Late Night Retro Television Review: CHiPs 5.10 “Fast Money”

Posted on February 23, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

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, Ponch is back!

Episode 5.10 “Fast Money”

(Dir by Leslie H. Martinson, originally aired on December 5th, 1981)

This is getting weird.

After being either absent or only appearing in one or two scenes over the past few episodes, Ponch returns this week. He’s once again on active duty, patrolling the California highways with Baker. As much as I notice and joke about the obvious disdain that Erik Estrada and Larry Wilcox held for each other, they do make a surprisingly good team. They just seem to belong together. If I’ve learned anything over the past few weeks, it’s that Larry Wilcox needed Estrada’s flamboyance and that Erik Estrada needed Wilcox’s cool professionalism. They balanced each other out.

With Ponch (and Estrada) back, there’s really no reason for Steve McLeish to stick around. And yet, during this episode — there he was!

He didn’t really have anything to do. Ponch and Baker were after some van-driving engineers who were using a hydraulic lift to hijack other cars. When they figured out which company had developed the hydraulics being used in the crime wave, Steve called the company’s chairman. (Steve says the chairman of the board is an old friend and no one acts surprise. I’m guessing maybe that was an inside joke or some sort of reference to the Olympics.) Later, Steve showed them a mansion that was fixing up so he could flip it. The scenes felt awkward and not just because of the Caitlyn Jenner’s total lack of acting ability. There really wasn’t any reason for them to be in the episode. There was no reason for Steve to be around. Ponch and Baker should have been out there, taking down those nerdy engineers and warning people about the dangers of technology. Instead, they were having to make time to hang out with Steve.

As I watched this episode, it occurred to me that maybe Caitlyn Jenner just refused to go home. Maybe Jenner showed up on set and wouldn’t leave until the writers wrote Steve a few scenes. That theory is really the only one that makes sense.

Anyway, this episode had a few good car crashes. The hydraulic lift was incredibly silly and so was Harlan’s suggestion that they could catch the thieves by tricking them into trying to lift a car that was weighted down with rocks. There was also a big subplot that was centered around Ponch trying to get the shower fixed in his apartment. I always like it whenever the show finds an excuse to show us either Ponch or Jon’s apartment. The wood paneling and the shag carpeting amuses me. They should have called this show Disco Cops.

According to the imdb, next week will be Jenner’s final episode. So, we’ll see how the saga of Steve McLeish comes to an end. I think he’s going to get arrested for taking payoffs from the mob. We’ll see if I’m right!

Late Night Retro Television Review: CHiPs 5.9 “Finders Keepers”

Posted on February 16, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week is just a mess.

Episode 5.9 “Finders Keepers”

(Dir by John Peyser, originally aired on November 29th, 1981)

Oh, it’s a Steve McLeish episode!

These episodes are fun because they were so obviously written and re-written to try to cover up the fact that Caitlyn Jenner was a terrible actor. In this episode, we learn that Steve is into rare flowers and that he drives a pretty snazzy convertible. And yet, despite these character details, Steve still doesn’t really have a personality beyond being kind of twitchy and always hesitating before delivering his lines. Jenner seemed to be made out of charisma anti-matter and it’s bizarre to see a public figure with absolutely zero screen presence.

This episode is a mess. Two teens steal a car and come into possession of some stolen money. Steve searches for the stolen car. An eccentric bounty hunter (Noble Willingham) drives from Texas to California in a pink Cadillac and gets in everyone’s way as he chases a fugitive. Oscar nominee Amy Madigan appears as a country singer who would really like to get it on with Baker but Baker always ends up running late. Ponch makes three brief appearances in this episode. It’s explained that he’s preparing to testify in a huge trial and that’s why Baker and Steve are temporary partners. None of the storylines really feel complete or connected. One gets the feeling that three different scripts were just randomly crammed together.

This episode had two effective car crashes and it was somewhat amusing to watch as Baker always showed up just a minute or two after Amy Madigan stopped singing. That said, this episode didn’t add up to much. The only thing that really made it watchable was Jenner’s bizarre performance.

There’s a part of me that kind of hopes that Ponch never comes back! Of course, if that happened, it would no longer be….

Late Night Retro Television Review: Pacific Blue 3.14 “Heartbeat”

Posted on February 10, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to Late Night Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Tuesdays, I will be reviewing Pacific Blue, a cop show that aired from 1996 to 2000 on the USA Network! It’s currently streaming everywhere, though I’m watching it on Tubi.

This week, Palermo dies but it’s not a permanent condition.

