CHiPs '99

CHiPs '99
Episode #	N/A
Air Date	Oct 27, 1998
Briefing	?

Brief Plot

After a 15-year self-imposed retirement from the CHP, Ponch reunites with his partner Jon to break up a car-theft ring.

"CHiPs '99" VHS tape cover

Plot

It has been 15 years since "CHiPs" went off the air and we are greeted with the opening theme to the first season, but something's amiss. The music gets distorted and soon a red Mustang bursts through with "Born to be Wild" blasting as the Mustang swerves through Los Angeles traffic.

As we cut to CHP headquarters, we see Bruce Nelson's promotion to sergeant. As Jon comments that his "former partner" has long forgotten them, we cut back to the freeway to see Ponch chasing the Mustang. Ponch is pulled over and ticketed by a young CHP officer named Roulette.

As everyone is congratulating Bruce, Ponch shows up. He immediately runs up, goes right by Jon, and hugs Bruce. After saying hello to everyone else, he finally greets Jon. Ponch complains about being late because he was ticketed by Roulette just as Roulette drives up.

As Ponch and Jon talk, they hear a screech and a crash. They spot a bicycle that caused an accident and run to the nearest motors. They quickly catch up with the cyclist and pull him over. Jon questions the 28 year-old while Ponch realizes there's something familiar about this. We're then treated to a flashback from the 1977 pilot episode in which Ponch and Jon pull over a six year-old on a bike.

As "7 Mary 3" and "7 Mary 4" patrol the freeways, we hear the song "I Love L.A.". After the song, Ponch reveals that he has been painting for the past fifteen years.

Meanwhile, we witness a gang of car thieves steal a Porsche and a new set of golf clubs. Back at headquarters, Captain Jon Baker heads up a briefing about a car theft ring. Getraer shows up and offers more information. Assigned to the task force are Sgt. Nelson, Detective Grossman, Roulette, McFall, and Poncherello.

After the briefing, Ponch is greeted in the hall by an excited guy he doesn't recognize...but Ponch sees someone he thinks he recognizes. He goes up and kisses her, then realizes that it's not Bonnie -- it's Sandy Baker, Captain Baker's wife! Outside, Ponch remembers Stormy as a CHP Explorer when he was little, not as the helicopter pilot he is today.

On the streets of L.A., the car thieves plant a device on a blue Dodge Viper. Later, on the freeway, they push a button and cause the car to smoke. When the driver pulls over, they steal the car.

Meanwhile, McFall is called to court. Ponch, Roulette, and Nelson respond to the call about the stolen Viper. Ponch and Roulette speed ahead while Nelson calls it in. Capt. Baker also responds in his car. Ponch and Roulette pass the street the Viper was reported on and have to go around the block. When Nelson turns the corner of Gaffey and 30th, he is confronted by a tour bus and crashes into a parked car. Jon arrives and carries Bruce away from the accident just before the motorcycle explodes. Ponch and Roulette arrive to find Bruce in very bad condition.

Great Quote

"'Ultimate Driving Machine' my butt." -First car thief victim

Cast

• Larry Wilcox (as Jon Baker)
• Erik Estrada (as Frank Poncherello)
• Robert Pine (as Getraer)
• Paul Korver (as Peter Roulette)
• David Ramsey (as Sergeant McFall)
• Judge Judith Sheindlin (as herself)
• Jonathan Baker (as Delby)
• Joe Basile (as Ricardo)
• John Bebita (as Medic)
• Jerry Bishop (as Announcer)
• Stephen J. Cannell (as Bendix)
• Johnnie L. Cochran, Jr. (as Himself)
• Brian Fenwick (as Slater)
• Brodie Greer (as Baricza)
• Googy Gress (as Nyeman)
• Tom Hallick (as Norris)
• Sean Holland (as Stormy)
• Shawnae Jebbia (as Spokesmodel)
• Allan Kolman (as Russian Tourist)
• Kyle Kraska (as Reporter)
• Paul Linke (as Grossman)
• Garry Marshall (as Tour Bus Driver)
• Kathleen Marshall (as Darlene)
• Claudette Mink (as Monica)
• Mike Moroff (as Officer)
• Bruce Penhall (as Sergeant Bruce Nelson)
• Katherine Pine (as Tina)
• Stacie Randall (as Sandy Baker)
• Laura Robinson (as Harley)
• Rick Rosner (as Director)
• Dex Elliott Sanders (as Asahi)
• Phil Suriano (as Chet)
• David Vanantwerp (as Keith)
• Michael Vira (as Frank Jr.)
• Eileen Weisinger (as Beverly)
• Eddie Yansick (as Third Bad Guy)

