Cheech & Chong's Last Movie (2024)

[bunniefuu]

(match strikes)

CHONG:

Okay, now, we're all warmed up.

We're ready to party, okay?

The greatest thing

about partying

is that you don't have

to go nowhere to party,

and nowhere's a cool place to be

because you're already there.

You're-you're going nowhere.

This is going nowhere.

Who you are depends on

where you're going.

So when you have

to go somewhere,

bring someone along

that knows where they're going.

("Lost Due to Incompetence"

by Yesca playing)

CHONG: There are certain things

you can't do on television.

And we made a list of them.

We're gonna do them all.

(cheering, applause)

DINAH SHORE:

Cheech & Chong started

the whole hard-rock

comedy craze.

They've set an all-time record

for comedy records sold.

CHEECH:

And now it's time

for America's favorite

daytime fun show,

Let's Make a Dope Deal.

TONI TENNILLE: I got to

ask you about the drugs,

because I know both of you

experimented very heavily.

It's not hard to see

what drugs do to you.

-You know...

-Make you rich.

TENNILLE:

Well, you-- yeah. (laughs)

JOHNNY CARSON:

You heard about

the new death penalty

in California?

You have to stand

between Cheech & Chong

-for half an hour.

-(laughter)

INTERVIEWER:

You have been busted.

We got busted for obscenity.

-INTERVIEWER: You did?

-BOTH: Yeah.

MERV GRIFFIN: Cheech & Chong

were just honored

as the Comedy of the Decade.

Their films have earned

close to $200 million.

How many movies do you have

planned for the future?

-Seventeen.

-(laughter)

TOM SNYDER:

Are you a one-joke team?

No, we're two-joke.

-Yeah.

-(laughter)

SHORE: Do you have

any views on politics?

We're not into sick humor,

actually.

-No.

-(laughter)

INTERVIEWER:

Do you ever argue?

-No. No.

-Yeah. Yeah.

-No, we just...

-Yes.

-We don't argue, you know?

-We argue.

-We discuss.

-We argue.

We don't argue. We discuss.

FRED SAXON: Don't you feel

that you're contributing

to something ill*gal

in this film?

Uh, I certainly hope so.

CHEECH: We like to contribute

to the growth of America

and the stunting

of the growth of America.

GERALDO RIVERA: Cheech,

how'd you guys get together?

Hey, man, roll them bigger

than this, man.

CHONG:

It's all seeds, man.

CHEECH:

I-I think we got ripped off.

-Uh, gentlemen?

-Oh.

(chuckles)

Uh, well, we got together...

(laughter)



Tommy, what is it about Cheech

that you most admire?

Cheech, he's very up to date.

He's like a,

a TV set I can tune into

at any time

and find out what's going on.

He's like a wife

that, thank God,

-I don't have to go

to bed with. -(laughter)

INTERVIEWER:

Okay, Cheech.

What is it you most admire

about Tommy?

He always surprises me,

you know.

He always knows more

than I think he knows.

He has this

real Gemini personality,

so he's real right on the track

and then he's off in the stars.

It's fun to follow him

both places.

You never know

what it's gonna be. (laughs)

"Oh, well, follow this train

for a little while,

see where it goes."

(laughing)



CHEECH:

Where in the desert, Tommy?

I don't know, man.

He just said "the desert."

Well, the desert's

a big place, man.

Did he say any particular spot

in the desert?

Dave told me.

-Well, what did he told you?

-He told me

-"in the desert."

-Not a name? Not a town?

Not a place? Not anything?

No, he said something about

a joint. I remember that.

A joint?

Well...

Do you got a joint?

Are you two what people

think you are?

-From...

-Dopers?

-Well, that's not what I mean.

-(laughter)

We won't-- we'll get

into that later.

But, I mean, people think

you're two crazy, you know...

-Uh...

-But you're not. You...

-No, no.

-I saw you backstage.

What are,

what are you really like?

We're very serious-minded.

-Very serious?

-Yes.

TENNILLE:

It's quite an unlikely pairing

because Cheech, you are Mexican

American, born in Watts?

-Mm-hmm.

-And you are Chinese Canadian,

-raised in...

-Well, half, half Chinese.

How in the world

did you ever get together?

CHEECH:

It was a mix-up

-at the Green Card office.

-(laughter)

sh*t, I had a joint.

What did I do with it?

Come on, you must have

old joints in the--

in your pocket.

Are you f*cking with me?

You've got a joint.

-You always got weed, man.

-I never have the joint.

I always smoke the weed

that you have.

That's how it works.

So, no joint?

I can't believe we're

in the desert without any weed.

Don't worry.

Things will work out, man.

They always do.

Something will happen.

That's what I'm afraid of.

INTERVIEWER:

Are you satirizing

-the drug culture?

-CHONG: Whatever.

INTERVIEWER:

Well, if you're satirizing it,

does that imply that you can

see something's wrong with it?

-All we do is-is generally...

-Well...

...just portray it as it is,

you know?

See, there's no set rules,

because you never know.

Like a lot of people say,

"It was wrong

"for this guy to go to jail,

but yet he wrote

a great novel

while he was in there."

Because people's

experiences, man,

how can you say they're

right or wrong, you know?

People go through

what they need to go through

in order to be--

in order to get some use

of living on Earth.

So how can you make

any judgment?

I can't.

All we can do is, uh...

is just be funny.

CHONG:

My whole being, my success,

my life, dates back

to my earliest memories.

One day, my brother and I were

walking down a dirt road,

and a car pulled up.

It was a carload

of missionaries.

And they said, "Hey,

you boys want to go to camp?"

And I immediately,

"Yeah, I do. What's camp?"

It was a Bible camp,

Christian Bible camp.

First thing they did was

they taught us how to pray,

'cause if you learn how to pray,

you pray for wisdom,

'cause that's one thing

that can be granted.

My mother had TB,

and so we all got checked out,

and I had a little spot

on my lung.

I ended up in the hospital.

I became an observer,

because I couldn't participate,

but I could watch and learn.

INTERVIEWER:

How tough was it

growing up in Canada?

CHONG:

I never knew I lived in poverty

until someone told me about it

years later, you know,

'cause when I was there,

everybody was in

the same boat, so...

We lived in between

the country and the city,

and we had none of

the conveniences of the city,

but we had none of

the luxuries of the country.

My dad was Chinese.

My mother, Scotch-Irish descent.

The Chinese were considered

not human.

Interracial marriage

was very dangerous.

You could go to jail.

Mom taught me early on,

"You're different.

"And by being different,

people will notice you.

So you better be your best."

-(fire crackling)

-(crickets chirping)

They had a little birthday party

for this girl across the alley,

and I was specifically

not invited

because I was half Chinese.

But I could see the bonfire

from my window in my bedroom.

The kids gathered around,

all my friends.

It makes you sad,

but it also makes you...

it gives you knowledge.

You know? You go, "Oh."

(chuckles)

"Oh, that's

what they think of me."

CHONG: I'm digging this, man.

I love the desert.

CHEECH:

I love the desert, too.

I just like to know

where I'm going sometimes.

And apparently, they have

no weed in the desert.

You'll see. Weed will appear.

(sighs) Okay.

(siren wailing)



CHEECH:

The thing that I remember most

about South Central is that

it was extremely violent.

I saw three murders

right in front of my eyes

by the time I was seven.

It was 99.9% Black.

All my friends, everybody

that I knew was Black,

and I was one

of the only Chicanos.

Uh, there was a few Asians

and some lost white people.

(chuckles)

But that was it--

it was all Black.

So I thought that was normal,

you know, "Okay."

And I was just like one of them.

My friend Junior lived

right across the street

from the school, and his mama

did Bobo Brazil's laundry.

(bell ringing)

Bobo Brazil was a big wrestler

of the time, and he had

a white Cadillac convertible

with zebra upholstery.

And he used to come

and pick up his laundry,

and he'd pull up

in front of the school.

And the whole school knew

that Bobo Brazil was here.

-(children clamoring)

-And then when he came out,

I saw the reaction

that he caused among the kids.

He was on TV

every Wednesday night

wrestling k*ller Kowalski

and Mr. Moto

and Sndor Szab

and all these great wrestlers.

-(audience cheering)

-(bell ringing)

ANNOUNCER:

Bobo Brazil!

That was really show business

for my neighborhood.

We were a real typical

middle-class family.

The mother who would stay home

and take care of the kids

and did all the housework

and provide

all the emotional comfort.

And my dad was the worker

and the stern,

authoritarian father.

A neighbor once said, "Oscar,

"you're the most even-tempered

man I've ever met.

Always mad."

And so, that kind of

described my dad.

He was a tough guy.

LAPD, on the force for 30 years.

(g*nsh*t)

It was a sh*t job, man.

You just saw the worst aspects

of humanity every day.

It affects how you interact

with people

and your view of people.

So he kind of assumed

that whenever he was asking me

a question about,

"Where were you?

What are you doing?

What did you do?"

that I was lying to him.

He was right most of the time.

I just learned to be

a better liar, I guess.

(laughs): That was

my first role as an actor.

If I could get by my dad

with a story,

well, "That was a pretty good

story. I-I told it well."

CHONG: You still won't grow

your mustache back.

You've made such an imprint

with that character,

and then to have you

not doing that?

You know, it-it-it's

really hard to accept it.

So, your mustache

is so, uh, important

-for the Cheech character.

-Yeah.

That's your-your trademark,

and you-you refuse to do it.

I didn't want to wear a mustache

because I was doing other roles.

And also, it made me look older,

-and I didn't want to look

older. -Well, yeah.

-Y-You're not Cheech.

-Yeah.

Of Cheech & Chong.

-I'm Cheech of Cheech Marin.

-Yeah, well,

that's the difference.

That's the difference.

Nothing lasts forever, Tommy.

You know? Nothing lasts forever.



ANNOUNCER:

The youngsters,

aged from 14 to 18,

come from all walks of life.

All members

of the Army Cadet Force

come once a year

for a week under canvas

with ex-Army officers.

CHONG:

Army Cadets in Canada

was like a vacation

for the poor.

I learned how to sh**t a r*fle,

and I learned how to smoke,

and I learned how to drink.

I learned how to play guitar.



We would play all night,

go to bed, wake up and reach

over and start playing again.



I got turned on to Ornette

Coleman and pot the same night.

I would go down to

the jazz club with my guitar

because it got me in for free.

One night, this bass player

gave me a joint.

I smoked up my first toke

and listened to Ornette Coleman

play "The Lonely Woman."



It's the most beautiful

turn-on in the world.

The next day,

I quit school immediately

because I knew in my heart

all I wanted to do

was play blues and smoke pot.

That's all I wanted to do.

CHEECH:

I think the goal

in moving the family

out of South Central

to Granada Hills

is that they wanted

to move us to a safer place.

The air was different

and the sun was different

and all the houses

were brand-new,

and it was like you just got

transported to Oz.

I discovered I was creative,

like, right away.

I remember in grade school,

I was a singer.

I had the ability to sing

in tune at a very young age.

I would make up

harmonies in class,

and the teacher

would look at me,

"Well, how did you learn that?"

"I-I didn't learn it.

I just did it."

The biggest adjustment is not

seeing any Black people.

I remember the first day

of school,

I went out to play

at recess and I said,

"Oh, tetherball. I know that."

So I sat on the bench

and waited for my turn.

These two kids

walked towards me.

The one bigger kid

pushes me off the bench,

and he goes, "Hey, blackie,

get to the back."

What?

From South Central, I learned

to get in the first punch.

The kids were bigger

in the Valley,

so I learned to be funny.

(solemn choral singing)

I experienced the racism

in Granada Hills

at the very, very beginning.

And I got over that real quick

because I shifted

from public school

to Catholic school.

And they didn't play that sh*t.

They didn't play no

blackie/whitey sh*t.

They just played straight-up

corporal punishment.

You know, when you walk

into class, there's a cross

with a guy nailed on it,

uh, uh, so y-you get

what the deal is.



Every kid that goes

to Catholic school

is convinced that they want

to be a priest or a nun

at some point

because they cram that

into you every day.

It's called a vocation.

And eventually,

if they repeat it enough,

then you get a vocation.

So I was going to be a priest,

accepted to the junior seminary.

And then I started going

to parties,

and the girls liked me,

especially the white girls

named Debbie.

I was exotic to them,

and they were exotic to me.

Then I realized no girls

whatsoever in priesthood.

I-I don't know about that one.

Let's go, let's go,

let's go.

("Do You Want to Dance"

by Bobby Freeman playing)

Well, do you wanna dance

and hold my hand...

CHONG:

I started a band,

and we called ourselves

The Shades,

because we were all

different colors.

Do you wanna dance?

Trying to fit into

the white world,

I was an outsider.

When I discovered Black culture,

my life changed so beautifully.

Hey!



I was accepted into

the hippest culture

on the planet,

and fell in love with the music

and this gorgeous

15-year-old, Maxine,

at the same time.

When I saw her, I said, "Whoa."

When I brought Maxine home,

my dad took me

in the other room and says,

"Son, she's Black."

I said, "Pop, you're Chinese."



CHONG:

Maxine and I always had a bond.

That's why, when Maxine was

ready to get married,

we got married.

Because Maxine really was

wife material.

We moved to Vancouver,

I found a house,

and that's where

I spent my time,

raising kids and being happy.

Oh, you know what?

I think I dropped some gummies

a couple of days ago.

Where?

It's in this seat over here.

Well, get down. Come on.



CHONG:

The Shades broke up,

and the new group was called

Little Daddy and the Bachelors,

even though we were all married.

It was perfect.

You're sure you had 'em, huh?

I had 'em, man, I had 'em.

I know I had 'em.

CHONG:

And so we were playing a gig,

and I was standing outside

of the venue

when this beautiful

young blonde, Shelby,

comes walking up.

She said, "Take us

to the Harlem Nocturne."

And I thought, "Oh, this

snotty-nosed little b*tch."

Take-- Get, get... Okay.

So we drove to

the Harlem Nocturne,

and she gets out

of the back seat,

and she gives me

the nicest kiss.

I was like, "Whoa!"

And then she turned

and walked away into the club.

-Hey, was that...

-SHELBY: No!

Got 'em.

I knew they were here, man.

What the hell?

CHONG:

My Chinese friends built

this club called

The Shanghai Junk.

They were on the verge

of going under,

so they offered the club

to me and my brother

to see if we could

do anything with it.

We changed it into a strip bar

and started making the rent.

Around that time, I found

this incredible singer,

Bobby Taylor.

When I found you, dear

Bobby was very ambitious.

I found something new,

dear...

We would play as many

as five sets a night.

The club started making money,

and we started buying houses.

I ended up moving

next door to Shelby.

It was total coincidence.

Mind you, I was very

happily married to Maxine.

We had a beautiful family,

but I, um...

discovered acid.

And that was when I learned

when you do acid with a lady,

prepare to spend the rest

of your life with her.

CHONG (chuckling):

I got the gummies.

-(sighs)

-(Cheech chuckles)

Well, open them up.

Okay, I'll tell you what.

I'll give you a gummy,

you take half,

and you give me the other half.

-Okay?

-Okay.

That way, I won't lead you

down the wrong path.

-Okay? Just take half.

-Okay. Just take half.

You took it all.

No, I didn't. Here.

I don't want it after

being in your mouth.

Oh, you don't want it? Okay.

I'll do my own half,

and...

two.

-Good gummy.

-Yeah?

You know, these are loaded.

I hope so.

I've built up a resistance.

So, what are we supposed to be

looking for?

Dave said to look for a sign.

-A sign?

-Yeah.

What is the sign

supposed to look like?

Don't worry, you'll know it

when you see it.

Ah.

-Look for a sign.

-Okay.

No sign here.

INTERVIEWER:

How is the fact that

your father was a cop

affect your youth?

I learned to duck real quick.

INTERVIEWER: You got into

physical fights with him.

Yeah, he used to beat me.

I was his punching bag,

you know.

And I was just a wiseass, man.

Just a motormouth, you know.

Whatever he had to say,

I had, you know,

ten wise answers

for it, you know?

INTERVIEWER:

And he used to smack you up

-by the third or something?

-Yeah.

Did it get to a point

where he had to catch you?

-I mean, you ran?

-Yeah.

Well, that's exactly what it was

is that, like,

when I got to be about 12,

I could run faster

than he could.

-Mm-hmm.

-I was really fast.

And so I-I had this, like,

little radar thing going.

I could only stay

a certain distance from him

and be wise, you know?

'Cause I knew I could

outrun him from that distance.

But he used to chase me

through the house,

out through the yard,

over the fence

and down the alley.

CHEECH:

My relationship with my dad

was always contentious. Always.

We fought a battle

our whole lives.

I left home because one of us

was gonna get hurt.

And I told him that

if he ever hit me again,

I was gonna do something

about it.



College, man, that was,

like, the big melting pot.

There was kids from all over.

You could voice

your opinion in college,

and everybody had

a different opinion.

Catholic school, you go,

"Uh, God told me,

and now I'm telling you."

I was in line trying

to register for class,

and this really cute girl says,

"Oh, I just signed up

for pottery.

You should take it with me."

I threw my first wad of clay

on the wheel,

and that was it.

I was gonna be a potter.

My recessive Mexican

pottery genes

came jumping out, said,

"Hey, vato, where you been,

man? Come on."

And that coincided with

the first time I smoked a joint.

I came home one night,

and all my roommates

were having a party.

One of them handed me

this hand-rolled cigarette,

and I go, "Wh-What's this?"

-(match strikes)

-I took a hit.

(cow moos)

The only thing I remember

was thinking,

"And what else have they

been lying about?"



You don't want me

running around...

CHEECH:

Everything was rapidly changing,

and there was

a growing recognition

that we were a big generation

with a lot of power.

And we started exercising

that power.

REPORTER: Never has this

dissent been as emotional,

as intense as is the dissent

against the w*r in Vietnam.

(g*nf*re)

CHEECH:

The Vietnam w*r was starting

to really rage at that time.

And they were drafting

college-age kids.

I was exempt because

I was in college,

but all these other kids

were going and going and going.



(expl*si*n)

I had this conversation

with my dad, who was

a Navy World w*r II vet,

and he said,

"I don't believe in what

they're doing over there,

but if they called me,

I would go."

Well, that was the difference

between us, you know.

Uh, I-I-I did question

authority,

and I didn't like

the answers I was getting,

if I ever got an answer.

We are not only opposed

to the w*r in Vietnam.

We're opposed to the draft

of anybody, Black or white.

CHEECH:

We had tons of influential,

radical speakers.

David Harris, my favorite,

he was the one that

influenced me the most.

The assumption

that Selective Service

makes about us,

and the assumption

that the American states

makes about

the young people of this country

comes into a fundamental

contradiction

with the way we understand

our own lives.

CHEECH: The concept of the

draft resistance movement was

refuse at every step.

If you were not registered,

don't register.

If you registered to vote

and they called you up

for a physical,

don't go to the physical.

Use the bureaucracy

against itself.

And that's what I decided to do,

and I was, uh, active

in the... in the chapter.

And I'm free,

oh, yeah, oh, yeah

Free, free spirit.

CHONG:

Wow.

Look at the desert now.

It actually reflects

off the clouds.

And it gives a nice glow.

-Uh-huh.

-Mm.

So, how much was in

these gummies?

Whoa.

(sighs)

h*-h*!

sh*t.



CHONG:

We're gigging around town

when we got discovered

by The Supremes.

Diana Ross saw us,

loved us, called Berry Gordy.

Berry Gordy got on a plane,

flew to Vancouver,

and he signed us.

And we ended up in Detroit.

Where is your love going?

Shelby got pregnant

that acid night.

She got pregnant

and decided to come with me.

Maxine knew about Shelby,

and Shelby, of course,

knew about Maxine.

They were pretty cool about it,

you know, considering.

In fact, everybody was

pretty cool about it.

I wouldn't say

I was cool about it.

But I had two kids,

and I loved him.

-You okay?

-Huh?

Why?

Am I driving okay?



CHONG: I spent my time

recording the record

and trying to support

my two families.

I'm a guy...

Bobby Taylor was a legend

with Motown.

Whenever we appeared live,

which was quite often

because Berry loved

to show us off,

all of Motown that was in town

would come to see us

and just marvel

at Bobby Taylor's voice.

You know you're

Little Miss Sweetness

Sweetest girl

in the world, now...

DON CORNELIUS:

You're songwriters, right?

-What'd you write?

-I wrote uh,

uh, "Does Your Mama

Know About Me?"

For Bobby Taylor

and the Vancouvers?

-Yeah.

-Oh, he's a great talent.

-Yeah, really. You know Bobby?

-Of course I know Bobby.

Does your mama know

about me?

Does she know

just what I am?

CHONG:

I was always writing.

I-I write to this day.

I'm a compulsive writer.

And I wrote a poem.

How'd you get inspiration

for a song like, uh,

"Does Your Mama Know About Me?"

I used to sort of hang out

with the Black set,

so to speak, you know,

and I used to watch

a lot of friends of mine

like Bobby Taylor

take out white girls, you know?

-Uh-oh.

-And drop 'em off.

-Cut... cut that part out,

please. -(laughter)

And now a word from Artra. Uh...

(laughter)

CHONG:

"Does Your Mama Know About Me?"

was my first taste of being

a songwriter.

REPORTER:

General Lewis Hershey,

the crusty 74-year-old

head of Selective Service,

has told draft boards

across the country

to take away the deferments

of registrants

who take actions

interfering with

Selective Service procedures.

CHEECH:

General Hershey issued

a directive that anybody

who turned their draft card in

or-or burned their draft card

or anything that we were doing

would be immediately

reclassified 1-A

and sent to the front lines

of Vietnam.

Totally ill*gal.

Your critics say that you're

stifling dissent

in this country.

If it stifles dissent

to get people

to obey the laws, I'm guilty.

CHEECH:

People were freaking out.

People were being sentenced

to eight years in prison.

My pottery teacher, who knew

of my circumstance, said,

"I have this student

who's in Canada right now

and maybe could use

an assistant."

That's all I needed.

I was on a Greyhound bus

and on my way to Canada

to be a potter.

REPORTER:

It's entirely possible

for a draft dodger,

posing as a visitor

or a student,

to cross the border

and simply disappear.

CHEECH:

I had never been in a place

where it was snowing before.

I had never seen snow.

It was the purest time

in my life.

I was meditating every day,

going down to the river

for my water,

chopping wood

and working as a potter.

I was in heaven.

The funny thing was, is I moved

to the exact location

that Tommy Chong was born

and raised in.

My mother and I would write

every once in a while

just to let her know

that I was okay.

I'd never talk to my father

all the time I was in Canada.

I didn't communicate

with him ever.

No phone calls, no letters,

no nothing.

Just goodbye.

CHONG:

Hey, man.

Why do you always drive?



CHONG: San Francisco was

a happening place.

We had a gig at Big Al's

on Broadway,

and I had a whole week

to explore that area.

At night, we had nothing to do,

so I'd wander around the clubs,

and everybody that was anybody

was playing.

Lenny Bruce was at the Hungry I.

I couldn't afford

to go in to see him,

but I sat out in the alley

and listened to him.

I wandered around,

and I stumbled into a theater

where The Committee

were playing.

It was an improvisational group.

That night, they did a bit

where the whole cast

became little dogs,

and one's taking a dump,

another one's sniffing

the other one's butt.

And then crawled off the stage,

but just seeing human beings

taking a little doggie poop

on the stage

just made me laugh so hard

I literally fell out of my seat.

I had never laughed so hard

at anything.

I was sick of the blues by then.

I wanted to see acting.

I couldn't get enough of them.

So I would go down every night

if I could and-and see them.

CHEECH: I got a job at

a ski resort being a fry cook.

At that time,

I had very little to do,

and I learned how to ski.

Sort of.

(bone cracks)

In the process

of learning how to ski,

I learned how to break

my leg in half.

I had a compound fracture,

and I was in the hospital

for a month,

and then I was in a full-length

cast for six months.

This girl I knew said,

"You can stay here

while you recuperate," so...

while she went to work

during the day,

I would hobble around the house.

She only had one record album

in the whole place.

And it was this

Diana Ross and The Supremes

Love Child album.

And on this Love Child album,

there was a song called

"Does Your Mama Know About Me?"

And I would listen to it

every day.

Does your mama know

about me?

And the lyrics were right on

about what was happening

at the time.

And so one day, I said,

"But what brother

wrote this song?"

And I turned over the album,

and it said,

"Lyrics by T. Chong."

What kind of name is

T. Chong for a brother?

CHONG: We were playing

the Regal Theater

in the heart

of the Chicago ghetto.

Everybody played

the Regal Theater.

And there was a group called

The Jackson Five Plus Johnny.

I know you told me...

CHONG: When we first heard

Michael sing,

it was a revelation.

He was the most talented

little guy I'd ever seen.

And so Bobby Taylor

convinced Joe Jackson

and the family

to come to Detroit.

Well, you didn't

You didn't want me around,

baby, yeah...

CHONG: Bobby had him audition

for Berry.

Love me no more

He signed them immediately.

But I want to know

something, yeah...

Bobby Taylor quit the band

and went solo.

He ended up producing at least

their first record for sure.

