Drive-Thru Is Back (And Playing On Stab)

Greg Browning — early star of Taylor Steele surf films — used to come home from surf trips, and his brother would be excited to know how they went. 

Greg would go into details about the beaches and the waves, the conditions and the swells, and his brother would stop him. No, but how was the trip?

He wanted to know about everything besides the surf. Crashed rental cars, parties, girls, travel mishaps and the like. The good stuff. That’s what you should make a surf movie about. (At least, that’s how Greg told the story in Benji Weatherly’s new podcast.)

And so, in the early 2000s, Greg set out to make a series that put all that behind-the-scenes stuff front and center. He called it the Drive-Thru, and the nine seasons that ensued turned into an instant classic for all surf fans, allowing you to ride shotgun with your heroes, seeing them as actual humans. Really, really fun humans. 

Then, as we reported back in October, they brought it back. While they were meant to launch it with another media house, the Drive Thru crew, particularly Benji, proved to be too much of a cultural liability for the organization, and the two teams parted ways. 

I’m underselling it.

I had the fortune of hearing the whole story from Benji while watching the 49ers play at Benji’s North Shore bar / restaurant, Breakers. He told the entire ridiculous story like a one-man show, and you really can’t script this. 

I won’t spoil the details, as he’s coming on The Drop this week and I’d love you to hear it from him, but suffice to say we’re happy with where things landed. 

You can watch all 9 episodes of Drive-Thru USA, starring Griffin Colapinto, Dane Reynolds, Parker Coffin, Eric Geiselman, Kelly Slater, Benji Weatherly, Donovan and Hendrix Frankenreiter, right here at Stab. It’s free this week, but episodes 2-9 will be exclusive to Stab Premium. If you enjoy episode 1, you’re in for a treat, because they only get better from here.