‘CHiPs’ Retro Recap: ‘Mitchell and Woods’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

If there is one thing that television network executives genuinely love, it’s a series that can stay on the air for a long time. Because stability is a tough thing to find in Hollywood, so if there’s a show out there that fans continually tune in and watch, they’ll keep it on the air for as long as possible. But what’s truly amazing about this industry, is how often those same executives want lightning to strike twice and that’s why when they have an established series delivering solid ratings week in and week out, they work to expand upon that universe by way of spin-offs. And after five seasons of continued success and adoration, the powers that be at NBC decided it was time to see whether or not a spin-off of CHiPs would be viable.
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Which had to be quite the intriguing decision back in 1981. Because they straight up had their pick of fascinating characters to choose from to make this happen. Because a series focusing on Officer Artie Grossman could have been super interesting since he’s such the refined yet bumbling officer, or they could have done wonders with a Baricza and Turner series. But really the best option for a spin-off would have been Officer Bonnie Clark since she was a true fan favorite. And giving Bonnie her own series to navigate and having a woman be a top tier police officer in prime time would have put the upcoming CHP Universe at the forefront of progressive storytelling back then, since it would have beat Cagney and Lacey to the punch.

But while that final possibility had merit, rather than give Bonnie her own show to work with, the powers that be decided to hand over spin-off duties to a pair of minor characters from season four. Which means that Officers Melanie Mitchell and Paula Woods from ‘Ponch’s Angels Part 1 and 2’ returned to the saga in the next episode of this tale. All in the hopes that ‘Mitchell and Woods’ would entice the audience into tuning into weekly adventures involving these two plucky and dynamic motorcycle cops. But to ensure that the format wasn’t repeated in the slightest, they were given new jobs as detectives with the Ocean City Police Department and well, as it turns out… this whole venture was quite the horrible idea when all is said and done.

Because this ‘pilot’ episode was downright terrible and almost laughable and really what ruins this attempt at a spin-off is the writing for certain. Because the case that Mitchell and Woods are assigned to is boring, since it doesn’t offer anything new to the audience, and the clichés don’t end with the overall plot. Because this sleuthing duo are transformed from the intelligent and dynamic women we met a season ago, into bumbling doofs who spit off one-liners as often as possible and stumble upon clues and well, that’s just adding insult to injury and it’s no wonder that people weren’t enthusiastic about this becoming a series. Because it’s nothing special and it quite frankly, insults the audience’s intelligence, and CHiPs really is a smart series and any spin-off would need to maintain the high standards the original show put forth storytelling wise.

If anything, this was quite the shock to find in the midst of season five. Because the stories were just finding their stride and there appeared to be peace at last between Erik Estrada and the producers, which made this a combo breaker and an outright disappointment, and it serves as another hint that the show was in decline at this point. Because it is never a good sign when you push the main characters aside to give guest stars the spotlight, and why they decided to waste an episode on a pilot that could have aired as a special alongside the primary series, we will never know. But what’s done is done and thankfully this horrible mess has come to an end, and we never have to speak of it again. Until next time.  

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