CHiPs Information

CHiPs is an American television drama series produced by MGM Studios (now owned by Turner Entertainment) that originally aired on NBC from September 15, 1977, to July 17, 1983. CHiPs followed the lives of two motorcycle police officers of the California Highway Patrol. The series ran for 139 episodes over six seasons.

Synopsis

CHiPs was a lightweight action crime drama, which included elements of comedy in every episode (several of the first season episodes play as out-and-out comedies). Over-the-top freeway pileups, which occurred in almost every episode, were a signature of the show. There was little if any actual violence on CHiPs, and the show can be classified as a dramedy. The episodes filled a standard hour-long time slot, which at the time required 48 minutes of actual programming.

The show was created by Rick Rosner, and starred Erik Estrada as macho, rambunctious Officer Francis ("Frank") "Ponch" Poncherello and Larry Wilcox as his strait-laced partner, Officer Jonathan "Jon" Baker. With Ponch the more trouble-prone of the pair, and Jon generally the more level-headed one trying to keep him out of trouble with the duo's gruff yet fatherly commanding officer Sergeant Joseph Getraer (Robert Pine), the two were Highway Patrolmen of the Central Los Angeles office of the California Highway Patrol (CHP, hence the name CHiPs).

As real-life CHP motor officers rarely ride in pairs, in early episodes this was explained away by placing the trouble-prone Ponch on probationary status, with Jon assigned as his field training officer. Eventually, by the end of the first season, this subplot faded away (Ponch completed his probation) as audiences were used to seeing the two working as a team.

A typical CHiPs episode

CHiPs episodes were usually a combination of light comedy and melodrama. A typical episode would start with Ponch and Jon on routine patrol or being assigned to an interesting beat, such as Malibu or the Sunset Strip. In roll call briefing, Sgt. Getraer would alert his officers to be on the lookout for a particular criminal operation, such as people staging accidents as part of an insurance scam or punks breaking into cars. A few interesting, unrelated vignettes often transpired during the course of "routine" traffic enforcement.

A light-hearted subplot would also be included, such as Harlan trying to hide a stray dog from Getraer at the office. A more serious theme, such as Ponch trying to keep a kid from his old neighborhood out of a potential life of crime, might also be included. After a few failed attempts to apprehend the gang that had been menacing L.A.'s freeways, the episode would invariably culminate in Ponch and Jon leading a chase of the suspects (often assisted by other members of their division), climaxing with a spectacular series of stunt vehicle crashes.

The show then typically featured a dénouement of Ponch and Jon participating in a new activity (such as jet skiing or skydiving), designed to showcase the pair's glamorous Southern California lifestyle. Often, Ponch would attempt to impress a woman he had met during the episode with his athletic prowess or disco dancing, only to fail and provide Jon, Getraer, and others with many laughs. As the preliminary end credits would start, the image would freeze multiple times, showing various characters laughing or otherwise enjoying the social scene.

Some of the more outlandish plots included Ponch and Jon helping a girl who believed that she was being targeted by UFOs and them racing against time to defuse a battery about to explode on an intelligent experimental police robot.

Production

According to a 1998 TV Guide article, show creator Rick Rosner was a reserve deputy with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. During a coffee break on an evening patrol shift in the mid-1970s he saw two young CHP officers on motorcycles which gave him the idea for this series. He later created 240-Robert, which seemed like a hybrid of "CHiPs" and Emergency!.

The character of Ponch was originally conceived to be Italian ("Poncherini"), but when Erik Estrada won the part, the character was changed to Hispanic American.

Episodes occasionally reference Jon Baker's service in Vietnam. This makes his character one of the earliest regular (and one of the more positive) portrayals of a Vietnam Veteran on television. Larry Wilcox served 13 months in Vietnam as a Marine artilleryman.

Though public perception links the later P-Series Kawasaki Police Special with the series, in fact they rode the C-Series Kawasaki, which had an oval windshield rather than the later model's fiberglass fairing.

Filming locations were generally in the San Fernando Valley of California. Freeway crashes were performed on recently constructed highways that were not yet open to the public. For the first season, the Glendale Freeway (Highway 2) in Montrose, California was used. After the first season, the intersection of the Foothill Freeway (Interstate 210) and the Simi Valley Freeway (Highway 118) in Sylmar, California were used. For the racing scenes in the episode "Drive, Lady, Drive" they used the Riverside International Raceway in Riverside, California.

