It seems as though CHiPs star Erik Estrada is not a big fan of the trailer just released for a feature film adaptation of his classic TV series.
Just days after a trailer debuted on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Estrada retweeted a pair of tweets skewering it.
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One of the tweets called the trailer “pure trash,” and noted that the characters on the CHiPs TV series never drew their gun.
Last week, ComicBook.com speculated that Estrada might not be crazy about the new iteration of the classic TV property as a result of an interview he had given us in 2014. In that interview, Estrada himself had noted the fact that his character never drew a gun — something he supposed would be likely to change in a remake.
“It’s just that whole time in America was a wonderful time. It was post-Vietnam, the music was fun, the show was fun. It was exciting to see motorcycles ripping through the streets, car wrecks, crashes and chases. And the fact that it was a show for which most parents could just park their kids in front of the TV to watch it and not really worry about what they’re going to hear, what they’re going to see,” Estrada told us while promoting Planes: Fire & Rescue, in which he voiced a police helicopter that bore a remarkable resemblance to Frank “Ponch” Poncharello, his character from the show. “We never even drew our guns, you know what I mean? And it had a tremendous impact on people’s lives. A lot of people got into law enforcement or they became firemen or first responders, paramedics; they were inspired into service because of the show. It also created a relationship between children and law enforcement. They weren’t afraid to say hi to the cop on the beat. It had a lot of impact and people just loved a good time. Most of the people watched the show with their siblings at 8 o’clock Sunday night, prime time, family hour, so it gives them warm, fuzzy feelings of good times watching the show.”
The other tweet Estrada shared referred to the upcoming film as “demeaning” to classic CHiPs fans and pledged not to watch it.
“It would be kind of difficult to do that show today without having all this visual sensationalism that we’ve all become accustomed to now because of TV and so many channels and the way the movies are going,” Estrada said. “I’m sure there would be a tremendous amount of special effects if they do a CHiPs movie. And the truth is, they’d probably have to go out of the box and they’d probably have to do things that the California Highway Patrol themselves would not endorse because they won’t tolerate anything improper, inappropriate behavior by their officers. So it would be tough to make. You’d have to make it super visually enjoyable because it would be very difficult. I don’t know how they would do that, especially compared to that time in America in TV and now. It would be tough.”
While he did not directly address the trailer, these retweets may be as close as fans are likely to get, especially since Estrada’s brother Joe Del Valle passed away earlier today, so it’s likely the actor is going to be laying low for a while.
CHiPs the movie stars Michael Pena (The Martian) as Frank “Ponch” Poncherello, Dax Shepard (Parenthood) as Jon Baker, Jessica McNamee (The Vow) as Lindsey Taylor, Adam Brody (Mr. & Mrs. Smith) as Clay Allen, and Ryan Hansen (Central Intelligence) as Brian Grieves. Other actors reportedly appearing in the upcoming flick include: Vincent D’Onofrio (Law & Order: Criminal Intent), Kristen Bell (Frozen), Maya Rudolph (Bridesmaids), and Adam Rodriguez (CSI: Miami).
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CHiPs is slated to hit theaters on March 24, 2017.
