CHiPs: Why the Spin-Off Failed
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- Опубліковано 20 сер 2024
- What happens when you combine motorcycle cops, John Rhys Davies and ninjas? You get "Force Seven," the awesomely cheesy 1982 CHiPs episode that tried to launch a spinoff about ninja cops. Get the scoop on "Force Seven" in the latest episode of Behind the Backdoor Pilot.
Narrated by Mark Pagan (@themarkpagan, othermenneedhelp.com)
Written by Kevin Maher and Nick Nadel
Edited by Mike Schuster
Produced by Kevin Maher and Nick Nadel
Executive Produced by Tim Finn
Thumbnail by Colton Ogburn ( / coltonogburn )
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"Bring me his other eye!" That line alone should have got this bonkers monstrosity greenlit
Agreed. Great line and great line-reading.
This seems to be something a young Tarantino directed. Or a failed pilot staring Mia Wallace.
I almost hope that someday I find myself in a situation where I can say “bring me his other eye”
Hunter as a Ninja? I'm listening.
It should be canon.
I say "Lt. Legere" is Sgt. Rick Hunter, during a period a couple years before his own show when he was "going through some stuff"...and he just wanted you to THINK he had one eye.
works for me...🤣🤣🤣
Holy crap, Legarr was played by Fred Dryer who had a TV show about a cop named Hunter in the 80s. He was also a hell of a football player who amassed over 100 sacks in his 11 seasons.
I think we had a narrow escape there, imagine if this was responsible for Hunter not being made 😮
There is no way John Ryes-Davies was only 38. He looked 48!! He's still alive by the way at 77.
People looked Older back then.. Hulk Hogan looked 50 back in the day.. Might be because of diet.. People was eating all kind of crap..
@@kenrickeason I think people didn’t really look older back then… We just associate the hairstyles/clothing and the quality of the photography/video with age. Plus a lot of new movies use actors that look really young to hit that PG-13 demographic.
( not to mention all the post processing available nowadays that nobody had back then )
@@kenrickeason Hogan looked old because steroids make your hair fall out
You're thinking of an era when actors didn't use botox and plastic surgery like they do now. There was less filters as well.
WTF!!!? Why in the world didn’t Force Seven get picked up as it’s own running tv series!? The premise of this show sounds absolutely awesome! Yeah it’s cheesy but so was Chips! A show about a secret police force that uses ninja skills, costumes, weapons, and techniques to fight crime, what’s not to love about that! As a child of the 80s, I would’ve loved this show. It’s a shame it didn’t go anywhere because I’m sure it would’ve found an audience regardless of how ridiculous it might’ve been. I also wanted to say that the name Force Seven sounds very cool and intriguing unlike Ninja Cops. The fact that they got Fred Dryer to play the team leader makes the idea for this show even cooler. I always liked Fred as Hunter but who knows, if Force Seven had worked, the tv show Hunter might’ve never come to fruition. I personally believe that this episode didn’t do well only because it was the last episode to feature Ponch and Jon together before Larry Wilcox left the show. Since the episode was a back door pilot, it didn’t feature the two main leads and that upset long time fans. If the producers had aired this episode any other time, I’m sure it would’ve done a lot better.
I remember this episode well. Was 12 at the time. LOVED IT.
The stunts looked horrible and underwhelming. The puppet added nothing. Disabling a missile with your mind makes no sense when they don't use super-powers for anything else. Just because the theme/plot sounds interesting doesn't mean this pilot was. It was absolutely atrocious.
Legarr wearing his ninja outfit 👁
The plot was developed by leaving some kids in a room with a box of toys.
I used to watch CHiPs reruns on TNT back in the 90s as a kid and when I saw this episode I didn't know what the **** was happening. This is honestly the only episode of CHiPs I actually remember and all for the wrong reasons.
ha ha ha -- that's awesome. thanks for sharing. I'm so glad we helped bring back some memories.
Lol
in 1981 when this was in pre-production, my sixth grade history teacher Dan Inosanto was cast as Nakuras' axe wielding sidekick. he also did a Burt Reynolds picture in Georgia the previous summer. great memories! 😄
Dan Inosanto rules!
