Happy Throwback Thursday! Today our throwback year is 1977 – that’s the year CHiPs premiered on NBC! It starred Erik Estrada as Officer Frank “Ponch” Poncherello and Larry Wilcox as Officer Jon Baker. Production made use of closed freeways in the Los Angeles area and Estrada and Wilcox did many of their own stunts. Estrada didn’t have any motorcycle experience before the show, so he went through an intensive 8 week course to learn how to ride. In 2007, it was revealed that he didn’t have a motorcycle license when the show was filming, and only got one after 3 tries while he was preparing for the reality show Back to the Grind. Despite their successful on-screen pairing, Wilcox and Estrada did not get along. Wilcox fell out with the producers over what he saw as favoritism toward Estrada and did not return for the sixth and final season. The show was canceled after 139 episodes in 1983, though there was a reunion TV movie in 1998 and a big-screen reboot in 2017. Learn more in the audio below.