Erik Estrada recalls visiting New Zealand in the early 1980s for a charity telethon.
Erik Estrada recalls visiting New Zealand in the early 1980s for a charity telethon.
If you grew up in late 70s or early 80s New Zealand, you probably spent your Friday nights in front of the TV watching CHiPs.
Kiwis of that generation might even recall when the show’s star Erik Estrada, who played California Highway Patrol Officer “Ponch”, travelled to Aotearoa for a charity telethon in Auckland.
“I was in your country in ‘82 or ‘83, and I had a great time while I was there. I remember going horseback riding in the countryside and that was a beautiful, beautiful thing,” Estrada tells the Herald.
Age Concern and ANZ have teamed up for a new campaign aimed at older Kiwis.
“They welcomed me with open arms when I was there, and it was great to be part of the telethon and raise the money. But I remember that there was somebody there, right in front of the whole country on television, they said, ‘Oh, you TV guys, you TV action heroes, you guys ain’t got nothing. You ain’t got no muscles. I bet you can’t even do 25 push-ups.’
“Man, I jumped on that ground and knocked it out in less than five minutes. And then I stood up and just looked him in the face and he crawled away. That was a good moment,” he says with a chuckle.
We may never know who challenged him to prove himself in front of the nation, but Estrada remembers the majority of Kiwis he met as “wonderful people, good people, family-type people”.
“They’re like Puerto Ricans - ‘cause I’m Puerto Rican - we like all our food on one plate,” he jokes. “We have everything on one plate, the salad, the beans, rice, the meat, the dessert and the carbs.
“It was just lovely. Everybody was beautiful and they loved the show CHiPs. It was very popular back in the day there.”
What’s the secret to its enduring appeal? In response, Estrada paints a picture of family life in the 80s, something that’s hard to imagine in 2024.
“It was a show that, in America, came on every Sunday night at 8:00. So you get the family, you finish dinner, everybody’s gotta go to school the next day, Daddy gotta go to work. It’s Sunday night, let’s all sit together and let’s watch CHiPs.
“We never drew our guns, but there was so much action, so much going on, so much happening that you just, you were stuck. You were stuck watching, and it was a show that your mom or your dad, your brother or your sister could watch. The first girlfriend, first boyfriend, the siblings, cousins, nephews. The next-door neighbour who didn’t have a TV was there.”
Estrada describes it as a “modern-day Western” designed to appeal to viewers of all ages.
“It was a show that you could park your kid in front of the TV for an hour and go in the kitchen and not be worried about what he’s gonna hear and what he’s going to see. That’s why the show is always remembered.
“And a lot of people got inspired to become first responders, either in law enforcement, firefighters and paramedics, it inspired people to be the good guy.”
“They need protection. They need education, to be informed on what to do with the internet and chat rooms and guard against phone calls with no caller ID, they need to know that they got a right to hang up on these yahoos,” Estrada says.
“They got a right to to ask questions, to refuse to answer and to have doubts on what they’re saying and they also have the right and the privilege of getting educated.”
He’s had his fair share of experience with scams - like countless other celebrities, ones using his image.
Erik Estrada starred as California Highway Patrol officer Francis Llewelyn Poncherello on CHiPs.
Estrada doesn’t have a Facebook profile, but says many of his fans get duped into thinking they’ve been chatting with him on the platform.
“What’s upsetting and really sad and unfortunate is that I’ll be at a Comic Con or a trade show where I’m appearing, or speaking engagements, and I’ll have these sweet little grannies come up to me and they’ll say, ‘Hi, Erik, hi. I hope the money I sent you helped you’, and I go, ‘Ma’am, tell me. You sent money? To where?’
“She says, ‘Well, on Facebook - we have been chatting for a year’.
“And people are getting scammed by people posing as me or my partner. And this goes on, you know, the internet just makes the accessibility to be able to scam people and hustle and scare people.”
He adds with a laugh, “It’s for the elderly, and I am 75 years old. I’m elderly. I’m perfect for it.”
Elderly he might be, but retirement seems to be the furthest thing from his mind. In real life, Estrada is a deputy sheriff in Virginia and hosts the reality show Divine Renovation, which aims to help people in need with home improvements so they can get back on their feet.
And those of us who are too young to remember CHiPs might recognise his face from video game to TV adaptation Fallout, which came out in April this year.
If you haven’t seen it yet, beware of spoilers ahead.
Estrada appears briefly at the beginning of episode 7 as Adam, a farmer and father of three who learns that bounty hunter Cooper “The Ghoul” Howard is responsible for the deaths of his two sons.
“It was great being there,” he says of his time on set, recalling the moment he met Walton Goggins, who plays Howard on the show.
“Goggins was wonderful, very kind, very generous as an actor. He grew up on CHiPs, watching it, so he was really jazzed. He was fanboying on me and I thought that was so cute.
“He’s a brilliant actor and a real generous actor. And so that was a wonderful experience.”
A second season of Fallout has been ordered by Prime Video, so could we see his character make a comeback?
“The fact that he [Howard] killed two of my children ... I would think that they might consider a revenge episode where I come back and try to get him, then he kills me, you know what I mean?” he suggests with a twinkle in his eye.
“That would be good. That would be fun. But it was a terrific experience. It was great. I loved it.”
