In the late 70s, “CHiPs” the TV show gave us Erik Estrada and a look at life in California from the back of a motorcycle. Now, “CHiPs” the movie is giving us Dax Shepard and Michael Peña — and this is definitely not the same smooth ride from back in the day. Deco’s chief motorcycle enthusiast Chris Van Vliet met with the stars today.
It’s the show that made Erik Estrada famous! And trust me — he was! Now “CHiPs” is back for a new generation — and it’s raunchier than ever. Today I caught up with stars Dax Shepard and Michael Peña right here on Miami Beach.
Nearly 25 years after CHiPs went off the air, Jon Baker and Frank Poncherello are back.
Michael Peña is Jon and Dax Shepard plays Ponch. I caught up with them today on Miami Beach, but before the interview could even get underway, it started falling apart.
Chris Van Vliet: “When you guys are doing this take after take… Woah! It’s falling apart on us!”
Michael Peña: “Go ahead dude. Go ahead dude. When we do it take after take, things like this happen!”
Dax Shepard not only stars in the movie, he also wrote and directed it — and we learned apparently, he’s a set designer too.
Dax Shepard: “I’m an impatient person is what I am, if you want to know the truth. I’m not even helpful. I’m just impatient.”
Just like the classic TV show, the movie follows two California highway patrol officers who — in this case — are assigned to find crooked cops in their department.
Chris Van Vliet: “Michael, you actually had to learn how to ride a motorcycle for this. What does that look like?”
Michael Peña: “Not good at first, I’ll tell you that much. When you have a kid and you’re up there in age and you’re not a young kid anymore. You get on a bike and you’re like, ‘I could die on this thing.’ Oh man, it’s not the same.”
What’s different from the TV show is that the movie is rated R, and is not exactly kid friendly.
Michael Peña: “Yeah, hopefully there’s no 10-year-old kid crying.”
Dax Shepard: “Like playing with their motorcycle in the movie theater. My analogy is that I loved the Adam West ‘Batman’ show. I watched it every day after school and I loved Christopher Nolan’s ‘Dark Knight’ and I’m so glad he made an entirely different experience for me.”
CHiPs is in theaters March 24 — and Dax Shepard made it a family affair. I guess when you’re the director, you can hire anyone you want, so his brother’s in the movie, his sister is in the movie and his wife, Kristen Bell, is in it.
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