‘CHiPs’ Retro Recap – ‘Roller Disco: Part 1’

Written by John Edward Betancourt 

​If there’s one thing I’ve come to learn about television shows, it’s that season three is usually when everything truly comes together for the series in question. Because by now, the characters are properly established when it comes to their personalities and quirks and proclivities, and the format of the series is finally apparent to everyone within the writer’s room. Which means that fans everywhere are treated to one slick season of storytelling, the kind that features brisk and magnificent storylines that feature everything you love and for proof, well look no further than the season three premiere of my favorite police serial, CHiPs.
 
Because ‘Roller Disco: Part 1’ felt comfortable and smooth from the get-go, and the lighthearted nature that made this series famous in the first place was everywhere to be found in this story. I mean come on, it’s entitled ‘Roller Disco’, and the constant cutaways to folks having a good time on skates, and the fact that the cast seem to be enjoying themselves on screen just speaks to the joy present in this tale. Plus, this premiere also made it clear just how popular the series was when season three hit the airwaves because the guest stars present in this premiere are some big names to say the least. I mean Ed McMahon was at the top of the world in 1979 and you can’t go wrong with cameos from football legends Jim Brown and Fred Williamson and teen heart throb Leif Garrett.
 
In fact, Leif’s appearance in this story led to a fascinating subplot that worked to remove the mystique surrounding celebrities. For Garrett’s character, Jimmy Tyler, is a celebrity suffering from exhaustion and is desperate for a break from the on-the-go lifestyle he’s been immersed within for some time, and it was quite fascinating to see the show take the time to point out that those in the limelight need a break like the rest of us. But while this is, of course, all designed to get Jimmy to work with Ponch on the celebrity ‘Skate With the Starts’ event that the CHP is putting on soon, it’s still quality and unique storytelling and it serves as a fine reminder of how good this series was at injecting humanity into its weekly adventures on the road.
 
But of course, what would CHiPs be without the all-important Creeps of the Week? And this episode has plenty to spare. For we are introduced to a salty and sour motorist named Carlin, who thinks the world owes him something, and his idea of justice is to blind people with a unique addition to his car that causes sparks to shower the windshield of anyone that tailgates him and there’s also Lita’s gang for our boys in tan to contend with. For this mastermind has enlisted some muscle to help her steal what isn’t nailed down on the boardwalk, and to keep their exploits unique, they make use of roller skates as part of their getaway plan and that’s honestly something I cannot say I’ve ever seen replicated on a cop show and oddly, it works. However, if this seems like a lot of plot to process over the course of a single hour, you’d be absolutely right.
 
Which is why this bad boy is the first half of a two-parter, something that also happens to be a first for this series and I have to be honest, they did a magnificent job of setting up the second half of this epic story. But all juicy plot points aside, what matters the most, is that this story is just plain fun. For there is plenty of action and adventure to be found in this one, and the plot just chugs along and well, it is just a delight to be back in the world of CHiPs, and it was also quite cool to see Officer Bonnie Clark’s brief first appearance on the series as well. But when all is said and done, I truly cannot wait to see how this particular two-parter and all of its plot threads wrap up, and if this is what we’re getting from the first episode of a new season, then I am in for the quite the treat in the days and weeks to come. Until next time.   

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