Although doubles were used for far-off shots and various stunt or action sequences, Wilcox and Estrada did a great deal of their own motorcycle riding, and performed many smaller stunts themselves. Although Wilcox emerged relatively injury-free, Estrada suffered various injures several times throughout the run of the series. In several early first season episodes, a huge bruise or scar can be seen on his arm after he was flung from one of the motorcycles and skidded along the ground.

But his worst accident came when he was seriously injured in a motorcycle accident while filming a season three episode in August 1979, fracturing several ribs and breaking both wrists. The accident and Estrada's subsequent hospitalization was incorporated into the series' storyline.

Prior to being cast in CHiPs Estrada had no experience with motorcycles, so he underwent an intensive eight-week course, learning how to ride. In 2007 it was revealed that he didn't hold a motorcycle license at the time CHiPs was in production, and only qualified for a license after three attempts, while preparing for an appearance on a reality television show, Back To The Grind.

Estrada and Wilcox never drew their firearms over the course of the series. (This did occur in the made-for-TV reunion movie CHiPs '99.) The only character on the series depicted as drawing his firearm was Baricza (Brodie Greer), and he did so three times. The first was his radio car's Ithaca 37 shotgun in Season 1's episode "Rainy Day", where the CHiPs conduct a felony traffic stop of a motorhome-based casino. The second was in Season 2's premiere, "Peaks and Valleys", against two hillbillies armed with a Tommy-gun and a double-barrel shotgun who had ambushed his unattended patrol car for fun. Here the action was only implied, with his hand/wrist motion just below camera range. The last was in Season 4's "Karate", in which a karate-trained car burglar (Danny Bonaduce) attacked him with a B?, but wisely retreated to a getaway van when Baricza drew his gun.

NBC aired reruns of this series on its daytime schedule from April"September 1982.

During the original run of the series, syndicated reruns of older episodes were retitled CHiPs Patrol to avoid confusion. Later syndicated reruns after the show went out of production reverted to the original title.

Initially, before John Parker did his now iconic theme music, award winning television composer Mike Post, who scored a few episodes in the first season, did a theme which was not used. To this day it has not been heard. Some of television's most famous themes ever were composed by Post, including: Quantum Leap, The Rockford Files, Hill Street Blues, and Magnum, P.I. (among dozens of others).

Cast of characters

• Larry Wilcox as Officer Jonathan A. Baker (1977"1982) / 7-Mary-3
• Erik Estrada as Officer Francis (Frank) Llewelyn "Ponch" Poncherello / 7-Mary-4 (15-Mary-6 in the final season)
• Robert Pine as Sergeant Joseph (Joe) Getraer / S-4
• Lew Saunders as Officer Gene Fritz (1977"1979) / 5-David-5
• Brodie Greer as Officer Barry "Bear" Baricza (1977"1982) / 7-Adam
• Paul Linke as Officer Arthur (Artie) "Grossie" Grossman / 7-Mary-5
• Lou Wagner as Harlan Arliss, Automobile/Motorcycle Mechanic, CHP (1978"1983)
• Brianne Leary as Officer Sindy Cahill (1978"1979) / 7-Charles
• Randi Oakes as Officer Bonnie Clark (1979"1982) / 7-Charles
• Michael Dorn as Officer Jebediah Turner (1979"1982) / 7-David
• Tom Reilly as Officer Bobby "Hot Dog" Nelson (1982"1983) / 15-Mary-7
• Tina Gayle as Officer Kathy Linahan (1982"1983) / 7-Mary-10
• Bruce Penhall as Cadet/Officer Bruce Nelson (1982"1983) / 15-Mary-8
• Clarence Gilyard, Jr. as Officer Benjamin Webster (1982"1983)
• Bruce Jenner as Officer Steve McLeish (1981"1982)

Cast changes

In the fifth season (1981"1982) Estrada went on strike over a dispute over syndication profits. As a result he did not appear in seven episodes; for that period he was replaced by Bruce Jenner (Officer Steve McLeish). Despite their successful pairing on-screen, Wilcox and Estrada did not always get along behind the camera. However, it was Wilcox's falling-out with the producers over what he saw as continual favoritism towards Estrada that saw Wilcox not return for the sixth and final season. Wilcox was replaced by Tom Reilly (Officer Bobby Nelson). 1981 and 1982 Speedway World Champion and Los Angeles native Bruce Penhall was also introduced as cadet"probationary officer Bruce Nelson, Bobby's younger brother in 1982"83.