I just want to say, yeah,

I just want to say, yeah...

And that was the last band

that I was in.

-I've been a fool

-Oh-oh, whoa

I've been a fool

for you, baby, yeah...

CHONG: The clubs got into

a little bit of trouble,

so I had to go back

to Vancouver.



I started working

in the light booth,

doing the lights

for the girls' show,

and then I saw how

uninteresting the show was.

They needed some kind

of new direction.

It's a typical

Canadian floor show.

And the girls come out

one at a time,

and here's Candy

and here's Lotty

and here's Maryland.

And that was

the end of the show.

Well, no one watched it.

These drunks would come in

and get drunk

and pass out,

kind of look up there,

and it never interrupted

their conversation.

But I-I wanted to see

something happen, you know?

So I-I, I used all these people

as an improv group.

CHEECH:

At the end of the season,

my roommate says,

"Well, I'm going

back to Vancouver.

Come with me.

We'll live in Vancouver."

Sounds great. I had never been

to Vancouver before.

So away we went to Vancouver.

TV HOST:

This is Canada's Haight-Ashbury,

an area of Vancouver that houses

Canada's largest

hippie population.

CHEECH:

Vancouver in the late '60s

was the San Francisco of Canada.

Bands were coming out of there.

Culture was coming out of there.

It was like the hippies

without the political

aspect of it.

Out of the blue, I ran into

a high school friend of mine,

and he was writing for

the Western Canadian version

of Rolling Stone.

We hooked up and he said,

"Hey, I-I remember you were

a writer from high school.

"Want to write some articles

or do some reviews

for this magazine?"

I had no experience

interviewing people,

but I said I did.

One day, I met with

the publisher, and he says,

"There's this guy

I want you to meet.

"His name is Tommy Chong,

and he has this weird thing.

"It's an improvisational

theater company

in a topless bar in Chinatown."

CHONG: A friend of mine

that owned a magazine,

he knew of a guy that would fit

the show really well.

Funny little guy named Richard,

and I should meet him.

It was the first time

I'd ever seen a Mexican.

(laughing)

And I said, "Oh, you're sort

of like a... Hindu." "No."

"Are you a rug rider or what?"

You know?

CHONG:

"I don't know. What is he?

You know, he-he's something."

And then someone said,

"He's Mexican."

I'd never met a Mexican before.

That's the same opinion

I had of him

'cause he was Chinese,

but not Chinese,

or he was, like, Mongolian

or something, you know.

(chuckles)

I gave him this line of bull

that I was this great

improv actor and writer.

And so he says, "But you should

come down to the club

tomorrow night and see us."

It was a little sketchy,

you know.

The club was up

on the second floor.

(groaning)

It was dark and a lot

of bikers and loggers

and hockey players and p*mps.

And there was a lot of girls

that you could tell

they were working.

CHONG:

We were backstage,

and I was looking

through the curtains,

and Cheech was with

this gorgeous brunette

wearing a full-length mink coat.

CHEECH: Tommy always said

she had this mink coat on.

She never saw mink in her life.

It was some rabbit fur deal,

but to him, it was a mink coat.

CHONG:

Soon as I saw that,

I said, "Well, he's hired."

(chuckles)

CHEECH:

They came out.

It was the weirdest thing

I'd ever seen.

They had a classical guitarist.

They had a mime,

a mime in a strip bar.

And these girls dancing

kind of in chiffon see-through.

And they would take that off,

and so I was like,

"What is this?"

In the middle of that

comes this guy, David Graham,

Tommy's original partner,

and he starts singing...

I dream of Brownie

in the light blue jeans

She is just as neat

as licorice jelly beans.

And out comes Tommy,

and he goes,

"What kind

of f*cking song is that?"

And starts beating him

with this newspaper.

And it just cracked me up.

-(laughing)

-I just thought,

"Oh, this is really

off the wall, man.

Okay, I'll-I'll work

with these guys."



When I got hired by Tommy,

I got hired as a writer

for the group.

Every day, we would have

little rehearsals

and I would throw out

new little bits we could use.

And so very quickly, I started

writing bits for myself.

LAUNCH DIRECTOR:

One, zero.

CHONG: It was around the time

we landed on the moon.

And so one

of the first bits he did

was about being shot into space.

And then, when he's in space,

he's looking around

and there's no one around,

so he starts masturbating.

Cheech came out of college,

and he had...

you know, I mean,

he was a singer.

He used to sing

like Johnny Mathis,

and he had short hair

and he'd meditate.

You know, everybody would be

smoking dope, and we'd go,

"Is he a narc?"

(laughs)

They thought I was a narc

-for the longest time, yeah.

-CHONG: Yeah.

And Cheech is sitting there

like a little...

Mahavishnu bass player.

(laughing)

CHONG:

He had this beautiful energy.

I never met anybody

quite like him.

I've always done the,

the next thing to come along.

This came along cool.

Improv strippers.

Yeah, I could do that.

The City Works

was real street theater.

Anything was possible

'cause you never knew

what was going to work.

The show went two hours a night.

In the first hour,

we'd do our show,

and then we'd take suggestions

from the audience

for the second show.

CHEECH: You know,

everybody else viewed this

as like this temporary lark

they were doing.

Tommy was the one

that was most serious

about making a real go of it

and proved to be very astute.

He's a very funny guy

in seeing what's really obvious

that nobody else sees.

CHONG: There was

a garbage strike in Vancouver,

and this hippie Strawberry

was sitting on a pile

of plastic garbage bags

in the rain.

And he was on acid.

And I found out

that he was homeless.

So I said,

"Well, I got a nightclub,

and you can stay there."

He said, "Oh, okay."

Strawberry was, like,

perpetually stoned.

That's where I got the...

that "Hey, man."

That was Strawberry. (chuckles)

And we needed someone

to work the lights.

So Strawberry became

our light man

and our biggest critic.

"Hey, man. Oh, hey. That last

act really sucked, man.

"Hey, but you were,

you were really good.

But it really sucked, you know?"

"Whoa. Whoa.

That was horrible, man."

(chuckling)

And Strawberry would be late

with the blackout sometimes,

and we'd be frozen in position

and Cheech would go,

"Strawberry.

Blackout, Strawberry."

(snoring)

CHEECH:

It got to the point where

we were causing

a little bit of noise,

and they sent the theater critic

from the Vancouver Sun.

He thought he was going to see

some avant-garde

theater company,

kind of like Living Theatre

out of New York.

What he got was

hippie burlesque.

The crowd went

from 20, uh, drunk bikers

that would throw money around

to a couple of hundred

theatergoers

who would count their change.

And so we ended up, uh,

being fired.

My brother wanted

to take the club back

to the old stripper format,

and we had run our course

as an improvisational group.

And so the group broke up.

(glass shattering)

The girls went back stripping.

David had a family,

and he wasn't interested

in going anywhere.

CHEECH: The mime artist wanted

to go to the woods

to get his head together.

I'd been to the woods.

My head was together.

CHONG: We were the last two

left standing.

-(phone ringing)

-CHEECH: Tommy called me up.

Said, "I-I got what we can do.

"We'll form a group, me and you.

"I'm a guitar player,

you're a singer,

"and we'll do music

like a lounge act,

and we'll do these skits."

CHONG:

And we were gonna do

a battle of the bands

in Vancouver.

A big, big event.

There was about

maybe a thousand young kids

there, you know,

ready to hear music.

But we were gonna

start out with comedy,

and then we were

going to go into music.

CHEECH: And the band's

all ready to play.

So we did one bit,

-(snoring)

-got attention.

-(audience laughter)

-People shut up

and started coming

to the front of the stage.

We did another bit.

They were with us.

So we did a third bit.

Yeah, big standing ovation.

(cheering)

CHONG:

Right after we got off stage,

the bass player said,

"So, when's our next gig, boss?"

(chuckles)

Knowing very well

there was no gig

'cause they never played a note.

We're driving home that night

'cause I had my dad's car,

and the windshield wipers

didn't work.

(thunder crashes)

Vancouver is notorious

for the rain.

And the rain was

coming down really hard.

So Cheech and I were

taking turns

leaning out the car window

with a coat hanger.

We were saying, "Wow, let's

look at you and me, bud."

CHEECH: We're all buzzed

about having won

the battle of the bands.

We got to go to America.

We got to go to the U.S.

And then we got to do this,

we got to do that.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

This was fun.

What do we call ourselves?

'Cause he wanted his name

to be on whatever he was in.

He was a Shade.

He was a Bachelor.

He was a Vancouver.

Whatever is gonna be next,

he's gonna have his name on it.

So I said, "Yeah. Me, too.

I want my name on it.

So, how are we gonna do this?"

CHONG:

Richard and Tommy? No.

Chong and Marin?

Nah, that's not exciting.

CHEECH:

How about d*ck and Tommy? No.

Tommy and d*ck? No.

How about, uh, Marin and Chong?

Sounds like a "se habla espaol"

law firm, man, you know.

CHONG: And I said,

"Do you have a nickname?"

CHEECH: Well, my name

in my family is Cheech.

Uh, it's short for "chicharrn,"

which is a...

a deep-fried pigskin.

It's like Mexican potato chips.

When I was a little baby,

my uncle looked in the crib

and said, "Ay, parece

un chicharrn.

Looks just like

a little chicharrn."

CHONG:

Cheech.

Cheech & Chong. Cheech & Chong.

CHEECH: The musician in both

of our heads heard that,

'cause it had this rhythm.

Cheech & Chong.

It was never Chong and Cheech

'cause it had nothing to do

about billing.

It had to do about the sound

of how those two names

sounded together.

CHONG:

That was it. That was the name.

CHEECH:

Cheech & Chong!

We went across

the Georgia Narrows Bridge.

There was a sign that said,

"Proceed at your own risk."

And we're going "Yeah, yeah,

we're gonna be big, man.

"We're gonna, we're gonna be

the biggest names

in comedy, right?"

As we float off into the fog,

"Cheech & Chong,

Cheech & Chong, Cheech & Chong."

It was almost like a train.

"Yeah, here we go.

-Big time, here we come."

-(train whistle blows)

(lively music playing)

Na, na-na, na-na

Na-na, na-na,

na-na-na, na-na-na

Na-na, na-na, yeah

Na, na-na, na-na

Na-na, na-na,

na-na-na, na-na-na...

CHONG: We got two choices,

New York or Los Angeles,

and L.A. is a lot warmer.

CHEECH (chuckling):

It's a little warmer. Yeah.

It's easier to starve in L.A.

than it is in New York.

INTERVIEWER:

Is that a period

that you had to go through

is starving in L.A.?

CHONG: Sure, everybody

has to go through it.

In L.A., I mean, show business

capital of the world,

you, you have to know someone

to get an audition.

INTERVIEWER:

Mm-hmm.

You know, you just can't, uh,

to even play a free gig,

you can't just get up and do it.

You have to know somebody.

INTERVIEWER:

Who did you know?

-Well, nobody. We...

-(Cheech laughs)



CHEECH: We immediately went

to Maxine's apartment.

CHONG:

I showed up with a Mexican.

I wasn't a musician anymore.

And now I'm looking

for a gig as a comedian.

CHEECH:

Tommy says, "Hey, Maxine,

this is my partner Cheech,

and we need to stay with you."

And to her everlasting credit,

Maxine said, "Okay,"

and let us in.

I slept on the couch, which was

all right at nighttime,

but in the morning,

Rae Dawn and Robbi would

get up and watch cartoons

and eat their cereal

and give me that glare, like,

"Who the hell are you?

What are you doing here?"

And so I just rolled over

and went back to sleep.

CHONG: Basically,

we were broke, both of us.

And I started phoning around

looking for a gig

for us to play.

And I found the Red Fox club.

-ANNOUNCER: Cheech & Chong.

-(applause)

CHEECH: We hadn't

figured out what to do

when we first walked out.

There was no routine.

He'd talk, I'd talk.

We overlapped each other,

so very quickly we figured out

that I would disappear

and get ready

for the first character

that I was gonna do.

And Tommy would start to

develop this standup routine.

Here was a club that

we could play every night,

work on our act every night.

It was like going to the gym.

The more you went to the gym,

the stronger you got.

Any Chicanos here

tonight, maybe?

They smuggle any of you in?

(laughs)

Anyways, it's really hip

being Chicano nowadays.

I'm really glad it came around.

I was really having a tough time

faking being Filipino,

you know, so...

Didn't have a gold tooth

and it was all, um...

(laughter)

I used to get nervous

before I went on stage

in the early days.

And Tommy didn't

make it any easier

when he would announce

that I was dodging the draft

and wanted by the FBI.

He thought it was funny.

I didn't think it was so funny.

CHONG:

Comedians back in the day,

they were treated like dirt.

