7.5/10215 votes#1 - Pilot
Season 1 Episode 1 - Aired 9/15/1977
Jon and Ponch are chasing thieves who steal luxury cars. Ponch has problems with Sgt. Getraer and can't do anything right by him. The thieves are using moving vans with stolen licence plates, so the chippies can't get them first. Nice scene: Ponch and his sticky ticket.
Director: Paul Krasny
Writer: Paul Playdon
7.2/10153 votes#2 - Undertow
Season 1 Episode 2 - Aired 9/22/1977
A woman gets robbed by a tow truck driver and then he causes an accident. A chemical substance is spilled on the highway. Ponch gets intoxicated by the stuff. Jon has to get him to a hospital but Ponch is not very cooperative
Director: Christian I. Nyby II
Writer: Larry Alexander
7.1/10148 votes#3 - Dog Gone
Season 1 Episode 3 - Aired 9/29/1977
Ponch and Jon are chasing a dog which causes an accident. They bring it to Central and hide it in a truck. Some guys do sabotage on Jon's motorbike, but they wanted Ponch's. Jon and Ponch stop a motorbike driver who has frozen up. After they stop him he wanders off muttering how he never wants to ride it again. Jon and Ponch chase down a speeding car with a heart attack victim. They help to save him before an ambulance arrives. One of the boys who did sabotage to Jon's bike tells Getrear what they have done. The Sarge tries to warn Ponch , but Ponch realizes that they have done it to Jons motorbike. Jon falls off his bike but lukyliy he 's not even bruised. Finally the dog's owner shows up at CHP Central looking for his dog. Ponch gets him out of a truck and the dog proceeds to relieve itself on Sarge's motorbike. This synopsis was given from CHiPs Online
Director: Michael Caffey
Writer: Rick Mittleman
7.1/10141 votes#4 - Moving Violation
Season 1 Episode 4 - Aired 10/13/1977
When Jon and Ponch stop a speeding car on the freeway, a very large man emerges from the vehicle. The raging driver proceeds to take his car apart and wouldn't mind doing the same to Ponch who has made the mistake of laughing during the demolition. Later, Ponch himself gets a ticket, and to keep his driving record clean, enrolls in a driving safety course. There he meets people he's given tickets. The Sarge calls Jon to go to a woman whose husband died by an accident on this morning. Jon is nearly crying when the little son takes him for his daddy.
Director: Edward M. Abroms
Writer: Charles Sailor
7.1/10136 votes#5 - Career Day
Season 1 Episode 5 - Aired 10/20/1977
Ponch is giving a ticket to his old high school principal who asked him to tell about the CHP in his old school on career day. Jon and Ponch respond to a call about a traffic jam, they find that everyone's gawking at models nearby. Since Ponch's motorcycle needs repairs, Getraer sticks him on the front desk. When the helicopter pilot comes, Ponch jumps at the chance to leave. In the helicopter he helps Jon to find a lost boy and two elusive burglars. Later that afternoon as then Ponch gives his speech, he freezes up and Jon helps him by telling about saving the kid. Then Ponch wakes up and starts telling exaggerated stories without help.
Director: Ric Rondell
Writer: Bruce Shelly
6.8/10130 votes#6 - Baby Food
Season 1 Episode 6 - Aired 10/27/1977
A truck loses toxic baby food on the highway. A tramp pair with a baby finds two boxes. Ponch and Jon try to find the lost boxes. Ponch is interested in his neighbor Melinda, but Melinda falls in a love with Jon. On the highway Jon and Ponch save a dog out of a burning car. When they find the tramp family they save the baby by taking it on their motorbikes.
Director: Paul Krasny
Writer: Simon Muntner
7.6/10119 votes#7 - Taking Its Toll
Season 1 Episode 7 - Aired 11/3/1977
When two thieves escape from Jon after a successful robbery at a toll booth, it is the start of a crime wave and a massive manhunt. Jon and Ponch later encounter a crashed limo with a time bomb on its back seat - and a man trapped beneath the car. Jon is writing a book about Ponch's funny accidents. When Ponch finds that out, Jon changes and depicts him as a heroic, modern day warrior.
Director: Georg Fenady
Writer: Bill Taub
7.5/10115 votes#8 - Green Thumb Burglar
Season 1 Episode 8 - Aired 11/10/1977
Jon and Ponch learn that Sgt. Getraer love plants very much. He is very angry about thieves who steal plants from public places. Ponch meets twins who give him a short look in his future this day. It's not looking good for him.
Director: Christian I. Nyby II
Writer: Skip Webster, Jock MacKelvie
7.7/10114 votes#9 - Hustle
Season 1 Episode 9 - Aired 11/24/1977
Always looking for opportunities to make money, Ponch discovers that Jon once worked as an instructor in a bowling alley and still is a great bowler. Keeping Jon's secret from the other CHiPs, Ponch places a series of bets that his partner will defeat all favorites in an upcoming police bowling tournament. As the officers approach a car that went through a stop sign, they get a surprise. The driver is actor Broderick Crawford, who starred as Dan Mathews in Highway Patrol, the hit 1950s series that could be called the ancestor of CHiPs.
Director: Georg Fenady
Writer: John Groves
6.9/10123 votes#10 - Highway Robbery
Season 1 Episode 10 - Aired 12/1/1977
Jon and Ponch arrest a thief who uses a motorcycle to rob drivers in traffic jams. When Jon recognizes the prisoner as a high-school classmate, a former football hero, he offers him help. Ponch has a crush on the beautiful model for a sun lotion ad campaign. Mesmerized by her pictures on highway billboards, he's determined to date the girl. Learning that Sgt. Getraer knows the model and her family, Ponch attempts to convince Getraer to arrange a date with his dream girl. He really gets an abrupt surprise when he meets Janey.
