Hot Wheels

Hot Wheels
Episode #	308
Air Date	November 3, 1979
Briefing	Arrangements for the senator's visit.

Title screen

Brief Plot

A spate of jewelry robberies is committed by thieves using city vehicles. Ponch thinks he's solved the crimes from his hospital bed. Meanwhile, practical joker Bill Clayton rejoins the team at Central.

Guest Stars

• Andrew Robinson as Bill Clayton
• Jared Martin as Bright
• Martin Kove as Sherwood
• Jeff Morris as LeMasters
• Paul Linke as Grossman
• Lou Wagner as Harlan

Co-starring

• Brodie Greer as Baricza
• Michael Dorn as Turner
• Peter Looney as Hugh
• Richard Lockmiller as Jewelry Store Owner
• Bob Balhatchet as Warren
• Anne Ramsey as Nurse Betty Jo

Featuring

• Arthur Adams as Stenberg
• Tiger Joe Marsh as Foreman
• Christina Cummings as Teller
• Tammy Taylor as Girl
• Thomas Logan as Boy #1
• Danie Wade Dalton as Boy #2
• Lilibet Stern as Nurse Dotty
• Debbie Kaine as Nurse Lisa
• Tracy Lynn Landis as Nurse Debbie
• Randi Oakes as Bonnie Clark

Crew

• Produced by: Cy Chermak
• Written by: Larry Alexander
• Directed by: John Florea
• Executive Consultant: Rick Rosner
• Story Editors: William D. Gordon & James Doherty
• Associate Producer: Paul Rabwin
• Developed for television by: Paul Playdon
• Music by: Alan Silvestri
• Theme by: John Parker
• Music Supervisor: Harry V. Lojewski
• Director of Photography: Robert F. Sparks
• Art Director: Les Gobruegge
• Editor: Harry Knapp
• Unit Production Manager: Ron Grow
• Assistant Director: Bob Jeffords
• 2nd Assistant Director: Paul Chavez
• Script Supervisor: Jack Gannon
• Set Decorator: W. Joseph Kroesser
• Production Consultant: Dave McDannel
• Technical Advisor: Bill Kuethen
• Stunt Co-ordinator: Paul Nuckles
• Sound: Ray Barons, M. Curtis Price, C.A.S.
• Wardrobe Supervisor: Shelly Levine
• Makeup: Richard Cobos, S.M.A, Walter Schenck
• Hairdresser: Don Lynch
• Casting: Michael O. Hanks
• Locations by: Cinemobile Systems
• With Appreciation to Glen B. Craig, Commissioner California Highway Patrol
• Motorcycles Furnished by: Kawasaki Motors Corp., U.S.A.
• Automobiles furnished by: Ford Motor Company
• Filmed in METROCOLOR / Titles and Opticals MGM
• Rosner Television in association with MGM Television

Fun Facts

Fire truck bank robbery.

Central Vehicle Maintenance Depot.

• Andrew Robinson's role as practical joker Bill Clayton is quite a departure from his one of his earliest parts - he was the Scorpio Killer in Dirty Harry.
• Maintenance depot boss Jeff Morris is probably best known for playing Bob, owner of Bob's Country Bunker in The Blues Brothers.
• The fire truck bank robbery was filmed on Pacific Boulevard. The building containing the bank has been modified over the years, and is now a 99 cent store, but it's still recognizable. View in Google Maps The alley used in the escape now has a car park to the left where a building once stood. The Century Cleaners seen during the escape is still a cleaners on Rita Avenue, although the fire truck was coming from the wrong direction in the alley (the truck is traveling west when it should be going east).
• The cherry-picker robbery was filmed at the intersection with Clarendon Avenue, just across the road from the bank robbery, but most of the buildings have now been replaced.
• The ambulance robbery was also filmed on Pacific Boulevard, at the pedestrian crossing between Gage Avenue and Zoe Avenue. The JC Penney seen briefly in the background is about the only recognizable store that still exists. View in Google Maps
• The Central Vehicle Maintenance Depot is a real city maintenance depot on 7th Street, although in reality it doesn't handle police and fire vehicles. The entrance building still looks virtually the same, even down to the visitor parking sign. View in Google Maps
• Grossman spots the escaping ambulance at the intersection of Catalina Street and 7th Street. The building with the red awnings looks almost the same today. View in Google Maps He follows the ambulance and catches it at the intersection of Catalina Street and 8th Street. He should probably have been suspicious that it was driving in circles! View in Google Maps

Mistakes

• Getraer calls out as unit 15-S-2 instead of S-4 in the opening.
• When ponch returns at the end for light duty, he is wearing his motor boots and breeches. Why? The boots are a pain to pull on and require two hands (usually with helper hooks).
• Bright lets Sherwood out of the ambulance at the intersection of 7th Street and South Anderson Street (you can see the elevated section of Whittier Boulevard in the background), yet the next shot shows the ambulance driving past this intersection. View in Google Maps When Sherwood slams the ambulance door, the door mirror tilts down, but it's back upright in the next shot.

Preceded by: "Return of the Supercycle"

Hot Wheels 308

Followed by: "Drive, Lady, Drive: Part 1"