Episode 3.14 “Heartbeat”

(Dir by Terence H. Winkless, originally aired on December 28th, 1997)

This week, Pacific Blue decided to stop pretending that it was anything more than a Baywatch ripoff by having Carmen Electra appear as Lani MacKenzie, the lifeguard that she played on Baywatch. She helped the bicycle cops out with a rescue and then the bike cops helped her out when she had to break up a knife fight on the beach.

Lani was also present to discuss a new program in which two EMTs will ride with the cops. They will learn how to get around on a bicycle while teaching the bike cops stuff like CPR. One of the EMTs is Alexa Cholak (Alex Datcher), an ex-girlfriend of Palermo’s. This complicates things when an explosion rips across the beach. Palermo and a random woman are injured. Alexa and all the bike cops work on restarting Palermo’s heart, giving him mouth-to-mouth and chest compressions. Palermo lives. The woman dies. The woman’s boyfriend then sues the bike patrol because he says that they were so concerned about saving Palermo that they essentially just let his girlfriend die. We’re supposed to dislike the boyfriend but he is actually kind of …. sort of …. right? Chris points out that the woman would have died even if the EMTs had tried to save her but they had no way of knowing that at the time. Essentially, they decided to save their friend Palermo while ignoring someone else who was seriously injured.

This really gets to one of the major problems I have with Pacific Blue. The show just assumes that we’re going to be on the side of the bike patrol no matter what, despite the fact that they often come across as being a bunch of jerks. That’s certainly the case here. When Palermo returns to the office, everyone starts applauding and cheering for him, despite the fact that the dead woman’s boyfriend happens to be standing just a few feet away.

This episode features scenes of the members of the bike patrol being interviewed by a therapist after the explosion. Palermo says that, when he was dead, he didn’t see a bright light or feel any sort of inner peace. He didn’t see his loved ones waiting for him. It’s like even the show is admitting that Palermo is going to go to Hell for creating the bike patrol.

As for the rest of the episode, Chris and Victor investigated the claims of an environmentalist whack job (Michael Houston King) who said that a big evil businessman (Larry Wilcox, of CHiPs fame) was polluting the beach. It turned out the environmentalist was telling the truth. Meanwhile, shaken by the death of the woman and the resulting lawsuit, Alexa resigned from the bike patrol. It would have been touching if Alexa had actually been in more than one episode. Still, each member of the bike patrol popped a wheelie in honor of Alexa. It was dumb. Get those bicycles off the beach!

Stupid episode, this week.

Late Night Retro Television Review: CHiPs 5.8 “Diamond In The Rough”

Posted on February 9, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Who will be Jon’s partner this week? Read on to find out.

Episode 5.8 “Diamond in the Rough”

(Dir by Leslie H. Martinson, originally aired on November 22nd, 1981)

Erik Estrada is not in this episode which means that a pre-transition Caitlyn Jenner is back as Officer Steve McLeish. Yay! Jenner is just as off-putting and unconvincing as the last time that he appeared on this show. Unfortunately, it appears that the show’s producers picked up on the fact that he wasn’t a particularly good (or even appealing) actor and, as a result, neither Jon nor Steve do much in this episode. It’s almost as if the show’s producer didn’t realize that Jenner’s inability to show emotion or deliver his lines without smiling like a goofball was the most entertaining thing about the episodes without Estrada.

Instead, the episode is split between a veteran thief (Henry Jones) plotting his next robbery and an angry kid named Pat (Nicky Katt, in one of his first roles) who stays with the Getraers while his mother is recovering after a car accident. As the car accident was caused by the thief’s car, Pat is in a position where he can identify the thief. But first, Pat has to stop getting angry at everyone.

This episode didn’t add up too much. The whole thing felt a bit half-baked and one gets the feeling that the script was hastily thrown together so that it wouldn’t require Estrada (who was recovering from a stunt-gone-wrong at the time) while, at the same time, it also wouldn’t require Jenner to do much more other than stand around and direct traffic. Robert Pine gets to do a bit more than usual, which is good because he was the best actor on the show. But still, on the whole, this just didn’t feel like a proper episode of CHiPs.

One final note: Nicky Katt was really good as Pat. Most child actors tend to go overboard and come across as being cutesy. Katt, on the other hand, seemed to be sincerely angry in the role of Pat. Your heart really broke for him. Even as a child actor, Katt was a smart and intuitive actor. He is definitely missed.

Late Night Retro Television Review: CHiPs 5.7 “Bomb Run”

Posted on February 2, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Who will be Jon’s partner this week? Read on to find out!