@@angelaarmie5789 Yes,he does. Like Benny 'The Jet",he's all over TV and movies from that era.
@@Devo13 I had Benny "The Jet"s training book. Memories.
@@theexpresidents That time was full of the kinda same plot. Force Five. Kill and Kill Again. Kill Squad. The Retrievers. I still have all my martial arts books and still train pretty hard. Urquidez,"Superfoot" and Richard Norton were legends to me. Force Five had a huge impact on me.Still even have all my magazines like Fighting Stars,Official Karate,Martial Arts Movies,Black Belt,Inside Kung Fu,etc.
I had no idea that Dan Inosanto taught sixth grade history. I only ever hear people talk about him in connection to martial arts.
Thank god!! For years ,I thought my imagination was playing tricks on me when it came to combining CHIPS and Ninjas. Thought I was going nuts .Nice to know .
This was forty years ago. WHY am I FIRST finding out about the NOW?! THIS is must see TV!!!
Last winter, my teenage son and I were flipping through channels and turned on to Force Seven. It was a little over halfway thru. It was sooo bad, sooo cashing in on the 1980s Ninja craze… but we couldn’t stop watching it!! It was just one cliche over the next… and then John Rhys-Davies pulls out butterfly knives. 😂😂😂😂 which were all the rage when I was teenager in the early-mid 1980s.
Just when we thought it couldn’t get any worse, the racist puppet appears out of nowhere to deliver the moral. 😂😂😂
I still busy a gut laughing, just at the thought of it.
Thank you so much for putting this together
Come on… you made this up! 🤣 This simply cannot be real! It’s like American Ninja the TV series! Wow. “…and Ponch is out to have some fun - there’s lots to do with CHiPs!”
7:20 sounds like he said "Guys, remember that douche you picked up?" lol
Give me the episode with Laura Branigan any day of the week.
Weird that she did not play Laura Branigan -- but an up and coming musician whose song catalog was Laura Branigan music.
Amen!
If this show had never been made available to watch on streaming or DVD, there's absolutely no way anyone would think this episode was real.
Yeah, it's pretty tough to believe. But it really happened.
Casey and Lacey was a damn good show.. That show was way ahead of it's time.. I recently watched it some months ago and was saying to myself *"Damn! This is better than I expected it to be"*
Cagney and Lacey
It was a great show
Casey and Lacey, that a new show with Tyne Daly and that dog puppet from Mr Dressup?
I think Chips did a third backdoor pilot in 1982 called K-9-1 with John Vernon. It looked to be based around The Los Angeles County Sherriffs K-9 unit.
You have GOT to be kidding me.
Don't give up, these are great. No one else like you. Thank you.
Just found your channel - CRIMINALLY undersubbed. Great content, perfect voice with just the right level of snark and addictively clickable premises. Keep it up brotha 👍👍👍
@Happy Thoughts I think the guy with the one eye even as a ninja was implausible. It wasn't the same as wearing contact lenses on the job which cops are able to do.
OMG! Thank you for this! I remember as a young kid seeing Fred Dryer with a karate suit and eye patch, but could never find anything on it... 40 years later i find out i did not dream that tv show and I'm not crazy! LOL
I remember this, and just how bad it was. Even at its peak, the ninja craze was still seen as silly. Fun silly but silly.
Yup. I just found out about a movie called COMMANDO NINJA (2018) which I need to see. It sounds like a tongue in cheek silly fun action comedy.
Fred Dryer not using a gun?? Funny how he pulled a 180 what a year or two later playing Hunter😂😂😂
They should team up with Samurai Cop, because he is fluent in Japanese🤣
It means Japanese sword.
I remember this. As a kid I was confused as to what was going on? Then after all these years I wasn't sure if all this wasn't out of my imagination
Fred Dryer as a one-eyed ninja cop...I'd have watched a show about that. Just saying.
Do you have any idea how hard it would be to be a Ninja with only one eye? It would be impossible! Two eyes has to be the minimum required to be a Ninja!
who?
Dryer would've been more effective as Nick Fury, Agent Of S.H.I.E.L.D. back in the day, had Marvel Comics had had more clout in Tinseltown during the seventies, eighties, and nineties.