They weren't respected.

They respected the stripper

that brought in the people,

but they never had no respect

for a guy

that was trying

to make everybody laugh.

When you first start off

with comedy, you write a set.

Six months later,

y-you need a new set.

And it never stops.

And you just keep digging

and digging and digging.

It's like working

in a coal mine.

Well, y-you sh*t your pants

or something?

Yeah, yeah,

I sh*t my pants, man.

Well, why the hell

don't you go home

and change them,

for Christ's sake?

I'm not done yet, man.

(laughter)

CHEECH: Drama is cumulative

and pays off at the end.

Comedy is joke by joke.

It's like playing

the slot machines.

One nickel in, two nickels out.

CHONG: I had been through

the Chitlin' Circuit

with a Motown band.

It's a very hard life.

But being a comedian

was such a huge step.

We weren't going to give up.

CHEECH: The only mode

of transportation we had

was Tommy's Honda 90.

So, to go to a gig,

we would take

all of our costumes

and put them on

at the same time,

three or four coats,

couple pairs of pants,

tie shoes around our neck,

have three or four hats on

at the same time,

and tool around

from L.A. to Pasadena,

Santa Monica to Hermosa Beach.

"Oh, it's those two guys

on the Honda 90."

CHONG: They never had

comedy clubs then.

It was just the soul clubs.

CHEECH: We opened for

every major Black act

that came through L.A.

The Isley Brothers.

Ray Charles. Edwin Starr.

The Chi-Lites. The Delfonics.

Our act became

very Black at the time,

but it was half Black,

half marijuana,

which was half Black anyways.

CHEECH:

Hey, give me some more of that.

CHONG:

I don't feel nothing, man.

CHEECH:

Hey, neither do I, man.

Takes a lot

to get me stoned, man.

(laughter)

Hey, why don't you

turn on the radio?

CHONG:

It's been on, man.

(laughter)

CHEECH:

Right away, as soon as we did

our first drug joke, we know,

hey, these people get this.

This is what they

really laugh at.

So we said, "Oh, let's kind of

do some more of that."

-You go first.

-(screams)

CHEECH:

Hello, ladies.

We're doing the Playboy

interview. (laughs)

INTERVIEWER: Let's speak

a bit about influence, okay?

-Influences. Okay.

-We have two.

(interviewer laughs)

Sex and drugs.

INTERVIEWER:

Sex and drugs.

What about The Committee?

Oh. Love 'em.

-CHEECH: Yeah.

-I love 'em.

They hated us,

but I love them to death.

INTERVIEWER:

Wh-Why? They said that you

took their routines

or something?

-We did. We sure did.

-CHEECH: We took everybody's.

I-I took, borrowed

some of the bits

that they used to do.

Even though I can

remember everything,

we had to do it, you know,

Mexican/Chinese style, you know?

And so they changed and we just

added our own characters,

but we used

their situations, you know?

Because when you're

out there performing,

you'll use anything, you know?

Pryor...

CHEECH: Yeah, Richard Pryor

used to do Bill Cosby.

Bill Cosby routines, you know?

You start... you start

somewhere, you know?

And so, uh, but what happened

with The Committee

is that they just stayed in

this one little, uh, theater

and they never ventured out.

So, when we started

venturing around,

-their bits become our bits.

-CHEECH: Right.

(growling)

(growling)

(yelping)

(laughter)

CHONG:

So, two things happened.

They got really bugged

at the fact

that we were doing their bits.

And then they got more bugged

when they found out

that they couldn't

do them anymore

because everybody

thought they were doing

-Cheech & Chong bits.

-Yeah.

So they really didn't

like us very much.

(growling)

(barks)

Herbie!

-Hey, how are you?

-How are you?

(laughter)

-Hey, you're looking good, man.

-Hey.

Hey, I like your haircut.

That's a nice one.

Oh, you like it?

It's a Farrah Fawcett, man.

-How's it look?

-(laughter)

CHEECH: I mean,

the dogs was an exercise

out of An Actor Improvises.

Be a leaf or a strip of bacon

or an animal.

And they were just basic stuff.

When we did it,

we created characters

for those... for those dogs

and the things they were doing.

And we weren't afraid

to get gross with them.

CHONG: Comedians are

very touchy about bits.

But a good joke is shared,

you know, it's passed on.

And so no one really cares

about the pedigree

of the material,

as long as it's funny.

I'd like to congratulate you

on your new show.

I want-- I want to wish you

every luck on your jokes.

Every Friday night,

all the luck in the world.

Well, thank you. That depends

on your jokes Wednesday night.

(laughter)

CHEECH:

Every standup comedian

has a rivalry with every

other standup comedian.



If you're talking about

the same subjects,

they're gonna obviously overlap.

What you do, eventually,

is you evolve your own voice.

The only thing you have

as an artist is what you see.

Which is different

from everybody else.

I started working

on this character,

then all of a sudden,

my mind clicked into a guy

that picked me up hitchhiking.

And I just remembered

his rap, he says,

"Yeah, man, I work

like a donkey, you know?"

"Hey, man, I don't

have to graduate.

I can go in the service,

you know?"

And that was his attitude.

In the middle of a sentence,

he'd be looking,

"Ooh, look at that chick, ooh.

Saw too much." (chuckles)

And the essence of his character

was cruising

and looking at chicks,

and it was easy from there.

Chinga, chinga, chinga,

chinga, chinga.

Chinga, chinga,

chinga, chinga, chinga.

Chinga, cabrn, cabrn, cabrn,

cabrn, cabrn, cabrn,

cabrn, cabrn.

Cabrn.

Puta, puta, puta, puta, puta,

puta, puta, puta, puta, puta.

(laughter)

So few Latins make it

into show business,

into the mainstream.

Do you ever feel any heat

because the character

is a negative character?

CHEECH:

He's not a negative character.

He's a very positive character,

actually.

People would say

he's a negative character

because he gets loaded,

likes chicks, cruises around,

but anybody who doesn't see that

as what's happening

in the streets

got their head in the sand.

Why he gets by

is because he's innocent.

God protects fools and children.

And he's both.

(chuckles)



CHEECH: The thing about

roasting a chicken

is if you know exactly what

temperature your oven is at,

well, then you can come out

with a chicken

that's like chicken marbella.

You make it with olives,

capers, onions, prunes.

Yeah. Chill.

Well, just think about it.

I was running myself ragged

between two families.

Scooting back and forth

from my soul family

to my white family.

One night, coming home

to Maxine's house,

I found my wallet was missing.

I had been pickpocketed.

Maxine had enough of me by then.

It was just too much for her,

and she told me,

"Just go. Just-just go."

You know?

"It's not working."

And it wasn't working.

("Little Bitty Pretty One"

by Thurston Harris playing)

That's where my life

with Shelby officially began.

TENNILLE:

Now, tell me about your lady.

Are you ever gonna get

married to this lady?

CHONG:

Well, she told me she'd marry me

when she turns 40

or I become a millionaire.

Well, I think the wedding bells

are ringing, my dear.

No. Not according

to our accountant.

No, what it is,

it'll be when I get a million.

Because I don't think

she'll ever turn 40.

I don't think

she ever will, either.

Living with you

will keep her young.



-You guys drove right by me!

-What?

sh*t.

We didn't see you, honey.

Oh, you're stoned.

You're stoned.

Now you're gonna

-f*ck things up with Dave.

-Whoa.

Well, look how beautiful

you look.

Whoa.

The old stoned charmer.

Yeah. Wow.

Where we going?



CHEECH: Hootenanny Night was

an invention by the white clubs

to get you to play for free.

The first six acts

that were there

when the club opened at 6:00

could go on that night

in reverse order.

CHONG: The funniest thing

is the government,

the changes they go through

trying to find out

who junkies are, man.

And that's the easiest thing

in the world in the Army.

All you have to do

is take roll call.

"Johnson." "Sir!"

"Henderson." "Sir!"

"Rodriguez." "Right here, man."

(laughter)

"Here."

We take you now inside Vietnam.

CHEECH:

"All right, men, huddle up.

"Huddle up, boys.

"You been complaining,

haven't had a change

"of underwear in six months?

"We'll take care

of that right now.

"Johnson, you change

with Gonzalez.

"Henderson,

you change with Smith.

-All right? All right."

-(laughter)

(laughter and applause)

CHEECH: After the show

at the Troubadour,

some woman came up and said,

"Lou Adler was in

the crowd tonight

and he wants to meet you guys

at his office."

I told Tommy. He didn't know

who Lou Adler was.

No, I had no idea

who Lou Adler...

And of course Cheech

schooled me.

CHEECH:

Lou Adler.

Lou Adler is one of the world's

great record producers.

At the time, he was the biggest

record producer in the world.

He was a big deal and he was

well known in the business.

He grew up in Boyle Heights,

which was the Jewish section

of East L.A.

And he recognized the

characters that we were doing.

CHONG: Cheech said

he's the guy that produced

that record you love, the

Carole King Tapestry album.

And I said "whoa" right there.

And then he told me

that Lou produced

the Mamas & the Papas

and he had, uh, Sam Cooke and...

He was like one of the top...

He owned his own record company.

That's how... how big Lou was.

CHEECH: We go in there

and there's, like, gold records

everywhere on the walls.

He says, "Well, what do

you guys want to do?"

"Well, make a record, I guess."

"Well, what kind?"

"Um, gold, uh, seems to be

what you make,

so let's make a gold record."

He was very nice,

he said he enjoyed the show,

but he was very quiet.

He hardly spoke.

CHEECH: And so he said, "Okay,

well, what do you need?"

I said, "$1,000," and Lou was

ready to write the check.

CHEECH: And I go,

"Wait a minute, Mr. Adler.

Uh, there's two of us,

so we'll need $2,000."

And I said, "I want

a little tape recorder."

We got the tape recorder

and the money...

(cash register dings)

CHEECH:

And signed a deal right then.



CHEECH: The first time

we went into the studio,

we didn't have

any idea how to do it

or what we were gonna do.

And we said, "Well, we'll just

set up a couple chairs

"and set up some mics

and we'll do our thing,

and it'll be fine."

And it was a b*mb.

It was like nothing,

no reaction,

there was nobody to react to.

And so we didn't...

"Ugh, that was terrible."

What we had to learn was how

to make things sound funny.

'Cause we were a visual act.

We could look funny

and make faces and... (growls)

...and act it out,

but that didn't

translate to record.

So, we used this

little mixdown room

to rehearse in.

And we created

our-our first record.

By accident.

CHEECH: Creativity is

inherently fraught

with conflict and tension.

Especially if you're

talking about two guys.

What I think is funny

and what you think is funny

and-and what the audience

thinks is funny

and... but we're in the studio,

we had no audience,

so we had to finally kind of

come together to agree

on what was funny,

and the criterion was

it had to make us laugh.

Cheech put on all his costume.

He was a very method actor.

And he went outside.

He was gonna play a dope dealer,

and he was gonna

knock on the door,

and I was gonna let him in.

Then we were gonna improv a,

you know, a dope deal bit.

It was like 110 degrees outside.

It was in the middle of August.

And I'm inside,

and it's air-conditioned.

It's beautiful.

And I got the little

tape recorder set up.

-And then Cheech knocked.

-(knocking)

And when he knocked, my eyes

immediately went to the door.

And so I couldn't see

if the needle moved or not.

No answer.

And so now I'm looking

at the tape recorder

wondering,

"Did that record or not?"

He knocks again.

And I saw the needle jump.

So, "Oh, it's recording."

And so I said, "Who is it?"

"Who... who is it?"

You're not supposed to say,

"Who is it?"

You're supposed to say,

"Come in."

I went into character.

I-I just started improv-ing.

I go, "It's me, Dave."

And I go, "Dave?"

And he goes, "Yeah, Dave."

He thinks I'm gonna

open up the door.

And then I said,

"Dave's not here."

So now I realize I can

t*rture the sh*t out of Cheech

by keeping him outside

as long as I could.

And so I just sat there

until he knocked again.

-(knocking)

-"No, it's me, Dave. D-A-V-E.

Open the door. I got the stuff."

"Come on, quit f*cking around.

It's hot out here, man."

He's banging on the door.

And finally he opens the door,

and he's laughing his a*s off.

And he was really angry.

I thought he was gonna

attack me or something.

So I said,

"Listen, listen, listen."

We both cracked up.

We both cracked up.

We played it again,

cracked up even more.

We took it to Lou,

and Lou heard it and he goes,

"Okay, we're recording

that tonight."

Lou took the recording

and shipped it

to all these radio stations.

And so the next morning,

L.A. woke up to...

(rooster crowing)

(knocking)

CHONG:

Who is it?

CHEECH (whispering):

It's-it's Dave, man.

Will you open up?

