CHiPs (1977–1983): Season 3, Episode 14 - Wheeling - full transcript

Got your Christmas shopping
done?

Uh, still got the wrapping
ahead of me.

I let the elves do my wrapping.

Elves, huh?

Well, not your usual elves

but, uh, they wrap a mean gift.

Yeah. I'll bet you,
with a little eggnog

candlelight, fire
in the fireplace, soft music.

Hey, 'tis the season.

Elves love it, man.

Okay, guys.
Tie tight this time.



Doris, they're here
to hang our bell.

Oh, great. Come on, kids.

Oh. Come on.

- Hi.
- Hi.

I'm the youth worker,
Doris Stenfield.

Reverend Warmer didn't
expect you so early.

Well, we understand
this is special.

We've heard so much
about the bell on the news

we're just glad
to be of help. I can, uh--

Wait.

They said you could never
raise the money

to buy this bell.

Did you do it?

We did it!



They said it would never
get here on time.

Did it get here?

It got here! Yeah!

And is this bell gonna ring

right here on Christmas Eve?

Yeah!

Okay!

Grand opening!

Gather-oh!
Gather around.

- Here. Maybe we can, uh, help.
- Here.

There you go.
Careful now, kids.

Oh, neat!

There it is.

Oh!

Late Italian Renaissance.

That's just magnificent.

Cast in Rome, 1428.

Its little village church
was destroyed in the war

and the bell has been
without a home ever since.

And we may have a problem.

What?

Okay. Uh, back
to the decorations.

Everyone has work to do.

- The swing armature.

Corrosion and father time.

That won't hold the weight.
That bell's gonna fall.

Oh, Bob, isn't there, uh..

'Isn't there anything
we can do?'

Well, I'll cast a new armature,
but that'll take time.

Christmas Eve?

If we get it into the shop
this morning

we can probably..

No, we'll do it.
We'll get it back for you.

Oh, you have to.

- You just have to.
- 'Okay.'

Why don't you get started
and I'll

write out the, uh, work order?

Alright. Now, that's, uh,
Doris Stenfield, was it?

- Right.
- Alright.

Okay. Thanks, partner.

Well, thank you very much.

You will be careful
with it, won't you?

Yes, of course. Very careful.

I give you all
my personal promise.

Bye-bye.

It'll take a week to fix
that Mimeo machine

but they're going to print
our Christmas bulletin for us.

- The contractors came early.

It's a good thing, too.
The bell needs fixing.

Well...Doris..

...this isn't
the company I called.

Oh, Jim..

...they've got the bell.

Oh, my! No!

You don't have to go.

Hit it, reverend,
or they'll get away.

Oh, would you believe it?

He's trying to tag us.

I thought a church
would show a little faith.

This is not going to look good
to the bishop.

I'm, uh, I'm
the Reverend Warmer, officer.

I-I'll pay for all this.
I'm terribly sorry.

Yeah, well, uh..

...I've heard of fighting
commercialism

at Christmas time, reverend,
but, uh

it's a little too much,
isn't it?

'Beautiful.
This is really something.'

'The tree, the Nativity,
the holly, the candles..'

...the altar.
Man, kids, you're fantastic.

You know, this is what
Christmas is all about.

Peace and love.

They made everything themselves.

They can all be proud of this.

Don't you feel good about that?
Huh?

I guess.

You're gonna
bring back the bell?

See, our church had no bell.

And the bell had no church.

I told the children
the story about that.

They decided they were
going to raise enough money

to buy the bell.

Worked at it for a whole year.

The bell has become
a neighborhood symbol.

Unity and achievement.

'I understand your feelings,
but, uh..'

I guess you know
you're pretty lucky.

You could have made
a bad situation

a whole lot worse.

Oh, yeah. I, uh, I did
some very sinful driving.

I was just trying to get

their license number to report.

The children have been
planning for months

to ring that bell
on Christmas Eve.

