Tommy Chong Reveals Personal Favorite ‘Cheech and Chong’ Movie, Reflects Candidly on Past Falling out With Cheech Marin (Exclusive)

Iconic comedy duo Cheech & Chong put out eight original comedy albums in less than 10 years back in the ’70s, as well as six major motion pictures between 1978 and 1984. Now, Tommy Chong — one-half of the legendary pot-comedy team — has revealed what his personal favorite Cheech & Chong movie is, while candidly reflecting on the time he and Cheech Marin were not getting along. While speaking exclusively to PopCulture.com, Chong shared he’d “probably pick” 1983’s Still Smokin as his favorite film the pair did as it “showed our act.”

“It’s the only one that really showed what we did on stage,” he explained. “The bits that we’ve never done, ever again. We only did them for that movie. […] But it was good that Cheech and I put it together, after almost 10 years of being on the road.” Chong also revealed that the film was almost titled Cheech and Chong’s Greatest Hits, but “then Still Smoking came along, and Still Smoking really is Cheech and Chong’s greatest hits.”

When held up to the same light as other classic comedies, there is no question that the Cheech and Chong movies hold up just as well, if not better. Chong says that this is mostly due to the fact that he and Marin were essentially just being themselves. “We were that ‘now’ attitude. We were those guys. Caddy Shack was like a take on golfers, and Animal House was like a take on the students. They were just a piece of their life, but Cheech and Chong, that was their life. That was it, folks. This is the extent of these guys. This is as far as they were going to get, and they weren’t sad about it at all.”

In the late ’80s, Cheech and Chong had a falling out and did not work together again until 1992, when they both voiced characters in the animated film FernGully: The Last Rainforest. It would be another five years before fan would seen them on-screen together again, when Chong made an appearance on Marin’s TV series Nash Bridges. Notably, Chong had directed every Cheech and Chong film, and only directed one other film — the 1990 comedy Far Out Man — after they went their separate ways.

Addressing why he ultimately stopped directing entirely, Chong confessed, “When I lost Cheech, I lost my muse. I lost my guy. And it wasn’t fun anymore.” He goes on to share how Marin, who was as “funny” as he was, was also his “supporting guy.”

Being a musician as well as a comedy mastermind, Chong explained himself with a rock band analogy. “I’ve always been a backup guitar player. I was never the star singer,” he said. “I can play lead, but back in the day my whole thing was being a backup.” Chong added that he loves “going on the road,” and that “it’s always been good,” so he continued to do it even when the pair had split. “I did it, but I’d have rather just stayed with Cheech.”

These days, however, the pair have a renewed and revived relationship, and are still taking on new projects. The most recent of which is Cheech and Chong: Bud Farm, a brand new mobile game. “We’d been looking for a Cheech & Chong video game [to do],” Chong said, and the opportunity finally presented itself when his son, Paris Chong, connected with Vancouver-based LDRLY Games. “They came up with the idea, and brand, and everything. Cheech and I [are] happy as hell that it got done,” Chong explained. Heralding LDRLY’s work, he admits: “They’re really excellent at what they do, so it worked out really good.” Cheech and Chong: Bud Farm is now available on most mobile device app stores.