CHiPs
Return of the Brat Patrol
TV Flash files “Return of the Brat Patrol” as a desk essential hour — CHiPs (1977–1983) on NBC, season 6, episode 22, aired 1983-05-01, 60 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S06E22: listed hour 139 of 139 in the CHiPs guide, last listed hour of season 6. It aired 1983-05-01 (60 min). The listed hour before it is “Things That Go Creep in the Night” (S06E21). No later hour is listed in this guide.
Essential hour: “Return of the Brat Patrol”. Return of the Brat Patrol is the 1983 closer. Six seasons of freeway suntan, then a kid-patrol bow: Estrada fever, crash inserts, beach-poster law still the 1970s idea of a badge.
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
A band of teenage misfits, ex-members of Ponch's Explorer troop, returns to help him catch a group of junior-high extortionists.
Viewer FAQ
Where does Return of the Brat Patrol sit in the CHiPs guide?
S06E22 is listed hour 139 of 139 — last listed hour of season 6, season 6 episode 22.
When did CHiPs S06E22 air?
Return of the Brat Patrol aired 1983-05-01 and is listed at 60 minutes.
Ponch, Jon, or the crashes?
Buddy unit plus spectacle. Estrada fever is the idol weather; Wilcox is the partner; stunts are the freeway punctuation.
In the series
Why this series still plays
Ponch and Jon ride California freeways like a suntan commercial with crash inserts. Erik Estrada fever, motorcycle-cop buddy comfort, contract-holdout drama off-camera. Light action, highway spectacle, and the 1970s idea that law enforcement could look like a beach poster between pileups.
Open on a freeway that photographs like a suntan commercial with crash inserts. NBC's CHiPs (1977–1983), from Rick Rosner: two CHP motorcycle officers patrol Southern California, combining rescues, chases, and buddy banter. Larry Wilcox's Officer Jon Baker, Erik Estrada's Officer Frank Ponch Poncherello, Robert Pine's Sgt. Getraer. Estrada became a major late-1970s TV idol; elaborate vehicle stunts supplied the crash inserts. Tone stayed lighter than many crime dramas of the era. Light action, highway spectacle,…
Filed against
- Larry Wilcox as Officer Jon Baker
Larry Wilcox's Officer Jon Baker rode CHiPs like a suntan commercial with crash inserts — Ponch fever, motorcycle-cop buddy comfort, California freeways as spectacle, the 1970s idea that law enforcement could look like a beach poster. TV…
- Erik Estrada as Officer Frank 'Ponch' Poncherello
Erik Estrada rode the freeway as Officer Frank 'Ponch' Poncherello on CHiPs — suntan-commercial California, motorcycle-cop buddy comfort, crash inserts, and 1970s law enforcement that looked like a beach poster between pileups. TV Flash…
- Robert Pine as Sgt. Joseph Getraer
Robert Pine's Sgt. Joseph Getraer kept CHiPs from becoming only a suntan commercial with crash inserts — Ponch and Jon riding California freeways, Erik Estrada fever, motorcycle-cop buddy comfort. Light action, highway spectacle. TV Flash…