The lettering on the van
was probably magnetic.

Easy to change or remove.

So the odds are against us?

They usually are, Reverend Jim

but, uh, don't lose hope.

Lose hope? Hey, kids,
you going to lose hope?

No!

Ahh..

It's my Christmas sermon.

Children...the hope
of the world.

'On Christmas morning,
I take'

'the graveyard shift
for Douglas, okay?'

'And then new year's, he takes
the first four hours for me.'

'No. Douglas covers for me
on New Year's day.'

'Now, hold it. Hold it.
Hack

Yeah, Hacker takes
new year's day, Bear.'

I take the swing shift
on the 24th

and you cover Bonnie
on the 28th, so she--

I keep telling you I got the
court appearance

on the 28th.

Hey, can one of you guys cover

my shift on the 28th?

- No. We're on duty the 28th.
- Yeah.

We got to cover, uh,
Jones and McGrath.

So who's free to cover Bonnie
on the 28th?

Okay. Let's start over.
Come on. Here we go.

Now, I have to be free
on the first.

Maybe one of these years

we won't work Christmas watch.

Yeah, well. Oh.

Well, we're single.
That's why we get New Year's.

That seems fair, huh?

Yeah, New Year's is fun but..

...Christmas is special,
you know? Family and everything.

Well, Ponch, uh, that's why

the married guys
have their preference.

But I'll tell you,
maybe you can marry

one of your elves, huh?

One, yeah, but, uh, what do I do
about the others?

Hey! They're back!
He's got it. Come on.

- Hey!
- Alright!

'Sarge, you alright?'

It's no big thing.
I'm not hurt.

Everything's alright.
Just, uh, forget it, alright?

Sure you're okay?

Look, look,
everybody out, huh? Out!

Uh...Harlan..

...uh..

...clean up the mess, huh?

Why me?

Well, um..

...think of a reason, huh?

Yeah.

I'll do it in the spirit
of the season.

There are three days
till Christmas.

People rushing around
getting ready

for the family reunion

family dinner, the tree.

But us, we work.

'There are aggressive
theft rings'

'out there robbing people,
so we remain alert.'

'Maximum enforcement effort.'

Concentrate
on hazardous violations

and remember..

...for every Christmas excuse
you get out there

you may have saved a life
and kept a family together.

That goes double for everybody

working Christmas day.

Yes. Well, I was coming to that.

But it's, uh, hard to tell

who's working on Christmas day.

Can anybody read this?

'Uh, I found this
on the bulletin board.'

It's the, uh, duty schedule.

Now, I count 116 changes
on this thing

and we only have 100 officers

assigned to this station.

Now, according to this,
what we have working

on Christmas day is, uh..

...either 88 motorcycles
or eight..

'...uh, or 41 cars and,
uh, one car..'

...or, uh, three motorcycles
and no cars

or 40 cars
and no motorcycles.

Remember last year?
And the year before?

Last year and the year before

I had to settle this
by canceling

every mutual swap
you had made.

Same thing again this year.

Uh, well, I'm going to do
the same thing again.

'As of now..'

'...no body-for-body trades,
unless I make them.'

Married men who want
Christmas day off

you come see me. I will make up
the Christmas watch.

That is all.

- 'Got to have it his way.'
- What a downer.

'He can spoil things
for a lot of people.'

Look, Getraer's going to be
working Christmas

whether he likes it or not.

That's right,
and he's a family man.

I'm still not covered
on the 28th.

I bet you could do something
about that.

Hey. Boy, people are sure

giving a lot of this
sports stuff this year.

I just might keep this thing

and get in real good shape.

Did you get a chance to, uh

check the classifieds
for that torque job?

Yeah, I did.

Here's a nice,
clean station wagon.

Huh. "'78 country squire..

"...low mileage,
excellent condition

must sell." Ha ha.

"34/20 Centinella Place."
Terrific.

How about taking a little drive?

Drive.

