There no reason for another review, but I had nothing better to do, and when I turned on the TV it happened to be on MeTV and ChiP's was scheduled. I hadn't seen the show since it went off the air, I figured why not. Turned out it wasn't a real CHiP's episode but a pilot. I started watching and it was like watching a train wreck; no matter how bad it got, it just got worse. If you ever get a chance to see this episode, please do. DVR it and you will be dragging friends into your house and forcing them to watch.
I'll admit what made me watch from the start was the guest star list, and it wasn't Fred Dryer. It was seeing that John Rhys-Davies was in it. After all, he was Sallah in Raiders of the Lost Ark. I know he was in his share of bombs overs the years but nothing comes close.
The entire premise is ridiculous. A special group of cops is being assembled into a secret force. They will sneak in and out gathering information as "police ninjas": no guns, no warrants; just stealth, and nunchucks.
You might get a clue early on when one of four has a ninja hand puppet he talks to. Regardless, Nakura (Rhys-Davies) is the enemy mastermind who in a previous meet with Lt. John LeGarre (Fred Dryer) not only bested him, but took one of his eyes out. During a "stealthy" warehouse break-in, LeGarre and one of his team are captured. After they get tied up, Nakua looks at two of his men and tells them to kill LeGarre and bring him the other eye. Of course, LeGarre frees himself; and after scaring off the two would be killers, he frees the other officer.
Finally, we have the resolution when LeGarre and his team (4 in total) enter Nakura's stronghold, halt the missile from firing, and save the world or at least the part of California they are in. You can't beat the final fight between LeGarre and Nakura which features two terrible stunt men in masks fighting it out. Surely you believe a portly out-of-shape Nakura (Rhys-Davies) can do the hop, skips, and jumps required during this hysterical fight to the death. I exaggerate: fight until one is quickly out of breath. I especially enjoyed watching the now unmasked Nakura and LeGarre, as LeGarre is demanding the code to stop the missile. Nakura croaks out it's 666. Really. Then when the warhead has to be disarmed, one of the team has to use his "chi' (think of using The Force) as he places a finger on the trigger and with the mystical "chi" force, he causes the trigger to rise high enough so that LeGarre can grab it. And you wonder why this pilot wasn't picked up.
The only time we see Jon and Ponch are for a few minutes at the beginning and end of this season five episode closer. I have to believe Wilcox didn't return for season six because he was too embarrassed by this episode, and knew CHiP's hadn't just jumped the shark but was eaten by the shark.
I'll admit what made me watch from the start was the guest star list, and it wasn't Fred Dryer. It was seeing that John Rhys-Davies was in it. After all, he was Sallah in Raiders of the Lost Ark. I know he was in his share of bombs overs the years but nothing comes close.
The entire premise is ridiculous. A special group of cops is being assembled into a secret force. They will sneak in and out gathering information as "police ninjas": no guns, no warrants; just stealth, and nunchucks.
You might get a clue early on when one of four has a ninja hand puppet he talks to. Regardless, Nakura (Rhys-Davies) is the enemy mastermind who in a previous meet with Lt. John LeGarre (Fred Dryer) not only bested him, but took one of his eyes out. During a "stealthy" warehouse break-in, LeGarre and one of his team are captured. After they get tied up, Nakua looks at two of his men and tells them to kill LeGarre and bring him the other eye. Of course, LeGarre frees himself; and after scaring off the two would be killers, he frees the other officer.
Finally, we have the resolution when LeGarre and his team (4 in total) enter Nakura's stronghold, halt the missile from firing, and save the world or at least the part of California they are in. You can't beat the final fight between LeGarre and Nakura which features two terrible stunt men in masks fighting it out. Surely you believe a portly out-of-shape Nakura (Rhys-Davies) can do the hop, skips, and jumps required during this hysterical fight to the death. I exaggerate: fight until one is quickly out of breath. I especially enjoyed watching the now unmasked Nakura and LeGarre, as LeGarre is demanding the code to stop the missile. Nakura croaks out it's 666. Really. Then when the warhead has to be disarmed, one of the team has to use his "chi' (think of using The Force) as he places a finger on the trigger and with the mystical "chi" force, he causes the trigger to rise high enough so that LeGarre can grab it. And you wonder why this pilot wasn't picked up.
The only time we see Jon and Ponch are for a few minutes at the beginning and end of this season five episode closer. I have to believe Wilcox didn't return for season six because he was too embarrassed by this episode, and knew CHiP's hadn't just jumped the shark but was eaten by the shark.