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 stop the truck, 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.
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.
Story by : Stanley Z. Cherry Teleplay by : Jim Allen
March 2, 1976 (1976-03-02)
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]
DVD Name
Ep #
Release Date
The Complete First Season
22
September 20, 2017
The Complete Second Season
23
September 20, 2017
References in popular culture
The CB radio boom of the mid-1970s, figured into a merchandisingtie-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]