Oh, okay. Sure.

What's the matter, Alice?
You okay?

Oh, Bob, I don't know.

It's just..

It's just that stupid bell.

I mean, it's never
going to bring enough money

for me to forget..

...those kid's faces.

Hey, kids got to grow up
sometime. Come on.

Now, your buddy, Roger,
whatever-his-name-is

has a buyer for the bell, right?

I know, but I just
don't think--

So he'll sell it.
You'll forget about it.

Then you and I..

...go up to Mammoth,
do a little skiing

over New Year's, okay?

Okay?

Okay.

Making it big
this season, babe.

Let's get changed
and go check out that wagon.

Okay.

- Oh, hello.
- Hi.

Uh, my name is Tom,
and this is my wife, Veronica.

- Hi.

We saw your ad.
May we take a look?

- Oh, yes. The car.
- Yes.

By all means. I'll get
the keys. Excuse me.

Why don't you, uh,
pop the hood for me?

Oh, okay.

My husband and I decided
to do some belt-tightening

and that's why
we want to sell.

Well, I have a street load
of kids I have to drive around.

Oh, I know what you mean.

- It is nice and clean, Tom.
- Yeah.

Why don't you start it up?

Actually...I'd like my wife
to drive it.

'It's going to be hers.'

I can leave you
my driver's license..

...and my credit cards.

You know we'll be back
for these.

What can you do around Christmas
without plastic?

Yes. I know what you mean.

Oh, and my car keys.

Okay, well...that'll be
just fine.

Be back in 15, 20 minutes?

- Fine.
- Great.

My husband just had it tuned up,
uh, there's a new battery

and, um...try the
air conditioning. It's super.

Thank you.

Mom! Mom!

You sold the car.
Boy, will dad be surprised.

I thinkwe sold it.

They're just trying it out.

- Hmm.

But I saw them
leave in two cars.

The lady was driving our car

and the man got out
and followed her off in his van.

Gordy, turn down the heat
on the stove, will you?

Manette.

Yes. Mrs. Paul Manette.

Thomas Johnson is the name
on the credit card.

License, too.

No.

No. It's his picture.

Oh. Okay.

They think the license
may be forged.

They're just checking
on the credit cards.

'Yes?'

'Yes.'

Alright. I will.

Stolen.

I think they've stolen
our car.

Ponch!

Don't bunch 'em like that.

Hey, I didn't apply
for this job.

Ponch..

...the rituals of Yuletide

are not things to be tolerated.

They're to be enjoyed

in the doing.

Here. Enjoy.
I'll go chase cars.

Hey, Ponch.

Grossman was right, you know.

Look, Jon, the trouble is,
I do enjoy it.

'And the more I enjoy it,
the more I miss'

a real family Christmas.

I might as well be
out working, really.

Look, I know what you mean,
but what..

Does Ponch know
about his surprise?

Does Ponch know
about his surprise?

Yeah.

Think about that question,
huh, Harlan?

Hello? Yes, this is she.

'Yes, I did report it
to the police.'

Really?

The car. They found the car.

Yes. What would you
like me to do?

Come to Central Division,
Highway Patrol.

Ask for Officer Hayworth.

You can claim the vehicle,
and we'd like you

to identify the suspects.

I'll leave right now.

And thank you.
Thank you so much. Bye.

Grab your jacket. Let's go.

- Hey, Cliff.
- Huh.

They're gonna shut down
the party before we get there.

No. We're already
at the party, you dummy.

- Yep.

So where are we goin'?

Nowhere if we don't
get any gas.

Hey, guys, you gotta see this!
Come on.

Here, Harlan.

What can we do for you, sir?

Is this a full

Yes, sir. We give
full service here.

Okay. I wanna fill it up
with regular

and would you check the hood?
There's the key to the gas cap.

Yes, sir. Will you pop
the hood, please?

- Oh, yeah.

Check for inflation, would you?

