Frank Poncherello
| Francis Llewellyn Poncherello | |
| Actor | Erik Estrada |
| Appears in | Seasons 1 through 6 (1977 - 1983) |
| Call Numbers | 7 Mary 4 / 7 Mary 6 in Season 6 / 79 Mary 4 in 1999 |
| Badge Number | B600 |
Francis Llewellyn Poncherello[1][2] (aka "Ponch") is a graduate of Lehigh Polytechnical High School where he set the school's all time record for visits to the principal's office.[1] He has brothers named Robert and Martin in Chicago. His sister, Patti, lives in New York.[3] Robert and Martin both work for his father in Chicago. He also has an uncle Henry.[2]
Shortly before joining the CHP, Ponch worked in a garage as a mechanic.[4]
It was Jon Baker who convinced him to join the CHP.[4] He was commissioned in the late summer of 1975 as an officer of the law.[5][6] He started out in a patrol car before completing motor school and becoming a motorcycle officer.[4] A year and a half into his law enforcement career, he was put on probation and, as a result, assigned as a partner to Jon Baker. When he accidentally directed the relative of the captain into a ditch just as his probation was about to end, he was given another six months of probation.[5] Not long after the second probationary period ended, he was temporarily assigned to partner with a rookie officer, Brent Delaney, for a couple weeks.[4]
In late 1982, his partner is Bobby Nelson[7]...until Bruce Nelson becomes his partner later on.[8]
For two years, Ponch lived in a motor home in a trailer park. He eventually sold it for $2,625 and moved to an apartment. He planned to buy furniture, an 8 track, and a car with the money.[9] He used to drive his motor home around as personal transportation, but bought a burned out Trans Am for $83[10] which has been wrecked at least three times (once by a thief in a late second-season episode, once by Jon[11], and by a forklift[12]).
In his free time, Ponch enjoys watching the soap opera, The Troubled World.[2][13][14] Ponch is also a fan of the game show Name Your Price and even appeared as a contestant.[13] Later on, Ponch gained fame as "The Barcelona Man" for a jeans ad.[15]
Ponch's talents include: racquetball[5], basketball[16], bowler[17], jet-skier[6], volleyball player[18], ultralight pilot[19], tennis player[3], skate boarder, street/roller hockey player, handball player, student pilot, singer, hang-glider, sky-diver, wind-surfer, waterskiier (he claims), demolition derby driver, square dancer, drag racer, chess player, and black belt in karate[20]. He's also an LA Rams fan. He wears a 9 1/2C bowling shoe.[17]
Ponch enjoys eating Tutti-frutti ice cream (although he has been known to eat strawberry[21]) and Ding Dongs[5][22]. He claims to make "a mean potato salad."[2] He often takes to work a sandwich which Harlan calls a "Peanut Butter Chocolate Smoothy".[23] Ponch keeps junk food in a plastic bag in his saddle bag.[13]
Shortly after the sixth season, Jon Baker returned to the CHP and became Ponch's partner for another year and a half. At some point during this time, Ponch married Carol, the woman he met in a car accident in the first episode. He had a son, Frank Jr.. When his wife became ill, Ponch retired to care for his family. After her death in 1989, be became a painter for ten years to get his mind off of it and painted the Golden Gate Bridge. About 15 years after he last saw Jon, he returned to the CHP in Marin County. When Bruce Nelson was promoted to sergeant, he took a temporary transfer to Los Angeles. After playing a major part in breaking up a carjacking ring, Captain Baker and Commissioner Getraer made the transfer permanent.[24]
Additional information
Ponch will be played by Wilmer Valderrama in the upcoming CHiPs Movie.[25]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Episode 105: "Career Day"
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Episode 106: "Baby Food"
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Episode 513: "Breaking Point"
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Episode 122: "Flashback!"
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Episode 101: "Pilot"
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Episode 115: "Surf's Up"
- ↑ Episode 601: "Meet the New Guy"
- ↑ Episode 620: "Fast Company"
- ↑ Episode 203: "Family Crisis"
- ↑ Episode 205: "Neighborhood Watch"
- ↑ Episode 312: "Destruction Derby"
- ↑ Episode 410: "Forty Tons of Trouble"
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 Episode 111: "Name Your Price"
- ↑ Episode 112: "Aweigh We Go"
- ↑ Episode 602: "Tight Fit"
- ↑ Episode 102: "Undertow"
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 Episode 109: "Hustle"
- ↑ Episode 119: "Crash Diet"
- ↑ Episode 407: "Satan's Angels"
- ↑ Episode 416: "Karate"
- ↑ Episode 321: "The Strippers"
- ↑ Episode 108: "Green Thumb Burglar"
- ↑ Episode 403: "To Your Health"
- ↑ Episode "CHiPs" '99: "CHiPs '99"
- ↑ Episode : "CHiPs Movie"