Remembering "Chico and the Man"

It was really hot for a short period of time.

old tvPhoto byLucrezia CarnelosonUnsplash

For those of us can remember the 70s, we can remember Freddie Prinze was a hot comedian, and he had a hit TV sitcom called Chico and the Man. Sadly, during the third season of the show, Freddie committed suicide. The show continued on without him, but obviously it wasn’t the same.

I honestly couldn’t remember anything about the series after Prinze was gone. I did some checking, and it was about what you would expect. Not good. So, here are some things you probably didn’t remember about, Chico and the Man.

1: The show had numerous guest stars of note, including George Takei.

In that particular episode, Takei showed up and claimed to be Jack Albertson’s son whom he had fathered during his time in Japan during World War II. Which would have answered the question, “What did you do during the war?”

2: The show was reportedly based on a couple of skits of Cheech and Chong.

One of the skits they performed was “Pedro and the Man.” C and C were also reportedly invited to star in the show but declined, preferring to do movies instead. So, the opportunity to star in “Chico and the Man” went up in smoke.

3: The show was created by James Komack. Komack selected Freddie Prinze for the role of Chico after seeing him on the “Tonight Show.”

So, Freddie went from Burbank to East LA.

4: As a personal aside, I’ve known a lot of guys who wanted to be “the man.”

Realizing Jack Albertson, a hard-drinking auto mechanic was “the man” made me realize that aspiration isn’t that high.

5: The show was aided by a catchy theme song José Feliciano.

Unlike the theme song for the other bigoted white guy of the 70s, Archie Bunker of “All in the Family Fame” rather than nostalgic, it was upbeat. And comprehensible. But listening to it and thinking of the death of Freddie Prinze is somewhat depressing.

6: Chico coined a phrase that became popular with workers throughout the country. The phrase was, “That’s not my job.”

Freddie Prinze became afraid that particular phrase could perpetuate the stereotype of the lazy Hispanic. He then went to the phrase, “Looking good!” Freddie was really good at catch phrases.

7: After the death of Freddie Prinze, the storyline had Kack Albertson/Ed Brown, adopt a young boy from Tijuana named Raul.

Ultimately, Charo opined the cast as Raul’s overly protective aunt. During the 70s it seemed like having Charo appear on a show was the kiss of death. It was like death by “cuchi-cuchi.”

8: Scatman Crothers played Louie the garbage man and actually appeared in more episodes than Freddie Prinze.

But the idea of a series called “The Garbage Man and the Man” never really caught on.

9: Jack Albertson said his Ed Brown character wasn’t bigoted, just bitter and hated everybody because he was alone.

Of course, he was alone because he hated everybody.

10: In the series, Chico basically had to work his way into a job as a mechanic.

In today’s climate a series that had someone having to work his way into a job would be deemed unrealistic.