Inflation. Ha ha! Do you get it?

We even have inflation
in our tires.

Hey, Cliff,
s-somethin's unreal here.

What? That's service.

That's service with a smile,
Jack, old buddy.

You don't see that much
of that anymore, I'll tell ya.

Boy, those guys are great.

These dudes have the
Christmas spirit, I'll tell ya.

Sir...your right front side
is soft.

Oh.

Uh, sir, you're due
for an oil change.

'Uh, would you be
the 3 wise men?'

Uh-oh.

W-would you repeat
the question, please?

Would you get out
of the car, please?

Okay.

But that wasn't the question.

Would you go with this
officer, please?

Uh, wait a minute. Now,
y-you gotta read me my rights.

See no evil. Hear no evil.
Speak no evil.

Right this way, sir.

You guys gotta heck of a nerve
pretendin' this

is a gas station, you know?

Oh, excuse me.

I'm looking for
Officer Hayworth.

- Yes. It's about my stolen car.

He called me and told me
where to come.

Oh, that would be at the
impound yard. Stolen cars.

No. No, he told me to come here.

He also wanted me to
identify the suspects.

What's your name
and address, ma'am?

It's Mrs. Paul Manette,
34/20 Centinella Place.

Okay. Is anybody watching
your home right now?

No. Is something wrong?

Yeah. We don't hold
suspects here

and we don't have
any Officer Hayworth.

- Oh, no!
- 'Hold on now. Wait a minute.'

'Just take it easy, would you?'

Take it easy.
Just get it together

and I'll be right back.
Excuse me.

Okay. I want you to drive home
very slowly, okay?

Very slowly. We'll get there
long before you, alright?

Okay. I understand.

Merry Christmas, Hitler.

Hey, Alice, look what I found
in the folks' back bedroom.

Oh, sweetheart, we're already
past the safety margin.

This is a P-38 lightning, baby.

I know, but I don't
really think you need--

Twin Allisons, 2,400 horsepower.

Operational ceiling.
36,000 feet.

Terror of the pacific theater,
world war deuce.

Terrific. Follow me.

You know,
I remember one Christmas.

I was ten...and I wanted
one of these things

with all my heart,
as the saying goes.

Not like this.
I mean, the detail

on this is unbelievable.

I asked my old man why
Santa Claus didn't bring it.

And he knocked me
across the room.

Long time ago.

Well, now you have one.

I'm sorry I didn't get
their license number.

Oh, that's alright, Gordon.

At least you got
the description of the van.

That's important, right?

And this is the model number
on the stereo.

That's about it.

I feel so stupid.

Mrs. Manette,
it happens time after time.

Joan, you and Gordy are safe.

We've still got our
Christmas stockings.

We can open them
and then pack a picnic lunch

and go hunt for seashells
up the coast.

You know, Mr. Manette, you were
smart in keeping those papers

and model numbers on file.

A lot of people don't do that.

Okay. Thank you.

Sir, do you think we'll be
gettin' our things back?

Uh, maybe, Gordon, but you got
a lot of love here.

You'll be okay.

A man and a woman,
blue dodge van.

It's got to be
the same two people

that ripped off
the church bell.

Look. Anybody that
rips off a church bell

I mean, what are they thinking?

It's good Ponch isn't here.
He'd be blowin' his top.

Oh, if Ponch was here,
you can imagine I mean, jeez--

Not you, though.
Laid-back, cool.

You'll take it in stride, right?

That's right.
You could say that.

You could also say that
I know who I want for Christmas.

That makes three of us.

That's right. That--

You on duty tomorrow

Yeah, working
the Christmas watch.

Christmas watch? Sounds
like the name of a carol.

More like a war chant.

Now that I think of it, sure.

Some of you have to be
out there no matter what.

Keeping the peace we all
pray for, huh?

Yeah. Well, we try, you know?

I just wanted you to know
that we hadn't quit on you.

