Arguably the worst spin-off and an indication of the lackluster 6th season to come. Maybe if they had pitched it as a comedy it might have been better received, because they certainly did a lot of laughable or unreal "detective" work.
Dean: I am wearing sunglasses at night. You know who does that? No-talent douche bags!
Yes! I just watched an episode yesterday I think Ep.1 S.5 ? It was shown on Metv. And it opened with two hot women following punch and jon to a taco joint right on Venice beach. I think the sign said "pappys". Then the girls identified them self as ocean city police that were hours away from making detectives. Then the show ran another 33 minutes until jon and ponch showed up again for lunch. I have to say I think the title was something like Barbara & woods? I have to say that was the worst I've ever seen in a chips show. Can anyone tell me why they filmed that eisode and why? Where was jon and ponch? Was their a behind the scene?
I never remembered that episode nor did my brother. Why would anyone agree to that. And may I say the action and acting from the women was bad, what was even the story line? It seemed like a cocaine idea back in 1981?
Established shows are often used to test spin-off ideas. For example, NCIS originated from JAG which came about largely due to Top Gun (the show used some footage from the film). CHIPs will do this again at the end of Season 5 with Force 7, starring a pre-Hunter Fred Dryer. Like I said, this was a sign of poor-quality shows to come, notably Season 6 w/o Larry Wilcox. Another person here has observed how bad the later seasons of the show are and I agree.
Jon & Ponch basically had three scenes in the entire show- at the beginning, in the middle, where Ponch was now an authority on sketchy jewelers that worked out of rooms hidden behind meat lockers, and then at the end.
The overall plot was just dumb and beyond belief even for CHiPs. The most glaring thing to me was the "transfer" (actually a promotion) to detective, and their not being assigned to a senior detective for training. Them making demands of the Lieutenant for a homicide case was laughable, as was their conduct (misconduct) with zero sanctions. This included one of them slugging a woman at her party, leaving a guy handcuffed in a bar (losing a pair of handcuffs in the process), one of them pulling a gun on an unarmed guy that kissed her, stealing a car for a really stupid chase (to include a roof ride ala TJ Hooker- maybe this is where he got the idea?), later stealing two motorcycles, and committing assault & battery on the motorcycle owners. All of this while never making any arrests for the crimes they did observe.
The one actress was recycled as a different main guest character in the span of 10 months- she had played a rookie female CHP motorcycle officer in two episodes in Season 4 earlier in 1981.
Dean: I am wearing sunglasses at night. You know who does that? No-talent douche bags!
The one actress was recycled as a different main guest character in the span of 10 months- she had played a rookie female CHP motorcycle officer in two episodes in Season 4 earlier in 1981.
The episode was simply a pilot for another series that was being pitched by the producers. This practice has been common for a long time. Popular series of the time like "Adam 12", "Emergency!" and "Too Close for Comfort" did the exact same thing, with very similar results.
By putting the pilot under the umbrella of an existing series and having the main characters show up was just a way of increasing the chances of the pilot being picked up.
But I agree, the acting and writing of this pilot were beyond deplorable!
The only, ONLY saving grace in this episode is the presence of Cindy Morgan. A ubiquitous actress in the early/mid 80's ('Caddyshack,' 'Tron,' and the short-lived adventure series 'Bring 'Em Back Alive'), she should've had a bigger / better career in Hollywood.
Check out her photos from two years ago on her IMDb page - she is still an extremely attractive woman, arguably even better looking now than back in '81.
But the episode itself? Apparently the result of the production's B-team after a 'lost weekend' cocaine binge.