I never thought I'd ever see it happen. The cast of CHiPs reuniting and doing a new reunion movie, and even more than that, it reunited Larry Wilcox and Erik Estrada, who finally decided to bury the hatchet and forget about their personal issues with each other. Oddly enough, they both were co producers as well. I was surprised this didn't air on NBC, but then again, about a decade ago, this was a hot show that aired on TNT, like the same way the Dukes of Hazzard received new popularity on TNN during that time.
It's hard to believe it's now been 10 years since CHiPs 99 aired on TNT. And hopefully, maybe it will get released on DVD someday along with the series. The movie is interesting in that we see how the CHP has changed in the last 15 years, especially in terms of the new motorcycles they used.
For the most part, this movie, I feel was written with the memory of season one more than any other season and it almost completely ignored the characterization and story lines of the final season, as bad as that season was. In season six, Officer Jon Baker left the force and was replaced by Officer Bobby "Hot Dog" Nelson and later his brother Bruce, who went through Cadet training before becoming a CHP officer before series end. Ponch by that time, had matured into the more responsible training officer. Ponch, while still a character had become what Jon was. Most of that was tossed out the window in this movie. Ponch once again was the "Hot Dog" and Jon was a little more strict this time. One can only guess that when Ponch left the force, he did before Jon came back, explaining why they hadn't seen each other in so long. The only element of season 6 was the inclusion of Bruce Penhall as Bruce Nelson, who gets promoted to Sergeant in this movie, but gets injured and out of the story not long afterwards. Artie Grossman is back as a plain clothes Detective and surprisingly, Brodie Greer is back as Barry Barikza, who also mysteriously vanished in season 6. Joe Getraer is now Police Commissioner and Jon Baker is now Captain of the CHP and is married. His beautiful blonde wife, Sandy is also a CHP officer.
Ponch retired from the force some years ago, married the crash victim from the series pilot episode, and had a son. Ponch's wife got sick and died, and now he is raising his son, Frank Jr. What I didn't care for in this movie, were the two new young guys. Sergeant McFalls was not bad. A nice cop like Jon, but Roulette, is not only an exaggeration of Ponch, but also a resident a---hole!! You just love to hate this guy and his rivalry relationship with Ponch occurs when he cites Ponch for speeding. Ponch returns to the force, but unlike his buddies, he never rose in the ranks and is therefore, still a motor officer.
All in all though, it was great to see Ponch and Jon go riding together again after 15 to 16 years. Flashback scenes from the pilot episode, plus the scene where they pull over a bicyclist, whom they pulled over when he was a kid in the pilot was priceless.
While not as great as the original series, CHiPs 99 has its charm and I recommend it as much as the series. I give it 2 thumbs up!!
It's hard to believe it's now been 10 years since CHiPs 99 aired on TNT. And hopefully, maybe it will get released on DVD someday along with the series. The movie is interesting in that we see how the CHP has changed in the last 15 years, especially in terms of the new motorcycles they used.
For the most part, this movie, I feel was written with the memory of season one more than any other season and it almost completely ignored the characterization and story lines of the final season, as bad as that season was. In season six, Officer Jon Baker left the force and was replaced by Officer Bobby "Hot Dog" Nelson and later his brother Bruce, who went through Cadet training before becoming a CHP officer before series end. Ponch by that time, had matured into the more responsible training officer. Ponch, while still a character had become what Jon was. Most of that was tossed out the window in this movie. Ponch once again was the "Hot Dog" and Jon was a little more strict this time. One can only guess that when Ponch left the force, he did before Jon came back, explaining why they hadn't seen each other in so long. The only element of season 6 was the inclusion of Bruce Penhall as Bruce Nelson, who gets promoted to Sergeant in this movie, but gets injured and out of the story not long afterwards. Artie Grossman is back as a plain clothes Detective and surprisingly, Brodie Greer is back as Barry Barikza, who also mysteriously vanished in season 6. Joe Getraer is now Police Commissioner and Jon Baker is now Captain of the CHP and is married. His beautiful blonde wife, Sandy is also a CHP officer.
Ponch retired from the force some years ago, married the crash victim from the series pilot episode, and had a son. Ponch's wife got sick and died, and now he is raising his son, Frank Jr. What I didn't care for in this movie, were the two new young guys. Sergeant McFalls was not bad. A nice cop like Jon, but Roulette, is not only an exaggeration of Ponch, but also a resident a---hole!! You just love to hate this guy and his rivalry relationship with Ponch occurs when he cites Ponch for speeding. Ponch returns to the force, but unlike his buddies, he never rose in the ranks and is therefore, still a motor officer.
All in all though, it was great to see Ponch and Jon go riding together again after 15 to 16 years. Flashback scenes from the pilot episode, plus the scene where they pull over a bicyclist, whom they pulled over when he was a kid in the pilot was priceless.
While not as great as the original series, CHiPs 99 has its charm and I recommend it as much as the series. I give it 2 thumbs up!!