That puppet was voiced by Frank Welker 🤣
Excellent job dude! 😆
I remember there was an episode of Different Strokes that featured a storyline of a foreign immigrant and his family, the main characters didn't appear till the very end. Even an episode of Starsky & Hutch which featured Huggy Bear and a friend of his trying to solve a crime, while the two main characters didn't appear till the very end.
"Diff'rent Strokes" did indeed air an episode at the tail end of its third season in the spring of '81 entitled "Almost American," which focused on the misadventures of a hapless but good-natured and -hearted Czechoslovakian immigrant and delivery man named Milos attending night school alongside other newly arrived immigrants from across the globe. An interesting bit of trivia is that Ernie "The Black Ghostbuster" Hudson had a minor guest-starring role in that aforementioned episode, three years prior to co-starring alongside Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, and the late Harold Ramis in that iconic film. Thank heavens NBC decided against picking up "Almost American" as a regular series for the 1981-82 fall season; the one-off episode was beyond horrible--it was truly godawful.
And Antonio "Huggy Bear" Fargas almost snagged a weekly spinoff of his own entitled "Huggy Bear And The Turkey"; the rejected backdoor pilot aired midway through during season two of "Starsky & Hutch" in early 1977. Needless to say, ABC didn't greenlit a weekly network series focusing squarely on Starsky and Hutch's colorful informant, and Huggy's pal "Turkey" was never seen or mentioned on "Starsky & Hutch" ever again.
This episode and other pilot episodes would air as day time programming every summer when i was growing up never knew it was a CHIPS spinoff ponch and John's scenes were cut out of the episode.
JRD went from Japanese named Welsh ninja to Japanese named Welsh luchador!
This was awesome! Looking forward to the next installment!
Yes, he absolutely combines a SANTO and BLUE DEMON costume design.
It was around that time he played a Spaniard on Shogun mini-series too.
Saw this about an hour ago on metv. Funny as hell 😄😁😆😅🤣😂🙂🙃😉😊😊😇🥰🥰😍🤩
Hey, a heroic team of four non-Japanese undercover ninjas opposing the ruthless Japanese leader of a rival ninja clan, a year before TMNT was invented.
Force 7 ... This was during the height of Ninja Mania in the 80s .This episode was the talk of Week after it was Broadcasted around the way and in school!!! This Episode was Electric!!! To bad it didn't become a series but Fred Dyer got Hunter later ... Which was Fire!!!
That looks horrifically awesome!
Thanks for A great video mate, very interesting and concise. There’s often way too much bloated talking in videos however this was a breath of fresh air. Will be checking out your back catalogue. Thanks again
R.I.P. Cindy Morgan (Melanie Mitchell in the s**tcanned backdoor pilot episode "Mitchell & Woods").
Ironically, Erik and Larry both shared more onscreen time in the aforementioned "Mitchell & Woods" than they would eventually have in the horrible "Force Seven" (which aired just five months later).
What's even more heartbreaking is that "Force Seven" would sadly mark Larry's final appearance as CHP motorcycle officer Jon Baker until his all-too-brief cameo alongside Erik in the criminally underrated action comedy "National Lampoon's Loaded Weapon 1" eleven years later.
As a kid who loved CHIP's and all of those ninja movies in the 80's I totally would have watched this..😂😂 Seriously though this could definitely be revised today.. Michael Jai White as leader and a bunch of actors who are also well trained in martial arts to be his team. There is much better technology and writers around today to really make this show work.. Hollywood needs to go for it.
Whoever didn't green light this let down humankind.
This is amazing. How did this not get 6 seasons and a movie?
Fred Dryer, Retired Giant/Ram. This was a a first attempt at being a TV Police officer. He had better luck as Richard Hunter. Another one of my favorites from the And one of TV Series from Steven J. Cannel Productions.
And all the gun shots sound like they came from an old western
Oh hey… it’s Hunter! That was a good TV show. Certainly better than playing a ninja cop. 7:22 did he just say “remember that DOUCHE?” 😂
I *think* he said deuce, because i'm pretty sure you couldn't say "douche" on an American TV show in the early 80s.
