CHiPs The Spaceman Made Me Do It (1977–1983) Online

One of the biggest problems with CHiPs, especially in the later years, was its need to be 'trendy'...episodes had to be written around the latest pop culture fads, and you know you're in trouble when that's the direction in which you have to go. So instead of sticking to car chases, speeders, etc., we have an episode here about a girl who claims that an alien commanded her to commit a robbery...you read that right, an alien commanded her to commit a robbery.

This episode, by the very nature of the need to be trendy, seems to be CHiPs' need to cash in on the E.T. fad, yet for me, it seems to come off as a lost episode of Project U.F.O., the boring and largely condescending 'sci-fi' series from Jack Webb, which pretty much pooh- poohed alien sightings as nonsense, under the guise of an Air Force project. Lo and behold, this episode's writer, Donald L. Gold, did in fact write for that series! (For the record, director Winrich Kolbe would go on to helm any number of episodes of the various Star Trek permutations, so he also would have additional experience with aliens).

The plot, such as it is, finds Ponch and Bobby on night duty when they have to answer an alarm at a jewelry store. They engage in a car chase with the perp, only to discover that the culprit is a preteen girl. She claims that an E.T. (and she does say E.T., not alien, not spaceman, but E.T.!) commanded her to steal the jewels.

Now if it had been crooks posing as aliens, that would've been bad enough...but when we get to the climactic scene...we don't know WHAT it is! As they save her from the aliens, they're looking at it too...and they don't know! Bobby asks Ponch what that was, and Ponch says "Bobby...it could be whatever you want it to be", while I, the viewer, am yelling 'WHAT THE *&#% WAS THAT?'

Five minutes later, when the end credits were finished, I repeated that sentiment. The only other question I have is, Who should I sue to get that hour of my life back, the hour I wasted watching this?

Oh yeah...there was a secondary plot, about thieves that stole bags from visiting Oriental tourists. I'm glad that was part of the episode. It was a nice respite from the head-scratching rest of this mess.

In the episode entitled,"The Spaceman Made Me Do It",Ponch and Bobby are stuck on night patrol when they respond to a jewelry store alarm. After the thief jumps her car through a truck, they arrest her. She turns out to be only 12 years old.When Ponch asks her questions, she says an alien made her do it. After hearing the story, Jodi introduces herself to Ponch.Then,Ponch and Bobby visit Jodi's mother to find out.

That night, the alien visits Ponch's apartment and asks Jodi to go with them. Then,Ponch and Bobby meet Dr. Joyce Brothers. After consulting her, Ponch and Bobby go visit the alien landing site. Jodi speaks with the alien again and says that they're coming back to get her that night.

That night at Ponch's, Kathy finds Jodi missing. Ponch and Bobby find her at the landing site. They hold her down in gale force winds so the "aliens" can't take her. The winds die as fast as they came on and everything is alright. Bobby says, "It's a helicopter." Ponch tells him, "Bobby, it's whatever you want it to be."

This is definitely one of the worst episodes of CHiPs.When an implausible story that involves aliens - a mechanism that somewhat insults the intelligence of the viewer,you know that there is definitely something wrong and CHiPs is headed towards cancellation next season.