The San Pedro Beach Bums

This line has been repeated by myself and my brothers (and most every guy I know) since it came out in 1977. I never thought about it too much and actually forgot where it originated from.

I said the line to my wife the other day and she had no clue as to what I was referring to.

I remembered it was from a sitcom and I do remember being in school the next day and everyone was saying it all day. I think I was in 7th grade. After Googleing it, now I know the origin. As a twelve year old, I vaguely remember liking the show, even though I'm sure it was pretty bad.

Yeah, I remember that one line and I don't know how it became such a big thing as the show itself was no big deal. I think it was just the fact that it was a sitcom with the word beach in the title that people actually checked it out, and when it stiffed, the only thing to come out of it was the famous line. Why it stuck I have no idea, but do a Yahoo search and you'll find numerous mentions of the line and the fact that it came from this show; it is indeed a famous line if not infamous considering the dubious fate of the show. It's the only thing I or anybody else remembers about it. I wonder if the guy who said it is still saying it somewhere in some bar and nobody except the rare 40-ish guy with a good memory has a clue what he's talking about.

Are you kidding me, I thought I was the only one who remembered this show and that line. It might be the only thing memorable about the show, but has a more memorable line every been penned? You bet!

I remember the show well. I was 13 at the time, and just like a couple of people recounted, the line "football you bet" was being repeated by a number of us the next day at school. Heck, the catch phrase may have even last a few days.

In that episode, the bums got a football team together, and as things went along they needed a kicker, who ended up being some foreign fellow who could only say the English words "Football, you bet." He had a permanent smile on his face -people would ask him questions and he'd say "football, you bet." He goes in the huddle, he's told what to do, and all he can say is "Football, you bet." I guess you had to be there - when you added in the accent he used, which we all mimicked the next day, it made for some pretty good TV hilarity for an adolescent in the mid 1970's.

Alas the show was cancelled a few weeks later - they never recaptured the magic again. I wouldn't mind seeing that episode again.- if I'm not mistaken it may have been the debut episode.

Okay, I barely remember this show but I remember liking it.

ABC really hyped this one when it came out. I was maybe eleven years old at the time. Being a young kid in Delaware, the idea of living with my pals on a beach in California seemed like a really cool way to live.

Come to think of it, it still doesn't seem like such a bad idea.

The main two things I remember about the show are Stuart Pankin and that there was a womanizing character named Boychick. Pankin's a great actor and this is probably one of the first things I saw him in. I'm glad he went on to a successful career in movies and television.

It'd be fun to see an episode of this show again. I doubt I'll ever have a chance, but they don't make shows like this anymore - and that's kind of a shame. There's something to be said for the kind of light, fun kind of shows they made back in the Seventies.

Bud Gott