Episode 5.7 “Bomb Run”

(Dir by Phil Bondelli, originally aired on November 15th, 1981)

I was really hoping that this would be another episode with Caitlyn Jenner playing Steve but no, Ponch was back. (Erik Estrada is the better actor of the two but Jenner’s performance is often so bizarre in its utter blandness that it becomes fascinating to watch.) This episode opened with Baker observing as Ponch piloted a small airplane. CHiPs was all about the California lifestyle and apparently, a big part of that lifestyle was being able to take off in a small private plane whenever you felt like it. Ponch thinks that he’s ready for a solo flight but Baker tells him that he still needs to work on his landing skills. Sorry, Ponch, you’re not a Kennedy.

The highway patrol is preparing for the big air show. Officer Baricza (Brodie Greer) is surprised when he sees his ex-girlfriend, Terri (Kristin Griffith), hanging out around an airplane and preparing to take part in the show despite the fact that she has always been scared of flying. What Baricza does not know is that Terri and her father (Ed King) have planned a big robbery to take place during the air show. While Terri drops bombs from the airplane, the explosions will cover the sound of two safecrackers (played by Brion James and Taylor Lacher) blowing open a safe and stealing a bunch of bearer bonds. However, things get complicated when the safecrackers illegally park their car (which leads to a helicopter towing it off, carrying it through the sky). Things get even more complicated when Terri’s father has a heart attack when they’re in the air and Baker and Ponch have to perform a mid-air rescue.

So, how does Baricza react to his ex-girlfriend being a criminal? We never find out. Ponch roughly lands Terri’s plane and then show pretty much ends. As a result, we don’t know what happens to Terri and her father. We don’t know if the police succeeded in catching the safecrackers. We don’t even know if Terri’s father merely passed out or if he actually died up there. Instead, Getraer makes a joke about Ponch’s terrible landing skills and we get the familiar CHiPs freeze frame.

This episode featured a lot of airshow stock footage and it was pretty obvious that the plot was secondary to showing off all of the planes doing fancy maneuvers in the sky. It felt a bit lazy on the part of the show’s producers but I also imagine that this episode was also fairly cheap to produce. There’s more stock footage than plot. As a result, the ending is a bit unsatisfying. Is Baricza upset about Terri being a criminal? Who knows? He certainly does seem to be amused by Ponch’s landing though!

Late Night Retro Television Review: CHiPs 5.4 “The Killer Indy”

Posted on January 12, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week, Baker has a new partner!

Episode 5.4 “The Killer Indy”

(Dir by Leslie H. Martinson, originally aired on October 25th, 1981)

When a group of bikers start holding illegal street races, Getraer wants it stopped before someone is seriously hurt! Jon Baker and his partner Steve McLeish decide to end the races by any means necessary, especially since Steve’s brothers are involved….

Wait, who?

Played by a pre-transition Caitlyn Jenner, Steve McLeish serves as Baker’s partner in this episode. We don’t really get much of an introduction as to who Steve is or why he’s even riding with Baker. Everyone just acts as if Steve has always been there. Ponch is not even mentioned and it’s difficult not to notice that Larry Wilcox seems a bit more cheerful than usual in this episode. For once, he’s the one who gets to do all of the cool stuff while everyone else watches.

This was the first of several episodes that Erik Estrada missed during the fifth season, the result of being injured during a stunt gone wrong. Jenner, who was then best-known as an Olympian, was brought in to play Steve McLeish. Judging from this episode, Jenner was a remarkably bad actor. Compared to everyone else in the episode, Jenner comes across as being awkward and stiff. Like many nonprofessional actors, it’s obvious that Jenner was not sure what do when not delivering dialogue. Jenner stands there, hands awkwardly positioned and occasionally trying to react to the other actors. It’s really almost painful to watch.

It’s obvious that this episode was written with Ponch in mind. Like Ponch, Steve has two brothers and used to be a motorcycle-racing delinquent when he was younger. His older brother (who is played by the legendary character actor Robert F. Lyons) is named Toro, which might make sense if he was Ponch’s brother but, as it is, you really do have to wonder about the parents who would name one son Toro and the other sons Steve and Ted. Ted, incidentally, is played by Kevyn Major Howard. Howard, Lyons and Jenner have next to no features in common, leading one to wonder how they could possibly all be members of the same family?

