Movin' On (TV series)

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

Movin' On is an American drama television series. It ran for two seasons from 1974 to 1976 on the NBC network.

Synopsis[]

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

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

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

The truck tractor featured on the pilot episode was a dark green 1973 Kenworth W-925, but was later changed to a 1974 model for the series run.^{[citation needed]} Movin' On was filmed on location all over the United States, including Glen Burnie, Maryland; Mobile, Alabama; Sedona, Arizona; Phoenix, Arizona; San Diego and San Francisco, California; Buford and Jonesboro, Georgia; Durham and Charlotte, North Carolina; Astoria, Portland, The Dalles, Seaside and Hood River, Oregon; and Norfolk, Virginia. Parts of the series were also filmed in Salt Lake City, Heber and Midway, Utah.^[2]

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

Episode list[]

Pilot (1974)[]

• "In Tandem" (May 8, 1974)

Season 1 (1974–1975)[]

Season 2 (1975–76)[]

Home media[]

On September 20, 2017, the first & second seasons of Movin' On were released on manufactured-on-demand DVD by Allied Vaughn & Pro Classic TV.^[3]

References in popular culture[]

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

During the series, truck drivers on the CB would say that they were going to "do it like Pruitt". After the series ended, the phrase became "do it like Pruitt used to do it." This phrase could still be heard occasionally 30 years later.^[4]

References[]

External links[]

• Movin' On at IMDb
• "In Tandem" at IMDb
• Movin' On at epguides.com
• Movin' On web site - managed by the show's original producers with stories of production and many photo images