Trisha Townsend | Through the Shattered Lens

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 continues to train Melanie and Paula.

Episode 4.15 “Ponch’s Angels: Part Two”

(Dir by John Florea, originally aired on March 1st, 1981)

We pick up where we stopped last week. A man and his girlfriend are stealing purses and wallets at the marina. Three escaped convicts are in a deserted house and digging for buried treasure. Ponch and Jon are having to train two new motorcycle cops, Paula (Barbara Stock) and Melanie (Trisha Townsend). When last we checked in, Ponch was kissing Melanie. This episode opens with Ponch telling Melanie that they can never kiss again.

Ponch and Baker continue to train Paula and Melanie. Ponch decides to switch with Baker. He trains Paula while Baker works with Melanie. But then almost the entire highway patrol comes down with the flu and, when Baker is put in charge while Getraer recovers at home, Ponch finds himself to work with both Paula and Melanie. Once again, it’s all on Ponch because it’s The Ponch Show!

It’s all a bit exhausting to try to keep up with, to be honest. Ponch and Baker spend this episode wondering whether or not women actually could handle being motorcycle cops. Baker especially seems to be confused at the idea of a woman driving a motorcycle. One gets the feeling that Ponch is just mad because he knows he’ll get fired if he tries to make a move on either woman. Almost this entire episode is made up of Ponch trying to keep track of who is riding with who.

Luckily, Paula and Melanie prove themselves by catching the purse snatchers and also helping to catch the escaped convicts. Good for them! At the end of the opposite, they toss their motorcycle helmets in the air and leap for joy. The picture freezes while Ponch and Baker have a good laugh.

I was not surprised to read that this episode was meant to be a backdoor pilot for a Paula/Melanie show. Stock and Townsend were both likable and they acted well opposite each other so I could actually imagine them starring in a fairly entertaining series. It didn’t happen, though. Maybe the network felt that Ponch and Jon didn’t need the competition.

This was an okay episode of The Ponch Show.

This week, Ponch protests having to do his job.

Episode 4.14 “Ponch’s Angels: Part 1”

(Dir by John Florea, originally aired on February 28th, 1981)

It’s a busy week for the Highway Patrol! The marina is full of tourists and carnival-goers. A group of escaped convicts are trying to get out of town. A man and his partner are stealing purses. But all of that pales in comparison to what Jon and Ponch are having to do.

Jon and Ponch are having to train rookies!

Even worse, from their perspective …. the rookies are women!

Ponch protests when he’s given the assignment to train enthusiastic and blonde Melanie Mitchell (Trisha Townsend). He tells Getraer that Melanie is attractive and that Getraer knows what happens when Ponch gets around attractive women. Getraer replies that he wants Ponch to train Melanie precisely because Ponch has so many girlfriends. A man with many girlfriends will be less likely to be tempted. Okay, Getraer, that’s interesting logic….

And it turns out that Getraer doesn’t know what he’s talking about because this episode ends with Ponch and Melania passionately locking lips. “TO BE CONTINUED” flashes on the screen so I guess we’ll get to the disciplinary hearing and the subsequent lawsuit next week.

As for Jon, he trains Paula Woods (Barbara Stock), who is as cool and reasonable as Melanie is enthusiastic and impulsive. Paula tries to flirt with Jon but Jon keeps it all business because Jon is capable of actually doing his job in a professional manner.

What’s odd about this episode is that it’s called Ponch’s Angels, even though Ponch is only training one of the new motorcycle cops. This season, even the episode titles were all about erasing Jon Baker!

Anyway, as I mentioned, this is the first part of a two-parter. Apparently, this episode was actually a backdoor pilot for a series that would have focused on Melanie and Paula and it’s easy to see that Melanie was created to be another Ponch while Paula was created to be a female Jon. Next week, we’ll see if Paula and Melanie can make use of the lessons they were taught by Jon and Ponch.