Welcome to Late Night Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Mondays, I will be reviewing CHiPs, which ran on NBC from 1977 to 1983. The entire show is currently streaming on Prime!
This week, dogs are being kidnapped and a kid with a liver condition risks his life to see the Space Shuttle. Can Gordon Cooper save the day!?
Episode 6.15 “Journey To A Spacecraft”
(Dir by Richard Irving, originally aired on February 6th, 1983)
Someone is dognapping adorable and expensive dogs in Los Angeles! Wealthy Ms. Birdwing (Natalie Schafer) wants her tiny doggie back! Luckily, a kid named Kevin (Byron Thomas) was listening to his portable CB radio and he heard the dognappers talking to each other. Kevin’s clues lead the highway patrol to the dog groomer (Vito Scotti) who has been stealing and reselling the dogs. The dog groomer is arrested by Tina, Grossman, and Officer Webster. When one of the kidnapped dogs stands on the groomer’s chest, Grossman calls it “poetic justice.” I would have called it ultio canis but whatever.
Meanwhile, Kevin is in desperate need of a liver transplant. A donor has been found, but Kevin has snuck out of his house and is making his way to Edwards Air Force Base so he can watch the Space Shuttle land. Ponch and Bobby set off to find the young aerospace enthusiast but, unfortunately, a lot of people have shown up to watch the Space Shuttle. Ponch, however, runs into former Mercury Astronaut Gordon Cooper and he announces on the PA system, “Kevin, Gordon Cooper wants to meet with you at the press building!” Kevin, whose liver is really acting up, collapses as he makes his way to the press building. Luckily, Bobby finds him and carries him to the press building so that he can meet Gordon Cooper before finally getting a new liver.
This episode was a bit of a strange one. The dognapping storyline was deliberately silly with Vito Scotti giving a very broad performance as the duplicitous dog groomer. Meanwhile, the Kevin storyline tried really hard to generate some tears but I’ve seen enough episodes of CHiPs to know that Kevin was going to be fine. What I found strange was that his parents didn’t seem to be that upset about him sneaking out and hitching rides from his CB radio friends. I’m not really sure this episode had a good message. “Hey, kids, want to pursue your favorite hobby? Hitchhike!”
Gordon Cooper appeared as himself. I’ve always said that professional athletes are usually the least convincing members of any guest cast but, based on this episode, I may have to include astronauts in there. Cooper seemed uneasy whenever he was on screen. When Kevin was finally found and didn’t die, Cooper awkwardly patted Ponch on the back even though Bobby was the one who found him.
Speaking of Ponch, how did he go through this entire episode without once mentioning that, just a few months ago, he actually battled an alien? Seriously, Ponch, what the hell?