I got the stuff with me.

-CHONG: Who?

-CHEECH: Dave, man.

-Open up.

-CHONG: Dave?

CHEECH: Yeah, Dave.

Come on, man. Open up.

-I think the cops saw me.

-CHONG: Dave's not here.



CHEECH: You sure

we're going the right way?

-Oh, I know where we are.

-Where?

We're in the middle

of f*cking nowhere.

No, we're southwest

of f*cking nowhere.

We're not in the middle yet.

Oh, hey, let's ask this guy.

(car horn honks)

Excuse me. Hello.

Can you tell us

how to get to the joint?

-Lou!

-What the--

Tommy, Cheech. How are you guys?

We're good.

What are you doing out here?

-I'm taking a walk.

-Oh.

-Well, get in, man. Get in.

-Oh.

-Let-let's talk, man.

-We'll give you a ride. Lou!

I thought it was a mirage.

ADLER:

Okay.

CHONG:

Damn, boy.

CHEECH:

Lou knows how much to produce

and how much not to produce.

He helped us creatively

by giving approval

over what we were doing

'cause we were making up

this method

as we were going along.

CHONG: Cheech and I

would show up at the studio,

and we'd look at each other,

and one of us

would say, "You hungry?"

"Yeah, let's go have lunch."

We'd come back after

a long lunch and light a joint.

Next thing you know,

an idea would come in our head.

No stems, no seeds

that you don't need

Acapulco Gold is

(inhales deeply)

Badass weed.

-Cut.

-(sighs)

How'd that sound to you?

Hey, man, that was far out, man.

We got a cut, man.

Yeah, that-that sounded

pretty good to me.

I think we could wrap it up.

Oh, hey, no, man.

No, I want to do it again, man.

-Again?

-Yeah, man.

Like, I had a thing to do.

You know, when you talk, man.

When a cat talks, I want to--

I got a thing to say, man.

I was gonna say it,

but I forgot it, man.

-You want to do it again?

-Yeah, man.

Let's do it again.

Okay. All right.

Hold it. Give me a joint, man.

Give me another joint.

All right, far out, man. Okay.

-We'll get it right

this time, man. -Yeah, okay.

All right,

let's try it again, huh?

-Okay.

-Ready?

Yeah. (inhales deeply)

"Acapulco Gold Filters,"

take 403.

CHEECH: We spent

all our time in the studio

recording the first album.

Once it came out, we went

on the road immediately.



CHONG: Lou Adler got us

visibility immediately.

He had the ba*ls

to go to the limit.

And Cheech & Chong, in return,

gave him

the products to work with.

Black Lassie

Fat and sassy

She was poor,

but now she's rich...

CHONG: He really became

the pillar of our success.

It was a beautiful marriage.

CHEECH:

Lou very carefully crafted

our public image

so people knew the flavor

of what they were gonna get.

You're about to meet the first

Chinese American comedy team

in history.

I don't know

which one is Chinese.

Will you welcome Cheech & Kong!

It's Cheech & Chong, first.

Chong.

Hey, man, what's happening?

(laughter)

Hey, man, this your amigo

Sanchez de San Fernando

saying come on down

to Wide Track Town

here in Wilmington, ese, man.

We got some out-of-sight chorts

here for you to look at, man.

Look at this chort

over here, man.

Now, that's a '53 Chevy

with pink and purple

tuck and roll, man.

-Are you Chinese?

-No, I'm Mexican.

You're Mexican. You're Chinese?

-No... Uh, yeah, I'm Chinese.

-There...

Listen, there's something

a little wrong in your bio.

-What-what is your nationality?

-Chinese.

You really are?

-Canadian Chinese.

-Canadian Chinese.

My father married a white woman.

That is really funny.

(Cheech chuckling)

RADIO DJ: Already on

the Billboard charts,

the new single

from Cheech & Chong.

CHEECH:

We were aware of our hit status

right at the beginning

because we were

on the radio all the time.

Wherever we went,

the album preceded us

by about a week, so there

was this growing awareness

of this act

that was very different.

ANNOUNCER:

Please welcome Cheech & Chong!

(cheering and applause)

CHEECH: We got up,

we went to the airport,

got on a plane, did the show,

went to the next city

and did the same thing.

It was just nonstop.

We wanted our albums to be funny

but conceptual at the same time.

CHONG: Everything we did

with the record,

you could enjoy

with your imagination.

CHEECH: Hey, man, two more cars

and we're there, man.

-Tell those guys to be quiet.

-CHONG: Hey, you guys,

be quiet, man.

We're almost

at the ticket thing.

Come on, let's hear it

for Sister Mary Elephant.

Here she is.

CHEECH (high-pitched voice):

Class.

Class!

Shut up! Thank you.

(normal voice): The U.S. Open

National Masturbation Champion

three years in a row,

Harry Palms.

Come on out, Harry!

Tell us, how does it feel?

CHONG:

Sore. Oh.

CHEECH: Well, you get

a little f*ck about that big.

You get it?



CHONG: Hey, Margaret,

did you see that?

Ah, yow.

CHEECH:

That was the greatest.

Two guys with a bag of Goodwill

clothes and one roadie,

making as much as big bands

with no overhead.

We were in that

rock and roll life.

CHONG: It was

the Waikiki Bowl in Hawaii.

CHEECH:

You're confusing the two.

-No, no. -We never

played it another time.

-The only time we played it

was once. -We...

No, we played it

about three times.

-Uh, three times now?

-Maybe four.

Maybe four times.

-Four times we played it?

-Yeah.

-We only played it once.

-You only remember one.

I-I remember everything.

You don't. I wish you did,

but you don't.

CHEECH:

Oh, now you wish I did.

How do you know

that we played it four times?

CHONG:

I was there.

If they were

always getting along,

one of them

wouldn't be necessary.

Tommy and Cheech were the first

rock and roll comedians.

No doubt about it.

They opened

for the Rolling Stones

in front of 20,000 people,

doing comedy.

CHEECH:

It was at a little venue,

and then we came back

to, uh, Waikiki.

What did you say, Lou?

-Uh, nothing, guys.

-Okay.

And then, uh, we played

the, uh, HIC again.

We sold out two shows there,

remember, that one night?

ANNOUNCER:

Cheech & Chong

on Eyewitness News.

In the lifestyle

of each generation,

there's often a very close

correlation between

its humor and its drugs.

Well, for these two comedians,

Cheech & Chong,

their humor revolves

around marijuana.

Their first album has now won

a coveted Gold Record award.

Their new album

is called Big Bamb,

and you don't even have

to hear the album

to know its contents.

I asked if money and success

might spoil them.

No, there's a lot of hippies

in Los Angeles.

They pay to see us, and they

support us, you know, so...

There's nothing wrong

with money, you know?

-It's just how you use it.

-Yeah.

Nothing, nothing greater

than a rich hippie.

SANDERS: The only complaint

they'd had about the album was

that the giant rolling paper

inside has no gum on the edge.

Someone said if it did,

they could roll

two and a half ounces.

Roger?

(strumming guitar)

They're busting folks

in New York City

But not the evil b*stards

that they should

They're busting

the dope smoking hippies

Along with the brothers

and the others in the hood

Got to get it legal

Get marijuana legal now

Let's get it legal

And I don't care how.

CHEECH: We weren't political,

by any means.

We didn't advocate

one party over the other.

We were just kind of like

street hippies that were like,

"Hey, we should have

the right to get high, man."

And that's kind of

about how deep

our political philosophy went.

CHONG:

My stance on weed legalization:

It should not only be legal.

It should be mandatory

in some cases.

That's the way I look at it.

There should be some people that

should be forced

to smoke a ton of pot.

(cheering and applause)

All you people

are all lit up, man.

You're usually

lit up in the dark.

They said, you know,

we've got to cut our dope bits,

-you know, so, um...

-(crowd booing)

So, I mean, you know, really,

seriously speaking, man.

I mean, how many... how many

people here smoke grass?

-How many?

-(cheering and applause)

About six.

CHEECH:

That's a government survey.

Anybody here on acid tonight?

(vocalizing)

(cheering and laughter)

CHEECH: Drugs were really

our off-duty hours.

But when we're off hours

and we want to get high,

maybe think

of something funny...

Oh, I can do that tomorrow

when I have to go to work

and be straight about it

but act high.

d*ck CLARK:

May I have your name and age?

-May I have your name and age?

-Oh, hi, hey.

Uh, uh...

-What?

-(laughter)

CHEECH:

It always astounded me,

why isn't everybody

doing dope jokes?

They're smoking dope.

I guess for some of those

comedians, it was too obvious.

It was too "Yeah, well,

everybody's doing that."

Well, in fact,

nobody was doing that.

So we were the first ones,

and we, in effect,

stole home plate.

GERALDO:

Would I be blowing your cover

if I told everyone that you

really aren't into drugs,

that you're both athletes

and that drugs are just

something that you joke about

that you don't do very much of?

-No we, we, um... -No, no,

we-we do drugs all the time.

We mainline seeds and stems,

um... and, um...

We don't lift weights

or anything.

No, we don't run

all the time or, you know,

tai chi or nothing.

GERALDO: But the fact is

both Cheech Marin

and Tommy Chong

are straighter than most.

And I spent long hours

with both of them

running along one of the few

remaining Malibu beaches

that still hasn't

been turned into asphalt.

CHEECH:

We were just California guys

and we worked out, but we smoked

as much dope as anybody else.

There was this interesting

dichotomy that we revealed.

INTERVIEWER:

What about the first time

you did other drugs, like acid?

Yeah, it was about '68.

I remember.

It was, it was when it was

called "try this," you know.

-Try this, yeah.

-CHONG: As a matter of fact,

I was just

with Timothy Leary last night,

and-and they laid some acid

on me.

And this is real acid.

Oh, that's good acid, too.

Blue Blotter.

And you only need a little bit.

I still take acid occasionally,

about every six months or so.

-It's like a cosmic colonic.

-(laughing)

You know? No, I'm...

I'm being very serious now,

because I-I take it

every once in a while

just to kind of--

you need something to jolt you

out of wherever you are.

We advocate the friendly drugs,

you know,

like, uh, when you say

"turn on" somebody,

that's sort of

a-a positive thing.

And you want to say "get high."

That's another uplifting,

positive thing.

And it's a recreational drug,

which is also positive.

And we've done our own

independent drug research.

(laughter)

-Which is ongoing, you know.

-Yes.

-We got a, we got a grant

from Colombia. -Yeah.

(laughter)

We think we're right.

TOM SNYDER:

Only time will tell.

Yes.



There's more verses, but

I can't remember 'em right now.

(applause)

In the category

of Best Comedy Recordings,

the nominees are

Lily Tomlin,

Bill Cosby, Cheech & Chong.

(applause)



"Basketball Jones."

A-one, two, three, four.

("Basketball Jones" playing)

(cheering and applause)

Yes, I'm the victim

of a Basketball Jones

Ever since I was

a little baby

I always be dribblin'

In fact, I was

the baddest dribbler

In the whole neighborhood...

CHONG:

"Basketball Jones."

That started off as a fun ride

with, uh, Jack Nicholson

to the Laker game.

CHEECH:

Lou invited us,

and Jack Nicholson's

an out-of-control driver.

-(sinister laugh)

-(horn honks)

CHONG:

He's got his own rules.

When Cheech gets nervous,

he starts singing.

(whistling)

CHEECH:

This song comes on the radio

called "Love Jones."

I started going...

Basketball Jones

I got a Basketball Jones.

CHONG: I immediately

start writing the lyrics.

The next day, Tommy said,

"Let's record that."



CHONG:

We showed Lou.

He said, "Let's do it."

We always use

what's in front of us,

and because of Lou Adler,

we got access

to the best musicians

in the world.

CHEECH:

It just so happens,

in the next studio

was George Harrison,

Billy Preston and Carole King.

So Lou goes over there,

"Hey, George, can you come over

and-and play on this record?"

(imitating George Harrison):

"Ooh, I'd be glad to."

Basketball Jones

I got a Basketball Jones

I got a Basketball Jones,

oh, baby, ooh

Basketball Jones...

CHONG:

When Lou Adler did anything,

he did it first-class

all the way.

He was a big part of our lives

in so many ways.

He showed us class.

He showed us style.

And he took Cheech & Chong

right to the very, very top

of the heap.

Basketball Jones

I got a Basketball Jones

Oh, baby, ooh.

(lively chatter)

CHEECH:

Touring was just nonstop,

and we needed a rest,

so I moved to

the farthest part of Malibu

to get away from all

the influences in Hollywood.

It would take three days

for the world to stop spinning.

I just wanted to sit

in my living room,

look out the window.

I was married to Rikki,

and she was very supportive,

but it was hard

when we had to travel.