@@mrcydoniaI wasn’t being serious but thanks just the same 😅
Oh my God, they should have made this, it looks so damn funny, i wish they had more, it is so damn bad that i cant turn away.
I didn't watch a lot of CHiPs, but I liked the way you would see all the same stunt vehicles whenever there was a chase scene on the highway. I specifically remember the orange VW Bug, and there was a grey Econoline van in a lot of scenes, too.
Excellent work as usual! Love your stuff.
thank you, Christian! I know the bizareness of this episode is not wasted on you.
Ah, yes. The infamous "Force Seven" (Season 5, Episode 27, 5/23/1982). This otherwise rather forgettable episode is noteworthy for being the final brief appearance of longtime series' star Larry Wilcox as Officer Jon Baker until 1998's "CHiPs '99" TV movie. Behind the scenes friction between Wilcox and co-star Erik Estrada had been growing for at least a couple of years and by this point, in spite of their on-screen chemistry, the men could reportedly barely stand each other. The situation was further aggravated by what Wilcox perceived as favoritism by the producers towards Estrada, leading to Wilcox deciding not to return for Season 6. Ironically, he would be replaced by Tom Reilly, as Officer Bobby Nelson, when "Force Seven," in which he appeared as LAPD Officer Rick Nichols, was not picked-up as a series. Reilly would not last long, however, mostly disappearing midway through Season 6 after falling out of favor with Erik Estrada and getting into some legal trouble for drug possession (qualudes).
Sadly, the fifth season was also the last for Randi Oakes, who played CHP patrolwoman Bonnie Clark. And let's not forget that former Olympic decathlete and gold medalist--and future transgender icon--Bruce "Caitlyn" Jenner appeared as patrolman Steve McLeish in seven episodes during that aforementioned fifth season (Jenner was a temporary replacement for Erik Estrada, who was deeply embroiled in a salary dispute with "CHiPs'" producers).
Prior to the "CHiPs '99" reunion TV-movie in late 1998, Larry appeared in full California Highway Patrol regalia in an all-too-brief cameo alongside Erik in the criminally underrated action comedy "National Lampoon's Loaded Weapon 1" five years earlier.
Great video. Always enjoy learning more about the classic TV shows.
Oh I remember this episode vividly, my family didn't watch CHIPS that much, but, we knew of it. My brother was into karate at the time and he had heard about this episode coming on, so, we watched it. He thought it was great and I thought it was pretty good too, he was 12 or 13 and I was 9 at the time, so, there you go, I do remember at the end my Mom jokingly commenting on the end about them getting awards and they didn't do anything and they were barely in the show, I remember us laughing, good times
"You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can't fool Mom!" - Doug Kenney. Thanks for sharing the memories, sounds like a good time. As a 9 year old, I would have been really into this episode.
Did you guys all laugh after mom made her remark and then end on a freeze frame?
@@marla591 lol, yes, but, with a different song in the background
I remember watching old reruns of CHIPS on TNT early in the mornings.. I use to watch Looney Toons at 4:00 in the morning then at 5:00 it was *"Our Gang better known as The Little Rascals"* and Chips or Charles Angels would come on at 6:00 and 7:00.. mid to late 1990s..
Those were truly the good ol' days of TNT,@@kenrickeason! I would tune in to watch "100% Weird" on Fridays, as well as Joe Bob Briggs' "Monstervision" movie block every Saturday night!
"Did she just give that dig cocaine?" 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
The worst backdoor pilot ever was that Brady Bunch episode with Ken Berry and the kids.
That entire season--its fifth and final overall--of "The Brady Bunch" was pure crap, with the Brady clan's precocious and obnoxious cousin Oliver as the fungus on top; it's painfully easy to see why Fred and Lamont both kicked Mike and Carol's asses to the curb.
What a treasure trove of 80’s glorious cheesiness’s!!!
I remember this as a kid. Crazy.
LMAO "They didn't earn that freeze frame."
Look is Hunter!
A madman has a missile but they only 7 Ninja Cops rather than a brigade of the military to stop him because there’s no consequences to failure. 😂
That was sooo fkn cool, I was such a chips fan as a young kid, but don't remember this, brought a slight laugh and smile, very cool.