Crew

• Producers: Erik Estrada, Larry Wilcox
• Produced by: Christopher Morgan
• Executive Producer: Rick Rosner
• Teleplay by: Morgan Gendel
• Story by: Rick Rosner & Morgan Gendel
• Directed by: Jon Cassar
• Casting by: Melinda Gartzman, C.S.A.
• Music by: Stacy Widelitz
• Edited by: Ron Spang
• Production Designer: Bernt Capra
• Director of Photography: David Geddes, C.S.C.
• Unit Production Manager: Cristen Carr Strubbe, Christopher Morgan
• Stunt Coordinator: Ernie Orsatti
• First Assistant Director: Rick Johnson
• Second Assistant Director: Anthony Mason
• Second Unit Director: Ernie Orsatti
• Costume Designer: Enid Harris
• Set Decorator: Lori Noyes
• Property Master: Bill Belt
• Costume Supervisor: Barbara McHugh
• Make-up: Lori Madrigal
• Assistant Make-up Artist: Jori Jenae
• Hair Stylist: Vicky Phillips
• Location Manager: F. Stanley Pearse, Jr.
• Script Supervisor: Valerie E. Norman
• Production Coordinator: Judi Rosner
• Production Sound Mixer: Michael C. Moore, C.A.S.
• Helicopter Pilot: John Sarviss
• Technical Advisor: John Bebita
• CHP Liaison: Ernie Garcia
• Associate Editor: Kerry Michael Tym
• Sound Supervisor/Re-recording Mixer: Phillip Seretti
• Dialogue Supervisor: Donald Murray
• ADR Supervisor: Kris Campbell
• Sound Effects Supervisor: Robert W. Vandling
• Sound Editors: John "JK" Kestler, John Rice
• Music Supervisor: Nancy Severinson
• Post Production Supervisor: Victor Scalise

References

• There are a number of references to the pilot episode.
• There is a flashback of Bruce's first day as a CHP officer from [ [Fast Company] ].

Fun Facts

• Filming begin on July 9th, 1998 and ended at the beginning of August.
• The first script was 150 pages and had to be cut back since it was too long.
• Michael Dorn did not appear because he was busy with Star Trek: Insurrection, which was due out in December as well as preparing for the final season of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
• Lou Wagner, who played Harlan, also does not appear in the reunion. Wagner has appeared as a Ferrengi several times on both Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Coincidence?
• The man on the bike, named Delby in the credits, is played by Jonathan A. Baker. He was also in the pilot episode. He is Rick Rosner's nephew. Larry Wilcox's character was named after him.
• The "ultimate driving machine, my butt" guy was played by Stephen J. Cannell who produced The Rockford Files and The Commish. You'll probably recognize him from the end of the credits for those shows where he is typing and then throws the paper in the air to become the production company logo.
• "Wilcox", the last name of the actor who plays Jon Baker, shows up twice in the episode. Once is on the "Wilcox Tours" tour bus and the second time is on a map drawn on a dry-erase board behind Getraer.
• "Cassar", the last name of the director, appears on the sign for "Cassar's Coachworks" where the stolen cars are stored.
• The license plate on the bus starts with PCE, just like Ponch's first Firebird.
• The first broadcast was rated #5 among cable programs for the week with a 3.5 rating. It was seen by about 3,465,000 people. (In contrast, ER was the #1 network program that week with a rating of 20.5 and 20,400,000 people.)
• Sgt. Nelson is riding a Kawasaki instead of a BMW because of money. They found that it was going to be a lot cheaper to blow up a Kawasaki that a new BMW.
• Jon says Ponch was his partner for seven years. While we only got to see five years on the show, it is stated in the pilot episode that Ponch was on probation for six months. That brings us to 5.5 years. Jon left for Wyoming before the start of the 6th season. We can assume that he came back and was Ponch's partner again for another year and a half...bringing the total to seven years. After the seventh year, Ponch retired to take care of his son and sick wife. After her death, he started painting to get his mind off of it.
• "Stormy" did not actually appear in the 6th season episodes about the Explorer scouts.

Mistakes

• "Ultimate Driving Machine" is the slogan for BMW, not Porsche.
• When Ponch is on the highway, he's dressed in street clothes. When he arrives at CHP headquarters, he's in his uniform. When did he change?
• Unverified Bruce is riding a Kawasaki while Ponch and Roulette are riding BMW's. Shouldn't the new Sgt. Nelson get a shiny new BMW?
• Unverified When the Land Rover is chasing the woman in the Mercedes, the right rear passenger door is partially open.
• Unverified There is a camera mounted to a pole on the bumper of a T-Bird they zoom past in the above scene.
• A computer screen pulls up a date of 2/11/76 for the Bushkin van, yet the pilot episode in which it happened aired on 9/15/77.
• Ponch's wife-to-be was seen in the pilot episode, but is never mentioned again. They obviously weren't dating on the side because Ponch had numerous other dates and was engaged in Head Over Heels.
• Just how fast can someone book their appearance on Judge Judy? It seems like Ponch did it the next day! ...and how can a fool like the defendant even get Johnny Cochran to return his calls, let alone appear in court to defend him?
• The day after Jon is on Judge Judy, when McFall and Roulette play tricks on him outside, notice Jon is not wearing his marksmanship badge. After he walks through the door, he is.
• How did the Caltrans guy get his freeway camera to move off of its mount and around to the back of the bus so that it could zoom in on the license plate?
• When Maitlen is using the joystick to zoom in, the shot is reversed. The joystick's label is reversed. The keyboard is backwards too and has the number pad on the left instead of the right.
• After the Porsche is loaded on the bus, we never see it again.
• When Ponch and Roulette pull up to the coach conversion warehouse, Ponch takes off his sunglasses while talking to Roulette. In the next shot, he is pointing out the tire tracks and taking off his sunglasses again.
• When Ponch tells the, "forward units prepare for a felony stop," the squad cars are Fords. When you see the cars in front of the bus, they are Chevys. When the bus takes the quick exit ramp, the cars are Chevys. When the shot is shown from a wide angle, the cars are Fords.
• When the bus rams the Explorer and Taurus, it knocks out the headlights and dents the front of the bus. Other shots show no damage and the lights are magically fixed.
• When Jon is fighting on top of the bus, sometimes you can the safety harness on Jon and the bad guy.

Purchase

• Amazon.com
• Amazon.com (Spanish subtitles)