BJ and the Bear | Greg Evigan TV Show

Between 1979 and August 1981, youngsters everywhere enjoyed a somewhat unique TV show called BJ and the Bear. The 60 minute NBC comedy focused around a handsome young trucker, BJ  (Greg Evigan) and his travel buddy, a chimpanzee named Bear.

The two cruised around the highways in a big red and white rig while BJ's nemesis, Sheriff Lobo (Claude Akins) relentlessly tried to arrest BJ. The show was very similar to Dukes of Hazzard.with Rosco P. Coltrane chasing after Bo and Luke Duke.

Here's a clip of BJ and The Bear.

Roseanne Roseannadanna - Gilda Radner

Roseanne Roseannadanna
from Saturday Night Live.

At around age nine, I discovered a TV show my fellow classmates knew nothing about. Every Saturday night, after my scheduled bedtime, I would tiptoe down to the den and watch Saturday Night Live. 

I first discovered the show at my friend Dawn's house. Dawn lived with her dad and he didn't care what we did. I'd sleep at her house on Friday or Saturday nights. We'd build blanket forts and stay up late watching Saturday Night Live every weekend. 

For some reason, I thought the late Gilda Radner was hysterical as Roseanne Roseannadanna. Her crazy-haired fictitious character was notoriously loud and obnoxious. Roseanne Roseannadanna would read hilarious "Dear Abby" style letters during SNL's Weekend Update skits. I'm quite sure I was watching this in the 1980s. Maybe NBC ran repeats of the late 1970 episodes. I can't recall. Feel free to enlighten me with a comment if you remember.

Here is a sample clip of Gilda Radner as Roseanne Roseannadanna on Saturday Night Live back in the late 1970s.