Estrada apparently did not approve of Reilly's work ethic and was very displeased with Reilly's real life arrest by the LAPD for possession of controlled substances during a traffic stop. As a result, Bobby was featured much less prominently in later episodes of the season, with Bruce taking his place for most of the remaining episodes.

Merchandise

A series of 3" action figures was released by Mego in the late 1970s. Due to the materials used to construct the figures, many of them have discolored (typically turning green) or started to decompose over the years, making good conditioned examples quite hard to find on the collectors market. There was also a series of six diecast model vehicles produced by Imperial Toys.

In the UK, as was common with many popular US series of the era, a series of tie-in annuals were produced by World International Publishing Ltd, containing stories, photos, puzzles and features on the stars. There are four annuals in total, one each for 1980"83.

In 2006, a limited edition soundtrack was released on CD by Turner Classic Movies' music division via Film Score Monthly, featuring the original recordings of the main theme by John Parker and in-episode musical scores from many episodes of the second season, as composed and conducted by Alan Silvestri, the series' primary (and from season three sole) composer until the final season (Silvestri also arranged the theme as heard from season two onwards, and it's this version that's heard here " the soundtrack album also includes the "Trick or Treat" score composed and conducted by Bruce Broughton, his only work for the series). In 2008, music from the third season was released; an album of music from the fourth season followed in 2010.

Broadcast history

(all times ET / PT)

• September 1977 " March 1978, NBC Thursday 8PM-9PM
• April 1978, NBC Saturday 8PM-9PM
• May 1978 " August 1978, NBC Thursday 8PM-9PM
• September 1978 " March 1980, NBC Saturday 8PM-9PM
• March 1980 " March 1983, NBC Sunday 8PM-9PM
• April 1983 " May 1983, NBC Sunday 7PM-8PM
• May 1983 " July 1983, NBC Sunday 8PM-9PM

International

In the United Kingdom, the series was broadcast by ITV. The series started in early 1979 by most of the station, and was originally screened in the Saturday tea-time slot around 17:35 but moved to the Sunday teatime slot in 1980. By 1981 the series as with many imported programmes of the era, was being broadcast at different times and days (always Saturday or Sunday) throughout the year by the different ITV regions. Sharing its Saturday slot with other series such as A Team, Knight Rider, Magnum, P.I. and Whiz Kids.

By early 1985 the series was being broadcast during Saturday mornings by Anglia, Central, Grampian, Granada, STV and Tyne Tess; all completed the series by end of the 1985. HTV, and Yorkshire completed the series by 1986, while LWT, TVS and TSW finally finished series six in 1987 after starting in 1985. A few companies repeated the series in 1987.

DVD releases

Warner Home Video has released the first two seasons of "CHiPs" on DVD in Regions 1, 2 & 4. No further season sets have been announced.

Seasons 1 and 2 are also available for purchase at the online iTunes Store.

DVD Name	Ep #	Release dates
		Region 1	Region 2 (UK)	Region 4
The Complete First Season	22	June 5, 2007	August 20, 2007	September 6, 2007
The Complete Second Season	23	June 3, 2008	September 22, 2008	September 3, 2008

CHiPs '99

CHiPs '99 is a made for television movie sequel. It was directed by Jon Cassar and shown on Turner Network Television in the USA on October 27, 1998. Several cast members from the original series make a return. Original cast with promotions were Jon Baker as a Captain and Joe Getraer as the CHP Commissioner. Other original cast members were Officer Frank Poncherello returning from a 15 year hiatus with the CHP and Officer Barry Baricza.

Revivals

In 2003, a new series of CHiPs was to be made in San Francisco with a new cast. Martin Kunert and Eric Manes wrote the pilot script for Doug Liman to direct. However, the network that ordered the remake, NBC, decided not to pursue the new series.

In 2005, a theatrical release motion picture version of the show was announced, starring Wilmer Valderrama as Ponch. Erik Estrada and Larry Wilcox are rumored to make cameo appearances. The choice of Valderrama as Ponch will not be the first time that the actor has played the character of Ponch. In a 2002 episode of MADtv, Valderrama and fellow That '70s Show cast member Danny Masterson were featured in two parodies of CHiPs, which featured the two actors as Ponch and Baker respectively. Mila Kunis also appeared in the second sketch. In a 2002 episode of That '70s Show, Valderrama's character, Fez, was seen in the "most likely" section of the yearbook as "most likely to appear as Ponch in a musical version of CHiPs.