The Dust Off: Cheech and Chong

Get your news from a source that’s not owned and controlled by oligarchs. Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily.


The pending release (August 12) of Tommy Chong’s unauthorized biography of the infamous comedy duo Cheech & Chong shouldn’t be the only reason to revisit the duo’s raunchy, 70s- and 80s-era, marijuana-laden humor, such as:

According to Cheech and Chong News, the duo will hit the road in September to do a stand-up tour and there is talk of a new movie together.

But let’s not forget Up in Smoke, the 1978 flick that scores of stoners since have quoted at least once in their life:

Book, stand-up tour, movie: all of this big news begs the question, “but why?” Chong already wrote a New York Times bestseller about his arrest and imprisonment. Cheech went on to appear in that super lame, post-Miami Vice Don Johnson show, Nash Bridges and do a whole slew of voice-overs for animated features, not to mention star in a bunch of Robert Rodriguez films.

But I guess the bottom-line question is “why not?” We’ve revisited more family-friendly, 60s- and 70s-era entertainment such as The Brady Bunch, and Bewitched and Get Smart, so I guess it was inevitable that some late-70s raunch would resurface as well.

I mean, when your main interests are low-ridin, checkin’ out sexy mamas on the strip, and smoking labrador, an old (and probably new) fan base will no doubt resurface.

BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

payment methods

BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate