The Correct Order To Watch Every Cheech And Chong Movie

Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong first established their "wastoid" characters while working together in a Canadian improv troupe in the late 1960s. They first found success performing as "Cheech & Chong" as the opener for a touring bad. The story goes that Cheech & Chong were so funny, the band never came on stage. They began releasing their best bits on comedy albums starting with 1971's "Cheech and Chong," a must-have for comedy record collectors. Their bits were played by hip DJs, and they appeared regularly on "The Dr. Demento Show."

Their success was helped by a growing drug culture in the early 1970s. Cheech & Chong were stoners through and through, and their jokes hit harder for those who were under the influence. Those who are inexperienced with marijuana may not find Cheech & Chong terribly funny. The stoner shtick has continued to the present day, and now Marin and Chong have lended their name to a line of weed gummies. Chong, especially, has long been a weed advocate, and even once went to prison for shipping bongs across state lines. 

Cheech & Chong films still sit near or at the top of the stoner movie pyramid, in many ways the gold standard by which all future stoner movies are judged. Your mileage may vary when it comes to finding Cheech & Chong funny, but one cannot deny their importance in the comedy firmament. Cheech & Chong were the ultimate slobs in a world that demanded snobbery. In a capitalist world of good manners and cleanliness, they were too stoned to care.

There have been nine Cheech & Chong movies, although Marin and Chong have also appeared in character in multiple other film projects.

The nine "main" Cheech and Chong movies, in order of their release, are as follows: 

• "Up in Smoke" (1978)
• "Cheech and Chong's Next Movie" (1980)
• "Nice Dreams" (1981)
• "Things Are Tough All Over" (1982)
• "Still Smokin'" (1983)
• "Cheech and Chong's The Corsican Brothers" (1984)
• "Get Out of My Room" (1985)
• "Hey, Watch This!" (2010)
• "Cheech & Chong's Animated Movie!" (2013)

It's worth noting that there is no continuity between the various movies. Indeed, "The Corsican Brothers" is a straight-up spoof movie (riffing on Alexandre Dumas' novella) set in 1840 and weirdly doesn't feature any stoner humor. "Get Out of My Room" is a 52-minute "This is Spinal Tap"-style mockumentary about the making of the "Get Out of My Room" album. "Hey, Watch This!" was a filmed version of the 2010 Cheech and Chong reunion concert, and was a throwback to their early days on the stage. 

As mentioned, though, there are several "secondary" Cheech and Chong movies that include early concert footage released on VHS, as well as a compilation film and a few other movies wherein the duo appeared, even if they weren't the stars. (They were even in a Martin Scorsese movie!) The Cheech and Chong personae were so pervasive that they even started to appear in children's animated films, playing various animal characters who were essentially riffs on Cheech and Chong. They also split to make individual films, although their solo works are not included.

Here are a few additional Cheech & Chong movies that aren't necessarily part of the above nine-film "canon."

The "secondary" films are:

• "Cheech & Chong Perform" (1978)
• "Cheech & Chong Perform Again?!" (1978)
• "It Came from Hollywood" (1982)
• "Yellowbeard" (1983)
• "After Hours" (1985)
• "Born in East L.A." (1987)
• "Far Out Man" (1990)
• "FernGully: The Last Rainforest" (1992)
• "Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil" (2011)
• "Paradoria" (2015)

The "Perform" videos were mere recording of their earlier stage work, compiled before the making of "Up in Smoke." "It Came from Hollywood" was a comedic compilation movie that cut together some of the more outrageous scenes in movie history (many years before people were do such things on YouTube). That film featured segments were hosted by various comedians, including Cheech & Chong. "Yellowbeard" was a pirate spoof in which Cheech & Chong made a cameo. "Born in East L.A." is a narrative feature starring Marin, but only boasts a cameo from Chong. It was, however, inspired by "Get Out of My Room," and should be considered at least a direct adjunct to the Cheech & Chong canon. Meanwhile, "Far Out Man" was directed by Chong and only features a cameo from Cheech.

"FernGully," "Hoodwinked Too!," and "Paradoria" were animated films featuring Cheech & Chong in character, even though they weren't the main characters. The duo also appeared in the video game "Scarface: The World is Yours." 

One might note that the duo's output slowed in the mid-1980s, and this was due to an acrimonious split. Each worked on solo projects for a while, and their cooperation was kept to a minimum. For a short while, Chong announced he was looking to audition for a new Cheech. He never actually found anyone. Their 2010 reunion film was well-considered, and released after a reunion film, "Grumpy Old Stoners," fell through.

If one wants to run the full gamut of Cheech & Chong, then, here is the full 18-film marathon, in recommended viewing order: 

• "Cheech & Chong Perform" (1978)
• "Cheech & Chong Perform Again?!" (1978)
• "Up in Smoke" (1978)
• "Cheech and Chong's Next Movie" (1980)
• "Nice Dreams" (1981)
• "Things Are Tough All Over" (1982)
• "Yellowbeard" (1983)
• "Still Smokin'" (1983)
• "Cheech and Chong's The Corsican Brothers" (1984)
• "Get Out of My Room" (1985)
• "After Hours" (1985)
• "Born in East L.A." (1987)
• "Far Out Man" (1990)
• "FernGully: The Last Rainforest" (1992)
• "Hey, Watch This!" (2010)
• "Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil" (2011)
• "Cheech & Chong's Animated Movie!" (2013)
• "Paradoria" (2015)

As mentioned, if one wants a stripped-down Cheech & Chong watchlist, one only needs to see the nine "primary" films listed above. However, since we're all completionists, this master list will likely be the best order to see them all. Note that "Up in Smoke" was revolutionary at the time, being the first film to feature stoners as heroic lead characters. I'm not encouraging this kind of behavior, but if one were to watch these movies in a chemically altered state of mind, the weird variety of live films, cartoon films, historical spoofs, and straight-up stoner comedies could cause a pleasant feeling of being unbalanced. 

If you require an intermission or two, remember that Cheech & Chong also released seven records from 1972 to 1985, so you could listen to those in between movies at your leisure.

(Fun trivia: The above list almost included a "Friday the 13th" sequel. After the success of "Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives," the film's producers began kicking around an idea of a crossover movie, settling — albeit very briefly — on a Jason vs. Cheech & Chong idea. Unfortunately, it never came to pass.)