Cartoonish
series about a man on the run – in a Winnebago. Johnny Tenuti was something of a
dim bulb, a small-time hustler recently paroled from prison whose cousin Vinnie,
who had been responsible for his imprisonment, set him up a second time – this
time for the murder of Chico Roselli, son of Don Roselli, a local crime boss in
New York’s Staten Island. Johnny fled New York and hitched a ride from Hick, a
grizzled old man traveling around the country in a beat-up recreational
vehicle. To conceal his identity, Johnny took his last name from the RV (a
Winnebago), which became his when Hick expired during a fishing tournament.
Johnny
lumbered from trailer park to trailer park trying to keep one step ahead of the
police, Don Roselli's men, and his parole officer, who just happened to be his
shrewish ex-wife-from-Hell, Beverly. He was hoping to find evidence that would
exonerate him before he was either caught by Beverly, or killed by Roselli’s
bumbling men. As he moved from place to place, Johnny sent letters to his mother
to reassure her that he was still alive and to tell recount his adventures in
Middle America.
CBS attempted
to build up an audience for this quirky series by rerunning the Friday-night
prime-time episodes as part of its late-night lineup on the following
Wednesdays. It didn't help.
