Snow White And The Seven Lady Truckers

12 13 Snow White and the Seven Lady Truckers
September 29 & October 6, 1979
Music: Stu Phillips
Teleplay: Michael Sloan
Story: Glen A. Larson & Michael Sloan
Director: Christian I. Nyby II

BJ AND THE BEAR returned for its second season on NBC, still stuck in a very tough Saturday timeslot opposite ABC's monster hit, THE LOVE BOAT. Although BJ survived Captain Stubing's bouncy wake, its CBS counterpart, BIG SHAMUS LITTLE SHAMUS, a detective series starring Brian Dennehy, was cancelled very quickly.

With BJ's usual tormentor, Sheriff Lobo (Claude Akins), the star of his own NBC spinoff, executive producers Glen A. Larson and Michael Sloan filled the bill with a new Lobo clone, a bumbling comic antagonist played by veteran character actor Slim Pickens named Sgt. Beauregard Wiley, a devious, corrupt deputy in the employ of clueless Sheriff Masters (Richard Deacon). Wiley gains a partner in BJ's two-part season premiere, that of officer Wilhemina "The Fox" Johnson (Conchata Ferrell), who is sent by the governor to investigate Masters' department, but ends up cutting herself in for half his profits.

Wiley is also on the payroll of Hi Baller, a trucking company run by Hammer (Charles Napier) and Riker (Bill McKinney), two mean cusses who bully the competition and charge the county's highest rates. Their latest ire is aimed at the Piston Packin' Mamas, a trucking organization spearheaded by BJ (Greg Evigan) and populated by six foxy drivers, including Tommy (Janet Louise Johnson, who appeared in different roles during Season One), Leather (Carlene Watkins, later on BEST OF THE WEST), Chattanooga (Sonia Manzano), Sal (Julie Gregg), Angel (Daryle Ann Lindley) and Honey (curvy Angela Aames, another holdover from BJ's first year). Everybody hangs out at Bullets' (Joshua Shelley) truck stop, which includes a swanky Jacuzzi room.

Basically, BJ and the girls receive trucking contracts, while Hammer and Riker, with Wiley's aid, sabotage their runs and spoil their loads. Some chases, stunts and crashes mix with a couple of fights and explosions, as well as Aames bouncing around in a bikini and nuzzling Napier's face. Hey, what more could you want from a Glen A. Larson series? Season Two also marks the beginning of Stu Phillips' tenure as BJ AND THE BEAR's composer. He and Larson had worked together on earlier shows, particularly BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, and he would go on to write music for others, including KNIGHT RIDER.