There was some good motorcycle chase action in this episode. There was also so much dialogue about the importance of wearing a helmet that, as soon as the gang’s leader announced he didn’t need a helmet, the most viewers had to know that he was doomed to ultimately be thrown from his motorcycle and crash headfirst into the pavement. “He hit his head,” Getraer says and that’s the last we hear about the guy.

As for this episodes comedic subplot, Grossman begged his fellow patrol people to join him and his nieces at the waterpark. While Baker, Steve, and everyone else took care of his nieces, Grossman hung out with his two bikini-clad neighbors. Grossman winked at the camera as the CHiPs theme music started to play.

And so, it’s another day in L.A….

I Watched Perry Mason: The Case of the Avenging Ace (1988, Dir. by Christian I. Nyby II)

Posted on January 8, 2026 by Dazzling Erin

Back when Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) was a judge, he rejected the appeal of Kevin Parks (Larry Wilcox), an Air Force colonel who was accused of stalking and killing Amy Beth Sawyer (Dotty Coloroso). Even though Perry had his doubts, he did not find any legal grounds for an appeal. In the present day, when Parks is accused of killing a new witness who could have provided him with an alibi, Perry agrees to represent Parks in court and tries to prove that Parks was not guilty of either murder.

This movie was much more complicated than the typical Perry Mason movie but it was a good change of pace and the mystery itself kept me guessing. I was sure I knew who the murderer was and I turned out I was wrong. Perry’s guilt about turning down Kevin Parks’s original appeal added a new dimension to the movie and it was interesting to see Perry doubting himself, even if it was just for a few minutes.

Again, Raymond Burr spent most of this movie either sitting or leaning against something. Even unwell, he still gave a good performance and his chemistry with Barbara Hale was as charming as ever. Paul Drake, Jr. (William Katt) did the leg work and got involved in a few good chases. The only thing more interesting than the mystery was Paul’s hair, which gets bigger and bigger each movie.

Late Night Retro Television Review: CHiPs 5.3 “Moonlight”

Posted on January 5, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week, it’s Ponch and Jon’s anniverary!

Episode 5.3 “Moonlight”

(Dir by Earl Bellamy, originally aired on October 18th, 1981)

A highway accident leads to a bunch of cars flying through the air in slow motion!

Ponch works off-duty as a security guard for an action film. Ponch being Ponch, he ends up flirting with the two female stars. He also ends up accidentally flirting with their stunt doubles, both of whom turn out to be men wearing blonde wigs. Oh, Ponch!

Someone is dumping toxic waste and ruining the beautiful California country side. Ponch and Jon turn to their old friend, trucker Robbie Davis (Katherine Cannon), for help. However, it turns out that the waste is being transported and dumped by someone close to Robbie!

There’s a lot going on in this episode but the majority of the screentime is taken up with Getraer, Grossman, Baricza, Turner, and Bonnie thinking about how to celebrate Ponch and Jon’s 4th anniversary as partners. At one point, Getraer does point out that it’s unusual for an entire department to celebrate the anniversary of a partnership. I’m glad that someone said that because, seriously, don’t these people have a job to do? I mean, aren’t they supposed to be out there, issuing tickets and preventing crashes like the one that opened this episode? You’re not getting paid to be party planners, people!

Knowing just how much Larry Wilcox and Erik Estrada disliked each other when the cameras weren’t rolling, it’s hard not to feel as if there’s a bit of wish-fulfillment going on with the anniversary storyline. Watching everyone talk about how Jon and Ponch are the perfect team, one gets the feeling that the show itself is telling its stars, “Can you two just get along? Everyone loves you two together!”

Reportedly, by the time the fifth season rolled around, Wilcox was frustrated with always having to play second fiddle to Estrada. Having binged the show, I can understand the source of his frustration. During the first two seasons, Wilcox and Estrada were given roughly the same amount of screen time in each episode. In fact, Estrada often provided the comic relief while Wilcox did the serious police work. But, as the series progressed, the balance changed and it soon became The Ponch Show. If there was a beautiful guest star, her character would fall for Ponch. If there was a rescue to be conducted, Ponch would be the one who pulled it off. When it came time to do something exciting to show off the California lifestyle, one can b sure that Ponch would be the one who got to do it. Baker got pushed to the side. This episode, however, allows Baker to rescue someone while Ponch watches from the background. “See, Larry?” the show seems to be saying, “We let you do things!”

As for the episode itself, it’s okay. There’s enough stunts and car accidents to keep the viewers happy. That said, the toxic dump storyline plays out way too slowly. At one point, Baricza finds a bunch of barrels off the side of the road and he looks like he’s about to start crying. It’s an odd moment.