We never thought you had

and we'll have a lovely
Christmas eve service anyhow.

Come if you can. 9 o'clock.

Alright. You're a special
kind of lady, Doris. Thank you.

We love you, too.

And we have hours to go.

There's time
for a miracle, right?

Well, like my partner
always says..

...this time of year,
anything could happen.

Ponch?

Don't be sad
if you can't find our bell.

Where's Ponch?
Everything is all set up.

Ladies and gentlemen,
crime-fighters and others..

...it's customary
to give our supervisors

little mementos of the season..

and Sergeant Getraer is here, so

sarge, before you
get away from us.

- Oh, yeah.

Sarge..

It's usually hard to pick
a gift for you, sarge

but, uh, this year, rememberin'
all the trouble you went to

to get us this beautiful tree,
it was easy.

Merry Christmas from all of us.

Well! Uh..

I don't know what to say.

Uh, open it. You'll find words.

Yeah.

'Aww!'

- 'Alright!'
- Yeah.

Training wheels and a..

bag of sand
for the grease spots.

Well, I'll, uh, I'll try to
think of a way to thank you

while you're enjoying the party.

Well, quite a spread, huh?
The girls outdid themselves.

You gonna eat, partner?

No. I'll just have
a cup of coffee, Jon.

I'll go back on my beat, too.

Listen, uh, what's wrong?
You miss your favorites?

'Excuse me. Excuse me, folks.'

Excuse me, please.
Make way here.

- Excuse me.
- You bet.

Hey, Pan Dulce.
This looks just like--

Hey, my mother sent these
from Chicago, right?

No, Francis. I brought them!

Hey!

Merry Christmas, Ponch.

Hi. Uh, I want an officer,
Frank Poncherello.

So your brothers will be
together tomorrow

and I had my druthers.

Fly to Europe
and join your father

or come out here
and be with you.

Well, I don't speak German,
so here I am.

And all the guys knew
you were comin', huh?

Well, I had to tell someone.
If you had a wife--

No, no, no.
I'd rather you surprise me.

And how long you
gonna stay, ma?

Well , visit some friends

and make you
some rice and chicken.

Twist my arm.
I'll stay a week.

Oh, you sure know
how to please a guy.

Uh, speaking
about twisted arms..

How am I since
my accident? Just fine.

Am I still gonna ride
a motorcycle? Sure.

You think you can read
your mother's mind, huh?

Her mind, no.

Her heart, yes.

Hey, Ponch. Front desk
is asking for you. Mr. Clifford.

Mr. Clifford?

Hey, you're the one
that arrested me.

It's the only name I had.
I just met Officer Baker.

I didn't know
who else was there.

- Yeah. It matters a lot.

I mean, that was..

...very humiliating
for me and my friends.

- Mr. Cliff--
'

Just let me finish.
You know, uh..

...this is not easy.

We asked for it. We got it.
I hope we learned a lesson.

Hey, I know I was a real
pain in the neck to you.

Hey, Mr. Clifford..

...compared to
some people I meet

you were a pussycat.

Yeah. Well, I'll tell you what.

Next office party,
I'll take a taxi home.

'I mean, hey, you guys got a
tough job, and you do it well.'

And I thought maybe if somebody
came down and said thanks

it might mean
a little something.

Mr. Clifford, it means a lot.

- Yeah.

Okay. Pass it on, will you?

Alright. I'll pass it on,
believe me.

Okay.

Uh, Merry Christmas,
Mr. Clifford.

Merry Christmas to you.

To everybody.

Sweetheart, why don't we just

take this last load
to the warehouse and quit?

What do you say?

Ah, maybe just
one more job tonight.

Oh, Bob, I'm tired.

Besides, what about..

What about our own Christmas?

Let's loot the loot, okay?

Pick each other some presents
from the stuff

we got in storage
and just go home

have a little White Christmas
on the tube.

Why don't we just grab our skis

and head for the slopes
right now?

