Vigilante

Vigilante
Episode #	419
Air Date	May 3, 1981
Briefing	The Citizen's Patrol Group.

Title screen

Brief Plot

Getraer and his family are being harassed, but they're not sure who's doing it, or why. A member of a citizen's patrol group is acting like a vigilante to avenge the death of his son.

Plot

Getraer gets knocked over after an airhorn is blown in his face. This doesn't help his mood. He returns to Central and chews everyone out. Just before the theme, Getraer gets a mysterious phone call.

At the briefing, Getraer gets upset at the slightest things. Out on their beats, Ponch and Jon stop for a coffee break. When Ponch gets coffee spilled on him, he has to go back to Central. Ponch overhears his phone conversation about a "freak" bugging his family. He offers to help but Getraer remains upset.

That night, Grossie, Bonnie, and the rest of the CHP play Defender. Meanwhile, the Community Citizens Patrol pulls over a doctor and smashes his tail lights. The next day, after the phone company tells Getraer his home phone number has been changed as he requested, his wife notices "FINK" painted on their house.

At Central, Sarge gets a box in the mail. When he opens it..."BANG BANG"...a little sign pops up. On patrol, Ponch and Jon swing by Getraer's house to try to figure out what's wrong. Soon, Getraer shows up and the whole story is told. Out on the streets, the CCP tries to pull over a car but cause it to crash into a glass truck. When Ponch and Jon find out that Gibson caused the crash, they go talk to him.

Later that day, the Getraers move in with Bonnie. Ponch and Jon show up with vanilla ice cream just before a drunk driver Getraer once arrested puts a "FINK" sign outside Bonnie's door. Jon, Getraer, and Ponch chase him in Jon's truck but have to stop when the road is blocked by an accident. Luckily Getraer got the letters and Ponch got the numbers on the plate.

Meanwhile, a drunk guy almost hits a boy and a CCP member chases him. When the drunk finally stops and gets out, the CCP tries to run him down claiming, "It was a drunk like you that killed my boy!" When the DMV report comes in, Getraer rushes out to get the guy. Grossie has dispatch call Jon and Ponch for backup.

Unfortunately, Getraer gets there first...alone. The drunk escapes out the back and Sarge chases after him to a junkyard. The drunk drops a grenade that makes Sarge tumble off his motorcycle. Soon he's back in the chase and follows Ponch and Jon. Gibson catches up with the drunk and causes him to crash shortly before Ponch and Jon arrive. Jon arrests the drunk while Ponch chases Gibson. Ponch catches Gibson after he falls in a pond.

That night, Grossie is getting great scores in Defender. Everyone (except Grossie) laughs when they realized Harlan rigged it.

Guest Stars

• Michael Cole as Gibson
• Brian Libby as Millard
• Mark Thomas as Ross
• Karen Ericson as Helen
• Gwynne Gilford as Betty Getraer
• Paul Linke as Grossman
• Lou Wagner as Harlan

Co-Starring

• Brodie Greer as Baricza
• Michael Dorn as Turner
• Arthur Roberts as Doctor
• Jack Stryker as Watson
• Marion Scherer as Woman in Bar
• Bobbi Block as Vicki

Featuring

• Monica Francine Pege as Waitress
• Amanda Cleveland as Blonde
• Lindsay Kennedy as Timmy
• Dar Robinson as Sports Car Driver
• Randi Oakes as Bonnie Clark

Crew

• Executive Producer: Cy Chermak
• Produced by: Paul Rabwin
• Written by: Stephen Lord
• Directed by: Arnold Laven
• Executive Consultant: Rick Rosner
• Story Editors: L. Ford Neale & John Huff
• Associate Producer: Randall Torno
• 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: Stephen Myles Berger
• Editor: Dennis C. Vejar
• Unit Production Manager: Donald Gold
• First Assistant Director: Denny Salvaryn
• Second Assistant Director: Leslie Jackson
• Script Supervisor: Jack Gannon
• Set Decorator: W. Joseph Kroesser
• Production Consultant: Dave McDannel
• Stunt Co-ordinator: Paul Nuckles
• Recorded at: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios
• Sound: Harlan Riggs, M. Curtis Price C.A.S.
• Wardrobe Supervisor: Shelly Levine
• Makeup: Richard Cobos S.M.A., Walter Schenck
• Hairdresser: Don Lynch
• Casting: Cathy Henderson
• With Appreciation to Glen B. Craig, Commissioner California Highway Patrol
• Motorcycles Furnished by: Kawasaki Motors Corp., U.S.A.
• Filmed in METROCOLOR / Titles and Opticals MGM
• Rosner Television in association with MGM Television

Fun Facts

• The first shot zooms toward the building where Ponch spotted the blue Mercedes and brown Chevy van from the helicopter in High Flyer.
• Dar Robinson was one of Hollywood's top stuntmen. He held many records, including highest salary for a single stunt. He died in 1986 in a motorcycle accident while making the movie Million Dollar Mystery.
• In this episode we get a much better look at Bonnie's apartment, first seen in New Guy in Town. Her building and the one across the street are still easily recognizable. In reality, the building seems to consist of one bedroom condos, so it must have been quite a squeeze having the Getraers to stay.

Mistakes

• When Millard flees his apartment he gets about a 15 second headstart on Getraer, but, as the camera pans around, he's only about 100 yards ahead.
• During the Mustang chase, when Millard makes a hard right turn, there's a camera briefly visible on the left of shot.
• When Millard's grenade knocks Getraer off his bike, the front end sustains quite a bit of damage, including some of the lights breaking off, but when he continues the chase, his bike is in perfect condition.

Preceded by: "The Hawk and the Hunter"

Vigilante 419

Followed by: "Dead Man's Riddle"