The episode ends with Baker and Ponch happy. It wouldn’t last. This would be Larry Wilcox’s final season as a member of the Highway Patrol.

Late Night Retro Television Review: CHiPs 5.2 “Vagabonds”

Posted on December 1, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week’s episode features a future Oscar nominee!

Episode 5.2 “Vagabonds”

(Dir by Bruce Kessler, originally aired on October 11th, 1981)

The saying goes that “everyone had to start somewhere,” and, for actor Ed Harris, somewhere included guest-starring on an episode of CHiPs.

The future Oscar nominee appears as Lonny Wilson, the scion of a family of a hillbilly con artists. He and his brother, Daws (Jesse Vint), purposefully cause auto accidents and con their victims out of their money in return for not calling the police or the insurance company. Lonny’s young son, Jamie (James Calvert), is looking forward to joining the family business until he actually is injured while taking part in one of the family’s cons. Lonny reconsiders his way of life and, by the end of the episode, he’s cooperating with the highway patrol.

Does Ed Harris come across as being a future star in this episode? Well, he definitely has charisma. He has screen presence. That said, this is also CHiPs, a show that was mostly about capturing potentially serious auto accidents in slow motion. No one came across as being a future star on ChiPs and that was actually a part of the show’s appeal. The stars on CHiPs were always the motorcycles, the cars flipping over on the freeway, and Ponch’s blinding smile. That said, Ed Harris gives a good performance. For that matter, so does Jesse Vint as his brother. This is a well-acted episode of CHiPs. Such things do exist.

In all fairness, I should also note that, when this episode aired, Harris had already starred in George Romero’s Knightriders so, while Harris may not have been a household name, it’s probably still debatable whether or not this was really at the start of his career. Ultimately, the important thing is that, two years after appearing this episode, Ed Harris would play John Glenn in 1983’s The Right Stuff and firmly established himself as one of our best character actors.

As for this episode, it also features the Highway Patrol taking part in a “supercycle” race, which is a race featuring bicycles that you lie down on as you peddle. I don’t know why anyone would want to do that but whatever. Jon Baker wins. Yay, Highway Patrol!

On that note of victory, Retro Television Reviews is going on a holiday break so that I can focus on the Oscar precursor awards and reviewing Christmas movies so this will be last CHiPs review of 2025! CHiPs will return on January 5th, 2026!

Late Night Retro Television Review: CHiPs 5.1 “Suicide Stunt”

Posted on November 24, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week, the fifth season begins.

Episode 5.1 “Suicide Stunt”

(Dir by Michael Caffey, originally aired on October 4th, 1981)

The fifth season opens with the Highway Patrol pursuing a gang of thieves and also keeping an eye on Janos Szabo (Les Lannom), a motorcycle daredevil from Hungary who has come to Los Angeles to take part in charity show for “Highway Patrol Widows and Orphans.”

Since Hungary was controlled by the evil communists (hisssss!) when this episode originally aired, I assumed the episode would be about Janos trying to defect so that he could start a new life in the greatest country on Earth, the USA (yay!). Instead, it turned out that Janos was more concerned with spending time with an ex-girlfriend named Maria (Anita Jodelsohn) who had defected (Good for you, Maria!) and was now working for the Highway Patrol. The entire episode was pretty much scene after scene of Janos sneaking away from his handlers, stealing a vehicle, and then trying to kidnap Maria. Maria found it to be amusing. The members of the Highway Patrol were amused. Even Janos’s handlers seemed to be secretly amused. Still, when Janos set a fire outside of the CHP headquarters to distract everyone so that he could steal another car (this one with Maria in it), Ponch had no choice other than to arrest him.

“I am glad it is you who arrest me,” Janos says to Ponch, smiling like an idiot.

With Janos arrested, it falls on Jon Baker to perfect the stunts while riding Janos’s motorcycle. And Baker is able to do it easily, even the one that involves bursting through a ring of fire. So, I guess they didn’t need Janos to begin with. They should have just had Baker do it and they could have saved a lot of money. Way to waste the taxpayer’s cash, Jerry Brown!

(He was governor at the time. Then, like 30 years later, he was governor again.)

Odd episode, this one. Most season premieres try to go big but this was pretty much just another episode of CHiPs. The California scenery was nice. I always appreciate that this show was largely shot on location and, as a result, even the worst episodes have some value as a time capsule. That said, Janos was an incredibly annoying character. The fact that the show meant for us to laugh at his antics made him even more annoying. There’s only so many times you can watch one jackass try to abduct one woman before you say, “Enough already!”