B.J. and the Bear: The Show That Made Trucking Cool

There are some TV shows that could only have been born in the late seventies, that magical stretch of American pop culture when CB radios were king, truckers were folk heroes, and every kid in the neighborhood suddenly wanted a handle like “Bandit,” “Snowman,” or “Cottonmouth.” Into that world rolled B.J. and the Bear, a show so perfectly of its time that you can practically smell the diesel fumes and hear the chatter on Channel 19 just thinking about it.

The series premiered on NBC on February 10, 1979, and ran until May 9, 1981. It was an action‑comedy built around a simple, irresistible premise: a good‑hearted independent trucker and his pet chimpanzee traveling the highways of America, getting into trouble, getting out of trouble, and looking impossibly cool doing it.

Greg Evigan starred as Billie Joe “B.J.” McKay, a freelance trucker with a red‑and‑white Kenworth K‑100 Aerodyne cabover that looked like it had rolled straight out of a toy catalog. Riding shotgun was Bear, his mischievous chimpanzee companion, named after legendary Alabama football coach Bear Bryant.

The two of them crisscrossed the country, hauling loads, helping strangers, dodging corrupt sheriffs, and generally living the kind of life every kid with a Matchbox truck dreamed about.

The show was created by Glen A. Larson and Christopher Crowe, the same creative minds behind Knight Rider, Magnum, P.I., and half the shows that defined the era. It arrived at the peak of America’s trucking obsession, a cultural moment fueled by movies like Smokey and the Bandit, songs like “Convoy,” and the sudden popularity of CB radios as the social network of their day.

B.J. and the Bear leaned into that vibe with gusto. It had the lingo, the attitude, the wide‑open highways, and the sense that the world was still big enough to get lost in.

The show mixed lighthearted adventure with just enough danger to keep things interesting. B.J. often found himself up against shady businessmen, crooked lawmen, or small‑town troublemakers. Claude Akins played Sheriff Elroy P. Lobo, a character so popular he eventually spun off into his own series, The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo.

But at its core, the show was about freedom…the kind you feel with the windows down, the radio up, and the road stretching out in front of you.

The theme song, also titled “B.J. and the Bear,” was written by Glen A. Larson and performed by Greg Evigan himself. It had that unmistakable late‑70s charm…part country, part pop, part “let’s hit the road and see where we end up.”

If you grew up with it, you can probably still hum it.

The series ran for three seasons and produced 46 episodes. It wasn’t the longest‑running show of its era, but it carved out a place in the cultural memory. It was fun. It was earnest. It didn’t take itself too seriously. And it gave America one of its most unlikely buddy duos: a trucker and a chimp who somehow made perfect sense together.

B.J. and the Bear feels like a postcard from a different America…one where the highways were open, the adventures were simple, and the good guys always found a way to win. It was part road trip, part comedy, part wish‑fulfillment fantasy for anyone who ever dreamed of leaving their worries in the rearview mirror.

And maybe that’s why it still sticks with us. Because deep down, we all want to believe there’s still a little bit of B.J. McKay in the world…someone rolling down the highway with a smile, a story, and a chimpanzee riding shotgun.

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