Shark Bytes

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You... it was driving me crazy trying to remember where I got the phrase, "Football you bet" and "Football been very very good to me" from. I knew it was from a TV show I saw as a kid, and I knew it was probably based in CA - but I couldn't remember the name of the show. I remember that particular episode being very funny, but I don't remember much else. Thanks again.

Holy cow! I Googled "Football, you bet!" today because I had heard that all these years and figured it must have come from some other source first! Can't believe it came from THAT show and has lasted all this time!!!

This show is stuck in the far absesses of my mind. I remember watching it religiously when I was in sixth grade, but, except for "Football, you bet," I barely remember it. Here are somethings I remember: ABC promoted the heck out of it. The did a TV Movie of the week, then ran promos with clips from their successful comedies (Welcome Back Kotter was one), saying this is their next big thing, so you can't blame the network for this cancelation. Some plot lines: they win the lottery, but lose the ticket, the big guy was called yellow for not fighting, though he could beat any one up, and, of course the football show. Personally, I'm glad it never made it to reruns. My sixth grade self loved the show, but my adult self would probably hate it.

FOOTBALL? YOU BET!! I feel like Richard Dreyfus in "Close Encounters" where I meet up with lots of people here who are obsessed by something and don't know why they are. That one line, "Football, you bet", for some reason is known by half of America and 99% don't know it came from this show. I was one of the lucky few kids who was tuned in to this show when those magic words were uttered by the foreign character who could kick a football into oblivion. What I can't understand is how this line from a show that went nowhere jumped off the page and into America's psyche where it remains 30 years later event though the show is so dead that's there's no grave marker as the cemetery been bulldozed for years. Yes, Virginia, that classic line came from this show and I saw the episode, and yes, everybody in my class was saying it the next day and every day after that for 30 years. It really wasn't that great a show, but everybody loves the beach and football and our memories of this crap show are very forgiving.

I thought this show was a riot. I was disappointed when cancelled and if memory serves correctly it was nixed by PTA types lobbying the network because they thought it was a bad influence on teenagers. The context of the show was a bunch of guys living on a boat scrounging by whatever means to acquire wobbly pops and just hanging out. Seems tame by todays standards....

This was barely around long enough to have the chance to jump. I remember seeing the pilot, but not any of the subsequent episodes (although I certainly remember the "Football -- You Bet" catchphrase -- somehow it sunk in with people in a way that the series that generated it never did). I'm using this series as a benchmark for the ongoing release of Television's 'back *******' on DVD. Once I hear an announcement that "The San Pedro Beach Bums" is going to be released, then I will know that the studios are approaching the end of their inventory...

I really enjoyed it - just simple silliness - I didn't, as another commenter did, detect implications of generalized bummery of all San Pedro residents. Aside from "Football . . . you bet," I recall a line having to do with one of them purchasing grass and another beginning to give him warnings about the dangers of drug use . . the reply? "For my LAWN! Kentucky Blue; not Panama Red!" One of those lines that probably shouldn't strike me as chuckle-inducing as it still does.

Thank heavens I'm not the only person who recalls the origin of "Football, you bet!" I vaguely remember that episode. The Beach Bums were trying to find some great local football coach--but all they found was his grave marker.

When they added Nancy Walker. She wasn't in the pilot. This loudmouth paper towel queen ruined many a decent show.

How often is it that a show that barely lasted a season has a classic catch phrase? Here it is 27 years later and my friends and I still say, Football, you bet!!!

This show never jumped. Football, you bet is a classic line. Next time Trio does brilliant but cancelled, San Pedro Beach Bums should be featured.

I loved this show. I can't believe that I'm not the only one that remembers "Football, You Bet".

I barely remember this show but I do remember liking it as a kid. Didn't this show have a character name "Boychick" and I remember a guy ending each sentence with "over here".

Buddy Binder, played by Christopher Murney, was the oldest San Pedro Beach Beach Bum and their wool cap wearing, de facto leader; think Michael Nesmith of The Monkees. Murney also played the opposing goaltender Hanrahan in the movie Slap Shot who Paul Newman taunted about his bi-sexual wife: "She's a lesbian! A lesbian!" John Mark Robinson portrayed Ed "Dancer" McClory, resident dork and made numerous television appearances. Christopher DeRose as Boychick, the heart throb, is a former cop and animal rights activist who founded Last Chance For Animals. Darryl McCullough was muscle bound Moose. Ironically though; it's Yale graduate Stuart Pankin, who played the fat guy Stuf, that has the most impressive Hollywood credentials. His movies include "The Hollywood Knights", "Fatal Attraction" and "Arachnophobia" as well as an extensive television resume.

Yes, that show managed to cast Arnold Schwarzenegger as a bodybuilder long before he became very famous. The talk in my school that week was the pronunciation of his last name.