They patrolled the streets and highways of Los Angeles for six seasons from 1977 – 1983. We caught up with “CHiPs” stars, Larry Wilcox and Erik Estrada.
L.A. 7 Mary 3 and 4 are in town for Michigan’s first Fantasticon pop culture event taking place today from 11 am – 6pm and tomorrow from 11am – 5pm at the Oakland Expo Center at 2212 Mall St. E. in Waterford in Metro Detroit.
Estrada and Wilcox both still live in the Los Angeles area and nearly 50 years after the show’s debut, the duo say the stunt work still measures up.
“A lot of people started their careers as stunt guys on that show because we had so much to do on the street; the chases, the crashes and the rollovers of cars,” Estrada told MLive. “It was great and everything was rehearsed. It was choreographed.”
“It wasn’t CGI,” added Wilcox.
“It was great to watch. Every time I knew they were going to blow something up or crash it or smash it, I would sit on top of the motorhome and watch it,” Estrada added.
“CHiPs” had no shortage of guest stars, from early roles for future stars like like Bryan Cranston, Edward James Olmos and Tracey Gold, to veteran stars like Phyllis Diller and Milton Berle, most episodes had at least one future or current famous face.
“The fun stuff was watching and seeing the people that I watched on TV as a kid; Steve Allen, Jayne Meadows, Sid Caesar. We had them all,” Estrada said. “We had Ed McMahon. A lot of fun people I watched on a black and white TV as a kid.”
Estrada also dished on the time Bruce, now Caitlyn Jenner, took over for “Ponch” for a handful of episodes on season 5 as Officer Steve McLeish.
“They replaced me for seven weeks because I had contractual trip with net profits. I owned 50% of the show and wanted to get it. I walked off the set. I quit for seven episodes and they replaced me with Bruce. He was a sweet guy, but it didn’t work out and they came back and settled with me and I came back to work.”
While “CHiPs” did feature a lot of action and stunts, one thing we noticed was that the highway patrol officers never pulled their guns on anyone.
“The show was about teaching young children and it was a family hour show, 8:00 Sunday night and we took over the old ”Bonanza” time slot. We never drew our guns. It was the new Western. Instead of horses, we rode motorcycles. We wanted to exhibit that children could approach a man in uniform and not feel threatened.”
When it comes to owning a piece of the show, Estrada may have the grand daddy of props.
“I have one of the ”CHiPs” bikes. The Teamsters gave me as a gift.”