Hummer Heritage Collection: BJ and the Bear

Beginning in the 1970s, the United States saw a dramatic rise in the popularity of trucker culture. Movies and television shows highlighted the adventures of a trucking career and life on the open road. Don Hummer Trucking’s Hummer Heritage Collection honors the history of trucking and harkens back to this era. BJ and the Bear (NBC, 1978 - 1981) premiered in 1978, following the success of films such as Movin' On (1974), White Line Fever (1975), and Smokey and the Bandit (1977).

The action comedy series stars Greg Evigan as truck driver BJ, and follows the adventures of him and his copilot Bear, a chimpanzee. Over three seasons, BJ and Bear travel across the country in their tractor-trailer, usually exposing crimes occurring in the area they’re traveling through. In the first season, BJ drives a red and white 1978 Kenworth K-100 Aerodyne Cabover.

Check out these additional fun facts about the series!

• Glen Larson, who created BJ and the Bear, also wrote the show’s theme song. The star of the show, Greg Evigan, was the original singer.
• Greg Evigan did many of his own stunts and driving scenes.
• Bear was named after Bear Bryant, a famous football coach from the University of Alabama.
• Claude Atkins, who played Sheriff Elroy P. Labo in BJ and the Bear, also starred in the movie-turned-television series Movin’ On, which is also centered on truck drivers and the trucking industry.
• The original truck used in the series was found in an overgrown field in Georgia in 2007. Craig and Paul Sagehorn, a father and son from Wisconsin purchased and restored the cabover to its original glory.

May 8, 2007, Mike Johnson, Source: Big Mac Trucks Article

 

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