Director: Nicholas Colasanto
Writer: Paul Robert Coyle
7.6/10114 votes#11 - Name Your Price
Season 1 Episode 11 - Aired 12/8/1977
Rolls-Royces are being stolen. Grossie, Baricza, Jon and Ponch are catching chickens which have escaped out of a crashed truck. Ponch is a contestant on the game show 'Name Your Price'. A car is run off the road by a Porsche, inside a man is trapped who happens to be diabetic...
Director: Ric Rondell
Writer: Bruce Shelly
7.5/10119 votes#12 - Aweigh We Go
Season 1 Episode 12 - Aired 12/22/1977
A car pulling a trailer with a boat swerves to avoid an oncoming car and smashes into a hair salon. Ponch has his mind set on buying the boat together with Jon. Being short on personnel, Jon and Ponch are assigned to the weigh station A car has gone over a cliff with a woman and her little girl inside.
Director: Ivan Nagy
Writer: Christian I. Nyby II
7.4/10126 votes#13 - One Two Many
Season 1 Episode 13 - Aired 1/5/1978
CHP officers usually ride in pairs, but this day Ponch leaves Jon to handle an emergency. While Jon is alone, an officer pulls up to a car and acts improperly, so frightening the female driver that she causes a traffic accident as she speeds away. As the Highway Patrol searches for for the unknown officer, Jon learns that the mystery man is apparently his double - and that his career is in jeopardy as long as the phony remains at large.
Director: Paul Krasny
Writer: Burton Armus
7.4/10121 votes#14 - Rustling
Season 1 Episode 14 - Aired 1/12/1978
Thinking that it is Jon's birthday soon, Ponch plans a surprise birthday party for him. A cattle owner is stealing his own cattle in order to rip off the assurance agency. A magician is showing some tricks when he and his daughter are pulled over for running through a red light. A young girl is trapped in her car when a drunk driver runs her off the road.
Director: Phil Bondelli
Writer: Skip Webster, Jock MacKelvie, Frank Telford
7.3/10121 votes#15 - Surf's Up
Season 1 Episode 15 - Aired 1/19/1978
A speeding 3 wheeler motorbike goes past Jon and Ponch, who give chase. Jon and Ponch get sent to Malibu when they ask for a change of scenery. 3 men are car stripping in Malibu. Ponch and Jon go to the beach while they take time off work.
Director: Georg Fenady
Writer: Bruce Shelly
7.7/10114 votes#16 - Vintage '54
Season 1 Episode 16 - Aired 1/26/1978
A baby is left behind in a parking area. A female sky diver nearly lands on the highway when her parachute is stuck on the bridge above. Mrs. Downey's car has been stolen. A dumpster gets unhitched from its garbage van and runs freely down the freeway
Director: Barry Crane
7.6/10116 votes#17 - Hitch-Hiking Hitch
Season 1 Episode 17 - Aired 2/9/1978
Two girls are found by Jon and Ponch while hitch-hiking. One blames the other for being there and doing this, but Ponch and Jon learn that this is not true. Later they have to save them out of a dangerous situation.
Director: Phil Bondelli
Writer: Karl Tunberg, Bruce Shelly
7.4/10127 votes#18 - Cry Wolf
Season 1 Episode 18 - Aired 2/16/1978
A rash of false alarms ties up CHP, fire engines, and ambulances. A young man who is living by his sister does this.
Director: John Florea
Writer: Terrence McDonnell, Jim Carlson
7.2/10109 votes#19 - Crash Diet
Season 1 Episode 19 - Aired 2/23/1978
Jon and Ponch gently try to coax a disturbed veteran out of throwing dirt at passing autos. Also, Getraer orders his officers to peel off excess pounds.
Director: Don McDougall
Writer: Rudolph Borchert
7.5/10108 votes#20 - Rainy Day
Season 1 Episode 20 - Aired 3/2/1978
Jon and Ponch are to patrol in a police cruiser as it's raining hard. A man gets thrown out of a gambling camper. Another man is driving down the highway, holding an umbrella out the window. A schoolteacher is allowed to take her little students to Central where they'll be given a tour by Ponch.
Director: Gordon Hessler
Writer: James Doherty, William D. Gordon, Glen Olson, Rod Baker
7.3/10121 votes#21 - Crack-Up
Season 1 Episode 21 - Aired 3/9/1978
Jon and Grossie are hurt giving chase to a speeding Trans Am. They both end up in the hospital. Ponch is teamed up with Getraer untill Jon is fully recovered and out of the hospital.
Director: Phil Bondelli
Writer: Rudolph Borchert
7.4/10123 votes#22 - Flashback!
Season 1 Episode 22 - Aired 4/1/1978
A rookie, Brent Delaney, fresh out of motorschool is not very liked by his fellow patrolmen. 2 men are stealing police motorbikes. A man being pulled over with a dangerous hitch-hiker. 2 young girls accidentally drive into a swimming pool.
Director: Michael Caffey
Writer: Bruce Shelly
The Best Episodes of CHiPs Season 1
Every episode of CHiPs Season 1 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of CHiPs Season 1!
Lighthearted look at the adventures of two Highway Patrol officers in Los Angeles. The main characters are Jon Baker and Frank Poncherello, two motorcycle officers...
Genres:DramaAction & Adventure
Network:NBC
Season 1 Ratings Summary
"Pilot" is the best rated episode of "CHiPs" season 1. It scored 7.5/10 based on 215 votes. Directed by Paul Krasny and written by Paul Playdon, it aired on 9/15/1977. This episode is rated 0.3 points higher than the second-best, "Undertow".