Chong’s career sparked by upcoming reunion

Kirk Baird

Friday, Feb. 28, 2003 | 8:43 a.m.

It wasn't happenstance, coincidence or even an act of God that got Cheech and Chong together again.

Just a programming decision at CBS.

After the Eye Network canceled the long-running buddy detective series "Nash Bridges" in May 2001, Richard "Cheech" Marin found himself out of steady employment.

It wasn't long, then, before the actor-comedian considered pairing up again with his former comedic partner Tommy Chong for a new movie.

Oddly enough, Chong predicted the turn of events nearly two years ago in an interview with the Las Vegas Sun.

"Whether we get back together depends on the financial situation. If 'Nash Bridges' stopped playing and (Cheech) was out of a job long enough, I think he would be interested."

In a recent phone interview from his home near Los Angeles, Chong was reminded of his prophetic statement.

"And that's exactly what happened," said Chong, 64, who performs tonight with his wife Shelby at Club Madrid at Sunset Station.

"(Cheech's also) got a young son -- 16 years old -- and I think he started putting a little pressure on him to see his dad back as Cheech."

However the union came about, the upcoming movie finally puts to rest the question of when Cheech and Chong would perform together again.

The Abbott and Costello of ganja parted ways in 1986, after performing together for nearly 20 years.

The duo's breakup was not a matter of personal animosity, but rather a result of creative differences.

Cheech wanted to prove that he was more than his drug-addled character; he's since appeared in several films, even directing one of them, 1987's "Born in East L.A." Meanwhile Chong stayed true to his stoner roots in his films, TV and stand-up act.

For the new film, which should hit theaters as part of the summer 2004 studio blitz, both Cheech and Chong continue with what made them famous.

Tentatively titled "Cheech and Chong Get Blunt," the movie is based on a script by Chong's daughter, Rae Dawn Chong. One possible plot, suggested by Cheech, has Chong discovering a miracle hair growth.

Otherwise, the film finds the characters just as before.

"Cheech is living on the same couch, with grandkids that wake him up. I'll be living with my mother," Chong said. "It will be as if you looked in on Cheech and Chong 20 years later and nothing's changed. We're just older (but) with the same sensibilities. We're the same stoners.

"We're going to reprise a lot of the same old Cheech and Chong people, and keep the focus on Cheech and Chong. There are certainly a lot of roles. We're going to try to get all the old people back."

Chong made news this week away from the stage, however.

On Monday morning, nearly two weeks after he was interviewed by the Sun, Chong's home and Gardena, Calif., factory, Chong Class, which mainly manufactures handmade pipes, were raided by federal drug agents and other authorities, according to E! Online, which cited an L.A. TV station's story as its source.

The sweep, the E! article states, was "said to be related to nationwide Drug Enforcement Agency-led crackdowns on businesses that trade in what U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft called 'illegal drug paraphernalia industry.' "

As of Thursday morning, neither Chong nor Chong Glass have been charged with any crime. According to Chong's publicist, Chong's attorney has advised his client not to release a statement related to the case.

Tonight's show at Club Madrid is still scheduled, said a Station Casinos publicist.

It's been 25 years since Cheech and Chong made their first film, "Up In Smoke." A low-budget, lowbrow comedy, the sight of two lovable but perpetually stoned hippie types worked well in the permissive '70s, and made stars out of the comedians.

The Cheech and Chong film formula is as simple as the plot: The drugged-out duo bounce haplessly from one comedic dilemma to the next

Their various antagonists often include overanxious DEA types looking to make the big arrest or crooked drug dealers wanting to settle a score.

But Cheech and Chong always prevail.

"In a way, they harken back to a strong tradition of the innocent," said Sean Clark, professor of film at the University of Nevada Las Vegas. "The Three Stooges are innocent because they are dumb and people try to take advantage of them. Cheech and Chong are innocent because they're stoned and people try to take advantage of them.

"Because the world works the way it does, the bad guys get their comeuppance, but it's usually not because of Cheech and Chong. They're just stumbling through this world trying to be happy."

A former sitcom writer, Clark said he appreciates the simplicity of the Cheech and Chong humor.

"With the love of the two characters they had, they could take a simple joke and make a whole routine out of it. Look at the spate of the current king of comedies that feature addled leads. They're the parent of ... 'Dumb and Dumber' and 'Dude, Where's My Car?" The bridge between early comics and this new millennium is Cheech and Chong."

Despite the lack of new material, Cheech and Chong remain popular. For example, Rhino has just released a two-disc greatest-hits CD collection "Where There's Smoke, There's Cheech and Chong."

And Comedy Central bought the broadcast rights to five of those films in 1996.

For his part, though, Chong isn't concerned about he and his comedic partner's relevance.

"More than anything we reflected a whole culture from the Grateful Dead. Now it's Snoop Dogg. That culture, the rap culture, which is one segment of the dope culture, is bigger than ever," he said. "Trying to act sober or straight around cops is a part of life. You'd be surprised how many closet smokers exist."