This video is fantastic, and your channel is great. For some reason, I can't find the video about the Facts of Life backdoor pilot. I really need to see that. Any clues? Thank you
Thanks very much. You haven't found that Facts of Life episode because it isn't finished yet. More episodes of BEHIND THE BACKDOOR PILOT are coming soon...
One can also wonder when the chips reunion was made it began with Jon being the captain and Ponch returning when the reverse happened in the show.
that was hilarious, thank you.
Love Fred Dryer I’m anything he’s done.
I just stumbled upon this channel!! What is going on here!? This is absolutely UNHINGED.
Yeah, it's a weird episode all right.
"Force Seven" makes Lynda Carter's "WW" series look like a documentary about D.C.
Absolutely hilarious!
And john Rhys Davies is all "Japped out" in brownface....I remember this episode when it came out. I came in after it started, expecting CHiPs and was like, "What the heck is this? RADICAL!"
Why has it taken me so long to find this... and you. The world is terrible, terrible place!
John Rhys Davies in his finest role!
When Larry Wilcox left, that show went to sh*t
I enthusiastically concur. As hard as he tried, Tom Reilly (as CHP motorcycle patrolman Bobby "Hot Dog" Nelson) couldn't cut the mustard--no pun intended--as Erik's new partner during the sixth and final season. Reilly's off-camera legal troubles didn't exactly help, either.
@@demetriusdillard2863 Agreed! Nothing against Tom Reilly, but when Wilcox left, the chemistry left as well! Also, the stories were just not on par with the original concept of the show. I mean the episode of the little girl and the aliens! Wth was that!?! The Moloch (HD's Ralph Malph) must die episode.....Oh who am I kidding! That one was pretty entertaining!!! Every now and then I rock out to Devil Take Me when I'm driving LOL!!!!
My sentiments exactly, @@roboeclipse. Following Larry Wilcox's acrimonious departure at the end of the preceding season, the long-running "CHiPs" had gradually evolved into "Batman"-inspired camp (I'm, of course, referring to the cult 1960s television series of the same name starring Adam West and Burt Ward, not the character himself) throughout its sixth season. Even the sultry and sexy Elvira (Cassandra Peterson)--in a recurring role as herself--was unable to reverse "CHiPs'" dwindling ratings.
The episode featuring Ponch (played by the one and only Erik Estrada) moonlighting as a model and spokesman for Barcelona Jeans was one of the very few highlights of that aforementioned s**tty season, as well as Rich Little guest-starring as an eccentric comic book artist and creator (Elvira also appeared in that episode). And the late Heather O'Rourke (best known for her iconic role as Carol Anne Freeling in the classic horror thriller "Poltergeist") made a guest appearance, as did future "Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills" regular Kim Richards and "Happy Days" alum Don "Ralph Malph" Most (as a Kiss-esque rock musician).
A brighter note and a ray of hope during season six was that Bruce Penhall (portraying CHP rookie motorcycle officer Bruce Nelson, younger brother of Tom Reilly's character, Bobby "Hot Dog" Nelson) became a more prominent presence on "CHiPs" following Reilly's high-publicized arrest in December of '82 by the LAPD for possession of, as well as driving under the influence of, Quaaludes...though Reilly wasn't terminated due to his arrest, his screen time was significantly reduced; Estrada was unsurprisingly pissed at Reilly's arrest as well as his work ethic as a whole. Despite Penhall's youthful energy and fierce determination--as well as his on-camera chemistry with Estrada--at the end of "CHiPs'" sixth season, NBC canceled the struggling and sputtering crime drama the following spring.
Enjoy the remainder of your day! Thanks for commenting!
Have a good day! I subscribed my friend!
Wonderful news, @@roboeclipse! This is a pretty awesome channel! Happy viewing!
Thank you for helping me remember the missile disarming scene. I did see that on tv and I use to think that come was from another show.
That looks like such an awesome show!
I went through an entire box of Imodium watching this video. As a big fan of the Estrada/Wilcox version of CHiPs, this was gruesome. 😂
I was a kid but I really liked the show and was hoping Force 7 would be made i to a show.
