CHiPs, or California Highway Patrol, followed the daily adventures of two state motorcycle police officers as they patrol the freeway system around Los Angeles. Officer Jon Baker is the serious officer while Frank, "Ponch" Poncherello is the more loose and free of the two. In each episode humorous, criminal and tragic incidents keep the pair busy, as well as social engagements to provide some light-hearted entertainment...

Depending on your point of view, the late seventies were either a golden age of television in America, with shows like Chip’s, The Dukes of Hazzard and the original Battlestar Galactica, or an age where corn ball finally took over television. Mind you, it may have been a wider cultural malady as it was the same decade which gave us disco and absurd haircuts, little wonder that the youth of the day turned to punk.

From those long gone halcyon days we have here CHiPs season 2, a show about two motorcycle cops in California. The show ran successfully from 1977 to its cancellation in 1983 following its sixth season.

Like many of the American shows of this ear, CHiPs appears to have been written to a formula which gave each episode a samey quality. The show opens with Jon and Ponch on their bikes cruising along a sun drenched highway just in time to witness some wrong doing. Back at base their boss alerts them to this week’s villainous goings on which of course the boys investigate. This nearly always ends in a bike chase which wraps up the story with everybody happy. Ultimately the show was lightweight and very forgettable.

Being a partner show Jon, played by Larry Wilcox, is the serious one who has to contend, each week, with Ponch’s devil-may-care attitude towards life. Ponch, played by Erik Estrada, is the epitome of cool and regularly uses his whiter than white teeth to impress the girls. In truth the show's success rested mostly on the popularity of Estrada with the female audience, ironic really.

The four disc set contains all twenty-two episodes and time has not been kind to the prints. Colours are still good but the overall picture is grainy. The set does come with a couple of extras. The Real CHiPs  (15 min, 27 sec) is both a retrospective, with Estrada, and a look at the work of real motorcycle policemen. The second, The Greatest Adventures of CHiPs (1 hr, 33 min, 9 sec) is an overlong clip show which will only be of interest to diehard fans.

Nothing I can say will deter fans of the show from buying the box set. As a drama it was always weak and formulaic, but hell you can’t deny that in its day it was popular.

5

Charles Packer