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, a cop-turned-criminal tries to prove that he’s gone straight.  Will he able to convince Ponch?

Episode 5.24 “Ice Cream Man”

(Dir by Leslie H. Martinson, originally aired on April 18th, 1982)

Tom Corey (Robert Walker, Jr.) used to be a top member of the Highway Patrol until he was caught breaking the law himself.  Tom Corey was a car thief, not because he needed the money but just because he needed the thrill.  Tom was sent to prison.  His wife (Karen Jennings) divorced him.  His son (Noah Hathaway) was told that Tom had died shortly after he was born.  Now, nearly six years later, Tom is out of prison and he’s working as an ice cream man.  He insists that he’s gone straight and all he cares about now is keeping a distant eye on the son who doesn’t know who he is.

Baker is willing to give Tom the benefit of the doubt but not Ponch.  When a rash of vehicle thefts break out, Ponch suspects that Tom is involved.  To an extent, Ponch is right.  The ringleader of the thieves is a businessman named Reno Hale (James Wainwright).  Hale wants Tom to work for him.  Tom sees an opportunity to redeem himself by taking Reno down.

This was an interesting episode, in that the focus was not on Ponch or Baker but instead on Tom and his efforts to prove that he had gone straight.  In fact, this episode almost felt like a backdoor pilot for a series that would have focused on Tom’s life outside of prison.  It’s easy to imagine Tom spending each week foiling criminals while trying not to violate the terms of his parole.  Robert Walker, Jr. gave a strong performance as Tom and the scenes between him and the cops were filled with an energy that reminded me of the first two seasons of CHiPs, before the whole thing became the Ponch Show.

This was a good episode.  Tom was an interesting character and there was one spectacular accident that actually made me jump a little.  (It looked like Randi Oakes barely avoid getting seriously injured.)  This was a nice throwback to what the show used to be.