‘CHiPs’ Retro Recap: ‘Fun House’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

When one takes the time to reflect upon season six of CHiPs, a surprising discovery emerges. In that, this final season of highway adventures with Francis ‘Frank’ Poncherello, and his friends, offers up three distinct styles of episodes. In that, there are some quality tales to be found in this season's lineup, the kind that appear as though they were brought to life by an unused script from the Ponch and Jon era of the show. Or you’re going to enjoy a downright terrible and gimmicky tale, or one that is just straight up mediocre. Which is a fascinating variety of episodes to find within the framework of a show that was once the toast of prime time. But what is truly intriguing about this particular categorization is that it seemingly abandons something that was central to prior seasons.
 
Because years one through five often featured a guilty pleasure tale, one that was so goofy and outlandish that you couldn’t help but love it, regardless of the quality. And that’s intriguing, simply because this would have been the perfect season to drop those episodes into the mix, but alas, they were simply void from the fabric of this season… that is until the next episode of this storied saga came along. Because ‘Fun House’ is a tale that features some oddly polarizing storylines that shouldn't work together in the slightest. But they do, in part because this story opted to take full advantage of the comedic moments that one plot line offered up, since this episode is in many ways an homage to the college flicks that were permeating the fabric of this era. Thanks to the fact that Ponch and Bobby and Bruce, were sucked into a case involving a frat house full of goofy and gross and outlandish characters.
 
But while their shenanigans alone could have carried this particular tale, since their wild nature was perfectly contrasted by Ponch and Bobby… what made this part of the story so supremely worth our while was Sergeant Getraer’s involvement in this mess. For the fraternity that was in trouble in this case, Delta Delta Tau, was the Sarge’s old fraternity, and having him work to try and restore honor to this once proud house, actually allowed for Robert Pine to show off his comedic chops, and holy cow… he’s actually quite good at playing the goofball. Because his timing was flawless and his ability to mug for the camera when necessary was equally as seamless, and that really allowed for us to see a fun side to this character that we simply didn’t know existed, and the wonder of this tale doesn’t end there.
 
For the B-plot in this particular episode, dealt with some heavy subject matter. Specifically, how trauma can break us and motivate us to do bad things if we let it, and that was explored by way of a woman named Hildy Hopkins. Who sadly, lost her daughter a little while back and rather than hunker down and deal with that pain… she decided that maybe she could replace her missing daughter with someone else’s. Which of course led to one intense manhunt for certain, one that wrapped up at the Mexican border once Ponch and Bobby and Bruce and Kathy, figured out where Hildy was headed with her kidnapping victim. And what made this particular storyline so compelling, is that the show didn’t shy away from the gravity of this subject matter in the slightest and presented this aspect of trauma in an honest and powerful light. 
 
Which is, simply amazing, since season six has done everything it can to avoid dealing with heavy subject matter in a realistic or compelling manner and that particular surprise, combined with the revelation that Sergeant Getraer once covered himself in ketchup because he could… helped to make this one incredibly enjoyable tale. One that actually manages to make you laugh and feel your feels and it really is that guilty pleasure episode that we have been waiting for in season six. Because everything here works, and it sucks you in and you’re hopeful that the frat house and young Lindsey (played by another Poltergeist alum, Heather O’Rourke) are going to be saved and well, this is just vintage CHiPs through and through. And it definitely engenders hope that this grand and sweeping highway journey, is going to end on a high note. Until next time.

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