B. J. and the Bear

*B. J. and the Bear*
B. J. and the Bear
Genre	Action comedy;
Created by	Glen A. Larson; Christopher Crowe;
Written by	Glen A. Larson; Michael Sloan; Frank Lupo; Tom Sawyer; Christopher Crowe; Sidney Ellis; Rick Kelbaugh;
Directed by	Gil Bettman; Bruce Bilson; Daniel Haller; Bruce Kessler; Christian I. Nyby II; Michael Preece; Charles R. Rondeau;
Starring	Greg Evigan; Claude Akins; Mills Watson; Brian Kerwin; Dennis Burkley;
Theme music composer	Glen A. Larson
Opening theme	"B.J. and the Bear"
Composers	William Broughton; Stu Phillips;
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	3
No. of episodes	46
Production
Executive producers	Glen A. Larson; Michael Sloan;
Producers	Lester Wm. Berke; Joe Boston; Richard Lindheim; Robert F. O'Neill;
Cinematography	Frank Beascoechea; Charles Mills; Frank Thackery;
Running time	45–48 minutes
Production companies	Universal Television; Glen A. Larson Productions;
Original release
Network	NBC
Release	February 10, 1979 –; May 9, 1981
Related
	The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo

B. J. and the Bear was 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 starred 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 Moonfire (film) (1970), Duel (1971 film), White Line Fever (1975), The Great Smokey Roadblock (1977), Smokey and the Bandit (1977), Convoy (1978), Steel Cowboy (1978), High-Ballin' (1978) and Every Which Way but Loose (1978).

The theme song, also titled "B.J. and the Bear", was written by Larson and performed by 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, named after Bear Bryant, the famed football coach for the University of Alabama.^[2] In the pilot movie, it is stated that McKay 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 is 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",^[a] 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).

Despite what some say there were only five Kenworth K-100 Aerodynes used throughout the whole entire series.

Season One features a pair of 1978 Kenworth K-100 Aerodynes with the beauty truck featuring a Cummins Engine and the stunt truck featuring a Detroit Engine.

Season Two features the 1978 Kenworth K-100 Aerodyne with the Cummins Engine as the beauty truck and a 1979 Kenworth K-100 Aerodyne stunt truck with a Detroit Engine that ended up getting destroyed in the episode "Siege" when it drove through a biker bar building. The only time the Season One 1978 stunt truck was seen during the second season of the show is when it was the beauty truck for the episode "The 18 Wheel Rip-Off".

Season Three features a pair of 1980 Kenworth K-100 Aerodynes with Cummins Engines as the beauty trucks and vaguely features the 1978 Kenworth K-100 Aerodyne Season One stunt truck with the Detroit Engine, Although, The Season Two stunt truck vaguely appears in the episode "Detective Finger, I Presume?" to drive through another building.

During B.J. and the Bear this Season Two 1979 stunt truck had chrome quarter fenders and chrome sleeper door vents and was the only truck to have a white pillar between the two windshields during the second season and was the only truck in the whole entire series that had red lug-nuts on the front rims.

The Season Two 1979 Kenworth K-100 Aerodyne stunt truck had it's frame later used as a donor for the truck used in the The Highwayman (TV series).

Throughout the whole entire series only two identical 1972 Brown Reefer Trailers were used and an odd ball Fruehauf dry van trailer with a sliding axle was seen from time to time in Season Two and Season Three that was mainly pulled by the Season Two 1979 Stunt Truck.

Though Universal has never released B. J. 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 (1978-10-04)

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 (1979-02-10)
2	2	"Shine On"	Christian I. Nyby II	Chris Lucky & Frank Lupo	February 24, 1979 (1979-02-24)
3	3	"A Coffin with a View"	Ray Austin	Michael Sloan	March 10, 1979 (1979-03-10)
4	4	"Deadly Cargo"	Cliff Bole	Michael Sloan	March 17, 1979 (1979-03-17)
5	5	"Never Give a Trucker an Even Break"	Christian I. Nyby II	S : Richard Lindheim S/T : Frank Lupo	March 24, 1979 (1979-03-24)
6	6	"Lobo's Revenge"	Bruce Bilson	S : Glen A. Larson & Richard Lindheim S/T : Michael Sloan	April 7, 1979 (1979-04-07)
7	7	"The Murphy Contingent"	Rod Holcomb	Frank Lupo & C. R. O. Christopher	April 14, 1979 (1979-04-14)
8	8	"Wheels of Fortune"	Bruce Bilson	Glen A. Larson	April 21, 1979 (1979-04-21)
9	9	"Crackers"	Michael Caffey	S : Glen A. Larson S/T : Michael Sloan	April 28, 1979 (1979-04-28)
10	10	"Lobo"	Bruce Bilson	S : Michael Sloan S/T : Glen A. Larson	May 5, 1979 (1979-05-05)

