🎃 Things That Go Creep in The Night. Many interesting aspects to this episode. For one, since Rock Devil Rock, ELVIRA's in this one as a comic store owner, wherein she presides enthroned with her pet tarantula.
Now, if she ever really owned a comicbook store I would have been in there all the time! As I was in the area, and comicbooks were my life! Collected virtually everything I could find! Just another reason why I love her so much! Some of the comics displayed are THOR, X-Men, Ghost Rider, Flash, even the Life of Archie, which I never cared for.
The shop is hellegantly draped in red velvet curtains, plush red carpet, a statue of Dracula in a corner, even pinball machines! One which was being played by a werewolf in a leather jacket! Although outside just kind of looks like a regular house on Kittridge, the inside could very well have been one of those shops across the way from Alexandria park!
Ponch & bruce visit her to authenticate the cover of a comicbook called "SEA THING" {obviously based on Swamp-Thing}, and verifies that the one they have is fake. All on the trail to gather evidence to find out why a pretty youngirl named Anna is so terrified, who was found unconscious {hey now!} on the beach, clutching a copy. Something scared her into amnesia. Seems this character, an accomplice of Woods', was stalking her to scare her to death or madness, and keep off the trail of her missing mother.
To the morgue... One lead guides Ponch & bruce to the coroner in search of Anna's missing mother, wherein an exhumation is ordered. Turns out to be porcelain! bobby makes the comment that he could be a character from a horror movie and doesn't need any makeup! HA! Complement! Coroner played by beloved character actor Royal Dano whom I recognize from several horror films such as Killer Klowns From Outer Space, Ghoulies II, Something Wicked This Way Comes, Messiah of Evil, Moon of The Wolf, even Kung Fu!
Which leads them to visit the creator, an eccentric Stanley Woods {Rich Little} who lives in a castle on a nearby hill - Malibu Castle to be exact, filled with secret rooms, medieval décor, armor, weapons, plaques, etc. - a really fun looking place! He's quite a character being a prestidigitator, organist, artist, comedian, & ventriloquist, even using a hologram of himself to greet guests. He even drives a hearse! Could be one of us!
So when the secret room he was keeping that way from Ponch and bruce is discovered via acquiring the schematics of the property, the girl's mother is discovered, and he makes a run for it in the hearse! Which unfortunately tumbles onto the beach during the getaway attempt. Seems that he was trying to preserve ill-gotten gains and steal the artistic spotlight from the true artist of the comicbook and hog all the glory for himself!
Doppelganger episode where a gomer poser pretends to be an officer, and trying to get laid. Several women complain of this behavior, but they all think it's Jon! Ponch mentions that the double is better looking than him! Ha!
Then there was an episode on The Circus, wherein an elephant sat on Baricsa's car! Ponch & Jon also helped deliver a baby, and saved a mother & daughter from plunging into a canyon hanging off the edge of a cliff!
Force 7: Attempted spinoff to get rid of the 'bobby' character onto a special team of martial artists, including an asian villain played by John Rhys Davies with elongated eyeliner}; what I thought was particularly interesting about this one was the code to deactivate the missile is 666!}.
Spaceman Made Me Do It: A girl thinks she's being visited by aliens, who are getting her to steal precioustones to fuel their ship so they can go back home - turns out it's more or less an imaginary "friend" scenario [Dr. Joyce Brothers appears to elaborate on this scenario], with the craft actually being a hellicopter!
🎃 Rock Devil Rock: Lusciously devilicious ELVIRA hosts the CHP Halloween event, arriving early, visiting the station to familiarize herself with the environment... and residents. Concludes in a very toothy tango with Ponch.
Zydeco McBean Don Most {"Ralph Malph" from "Happy Days"} plays horror rock performer 'Moloch' with black, red, and white frightmask makeup {widow's peak, jagged eyes, big black lips}, red jumpsuit with cape. Somewhat reminiscent of KISS, the obvious motivation being prominent. Interestingly, KISS would remove their makeup the same month this epicsode aired.
Upon displaying reticence in continuing the show and perpetuating the character, his manager decides to take him out while still on top, to maximize record sales. By essentially spooking him to death with morbid messages appearing on his tape like "Moloch must die", followed by the 666 hearse's breaks sabotaged and cabin filled with red smoke. But when he is slated to perform his one and only, 'last' music video, upon the fire breathing act, the accelerant is multiplied propitiously, would thus cause a major deadly explosion. DEATH BY HELLFIRE! However, Ponch & Bobby's continual investigation leads them to this attempt which is thwarted.
{Trivia: Metallica's little Roberto Trujillo plays trick-or-treater 'Flippy', whereupon chasing another kid on bikes to get his friend's candy bag back, crashes and slips under a DRAGON gas tanker, igniting the spout to explode! But is saved by Sponch}
Directed by John Astin {Gomez Addams}, Halloween, Satanism / Occult, Horror, Sex, Satanic Panic, Metal, Goth. All the wonderful hellements for an evilife! And the theme of The Noctuary. Those basic decorations like pumpkins, skeletons, skulls, witches, devils, black cats, etc. could be used like placespots until more Hellegant decor is added, but also brought out in strategic locations per Falloween season. This epicsode contains these hellements in spades!
MAIT Team.
Drive Lady Drive 1 & 2 {starring Kelly Harmon, the Tictac girl!}.
The Watch Commander {drool-worthy Michelle Pfeiffer! Those lips were made for loving!}.
Destruction Derby.
2nd Chance {Ponch rolls around in a wheelchair competition at a hospital to visit a girl run over at the beach}.
Wheeling.
Jailbirds {Ponch & Jon in jail! for not revealing an informant's name. Fuck! They claim they're schoolteachers to the resident cretins}.
EMT {Ponch & Jon deal with a dickhead instructor}.
Kidnap {2 extremely sexy boys inadvertently kidnapped by escaped bankrobbers. Great memorable shots of the boys in the back seat!}.
The Strippers {Hellarious Evan Wong/Peter Kim [KR: Knight of The Drones] with a most amusing friend! Like an asian stoner spacecase!
Thrill Show.
Nightingale {lady with some medical experience because of her doctor husband helping wetbacks; Spot Dana Plato herein!}
🎃 Trick or Trick includes a lady dressed like a ghost who was holding up liquor stores. A boy goes missing while the dad blames Ponch for scaring him about being arrested for squirting him with some foul-smelling perfume, while he merely remained playful and tolerant about it. He was eventually found in a closet within a haunted house. And a mysterious voice takes over the CHP airwaves which was traditionally Grossie, but turns out to be Getrćr this year!
High Flyer: A girl living in his apartment complex becomes infatuated with Jon, even going over to his unit to stay upon an argument with her mother. She even cleans the place and prepares a candlelit dinner for him! I say GO FOR IT! He might even get lucky with her mother as well! Unfortunately, he has a guilt complex and gets a female officer to play his girlfriend {and there's another one...}. Ponch goes up in a hellicopter after confronting his fear of flying, the becoming most enthusiastic, especially after apprehending a perp!
The Grudge: College fratboys set up Ponch & Jon in a Riddler dynamic for busting them for having weed. They try to poison the attendees for a CHP event with pot brownies, including kids!
Supercycle: Deals with an Evel Knievel type character, getting his jollies speedracing, so Ponch had to train to do stunts at Saugus to catch the 'phantom'.
Return of The Turks: The shitbrothers episode! Another story about 2 vanuts guys turning the freeway into a demolition zone, while a poser cop like gomer was giving out tickets signed with Ponch's name. They were even chased into a junkyard! Upon arrest, Ponch made the concluding comment that "you can take the boy out of Vanuys, but you cant take vanuys out of the boy".
The Shiek: A pretentiously obnoxious foreign diaperhead type douchebag claims diplomatic immunity when caught speeding all around LA in a souped-up car, who then also attempts bribery while on his yacht with Ponch & Jon, which is offensive to pride and dignity. Ponch comes infatuated with the "shiek's" cousin, who has to sadly go to France, so they have to become only penpals for now.
Family Crisis includes Peter Brady in it, who hangs out with a car thief {danny bonerdouchie - the red hobbit} - The Partridge family meets The Brady's! Turns out he's John's nephew! He's momentarily detained {withe loser cuffs}, which is apparently enough to get the message across that the path he's on will lead to ruin.
Ponch gets a raise. moves out of motorhome, & acquires a new place by the marina, welcomed by a sexy neighbor. Some memory sequences including Edward James Olmos as one of Ponch's former cholo acquaintances before joining the Force.
Then Peter Brady meets Knight Rider in 1. separation {'xopher knight'} is in the same episode as an awesome stunt 'movie car' that has some of KITT's capabilities {considering chronology, could have been inspirational}, including oilslick, flamethrower, high speed {not quite SPM, but relatively similar} being driven around as a getaway car for bankrobbers.
Disaster Squad features a lost kid who wandered into the garage at central fascinated by dirtbiking the motor officers, whose mom John takes a liking to {her husband is in sandy arabia}, who competes in a little league type of motorcross contest. Now boy wants to be a Highway Patrol officer!
Marvin Kaplin {who greatly reminds Me of the donor, who really looked like that at the time, including goggle glasses, dress, and behavior}, on a freeway rampage after being fired, eventually taking to the side of a bridge to jump, but is eventually talked out of it by his boss who gives him his job back after discussing some misunderstandings.
There's also a scummy reporter who actually creates trouble at scenes if the story isn't exciting enough, like kicking a flare into brush to start a fire, which actually blows up a car, to lying about Ponch beating him up, even doctoring threats in the footage, which he televised! But the broken straw came when overbearing on little chris after being rescued from being drowned by Ponch & Jon! His own crew castigate him, and gets a well-earned punch in the jaw!
{As a side note, Regis Philbin plays a newscaster on TV in a passing scene}
EXTRA
KOLCHAK - Legacy of Terror: Ponch plays a character named "pepe torres" who's set to be sacrificed after a year of pure luxuriation. All arranged, bought and payed for. He appears in a {almost predictably} disco pink suit with a baby blue shirt surrounded by three lovely ladies who attend to his every whim. Later he appears in full Aztec regalia - feathered helmet, ornate loincloth, & chestattoo. I'll just consider it the pre-CHiPs experience he doesn't wanto talk about.
He welches at the last moment, runs away and hides "downstate" {in Illinois? Shawnee national forest? or insinuating somewhere near the south of the California border, until he meets John} in a meximart. This was to take place in some auditorium somewhat resembling a temple with ascending seats, on a table instead of stone altar.
Nanautzin is an Aztec mummy come to life to claim his due that he may live again by 5 sacrifices. If not, he rises again in 51 years for another try. He has a cult dedicated to his resurrection, who go about removing hearts - in this episode, Chicago? {Maybe because that's where the mummy was on display in a museum} Perhaps it may have been better played had the cult ushered the victims back to mexico in the temple wherein Nanautzin was kept.