Career Day

Career Day
Episode #	105
Air Date	Oct 20, 1977
Briefing	Getraer's slide show and a freeway burglar

Brief Plot

Young man on the rise: Ponch patrols in Chopper 5...and speaks at his alma mater's Career Day.

Plot

A woman is seen driving through neighborhoods looking for houses where people obviously aren't home. She then radios to a partner in a van who parks on the side of the freeway and breaks in from the rear. Ponch and Jon ride past the van after seeing that it's tagged. As they arrive at an intersection, a hearse speeds through and loses a coffin when turning. They chase after a speeding hearse while Baricza investigates the coffin. He finds a fraternity member inside (alive). After the hearse gets severe tire damage, Ponch and Jon arrest the other ΟΤΛ frat brothers.

After the theme, Ponch and Jon find a car driving the wrong way down a one way street. Ponch tells him to pull over and realizes its his old high school principal, Mr. Singleton. He tries to avoid making eye contact, but gets identified. Ponch doesn't back down and issues a ticket.

At the briefing, Getraer finishes a slideshow of new meters that Caltrans is installing and has Barkley take the screen down while Baker and Poncherello try sneaking in the back. Next, he updates everyone on a series of burglaries along the freeways.

After the briefing, Ponch and Jon respond to a call about a freeway traffic jam on the Ventura Freeway. They find that everyone's gawking at models nearby. Jon can't convince the models to leave until he mentions jail. As they're about to leave, Baricza tells Ponch he got a 10-21 from Mr. Singleton.

Ponch and Jon swing by Lehigh Polytechnical High School. As he's headed in, Ponch's motor falls over and a spark plug breaks off. Once he's inside the school, Ponch learns that Mr. Singleton wants to see him to have him be a guest speaker on career day.

Meanwhile, the burglars are at it again and manage to rip off another home.

Ponch returns to Central with his motor on a trailer and Getraer is outside to see it. He's obviously upset at the number of problems Ponch has had. He tries to explain it using Lou's motorcycle as a visual reference, but Getraer can't hear him over the landing helicopter. Getraer assigns him to the front desk. When the helicopter pilot , Marty, comes in looking for an observer, Ponch jumps at the chance to go up in the helicopter.

In Helicopter 5, Ponch assists Jon on the ground respond to a call for a lost boy. Ponch spots him by a dam. They land the helicopter and the boy eagerly accepts an offer for a ride home. The helicopter lands in a park where Baricza is waiting with the boy's mother.

Later, Ponch notices a stopped van on the Ventura Freeway at Winnetka. Baricza, Jon, and Fritz deny having tagged it. After the suspects drive off, Jon and Baricza chase it on the ground. They only manage to catch the van because of Ponch's observations.

That afternoon, Ponch is called to the stage to give his career day speech. He freezes up and Jon walks on stage to help. Jon tells how Ponch saved a dog (as seen in "Dog Gone") and saved a kids life. That gets Ponch going and he starts telling exaggerated stories without help. As the credits roll, Ponch tells stories and the audience looks at their watches.

Great Quote

"Go easy on the chopper. We don't have that many." -Getraer to Ponch

Guest Stars

• Brodie Greer as Baricza
• Lew Saunders as Fritz
• R.B. Sorko-Ram as Shain
• Richard Deacon as Singleton
• David Man as Rudolph
• Jerry Ayres as Burglar
• Bebe Kelly as Ms. Burglar
• Featuring:
• Philip Boyer as Mikie
• Charles Cooper as Trucker
• Cynthia Harrison as Ginger
• Victoria Peters as Clara

Crew

• Produced by: Rick Rosner
• Written by: Bruce Shelly
• Directed by: Ric Rondell
• Associate Producers: Ric Rondell / Phil Fehrle
• Production Consultant: Bob Hayden
• Unit Production Manager: Barry R. Stern
• Developed for television by: Paul Playdon
• Story Editors: Glen Olson & Rod Baker
• Music by: Robert Drasnin
• Theme by: John Parker
• Music Supervisor: Harry V. Lojewski
• Director of Photography: Robert F. Sparks
• Art Director: Joseph M. Altadonna
• Assistant Director: William Saint John
• Script Supervisor: Joyce Webb
• Production Assistance: Roni Rochin
• Set Decorator: W. Joseph Kroesser
• Technical Advisor: Mike Sylvia
• Editor: Mike Sangtik PAE
• Sound: Maury Harris, Hal Watkins, C.A.S.
• Stunt Co-ordinator: Paul Nuckles
• Men's Wardrobe: Shelly Levine
• Makeup: John M. Norin
• Casting: Gary Shaffer
• Location 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

• The scene where the coffin comes out of the hearse is seen in the Space Ghost: Coast to Coast episode titled "CHiPs".

Mistakes

• The overhead shot immediately after the briefing is reversed and the traffic is moving in the wrong direction. (In the United States, cars travel on the right side of the road.)
• Ponch jumps at the chance to go up in the chopper. In a later episode, he doesn't like flying.
• Ponch is sitting in the pilot seat of Helicopter 5...but he's not the pilot.
• Either the helicopter has something wrong with it or the inside sound effect is looped over and over.

Buy this episode

• Career Day on DVD at Amazon.com
• Career Day from Amazon Prime Video