Sometimes, we were absent

from the house

for long periods of time, so

that's always hard on a family.

Tommy and I always

lived close to each other.

It was essential

to our process because

there was this

constant conversation

going on about the act.

CHONG:

Sitting in a studio

and making up funny bits,

it was so much fun.

And after a while,

it became a job,

and then

we couldn't do it anymore.

We ran out of

that record energy.

CHEECH:

We told Lou that we were gonna

take time off and write a movie

'cause we wanted

to do movies next.

He took a deep breath.

"Okay, well,

I'll try to find you a deal."

They're gonna put me

in the movies

Oh, they're gonna make

a big star out of me

They're gonna make a scene

About a man

that's sad and lonely

And all I got to do

is act naturally.

The first pass of the script

was called

"Cheech & Chong's

Greatest Hits."

We handed Lou the script

without any kind of

traditional first, second,

third act structure.

We were gonna make

this "day in the life" movies,

and that was far more

interesting than plot.

What we very soon realized,

it really had to center

on two characters from the act,

and the most obvious ones

were Pedro and Man.

We took off a year

at the height of our success,

and at the end of the year,

the deal for the movie

didn't come together,

and Lou said,

"I can't convince the studios

to see this vision,"

even though he had produced

a couple movies.

BOBBIE WYGANT:

The fact that you were

so successful

with Rocky Horror,

did that help you

get people to...

The success of one film

doesn't necessarily give you

the total financial backing

for another film.

I actually financed the film.

That's one way to get around it.

("Low Rider" by w*r playing)

All my friends

Know the low rider

Yeah

The low rider

Is a little higher

Yeah...

CHEECH:

At some point in the process,

Lou explained to me that

he'd always wanted

to direct a movie,

and this was his chance.

The only thing

that was important to me

is that Tommy and I worked

together to do the scenes.

I didn't care

who the director said he was.

CHONG:

We knew that,

when we got in front

of the cameras,

we were gonna do

what we had to do, what we did.

We were Cheech & Chong.

We're just gonna be funny.

Oh, what's that?

She's hitchhiking.

(tires squealing)

Hey, watch out.

Coming over. Geronimo!

(car horn honks)

Hey, Dubble Bubble.

Come on, baby,

I'll give you a ride. Let's go.

-Hey, you ain't a chick.

-Yeah, I know,

but listen, that's the only way

I can get anybody to stop, man.

Hey, that's false advertising,

that, man.

Oh, wow, I... Hey,

I really like your car, man.

CHEECH: Those two guys,

they belong together.

And from the time

Man hopped into Pedro's car,

they were together.

Led Zeppelin, ooh.

Hey, be careful

with that sh*t, man.

Oh, is it heavy stuff, man?

(laughs)

Will it blow me away?

Better put your seat belt on,

man, I'll tell you that much.

sh*t, I've been smoking

since I was born, man.

I could smoke anything, man.

Like, I smoked

that Michoacn, man,

Acapulco Gold, man.

I even smoked that tied stick,

you know?

Tied stick?

Yeah. You know, that stuff

that's tied to a stick,

you know?

-Oh, Thai stick.

-Yeah.

Yeah, that didn't even

do nothing to me, man.

I could probably smoke

this whole joint, man,

and still walk away, man.

Wouldn't be no problem

at all, man.

Toke, toke it up, man.

(mumbles)

CHONG: Kind of grabs you

by the boo-boo, don't it?

CHEECH:

Our success depended upon

an uninterrupted conversation

between the two of us.

Lou was getting in our way

when he tried to assume control

of the creative direction

of the movie.

Tommy was very indignant

'cause that was his position.

Lou had a lot of talents.

Directing a movie

isn't one of them.

And we had a lot of talents,

and directing our own movies

is one of them.

-CHONG: Who lives here, man?

-CHEECH: That's my cousin

Strawberry, man.

He's always got the best smoke.

CHEECH:

When you make your first movie,

especially for comedians,

you're gonna use everything

that you've ever learned or

ever tried up until that point.

And that's what we did,

plus more.

STRAWBERRY (over speaker):

Who is it?

-It's me, Pedro, man.

-STRAWBERRY: Pedro's not here.

No, I'm Pedro, man. Open up.

CHEECH:

We improvised inside the scene,

being spontaneous

in front of the camera.

Just be cool.

How long you guys

been in Mexico?

A week.

I mean, a-a day.

Which one is it,

a week or a day?

A weekday.

You got any narcotics

or marijuana in here?

(coughing)

Uh, not anymore. (laughs)

CHEECH: There was one day

at lunch, we were talking about

different roommates

we've had over the years,

and Zane Buzby told this story

about this girl

that she roomed with that had

this boyfriend named Alex,

and every time they made love,

she would call out his name.

Tommy says, "Let's film that."

I go, "What do you mean?"

"Uh, right after lunch."

And she'd start going

like a motorboat, you know?

Fu-u-u-u-u-u-u-uck

me-e-e-e-e-e-e.

f*ck me, Alex. f*ck me, Alex.

f*ck me, Alex.

f*ck me, Alex.

-f*ck me, Alex.

-CHONG: Oh, I got a cramp.

-Oh, oh, I got a cramp.

-Yeah!

-Ow. Ow. Ow.

-Yeah! Yeah!

ZANE:

Oh, yeah, oh!

-No. No!

-(moaning)

(Zane and Chong moaning)

CHEECH:

It was one of the funniest

scenes in the movie, and

it took a half hour to sh**t.

(cheering)

Every single bit of that scene

was improvised.

I didn't know

your name was Alex, man.

Oh, I got a cramp.

sh*t, I'd have a cramp

there, too, man. Whoo!

What's going on out here?

CHONG:

I really felt comfortable

sh**ting movies,

and it didn't matter to me

who directed,

as long as I had a big say

in the process.

This is where I get out.

("Up in Smoke"

by Cheech & Chong playing)

CHEECH:

We had finished filming,

and now it was in Lou's hands

to edit it,

and he wouldn't let us

in the editing room.

-You ready, Tom?

-CHONG: Yeah.

CHEECH:

The question was,

is this a Lou Adler film,

or is this

a Cheech & Chong film?

Up in smoke

That's where

my money goes...

CHEECH: The movie comes out,

and it's a giant hit. Giant.

CHONG:

Nobody thought Up in Smoke

was gonna be anything

but a bust.

But the problem was,

we had a hit movie,

and both Cheech and I were

literally broke, cash poor.

Our income depended upon

our live performances.

And all the time we shot

Up in Smoke,

we stopped touring on the road.

We had no income.

CHEECH:

We started looking very closely

at the contract that we had

signed without a lawyer.

Ah...

That was a huge,

horrible deal for us.

A 90-10 split Lou's way.

So how much did your film cost?

Under two. It was probably

a million and a half.

GERALDO:

And how much did it gross?

They're talking

$104 million worldwide.

Who knows?

We got a pair of lime green

shoes out of the deal.

-(laughter)

-GERALDO: How did you...

-$100.

-And $100 and...

A crispy bill.

GERALDO: Out of the

$104 million, seriously,

what was your original deal,

if you don't mind my asking?

-We get, uh...

-$50,000.

-$50,000 to split.

-To split.

$25,000 each.

-GERALDO: $20,000?

-Dollars.

-GERALDO: For writing...

-To write...

-direct, star and promote.

-and direct and to star.

-And promote.

-And promote.

GERALDO:

So, you guys made a great deal.

-Yeah.

-Oh, beautiful deal.

-And we had...

-And a jar of Vaseline.

No, we had ten percent

of the back end.

-Was it ten percent

or five percent? -Ten percent.

-Ten? -Ten percent of some

vaguely defined 100%.

And we were committed to

Paramount for six other movies.

CHONG: Lou never took a penny

as our manager.

He wasn't a ten-percenter

or twenty-percenter.

He owned the record company.

That was enough for him.

Everything he did to manage us

was really on his dime.

And I now realize that

nothing's more expensive

than a free lunch.

CHEECH: Lou, Tommy, and I

were really tight.

That was a big hit,

and it affected me emotionally

for a long time.

We never had a lawyer,

and he had years of expertise

doing these kind of deals.

We thought what would be fair

is if we split it

a third, a third, a third,

and we would go on

and make other movies

under that formula.

He... chose not

to take that deal.

ANNOUNCER:

Ladies and gentlemen,

please welcome

those two fabulous furry

freaks of frivolity,

Cheech & Chong.

(cheering)

-How's everybody?

-Yeah.

-Yeah. (chuckles) Okay.

-(audience cheering)

Oh. We're movie stars now,

you know what I mean?

-(cheering)

-CHONG: You know what I mean?

So, we really don't

have to do this sh*t, you know?

-You know that?

-(laughter)

But then again,

considering the deal we got,

we're gonna have to do

a lot more of this. (laughs)

(laughter, cheering)

But I'm not, you know, I'm not

bitter about the deal we got.

f*ck no.

(audience laughs)

CHONG:

We had a Comedy Store

in the city

that we could perform at.

Every big-name act in Hollywood

came down to see us.

-What?

-The paranoids.

-The paranoids are out there.

-They're out there.

Oh, sh*t. Give me a Valium.

Never mind the Valium.

Where's your g*n?

-Oh, I forgot it.

-Well, here, use one of mine.

-Okay.

-(audience laughing)

-Where are they?

-Okay.

-Oh, there's one over there.

-Where?

-Click. Click.

-Where?

-Click.

-Wh-What's the matter?

Oh, the damn g*n won't work.

Click. Click.

Well, take off

the safety, stupid.

-Oh, yeah, right.

-(audience laughing)

-There they are. c*m.

-c*m.

BOTH:

c*m. c*m. c*m. c*m. c*m. c*m.

-c*m. c*m. c*m. c*m.

-c*m. Can't.

-Can't. Can't.

-c*m.

-What's the matter?

-I can't c*m.

Can't. Can't.

-Well, reload.

-Oh, right.

(audience laughing)

BOTH: c*m. c*m. c*m. c*m.

c*m. c*m. c*m. c*m. c*m.

-We've overcome. They've gone.

-Yay!

-c*m. c*m. c*m.

-(applause)

CHONG:

We were tied up.

We couldn't do another movie

without Lou Adler's, uh,

permission and involvement.

In the meantime,

we met Howard Brown.

I met them.

There was some sort

of a problem with

the chap they did

Up in Smoke with.

So, they were

out of the movie business,

and all they were allowed

to do is tour

because of the legalities

of the problem.

And I saw them

at The Comedy Store,

and I said,

"They belong in the movies,

and-and so I've got to do

something about it."

Howard Brown was a real

fast-talking New Yorker,

and he wanted

to be, uh, in show business.

I didn't like

Howard Brown that much

'cause he was just so sleazy.

Tommy liked him

'cause he liked those kind of

sleazy street guys.

They were more up his alley.

In retrospect,

you looked at him,

and he was perfect

for Hollywood.

CHONG:

Howard was like a bona fide

Jewish gangster from New York.

He dressed like a gangster.

He kind of talked

like a gangster.

He had that New York

sensibility.

There's always

a way to do things.

I-I loved the man. He was...

Him and I got along really good.

They have a problem

with Lou, and, uh,

I said,

"If I can solve the problem,

then I'd like to produce

the-the Cheech & Chong movies."

CHONG:

Howard says, "First of all,

we got to get you out

of the Lou Adler contract."

It took a while, but he did it.

Then he says, "What would

you guys be comfortable with?"

I said, "Well, you know, get us

a million bucks, uh, uh, fee,

and we'll be happy."

With me directing.

That was the only thing

I told Howard,

that I had to be the director.

INTERVIEWER: So, big meeting

you had this morning, huh?

Yeah, we're trying to-to settle

all the small problems.

I mean, the big problems,

you know,

were settled like that,

you know, when it came down to

who's gonna do what, who's

gonna be director, producer.

We have no script. That's okay.

Give us a few million,

we'll make it.

Don't worry about it.

Got them the highest paid, uh,

amount up front,

you know, as a fee

that was ever done

in the history of the business.

No problems.

CHONG: And Howard phoned me,

and he says...

The meeting only took

a half hour at Universal.

So I called up Columbia.

"You're gonna

tell them three stories.

"They're gonna pick two,

and you're gonna do

two movies for them."

We got a three-picture deal

with two studios

in one day.



GERALDO: In the great

Hollywood tradition,

everyone loves a winner.

In contrast to the $25,000

they both received

for their first movie,

Cheech & Chong were both paid

a million dollars in advance

for their next movie.

-Just be cool, man.

-I'm cool. You be cool.

I'm cool. You just be cool.

GERALDO:

How do you like directing?

CHONG:

I love directing.

GERALDO:

Is it new to you?

Film directing is new.