I promised you, darlin'.
Mammoth over New Year's.

Oh, boy.

Oh, no...it's my fault.

It's my fault.
I-I didn't see the stop sign.

I'm sorry. Are you hurt?

No, no. Why don't you just
back it right on out?

Well, shouldn't we
wait for the police?

My insurance man
will skin me alive

if I don't get
a police report.

Who cares about
the insurance man?

Look, $1,100, $1,200.
That'll do it.

No, no, mister. I think we'd
better do it the right way.

Look, take the money
and get outta here.

Back it up! Back it up!
Come on. Back it up.

Alright. Okay, pull forward.

Alright. That's good. Let's go.

Come on.

Anybody hurt here?

No. I-I hit a blue Dodge van
and the fella gave me

he gave me this,
and then he just took off.

Okay, listen. Stay in your car.

There'll be another unit
along in a minute.

LA-15, 7 Adam.

I have a blue Dodge van
and a hit-run suspect.

Left-side damage. Last seen
Northbound Sartell 3 ago.

15 Mary 3 and 4, 15 7 Adam.
Channel two if you copy.

10-4 Mary 3 and 4.

What's your 10

We're now at the off ramp
at Sepulveda and Barry.

B.O.L. A blue Dodge van
Northbound Sartell.

'Could be your Christmas
bandits, buddy.'

15-7 Charles. I have a visual.

East on Washburne from Barry.

Back me up. I'll make the stop.

Honey, they may as well want us
for speeding, too. Let's go.

Oh, Bob.

- Hold tight, baby. Let's go.
- Okay. Hold on.

I think maybe we got caught.

Christmas Eve service
is at 9 o'clock.

We still have time to
return the bell to the church..

...if you tell us where it is.

We don't have to--

And I'm gettin' very tired of
being patient

with you about it.

'Mr. Manette?'

Yeah. This is officer Jon baker,
highway patrol.

Listen, are you still planning
that picnic lunch?

Right. Well, we have to
work Christmas.

We thought maybe you'd like to
spend a little time together

and identify the items that were
stolen from your house.

You got it. Oh, yeah?

Joan, Gordon.

Yeah. I understand.

Okay. Okay, we'll be there.

Alright. Merry Christmas.

Thank you very much.

Uh, Merry Christmas.

- Guess what.

They got 'em.

Oh! Ohh!

This is the only
questionable item I found.

Maybe you've been
stealin' all your life.

Maybe you don't know what it is
to tramp the streets

and work your guts out like
those kids did for that bell.

But sometime, man, there had to
be something you wanted

with all your heart.

Once he wanted an airplane.

I remember, Bob.

And so the time draws near
for us to light our candles

and go our separate ways.

This was to have been
a very special night for us

particularly for our children.

We were going to ring our joy

for the first time for the whole
community to hear and to share.

'But I submit to you that
you should think of this'

'not as a sad Christmas Eve'

but rather as a very happy one.

For we have been reminded
in our adversity

that though the thief
may take from us

each and every one
of our possessions

we have within us that which
he can never take.

Our love.

'And so I charge you
with my love'

'to go from here
as brothers and sisters.'

To go in peace and tranquility

and to carry with you
the light of the world.

My son is never late.

What'd he say on the phone?

That he'd be here by 10 o'clock.

Oh, he's late.

Look!

♪ Silent night

♪ Holy night

♪ All is calm

♪ All is bright

♪ Round yon virgin

♪ Mother and child

♪ Holy infant

♪ So tender and mild

♪ Sleep in heavenly peace

♪ Sleep in heavenly peace

♪ Silent night

♪ Holy-- ♪

Where was it?

Well, the crooks
had a storage garage.

Go on. Hit it.

It's Christmas, mom.
It's really Christmas.

- Reverend.
- Oh, sure.

'Multiple 11-83. The I-5 at the
Robertson off ramp. Let's go.'

[dispatcher speaking
indistinctly]