Television series

CHiPs

Name: CHiPs
Genre: Drama, Action, Crime
Released: 1977
Cast: Robert Pine, Erik Estrada, Larry Wilcox, Paul Linke, Lou Wagner

Other titles called CHiPs: the 2017 film.

Police procedural
Car-chase action
Light-hearted
Dip in and out

CHiPs is a sun-soaked procedural about California Highway Patrol motorcycle officers working the Los Angeles freeways. It's a weekly blend of action, comedy, and surprisingly earnest character work, built on the chemistry between its leads. Made for anyone who wants seventies atmosphere, bike chases, and the pleasure of watching capable people do their jobs well.

TVMaze rating

3.7

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you want a sunny, good-natured buddy show where the chases are the point and the friendship between two motorcycle cops feels like the warmest thing on the road.

Skip it if you find cheerful, episodic crime stories with little grit a letdown, since the tone stays breezy and dark turns are brief.

What it asks of you: Expect hour-long episodes that move quickly, mostly out on the highway, with light stakes and plenty of sunshine, rewarding easygoing attention rather than close study.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Adam-121968

The spiritual ancestor of CHiPs: a straighter, grittier cop procedural about LAPD officers that proves the formula works. Same city, same era, same commitment to showing what the work actually looks like.

But It's earthier and less fun than CHiPs—less humour, more paperwork and genuine weight. If you want lighter fare, this might feel like homework.

Starsky & Hutch1975

Two charismatic leads, buddy chemistry that crackles, seventies LA, and a similar tone of action tempered by genuine affection. The DNA is identical; the car is just two-wheeled here.

But The show doesn't quite have CHiPs' ease—it's pushing harder to be cool. Some episodes feel dated in a way that pulls you out.

Emergency!1972

Another procedural about rescue workers in LA with the same warmth and ensemble spirit. You get the same satisfying formula: crisis, teamwork, resolution, and characters you actually care about.

But It's about firefighters and paramedics, not traffic cops, so if you're specifically drawn to motorcycle chases and highway work, this pivots away from that appeal.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from CHiPs

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

The Warriors1979

Both are seventies LA immersed in their setting, but Warriors shows you the world from the other side of the law—the mirror image of what the officers encounter daily.

A film that captures the exact texture of seventies LA that CHiPs lives in—the streets, the culture, the energy—but from street level instead of police level. It's a heightened, almost mythic version of the same world.

But It's violent, gritty, and unsentimental in ways CHiPs never is. You're watching the people CHiPs' officers would be policing, not the police themselves.

The White Shadow1978

A sports drama with the same seventies texture and the same gift for mixing action with genuine human moments. It's also about a small team, strong camaraderie, and doing a job well.

But Basketball coaching is a different world from highway patrol work. If you're watching CHiPs for the motorcycle culture and LA setting, this loses both.

Ironside1967

Raymond Burr as a wheelchair-using detective solving crimes in San Francisco. Like CHiPs, it's a seventies procedural that never condescends to its protagonist and trusts its audience to care about character alongside plot.

But It predates CHiPs by a decade and feels slower and more formal. If you're watching for action and pace, this will feel stately and old-fashioned.

The Rockford Files1974

James Garner as a private investigator in LA with warmth, humour, and the same seventies soul. The tone balances comedy and crime perfectly, and the setting feels lived-in and real.

But It's about a solo operator solving mysteries, not a police team doing daily work. The rhythm and focus are quite different from CHiPs.

Story of Kunning Palace2023

An anthology of real LAPD cases with documentary texture. If you're drawn to CHiPs for its grounding in actual police work and the LA setting, this goes even deeper into both.

But It's a different case each week with different characters, so there's no ensemble or ongoing chemistry. Some episodes work better than others.

Chopper One1974

A short-lived series about LA police helicopter pilots—same spirit, same city, same commitment to the job and the people doing it. Similar blend of action and character work.

But It was cancelled after one season for a reason. The show doesn't quite have CHiPs' warmth or chemistry, and it feels a bit airless.

Vanishing Point1971

Both are fundamentally about the pleasure of driving and the road itself—but where CHiPs is about order and duty, Vanishing Point is about freedom and obsession.

A 1971 cult film about a driver racing across America in a car. It has the same love of driving and motion, the same seventies aesthetic, and the same hypnotic quality of watching someone navigate their environment at speed.

But There's minimal plot and it gets philosophical and weird. If you want story and character arcs, this is meditative and sometimes frustrating.

Z Cars1962

The structural ancestor—Z Cars invented the patrol-based procedural that CHiPs perfected, proving the formula worked in a different country and era first.

A British police procedural about officers on patrol that predates both Adam-12 and CHiPs. It's where the modern cop show formula actually started, with the same focus on teamwork and the mundane reality of police work.

But It's British, black-and-white, from the early sixties, and moves at a different pace entirely. If you want colour, sunshine, and American energy, this is the opposite.