Movin' On (TV series)

For the 2009 UK TV miniseries, see Moving On (TV series).
Movin' On

Photo from the September 1974 series premiere
Genre Drama
Created by Philip D'Antoni
Barry J. Weitz
Written by Stanley Z. Cherry
Phillip D'Antoni
George Kirgo
Ken Kolb
Eugene Price
Barry J. Weitz
Starring Claude Akins
Frank Converse
Theme music composer Merle Haggard
Composer(s) Earle Hagen
John Scott
Country of origin United States
Original language(s) English
No. of seasons 2
No. of episodes 44[1]
Production
Executive producer(s) Philip D'Antoni
Barry J. Weitz
Producer(s) Ernie Frankel
Joseph Gantman
Camera setup Single-camera
Running time 60 minutes
Production company(s) D'Antoni/Weitz Productions
Distributor Peter Rodgers Organization
Release
Original network NBC
Picture format Color
Audio format Monaural
Original release May 8, 1974 (1974-05-08) – March 2, 1976 (1976-03-02)
Chronology
Preceded by In Tandem (TV movie)

Movin' On is an American drama series that ran for two seasons (and a total of forty-four episodes), between 1974 and 1976. It originally appeared on the NBC television network. The pilot episode for the series was known as In Tandem.

Synopsis

Movin' On stars Claude Akins as old-time independent "big-rig" truck driver Sonny Pruitt, and Frank Converse as his college-educated co-driver Will Chandler. The theme song, "Movin' On", was written and performed by Merle Haggard, and was a No. 1 single on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart in July 1975.

The series was likened to Route 66 and Cannonball, following a similar format. Episodes usually centered on Sonny and Will, always traveling, becoming involved in the lives of people they met (or met again) in the various places they found themselves.

The pilot episode was a made-for-television movie originally titled In Tandem – a reference to the tandem axles on the tractor and trailer, as well as that they drove as a team, or "in tandem". The movie begins with Will sliding out of control in a truck he was driving, due to poor maintenance of the brakes. After he manages to get the truck stopped, he drives to a truck stop and calls the company to quit his job. He then meets Sonny, a "gypsy" trucker, and they decide to try driving as a team, which works out well.

The truck tractor featured on the pilot episode was a dark green 1973 Kenworth W-925, but was later changed to a 1974 model for the series run. Movin' On was filmed on location all over the United States, including Glen Burnie, Maryland; Mobile, Alabama; Sedona, Arizona; San Diego and San Francisco, California; Buford and Jonesboro, Georgia; Durham and Charlotte, North Carolina; Astoria, The Dalles and Hood River, Oregon; and Norfolk, Virginia.

Akins and Converse actually drove the trucks during filming, having been trained and obtaining their chauffeur's licenses (the forerunner to the commercial driver's license) prior to making the pilot episode. Executive producers for the series were Barry Weitz and Philip D'Antoni. Akins later went on to appear in another trucking-related TV series, the more comedy-oriented B.J. and the Bear.

Episode list

Pilot (1974)

Season 1 (1974–1975)

  1. "The Time of His Life" (September 12, 1974)
  2. "Roadblock" (September 19, 1974)
  3. "Grit" (September 26, 1974)
  4. "Lifeline" (October 3, 1974)
  5. "The Trick Is to Stay Alive" (October 10, 1974)
  6. "Cowhands" (October 24, 1974)
  7. "The Good Life" (November 7, 1974)
  8. "Games" (November 14, 1974)
  9. "Hoots" (November 21, 1974)
  10. "Good for Laughs" (November 28, 1974)
  11. "High Rollers" (December 5, 1974)
  12. "Goin' Home (Part 1)" (December 12, 1974)
  13. "Goin' Home (Part 2)" (December 19, 1974)
  14. "Antiques" (December 26, 1974)
  15. "Explosion" (January 2, 1975)
  16. "Landslide" (January 16, 1975)
  17. "Fraud" (January 30, 1975)
  18. "Ammo" (February 6, 1975)
  19. "Tattoos" (February 13, 1975)
  20. "Ransom" (February 20, 1975) (Originally intended to air on January 23, 1975 under the title "Ann's Party", but was delayed due to a presidential television interview)
  21. "The Price of Loving" (April 2, 1975)
  22. "Wedding Bells" (April 9, 1975)

Season 2 (1975–1976)

  1. "The Stowaway" (September 9, 1975)
  2. "From Baltimore to Eternity" (September 16, 1975)
  3. "The Toughest Man in America" (September 23, 1975)
  4. "The Elephant Story" (September 30, 1975)
  5. "Home Is Not a House" (October 7, 1975)
  6. "...To Be in Carolina" (October 14, 1975)
  7. "Will the Last Trucker Leaving Charlotte Turn Out the Lights?" (October 21, 1975)
  8. "General Delivery Raleigh" (November 4, 1975)
  9. "The Big Wheel"(November 11, 1975)
  10. "Prosperity Number One" (November 16, 1975)
  11. "Please Don't Talk to the Driver" (November 25, 1975)
  12. "The Long Way to Nowhere" (December 9, 1975)
  13. "Breakout" (December 16, 1975)
  14. "Love, Death and Laura Brown"(December 23, 1975)
  15. "The Old South Will Rise Again" (January 6, 1976)
  16. "Witch Hunt" (January 16, 1976)
  17. "The Big Switch" (January 20, 1976)
  18. "Woman of Steel" (January 27, 1976)
  19. "Living It Up" (February 10, 1976)
  20. "No More Sad Songs" (February 17, 1976)
  21. "Full Fathom Five" (February 24, 1976)
  22. "Sing It Again, Sonny" (March 2, 1976)

Home media

All 44 episodes began airing on Hulu in 2016.

The CB radio boom in the mid-1970s figured into a merchandising tie-in for the show, and Movin' On-brand walkie-talkies, which worked on CB channel 14, were marketed to children.

During the series, truck drivers on the CB would say that they were going to "do it like Pruitt". After the series ended, the phrase became "do it like Pruitt used to do it." This phrase could still be heard occasionally 30 years later, often spoken by drivers too young to understand the reference.[2]

References

  1. ↑ http://www.tvobscurities.com/2016/05/meet-the-man-who-saved-movin-on
  2. ↑ http://trucker-blog.com/movin-on-do-it-like-pruitt-used-to-do-it/
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