Season 2 (1979–80)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date
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 (1979-09-29)
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 (1979-10-06)
Guest star Sonia Manzano
13	3	"Cain's Cruiser"	Charles R. Rondeau	Robert L. McCullough	October 13, 1979 (1979-10-13)
14	4	"Pogo Lil"	Bernard McEveety	Richard Kelbaugh	October 20, 1979 (1979-10-20)
15	5	"Cain's Son-in-Law"	Charles R. Rondeau	Frank Lupo	October 27, 1979 (1979-10-27)
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 (1979-11-03)
Crossover story with The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo.
17	7	"The Eyes of Texas"	Bruce Bilson	Glen A. Larson	November 10, 1979 (1979-11-10)
18	8	"Mary Ellen"	Frank Beascoechea	T : Sidney Ellis & Michael Sloan S/T : Jimmy Sangster	November 17, 1979 (1979-11-17)
19	9	"Gasohol"	Charles R. Rondeau	S : Richard Bluel & Pat Fielder T : Robert L. McCullough	November 24, 1979 (1979-11-24)
20	10	"B.J.'s Sweethearts"	Jeff Gold	Michael Sloan	December 1, 1979 (1979-12-01)
21	11	"Fly a Wild Horse"	Christian I. Nyby II	Richard Kelbaugh	December 8, 1979 (1979-12-08)
22	12	"Silent Night, Unholy Night"	Vince Edwards	Michael Sloan	December 15, 1979 (1979-12-15)
23	13	"Fire in the Hole"	Bruce Kessler	S : Richard Kelbaugh T : Sidney Ellis	January 12, 1980 (1980-01-12)
24	14	"Siege"	Michael Preece	S : Glen A. Larson S/T : Michael Sloan	January 19, 1980 (1980-01-19)
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 (1980-01-26)
26	16	"Bear Bondage"	Bruce Kessler	S : Richard Lindheim T : Frank Lupo & Robert L. McCullough	February 2, 1980 (1980-02-02)
27	17	"B.J. and the Witch"	Charles R. Rondeau	Sidney Ellis	February 9, 1980 (1980-02-09)
28	18	"The Good, the Bad and the Beautiful"	Christian I. Nyby II	Robert L. McCullough	February 16, 1980 (1980-02-16)
29	19	"The Girls on the Hollywood High"	Bruce Bilson	S : Ron Friedman S/T : Glen A. Larson	February 23, 1980 (1980-02-23)
30	20	"The 18-Wheel Rip-Off"	Gil Bettman	S : Sidney Ellis S/T : Michael Sloan	March 22, 1980 (1980-03-22)
31	21	"The Friendly Double Cross"	Keith Atkinson	S : Frank Lupo T : Robert L. McCullough	March 29, 1980 (1980-03-29)

Season 3 (1981)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date
32	1	"B.J. and the Seven Lady Truckers: Parts 1 & 2"	Christian I. Nyby II	Michael Sloan	January 13, 1981 (1981-01-13)
33	2	"B.J. and the Seven Lady Truckers: Parts 1 & 2"	Christian I. Nyby II	Michael Sloan	January 13, 1981 (1981-01-13)
34	3	"The Fast and the Furious: Part 1"	Christian I. Nyby II	Robert L. McCullough	January 20, 1981 (1981-01-20)
35	4	"The Fast and the Furious: Part 2"	Christian I. Nyby II	Michael Halperin	January 27, 1981 (1981-01-27)
36	5	"Intercepted Pass"	Georg Fenady	Rogers Turrentine	February 3, 1981 (1981-02-03)
37	6	"Down & Dirty"	Michael Preece	Rogers Turrentine	February 10, 1981 (1981-02-10)
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 (1981-02-17)
39	8	"Blond in a Gilded Cell"	Christian I. Nyby II	Robert L. McCullough	March 3, 1981 (1981-03-03)
40	9	"For Adults Only"	Daniel Haller	Tom Sawyer	March 10, 1981 (1981-03-10)
41	10	"A Bear in the Hand"	Christian I. Nyby II	Michael Halperin	March 17, 1981 (1981-03-17)
42	11	"Seven Lady Captives"	Christian I. Nyby II	Tom Sawyer	March 24, 1981 (1981-03-24)
43	12	"S.T.U.N.T."	Daniel Haller	Story by : Michael Sloan & Richard Lindheim Teleplay by : Michael Sloan	March 31, 1981 (1981-03-31)
44	13	"Who Is B.J.?"	Peter Crane	Michael Sloan	April 25, 1981 (1981-04-25)
45	14	"Detective Finger, I Presume"	Gil Bettman	Robert L. McCullough	May 2, 1981 (1981-05-02)
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 (1981-05-09)

Notes

^ Not to be confused with the season two opener "Snow White and the Seven Lady Truckers", also a two-parter

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

[5] Not to be confused with the season two opener "Snow White and the Seven Lady Truckers", also a two-parter

[1] Robinson, Mark (2011). Encyclopedia of Television Theme Songs. McFarland. p. 26. ISBN 9780786465170.

[2] Witbeck, Charles (June 24, 1979). "'BJ and the Bear': a silent interview with Sam the chimp". Chicago Tribune: J3.

[3] "Claude Akins; actor in classic movies". St. Louis Post-Dispatch: 4. 1994-01-28.

[4] Lee Goldberg, Unsold Television Pilots: 1955 through 1989, 1990, pp. 352-353, McFarland, ISBN 0-89950-373-X

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v t e Works by Christopher Crowe
Films written and directed	Off Limits (1988) Whispers in the Dark (1992)
Films written	The Last Chase (1981) Nightmares (1983) The Mean Season (1985) The Last of the Mohicans (1992) Fear (1996) Homeland Security (2004)
TV series created	B. J. and the Bear (1979–1981) B.L. Stryker (1989–1990) H.E.L.P. (1990) The Untouchables (1993–1994) The Watcher (1995) Seven Days (1998–2001)
Category