Mrs. A: What's the name of that show again?
Me: Eastbound & Down
Mrs. A: That's a weird name, hard to remember
Me: Not if you've seen Smoky & the Bandit, "Eastbound & Down, loaded up and trucking, we're gonna do what they say can't be done" (yes I was singing this part. Pluto got up and went to lay down in the hallway).
Mrs. A: I never saw that movie. Wasn't the Bandit a chimp or something?
Me: uh, well, the Bandit was Burt Reynolds.
Mrs. A: So yes, then!
Which made me remember exactly why I'd married her lo these 14 years ago!
I offered that she might be thinking of "Every which way but loose" where Clint Eastwood drove around with Clyde the orangutan, but she said she was thinking of a TV show, then I came up with "BJ and the Bear" but I couldn't remember whether it had an ape or a monkey or even which title character was the simian.
This'll get you straight on the chimp:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AsqKQptTdQ
"I'm BJ McKay and this is my best friend, Bear" is I think what he sings on the second go-round. (I used to think it was "I'm BJ McKay and meet my best friend bear", but the video proves me wrong.
The Chimp was Bear, "Right turn, Clyde", and Reynolds is now a chimp with a facelift.
ReplyDeleteI've encouraged a first-year grad student from China to watch "Smokey and the Bandit" as a good way to learn about American culture. The cannon must be passed on!