OMG i laughed this entire video!!!
My goodness. After just discovering the existence of this pilot , I just realized I dodged a cannonball as this may have been stuck in my nostalgic memory.
Never understood the reasoning behind ninjas wearing black and fighting in broad daylight. The logic of stealth once again ignored.
Terry Leonard? Didn’t know he gave his acting chops a shot. Awesome
If this show had gone to production, then would the series Hunter not had Fred Dryer play the lead? Who else could have been Hunter? Also, didn't Erik Estrada guest star in one episode of Hunter if not two?
Erik Estrada did indeed make a guest appearance on "Hunter" during its fourth season in 1987, in the three-part episode "City Of Passion" (playing Sgt. Brad Navarro). As I had already mentioned in my initial comment a few weeks ago, it's fortunate that "Force: Seven"--along with "Mitchell & Woods"--wasn't greenlit by NBC for the 1982-83 fall season.
Here's an interesting bit of trivia: Fred Dryer was actually on the shortlist--alongside William Devane, John Lithgow, and Ed "Al Bundy" O'Neill--for the role of former Boston Red Sox relief pitcher (and reformed alcoholic) Sam Malone on the long-running, Emmy Award-winning sitcom "Cheers" (1982-93) before Ted Danson was ultimately cast. Had Dryer cinched the role of Sam Malone, he probably would've been unavailable two years later when "Hunter" entered production. Besides, I couldn't begin to imagine another actor portraying the Levi's-wearing, Desert Eagle-toting, Eastwood-esque LAPD detective other than Dryer, much like I can't stomach the idea of Ed O'Neill playing Sam on "Cheers."
Enjoy your Hump Day!
I don't know which spinoff attempt was worse Force Seven or Mitchell and Woods. They were both absolutely ridiculous.
When this episode comes on I always turn the channel, this is the one CHiPs episode where they completely jumped the shark, pretty much every Nelson File episode jumped the shark, but this one took the cake!
An Episode of Chips That never Drawing their Guns ever..
Erik and Larry were both seen drawing and firing their service revolvers during an all-too-brief but memorable cameo in the criminally underrated action comedy "National Lampoon's Loaded Weapon 1" in 1993!
Fun Fact Motar from Space Ghost Coast to Coast loves Chips.
that blue and silver ninja suit wont do much in the way of stealth.
It's weird you compare Tony Longo to both Sylvester Stallone and John Travolta and both are still alive and Tony is deceased.
The late Tony Longo's character (Sly Angeletti) in "Force Seven" was essentially a three-way cross between Stallone, Travolta, and Andrew Dice Clay. And don't even get me started on that godd**ned hand puppet. May he continue to rest in peace.
The "only" thing that broke me was the black ninja camo used for stealth in broad daylight, Hollywood never changes
If CHiPs is California Highway Patrol, why isn't this NiPs, Ninja Patrol?
Great stuff! "Use your chi!"
I wanted this show to exist just to explain who in the LAPD gave this team their budget.
Or why they called it Force Seven when it had only four members, unless you count the puppet and Ponch and Jon( who got credit for the team's successful operation with a commendation), which meant it had 3 ghost employees on the payroll.
Force Seven sounds like the Pulp Fiction pilot! Jayne Kennedy on C.H.I.P.S. or anything was always great. She should’ve had a show for every day of the week. What a beautiful woman.
Wow. I can’t imagine why this show didn’t take off
I was just watching the Chips Force Seven episode on Plex recently Atomic Abe!
This premise is hilarious.
Force Seven, 4 members....makes sense?
It wasn't slow, it was performed at the speed of anything bionic.
I remember really enjoying this episode as a kid.
Ninja Cops just drips 80s chesse
Hell yeah love being a ninja as a kid would wrap my t-shirt around my head
This Ninja show looks funky
But like the Ying Yang ☯️ puppet
It’s all so fucking awesome!!!
Looks as if someone watched a Gerry Anderson puppet show and thought it would make a great Chips spin off.
I would have loved this as a kid. A really young kid.
Ha! That is the best explanation of this show that I've read!