11)
Chronology
Related shows	The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo

B.J. and the Bear is an American comedy series which aired on NBC from 1979 to 1981. Created by Christopher Crowe and Glen A. Larson, the series stars Greg Evigan and Claude Akins.

Plot

Greg Evigan stars as B.J. (Billie Joe) McKay, a professional freelance itinerant trucker who traveled the country's highways in a red and white Kenworth K-100 cab over semi truck with his pet chimpanzee, Bear (named after Bear Bryant, the famed football coach for Alabama, explaining the chimp's choice of headwear). He was constantly harassed by Sheriff Elroy P. Lobo (Claude Akins, who eventually spun off onto his own show, The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo). Ben Cooper appeared in an episode of B.J. and the Bear and continued his "Waverly" character in The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo. Other episodes dealt with B.J. uncovering or getting mixed up with crime in the area and a local resident—usually, a young, beautiful woman—appealing to the trucker to help.

In 1981, when the show returned from hiatus, B.J. had settled down to run Bear Enterprises, a trucking company based in Los Angeles. His nemesis was Rutherford T. Grant (Murray Hamilton), the corrupt head of the state's Special Crimes Action Team, who was a silent partner in a competing trucking company. Because of Grant's harassment, B.J. was unable to hire experienced truckers, and he was forced to hire seven beautiful young female truckers, including Grant's daughter Cindy (Sherilyn Wolter), and a busty blonde nicknamed "Stacks" (Judy Landers).

Popular culture

In the 1995 movie Mallrats, Jason Lee's character Brodie makes a reference to the show with: "Why don't they ever bring back or remake good shows, like 'BJ and the Bear.' Now there's a concept I can't get enough of, a man and his monkey".

In an episode of My Name is Earl, Earl's brother Randy asks Joy why a chimp was named "Bear". She obligingly explains that B.J. McKay was a fan of the University of Alabama's football team, hence the moniker.

In the series Breaking Bad a replica of the red and white Kenworth appears in the episode "One Minute."

Seattle Washington indie rock group "Minus the Bear" derives their name from a joke referencing B.J. and the Bear. "A friend of the band had gone on a date,” explains singer-guitarist Jake Snider, "and one of us asked him afterwards how the date went. Our friend said, 'You know that TV show from the '70s B.J. and The Bear? It was like that... minus The Bear.' That’s the straight truth."

External links

• B. J. and the Bear at the Internet Movie Database (Pilot)
• B. J. and the Bear at the Internet Movie Database
• B. J. and the Bear at TV.com
• B. J. and the Bear at epguides.com