You know, I've...

We've only... I've only been

in two pictures,

and I directed half of one

and all of the other.

At first,

I was a little in awe, but...

but it's like riding a horse.

You got to get on and hang on.

GERALDO: Cheech said

that between the two of you,

you've always been the director.

Yeah. Yeah.

He-he directs me.

You know, he-he has an opinion.

The great thing

about Cheech & Chong is

that using improv techniques,

you're always wide open

for somebody else's opinion.

That's why it's important

as to who we're around

before we sh**t

or when we sh**t,

because anybody around us,

or any words, or television,

anything can affect us.

You got taken to the cleaner

so bad last time.

I don't think so. I really...

I think it was a wash.

I think it was even Steven.

I mean, we had a chance

to show... show the coach

what we could do.

And, uh, so we didn't get paid

for that game,

but we're starters from now on.

So, I-I never look back,

but, you know,

I look back and think

of how beautiful it was.

("Tequila"

by The Champs playing)

CHONG:

On the next movie,

I hired a first-time cameraman.

It was a good move

because he was so fired up

to make his mark.

The first day, we did 42 setups,

and there was no warming up.

It was like, we went ba*ls-out.



I was always concentrating

on making the scene funny

between Tommy and I.

Mexican Americans

Don't like to just

get into g*ng fights

They like flowers and music

And white girls

named Debbie, too

Mexican Americans

are named Chata and Chella

And Chemma and have

a son-in-law named Jeff

Mexican Americans don't like

To get up early

in the morning

But they have to,

so they do it real slow

Mexican Americans

love education

So they go to night school

And they take Spanish

and get a B.

Yeah, leave that in.

And that's all I got.

How do you like it?

Oh, that's good. Uh, yeah.

It's like a protest tune, man.

-Yeah, I-I dig that, man.

-Yeah.

CHONG:

Even though we didn't have

a lot of things

that other movies have--

the car crashes

and all that other stuff--

I was more interested in

getting the human side

and getting the humor

and getting the real, uh,

uh, nitty-gritty.

-You got a light, man?

-Huh?

Oh, yeah. Yeah.

Hey, I don't think you better

light it in here, man.

-Why?

-Oh, these gas fumes, man.

-Oh, man.

-Well...



Cheech & Chong are

two sharp L.A. comics

who take old,

tried-and-true material

and zing it right

into their audience.

The drug culture.

Kids who are either

too young or too wrecked

to know it's all been done

before... better.

Hey, homes,

why don't you come along...

The funniest sequence

is so off-color,

I can't even begin

to describe it.

Weird, anarchistic,

anti-authority,

sophomoric, gross,

bordering on repulsive,

and sometimes real funny.

When they were starting out,

I was a kid,

and I thought Cheech & Chong

were terrific.

I've grown up. They haven't.

Hmm. Maybe they know something.

-(applause) -Business on

the other side...

SNYDER: You know, you two

are really carrying on

the tradition

of the Laurel and Hardy

and the Martin and Lewis

and the Abbott and Costello,

the comed-- the male comedy team

in feature-length

motion pictures.

Are you aware of that?

I mean, is that...

-No.

-No?

-(laughter)

-Oh. Oh, yeah. Oh.

Oh, that. Yeah. (chuckles)

On the other side...

CHEECH: Our relationship

with the press,

right from the beginning,

was always

a love-hate relationship.

They didn't see

the intelligence it took

to make a really dumb joke.

Once in a while, one of

the highest-class critics

would give us a rave review,

like Pauline Kael

in The New Yorker.

"Okay, well,

somebody's getting it."

CHONG:

Everything worked in our favor.

And if you didn't like us,

that was your problem,

and if you liked us,

that was also your problem.

Business on

the other side...

INTERVIEWER:

You've got the money.

You're-you're living

quite nicely.

Is this what the counterculture

is coming to?

We found out that

"counterculture" means "poor."

(laughter)

Yeah, we're no longer

in the counterculture.

We're, uh, across

the counterculture.

You know, they give five bucks

across the counter,

and then we give them

a record or a movie or...

something like that.

INTERVIEWER:

You think of George Carlin,

you think, uh, Richard Pryor.

Is it fair to ask you

how you think

you stack up to them as a comic?

CHONG:

When they say "comics,"

they don't even mention

Cheech & Chong.

They always say,

"Oh, they're something else."

So we'll take that.

We're "something else."

-Can you define it?

-Nope.

Nice dreams

Hmm, little girl.

(laughs)

CHONG: Do you realize how long

we've been doing this?

A long time.

Uh, it blows my mind

when I think about it.

Look how far we've come.

I know. Way out in the desert.

(chuckles)

And where is Dave

in this whole deal?

Dave's not here.

(laughing)

I've been dying to say that.

That cracks me up, man.

CHEECH: So, is this

a documentary or a movie?

CHONG:

I don't know, man.

CHEECH:

Well, is there a script?

Are you serious?

Well, yeah, I'm serious.

You always say

"we never had a script,"

and I wrote the script

that we "never had."

I didn't write

anybody's dialogue,

but I wrote the premise

of the movie,

which a movie company needs.

In order to make a movie,

they got to know

where to set the cameras.

If you wrote it,

how did I improvise

all the stuff that I did?

Or you did or we did together?

I never said I wrote every line.

I said I wrote the outline.

So, like, "Joke goes here."

You wrote that?

-I mean, all right, h-here...

-No, see, see, you get,

-you get insulted when it comes

to that. -I do get insulted.

But here's the perfect example.

-Okay? We were making

Nice Dreams. -Yeah.

CHEECH: And, uh, we were

in the insane asylum...

("Save the Whales" playing)

Save the whales

Hey, funky mama,

save those whales...

CHONG:

In all my endeavors,

I never called myself

a leader of anything.

I would organize the band,

but I was never the best singer

or the best musician.

But I had

an organizational sense.

It just came to me naturally.

CHEECH:

At the beginning,

there was a younger brother/

older brother dynamic going on

because he had more experience,

he was eight years older.

But I was learning a lot

every movie.

Tommy kind of saw my ideas as

an affront to his directorship.

No, man, I'm just trying

to make the movie better.

CHONG:

There's an age-old,

tried-and-true formula

for making movies:

the director calls the shots.

It's movie etiquette.

When you have a vision,

it's your vision.

Cheech wanted more say

in what we were doing,

and it was like,

"No, this is what

we're going to do."

Hey!

(panting)

My ba*ls itch! (cries)

CHEECH: I was glad to listen

to Tommy creatively

because we had the same process.

If I thought it was funnier

or that I could make it funny,

I would do it.

His direction was very general:

"You have a padded cell.

Be funny."

The essential part of knowing

when something is funny

never changed.

Hey!

The thing that started

to slowly change was

who was in charge

of knowing everything.

(dialing)

Yeah. Marissa,

bring me some tea,

and get me Howard Brown. Thanks.

We're gonna do a bit here.

Cheech is really excited.

You know, "Thank you very much,

ladies and gentlemen."

Then we'll pull back and we'll

see about four or five...

-Oh, okay. Okay.

-...bored people there.

HB, tell me some good news.

Well, the good news--

You want the good news?

Good news is we're partners

with them in the movie.

They want to protect the movie

from any injunction

-or enjoinment or lawsuit...

-Bullshit.

They're gambling

that I'm a nice guy

that won't give them

any problems,

which I already have been,

for the whole sh**t, right?

-Right, right. -Well,

I'm gambling the other way.

I'm gambling that-that

we're popular enough

that if they don't

see it our way,

then we're gonna--

we're not gonna feel

very good about

working for them again.

That's right, you're one

of the most important,

-if not the most important...

-That's right.

So why don't they beat up

the other schmuck

and leave me alone?

Well, if it's that...

CHEECH:

Howard Brown had a lot to do

with the tension between us

because he would tell

each of us different things.

"Oh, well, Tommy,

you're-you're the star,

you're this or this,"

you know, "this is all you,"

and he would come out to me

and tell me the same,

"Oh, Cheech, you know,

y-you're really the star.

"And that Tommy, we-- he needs

you, and blah, blah, blah,

and so you got to do this

for him, blah, blah,"

and he was just a lying...

You know, and it was like...

(exhales): Ay...

-(door closes) -CHONG: I found

a real doctor, man.

-Says he can help us.

-Do you have the key?

TIMOTHY LEARY:

I've got the key right here.

Oh, thank God.

Stick out your tongue.

(laughing)

There's the key.

BRIAN LINEHAN: You have

Dr. Timothy Leary in the film.

-CHEECH: Yeah.

-LINEHAN: And Dr. Leary offered

some interestingly

convoluted explanations

of your work and your art.

I do not understand

how he has likened your art

as film comedian

to the work of Bruegel.

-Do you, Tommy?

-I don't know who Bruegel is.

-Do you, Richard?

-Yeah. Uh-huh.

Could you explain that for...?

Well, Bruegel,

if you look at his paintings,

are very close

to Hieronymus Bosch

in that there's a lot

of things going-- it's...

His canvases

were heaven and hell.

You know?

And this particular picture,

more than anything else,

was heaven and hell.

-Hey, man, I ain't bullshitting

with you... -Hey!

Hey, man, give me

my money back, man!

CHEECH: All these things

happening together

that the eye cannot take in

all at once.

But once you start studying,

you see the complexity of life

in one canvas,

and he makes it work.

-(people shouting)

-What are you doing?

ROGER EBERT: Well, they say

the original screenplay

for Cheech & Chong's

Nice Dreams is written

on the back of an envelope.

Must have been a small envelope.

My suggestion for the title

of Cheech & Chong's

next movie is

Cheech & Chong Go

to the Drug Detoxification

and Rehabilitation Center,

Deal with Dope-Induced

Brain Damage and Paranoia

and Learn to Make

Funny Comedies.

What, do you think that's

too long for a theater marquee?

Well, it might have been

a better film than this one.

I'll tell you, this is, uh,

this is bad stuff.

(fly buzzing)

-(buzzing stops)

-There. Got it.

WYGANT:

Do you ever get on

one another's nerves

to the point where you get mad

and you don't speak for a while?

-Not Cheech & Chong.

-Oh, come on.

-No. Yeah, yeah.

-Really?

Yeah, Tommy's saying,

Tommy's saying, "Uh-huh."

No, we get along just great.

-Don't we, Tommy?

-(laughter)

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Uh...

It's been, um...

brewing from the last picture

that I directed.

(clears throat) 'Cause I kept

being taken away

from Cheech, you know?

And, uh...

So that's why the next movie

we're gonna do, uh,

we're gonna get a director in

to direct,

'cause now we got

the confidence,

you know, we can do that.

(wolf whistle)

CHONG:

We finished Nice Dreams,

and then we went into

Things Are Tough All Over.

On the other movies,

I would write,

Cheech would go on vacation,

Howard would make the deal,

and then we'd come in and sh**t.

But this time, Cheech wanted

to be involved in everything,

and he didn't want me to direct.

I want to go back to the desert!

CHONG:

Tom Avildsen was the editor.

I said, "Okay, Tom, you direct.

"You will go down as

the director, I don't care,

but I'll actually be

the director."

CHEECH:

Jesus Christ, Chong.

It was this kind of replacement.

"I'll just promote Tom,

the editor,

because I'm not the director,"

but he was.

Well, that was

a great f*cking idea.

-(acoustic guitar playing)

-Thanks.

CHEECH:

Hey!

Hey!



Come mierda, pendejo!

We're gonna die of

heat frustration out here.

Play something else,

will you, please?

That's desert music, man.

-Come on, mellow out, man.

-Oh, "desert music."

Man, we're gonna die out here.

Hey, man, let's do that song

we were writing in Chicago.

What song?

You know,

that "Me and My Old Lady."

I don't know how it goes.

Come on, sure you do.

You wrote it.

-I don't remember it, man.

-Well, let's try it.

Me

-And my old lady

-My old lady

There you go.

We like,

we like-like to, like

We like to, like-like,

get outside

Uh...

But sometimes

People space us out...

Me and Tommy have been together

longer than I've ever

been with any woman.

And you get these points that

you got to just talk it out,

and it's very painful sometimes,

but you just do it 'cause

you want that relationship

to go on, other than

the fame and the money,

'cause it's really a lot of fun.

I mean, he's my best friend,

you know?

CHONG:

It's yin and yang,

you know, Cheech & Chong.

I'm passive,

he's, uh, very aggressive,

and it works perfectly.

We complement each other.

That's why we're together.

INTERVIEWER:

Did the egos get in the way

of your work

when you were directing?

Yeah. Yeah, it-it's a...

it's a strange--

There was a learning process

for both of us, you know?

And, uh, the nature of our

act is I'm-- I-I always will,

you know, I'm the senior member

of the partnership,

and so I can make some,

some crucial decisions.

