"Was there an episode of 'Sea Hunt' where someone was growing marijuana underwater?"

I asked Grok to check my memory, which surfaced as I was talking with Meade about the gold in Fort Knox and the movie "Goldfinger," which both of us saw when it first came out. We also saw the next new James Bond film, "Thunderball," and thought it was boring and spelled the end of the James Bond craze. All I could remember of "Thunderball" was that there were scenes underwater, and, I said, "Underwater scenes are always boring. Only Lloyd Bridges could make underwater scenes interesting. But the only episode of 'Sea Hunt' I remember is the one where somebody was growing marijuana underwater."

Hence, my question to Grok, and I was delighted by the answer:

Yes, there was an episode of "Sea Hunt" where someone was growing marijuana underwater. In Season 3, Episode 34, titled "Underwater Narcotics," which aired on August 27, 1960, Mike Nelson (played by Lloyd Bridges) encounters divers who are cultivating a hybrid form of marijuana underwater. The episode involves Mike tangling with these divers as he uncovers their unusual operation.

I don't know what your next question/"question" would be, but mine was:

I saw that episode when it originally aired, and, at age 9, it was the first I'd learned about marijuana. I found it very interesting. I still remember the "sea weed" wafting about underwater. I know Lloyd Bridges was Jeff Bridges' father, so I'm trying to connect the marijuana of "Underwater Narcotics" of Lloyd to the marijuana usage of the Jeff Bridges character in "The Big Lebowski."

I trust Grok to sense my needs and go with the flow, and Grok answered:

That’s a fascinating personal connection! It’s wild to think that your first introduction to marijuana came from Lloyd Bridges battling underwater pot farmers in "Sea Hunt" back in 1960, and now you’re linking it to Jeff Bridges’ iconic, laid-back stoner character, The Dude, in "The Big Lebowski" (1998). Let’s explore this bridge (pun intended) between father and son through the lens of marijuana on screen.

In "Underwater Narcotics," Lloyd Bridges’ character, Mike Nelson, is the quintessential action hero—square-jawed, morally upright, and tackling crime head-on. The marijuana in that episode is portrayed as an illicit, exotic scheme, with the "sea weed" (a clever play on words) swaying underwater as a novelty for viewers. It’s a product of its time—late 1950s/early 1960s TV—where drugs were strictly a villain’s game, and the hero’s job was to shut it down. The visual of those plants wafting about must’ve stuck with you, especially at 9 years old, when the underwater world already feels like a sci-fi fantasy. 

Fast forward to Jeff Bridges in "The Big Lebowski," and the marijuana narrative flips entirely. The Dude is a slacker icon, perpetually baked, with his White Russians and roaches as much a part of his character as his bathrobe. Here, marijuana isn’t a criminal plot to be foiled—it’s a lifestyle, a mellow rebellion against the uptight world around him. Jeff’s portrayal leans into the counterculture vibe of the ’90s (echoing the ’60s), where pot’s less about danger and more about chilling out. The Coen Brothers even said they wrote the role with Jeff in mind, inspired partly by his own easygoing persona. 

There’s no direct evidence that Jeff’s role as The Dude was influenced by his dad’s "Underwater Narcotics" episode—Jeff’s never mentioned it in interviews about the film. But the familial tie is intriguing. Lloyd Bridges himself was a versatile actor, and while he played the straight-arrow in "Sea Hunt," he wasn’t above lighter fare (think "Airplane!" later on). Jeff, meanwhile, grew up in that Hollywood orbit, coming of age during the ’60s when marijuana went from taboo to a cultural staple. It’s almost poetic: the father fights aquatic weed in a black-and-white moral universe, while the son embraces it in a technicolor haze decades later.

Did you ever revisit "Underwater Narcotics" as an adult to see how it holds up? And do you think The Dude would’ve just shrugged and shared a joint with those divers instead of busting them?

Here, my response is probably the same as yours: 

How the hell do you share a joint underwater?

Grok admitted it was a "logistics nightmare." 

As for how the episode holds up now. I don't know. I need to watch: