Fun House

From CHiPs Wiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Fun House
Episode # 619
Air Date March 13, 1983
Briefing Lindsey missing/Stolen canister contains a deadly virus.
Title screen

Brief Plot

Some college kids putting up a banner cause a multi-vehicle crash. Back at Central it turns out they're from Getraer's old fraternity, Delta Delta Tau. Bruce is working as a crossing guard, and meets a young girl who gets kidnapped by a woman who lost her own daughter.

Plot

Some college kids are hanging a banner off a bridge when they cause a major car accident and fall into manure. Ponch and Bobby arrive and send them to Central with Webster. Meanwhile, Bruce is doing the job of a crossing guard. He hits on an 8-year-old girl who is being stalked by a mysterious woman. Back at Central, Getraer smells something and finds the college kids. He finds out that they're members of Delta Delta Tau, his old college fraternity and agrees to look into campus thefts which they're being blamed for.

Across town, Bruce gets a picture from the girl. As the girl walks home, the mysterious woman convinces the girl, Lindsey, to ride with her. A few blocks away, Ponch and Bobby pull over the DDT's in a pathetic van. They pull it over and find three stolen electric typewriters in the back which the DDT's insist they knew nothing about.

Back at Central, Bruce talks to Lindsey's mom and tries to figure out where Lindsey is. Later, Ponch and Bobby are searching DDT's house and start to believe they really were set up. Bruce and Kathy go out to the local toy shop, Cartoon Junction, looking for the woman Bruce saw near Lindsey's school. They manage to get a name. At the college, Ponch and Bruce spot a van near the lab and decide to chase it. The van hits a car and starts a fire. Ponch gets the woman out of the car seconds before it explodes. (Like you didn't see that coming.) Later, Ponch and Bruce are searching the rented house of the kidnapper. They find a doctor's appointment card. Back at Central, they talk with her doctor, Dr. Joyce Brothers, and find out that she lost a child and kidnapped Lindsey as a replacement. Ponch realizes they might be headed for Mexico and goes after them with some help from the Mexican authorities. Meanwhile, Getraer, Bobby, Grossie, and Kathy search the DDT house for the virus canister...which is being used out back as a hammer!

Near the Mexican border, Bruce is reunited with Lindsey and gives her a big hug while Ponch chases the kidnapper to a cliff. He manages to convince her not to jump to her death. Back on campus, the DDT's are playing tug-of-war. Ponch, Bobby, and Bruce search for the virus canister. When one of the guilty brothers from another frat admits he stole it, they arrest them and go look for the canister. Ponch grabs it just before it would be smashed open.

Back at Central, the DDT's give Getraer their winning check for $5000 as a donation to the CHP charity, the Children's Liver Foundation.

Guest Stars

Co-Starring

Crew

Fun Facts

  • There are several Animal House (1978) tie-ins here. Stephen Furst (Dirtball) played Kent Dorfman in the movie. The fraternity in the movie was Delta Tau Chi (ΔΤΧ), here it's the similarly named Delta Delta Tau (ΔΔΤ). In the movie the students attended Faber College, whereas here they're at St. Faber University.
  • Heather O'Rourke (Lindsey) became famous a year before this episode as the little girl (Carol Anne Freeling) in Poltergeist.
  • 5701 Ethel Avenue (seen on sign near the start) is actually the address of the Los Angeles Valley College.
  • When Getraer grabs the guy who stole the virus he says "going somewhere, Caesar?". The character's name is Mark Anthony Harlington III - Mark Anthony was one of Julius Caesar's generals. Why someone would dress as a Roman at a Greek event is another matter - they obviously weren't history majors!

Mistakes

Different front ends
  • Surely it must have occurred to the D.D.T.s to just tie their banner to the footbridge.
  • When the college kids are driving their "wreck on wheels", the background in the top left of the screen in the close-ups shows that the van is stationary.
  • When the Alpha Kappa Gammas are loading the stolen virus and microscopes in their van it has a prominent GMC grille. When they hit the car that subsequently catches fire, the van has a different front end.
  • Lindsey tells Hildy they've passed San Diego and are heading for Mexico just after the car is seen passing the end of Napoleon Street on Vista Del Mar, just north of LAX.
  • When Ponch is talking to Hildy on the rocks, the green slope behind him is in the wrong place to match the long and reverse shots.



Preceded by:
"Firepower" 		Fun House
619 		Followed by:
"Fast Company"
Retrieved from "https://chips-tv.com/wiki/index.php?title=Fun_House&oldid=7852"