VIDEO: Legendary Comedy Partners Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong Join the Wrap up Show

Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong — collectively known as Cheech and Chong — might have gotten their legendary comedy start during the counterculture of the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, but they were among the first to tackle drug humor. Stopping by the Wrap Up Show recently, Cheech and Chong spoke to hosts Jon Hein and Gary Dell’Abate of their status as trailblazers.

“We stole home plate,” Marin noted before adding that whenever someone else attempted similar material they were just accused of being copycats.

One contemporary who was proudly influenced by them? Future “Saturday Night Live” star John Belushi, who at the time was a member of the Second City improv group. “All the improv groups started recording, and Belushi was in the recording studio and halfway through the recording they would hit the button and say, ‘Ah, it’s too Cheech and Chong, you’re too Cheech and Chong,’” Tommy recalled before adding, “And Belushi said, ‘That’s the whole idea, guys.’”

When fellow “SNL” cast member Bill Murray visited with Howard recently, he claimed that the movie “Stripes” was originally intended for Cheech and Chong. The duo confirmed as much during their sit-down. “We were in the middle of ‘[Cheech and Chong’s] Next Movie,’ so we were already doing our own movie, and so ‘Stripes’ came in too late,” Tommy explained. “I remember going into Paramount [for] lunch and the whole ‘Stripes’ crew was there, and I remember Bill Murray yelling at us: ‘You guys messed up, you guys made a mistake,’ and I didn’t even know what he was talking about because we were never shown the script.”

Despite their clear influence, it took a while for the duo to realize and accept their own success. “I think when we came out with our third album I thought, ‘This is my profession now,’” Cheech remembered. “That was a real moment like ‘I’m not ever going to get another job or I’m not going to sell shoes — this is what I’m doing.’ But it was three albums in.”

That third album — “Los Cochinos” — featured a who’s who of Rock and Roll Hall of Famers, including George Harrison, Carole King, Billy Preston, and more. Cheech feels they should receive the same honor. “If there are any comedians that should be in the Hall of Fame it’s Cheech and Chong because we were there at the beginning of rock and roll,” he declared. “When you have a position where other musicians are covering your music you should be in the Hall of Fame.”

One standout track on that record — “Basketball Jones” — was inspired by a rather intense car ride with Jack Nicholson to an L.A. Lakers game. “He was driving on the wrong side of the road,” Chong recalled. “Every time we’d get nervous [Cheech] would start singing and making up songs.”

“So, I started singing ‘Basketball Jones,’” Cheech added.

“I’m in the front seat thinking, ‘Oh, we’ve got to record that,” Chong responded before noting they did the very next day.

When the team finally did their first film — 1978’s “Up in Smoke” — it was a monster success that grossed over $100 million. Thanks to the deal they made with then-manager Lou Adler, they only initially made a very small fraction of that. “We never questioned anything with Lou, we trusted Lou explicitly,” Chong said before acknowledging they were eventually made aware of some “hanky panky” going on. “We had a choice. We could either ruin people’s lives and get the benefits of the movie, or we could leave things the way they [were]. Lou’s lawyers made us whole as far as getting paid … We got paid handsomely, and that’s all we wanted.”

“The week before we signed this contract, we were collecting soda bottles on the street in order to eat that day,” Cheech added of why they accepted a bad deal to begin with. “They were offering us $1,000 a piece — we could eat for five years on that.”

Check our more highlights from their interview (above) and an in studio performance of their hit “Earache My Eye” with Stern Show staffers Richard Christy and Steve Nowicki (below).