But then again, if-if

I'm off on the wrong path,

he-he'll tell me about it.

And, uh,

it's a very touchy thing,

you know,

especially with movies.

You know, i-if you know

anything about movies,

uh, that's the first thing

that happens:

friendships dissolve, you know.

Mm-hmm. Yeah.

(fanfare playing)

(applause)

CHEECH:

What happens in movies is

your ego gets quite large.

Tommy's ego was always

quite large, which is great.

You have to have a big ego

to be in show business

'cause what you're saying is,

"Look at me," you know?

I'm doing wonderful things.

You should laugh,

or you should love us,

or whatever it is

that's necessary.

(sighs) He got an ego

out of proportion

to his actual talent.

Beep, beep, beep, beep,

beep, beep, beep, beep, beep...

CHONG:

When I became the director,

that really drove a wedge

between Cheech and I.

We were no longer partners.

I was the director,

and Cheech was the actor.

Hey, listen, man, turn those

mics down. Turn 'em down.

(Richard Strauss' "Also Sprach

Zarathustra" playing)

CHONG:

I think Cheech really wanted

to be equal in every way,

and you can't, because

even though I directed,

he was the star

of all the movies.

MAN:

...zero.

(rocket blasting off)



CHONG:

The movie was focused on him.

And I did that purposely

because it-it was a trade-off.



(cheering and applause)

He didn't put me anywhere.

I was in the same position I was

since we started the act.

I was Cheech

from Cheech & Chong.

And that came with

its own thing.

If you weren't gonna be

recognized

as the acting star,

you wanted to be recognized

as the director--

I understand that.

So you think that

I-I directed because,

uh, it was a job

that I could do?

Instead of being the star,

I could be the director?

Well, you always were

the director.

It wasn't like...

And you got to earn it.

You can't just say,

oh, because I was there with

the other guy that directed,

I should be a director.

Did I direct as much as you did

in the movies?

-Huh?

-Did I direct as much

-as you did in the movies?

-No.

-All right, then.

-(truck roars by)

-No, you never...

-See, that's a lie.

(laughs)

That's a lie?

Yeah. Well, of course

it's a lie.

I directed just as much

as you did in the movies.

-You know?

-Okay.

When we had to re-- (sighs)

This isn't really worth

going into.

Mine. Mine.

(wailing)

Mine, mine, mine.

-Mine, mine.

-Ow!

CHONG:

Cheech said,

"No more stoner movies.

I want to do a movie

without dope."

I said, "No problem."

You know, it's like doing

a comedy show clean.

You know, work clean.

And I-I love the challenge.

So I said, "Yeah, let's do it."



There's a lot of irony

in The Corsican Brothers

because it's a movie about

feeling each other's pain.

Who are you,

and what are you doing here?

I'm your brother Luis.

You're lying.

My brother wasn't Mexican.

Look, it's me.

Ow!

CHONG:

There was a lot of meaning

in that movie.

Ah, Luis, Luis!

I didn't want to make

amiable messes anymore.

I wanted to make

more fully concentrated

and focused movies.

Tommy said, "I'm gonna write

Corsican Brothers.

"I don't want any

interference from you,

"and if you don't like it,

give back the money

you received as an advance

for the movie."

He wanted to cut me out

of the process that was

the lifeblood of Cheech & Chong.

Wow, you know, people do have

different memories of--

different experiences

of the same event.

And so I have

to respect that, you know?

If that's what he feels

that's what happened,

that's what, that--

in his world,

that's what happened.

But not in my world.

Give me that!

Ow!

CHONG:

Cheech wasn't interested

in the hard part of

directing a movie.

You know, the nuts and bolts.

He wasn't interested.

He just wanted to perform.

You know, "Turn on the camera

and I'll perform."

He wanted some kind of control

over The Corsican Brothers,

which he never got.

(wind gusting)

(seagulls screeching)

CHEECH: After we wrapped

Corsican Brothers,

I went back to Los Angeles.

My marriage to Rikki

was unraveling at that point.

CHONG:

And that's when Cheech

really pulled away from me.

He was in a very transitional

time of his life.

CHEECH:

Tommy was content to go--

I think he lived in France

for three or four years.

I didn't know how

he was gonna be relevant

to the U.S. audience

by living in Paris,

but he wanted to bask

in the South of France

and, uh... and exalt in

his worldwide renown

as this comic genius director.

And I was just-- I was lost.

I went home, smoked dope

and played guitar.



And then one day, I looked up

and I saw this brand-new thing.

I thought, "This is perfect

for Cheech & Chong."

We're musicians,

we're filmmakers,

and we're comedians.

We can make video albums.



So I figured I would

write these tunes

and direct the videos,

and he would direct

the mockumentary

that wrapped around it.

And we'll do this together

and it'll be great.

Come on, man,

let's do a video, man.

I don't want to do

a video, all right?

Don't want to do it.

All right,

then I'll do it myself.

Good, do it yourself.

I'll do a lot of videos.

Well, good. Good for you.

I'll be a vidiot. Ha-ha.

You are already a vidiot.

Forget you.

CHEECH:

I needed one more tune

for the package, and I was

reading this article

in the L.A. Times

about this young

Mexican kid who got

caught in a raid

and got deported,

but he was American.

At the same time,

Bruce Springsteen's record

was playing on the radio:

Born in the USA.

So I started singing,

I was born in East L.A.

Man, I was born in East L.A.

Oh, yeah, you were born

in East L.A.

Well, let's see

your Green Card, huh?

Green Card?

I'm from East L.A.

I showed up for everything

you ever wanted, right?

There wasn't anything

you asked me to do

that I didn't do.

-I asked you one thing.

-To be an extra.

No, it's not an extra.

It was the vital part of

the middle of the song.

(laughing):

It was... it wasn't.

All right, all you mojados

down here,

I want y'all to hit the floor.

A cop, of all things.

Not even my character.

It's a cop.

You wanted me to be a cop.

Where were you born, man?

Huh?

The Chong character

doesn't do bit parts.

I protect my character.

Hey, are you one of those dudes

that do horoscopes, man?

Hey, I'm a Cancer

with a bad moon rising.

Look here, el vago.

Watch my lips.

Where were you born?

And that's what it was.

-Well, that's the way you...

-It was a f*cking insult.

That's the way you perceived it

because I was in charge of...

That's the way it was.

CHEECH:

Born in East L.A. comes out.

It was a huge hit.

The head of Universal said,

"I saw this video,

"I think that it's brilliant,

"and I think there's

a movie there.

"But only for you.

"It's not

a Cheech & Chong movie,

"it's a Cheech movie,

and I'm-I'm ready to do it

right now."

(sighs)

At some point in the process,

the younger brother

got old enough.

You weren't in the record.

You weren't in the video.

The video prompted the film.

You weren't in it.

In my mind, I tried

everything I-I could

to appease you.

I was tired of being excluded,

and I...

But you never wrote

for Cheech & Chong.

You wrote for Cheech.

Yeah. Okay.

INTERVIEWER: Now, let's get

the record straight.

You and Tommy Chong are

no longer working together?

Well, just not right now.

We're taking a little hiatus,

and we're doing

individual projects

we've wanted to do

for a little while,

and we'll probably

get back together again

and do something,

you know, after a while.

And that's what happens

when you break,

when you break the thing

like that, it's broken.

I told you when you walked away

that, hey, I still want to make

Cheech & Chong movies, but...

-Oh, that's bullshit.

-I'm sorry...

I said I'm sorry...

That is bullshit, man.

You're really stretching it now.

I... Oh, please, Tommy.

REPORTER: Tommy Chong has had

the limousines

and the millions

that go with them,

but the gold mine

that created them all,

the Cheech & Chong team,

is no longer his team.

We're sort of in the middle

of the divorce,

and I don't have

another woman yet.

(chuckles)

As far as a career goes.

Well, you were mad

because I-I... I didn't want to

try to keep our career going.

-No, I... -I didn't want

to keep you directing.

I didn't want to keep doing

Cheech & Chong movies.

I'm going to do the--

By the way,

when I finish this one,

I still want to go back

and do Cheech & Chong movies.

Do other members of a band

go off and do solo albums,

then come back and do the band?

-Well, we're not a band.

-Yes, we are.

-No, we're not.

-We're absolutely a band.

Cheech, that "nice people

on both sides" argument

does not work with us.

And Chong doesn't work

as an extra, you know?

(Cheech sighs)

I'm not doing this anymore.

(grunting)

CREW MEMBER: Cheech. Cheech.

Get back in the car.

CHEECH: How you get

the hell off this trailer?

DRIVER:

Hey.

You got to be kidding me.

What the hell

you think you're doing?

-Ever hear of safety?

-We just...

I've been listening

to you guys all day long,

and I don't care who you are,

I want you off my trailer.

I'll-- Okay, okay, I'll--

How-how do you get the f*ck

off of this?

(truck horn honks twice)

-Oh, f*ck.

-What's the matter?

(groans) My knee, my knee.

How'd you do that?

sh*t. Jumping off that rig.

Well, what did you do that for?

-(groans) -You okay?

Here, put your... Here.

Come here.

Put your weight on me.

-All right, just shake it out.

-Yeah, that's better.

There you go.

You okay now?

It's better, it's better.

-It's better now? You okay?

-It's good.

-Yeah.

-You can make it?

Yeah, I can make it. Yeah.

All that stuff that happened...

-Yeah.

-Years ago, man.

I mean, why-why are we

dwelling on it?

Why don't we just let it go?

Yeah, I know what you're saying.

I don't want

to do this sh*t, either,

but just, you drive me nuts!

No, but seriously,

we got to put all that bullshit

behind us.

Okay.

Because we've got a whole

beautiful life

ahead of us, you know?

Yeah.

(sniffs)

Hey, Cheech.

What?

(both chuckle)

CHEECH:

The Joint.

(laughs)

CHONG:

Yeah.

CHEECH:

How's your knee?

CHONG:

My knee's good.

CHEECH: Hey, you know

what I was thinking?

-CHONG: Hmm?

-CHEECH: That idea you had

about the marijuana wind farm?

CHONG:

Yeah?

CHEECH:

How would that work?

CHONG: Well, it's a great idea

because the wind is free.

CHEECH:

Yeah. We could work on that.

How much you think we can grow?

-CHONG: Thousands of acres.

-CHEECH: Yeah?

CHONG:

I mean, sky's the limit.

Everything's changing.

We got to prepare

for the future.

CHEECH:

Well, okay.

CHONG: Will you grow

your mustache back?

CHEECH:

No.

CHONG:

No, seriously.

CHEECH:

No.

Is that Dave's bike?

CHONG:

I don't know.



JIMMY KIMMEL:

Is it true that you

once opened for Cheech & Chong?

-I did.

-Where was that?

People forget,

but Cheech & Chong were huge.

Oh, sure. Yeah.

Huge at the time.

Hey, man, it's Dave.

Open up, man.

Dave's not here, man.

(laughing)

The guy's so high,

he doesn't even know

that's Dave.

EMCEE:

Homer. Homer?

Homer's not here, man.

-ALEX TREBEK: Cheech.

-What is Camelot?

-Yes. Cheech.

-What is a baster?

Yes. You're the winner today.

Your charity will get $50,000,

and Aisha and Anderson's

charities $25,000 each.

I got the Rollie on my arm

and I'm pourin' Chandon

And I roll the best

'cause I got it goin' on

I'm a gangsta...

CHEECH:

You do need a paint job, man.

Anything you want.

You know, like a flame job.

-No, thanks.

-Maybe ghost flames.

You like old-school pinstriping?

Von Dutch style, huh?

-Whoa.

-(gasps) Oh!

-CHONG: Om...

-Hello? Hello?

-(coughs)

-(flies buzzing)

-Hmm?

-Hello. My name is...

Oh, you know,

I'm gonna hit the pause button

right there,

'cause we're all good on

Bunny Scout cookies.

REPORTER: From marijuana movie

icon to patron of the arts,

Cheech Marin's massive

collection

of Chicano art and culture

has toured the world

and now has a permanent home.

REPORTER 2:

Tommy Chong was sentenced

to nine months in federal prison

for selling bongs

on the Internet.

Lou Adler, man, is a treasure,

and hopefully

we'll be up here one day

accepting an award for being

the first rock and roll

comedians

to be indicted into--

oh, indicted

-into the Hall of Fame.

-"Indicted."

We should indict Lou Adler

to the Rock and Roll

Hall of Fame.

What do you say?

(cheering and applause)

ANNOUNCER: Cheech & Chong,

ladies and gentlemen,

Cheech & Chong!

(cheering and applause)

Weren't they great?

Cheech & Chong.

(cheering and applause)

(music fades)