Posted on 01/08/2007 7:57:59 AM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
LOS ANGELES -- Most Golden State drivers go out of their way to avoid the California Highway Patrol, but Erik Estrada can't seem to stay away.
Estrada, who experiences the reality of law enforcement in his new unscripted CBS series "Armed & Famous," told reporters on Thursday that he's looking forward to the upcoming feature film version of his seminal series "CHiPs."
"I tell you what -- I think that Wilmer Valderrama's gonna do a fine job," Estrada says. "I think he'll do a fine job as Ponch. And the script, I've read the script and I'm not in the script, but as far as I'm concerned, it's a win-win for me. I am the original and I'm happy that they're sticking close to what the series was, action-adventure-comedy with respect to law enforcement on the job."
"CHiPs" ran on NBC from 1977 through 1983 and featured Estrada as California Highway Patrol Officer Francis Llewellyn "Ponch" Poncherello. For reasons best known to the Hollywood Foreign Press, Estrada was even nominated for a best actor Golden Globe for the series in 1980.
Valderrama has been attached to the "CHiPs" feature for over a year, though the feature still lacks a director or co-star. Although he hasn't been asked yet to do a cameo, Estrada sounds like he knows what he'd want to do.
"If they ask me, I hope they make me an offer I can't refuse, for one thing," he begins. "And then I hope it's not just me with the thumbs-up and my teeth shining. I've talked to them, because they've contacted me, and I've said to them. 'You know, it would really be fitting if you had one quick scene, a 90-second scene, where I'm chewing out Ponch Jr. because he's not sticking to the grind, he's chasing the girls, he's playing with the toys -- he should be out sticking to the grind.' It's sort of like Ponch Sr. handing over the baton to Ponch Jr. "
Estrada says that his real estate dealings have taken priority over acting in recent years (though he's made frequent cameos and appeared on a season of "Surreal Life") and he'd be entirely comfortable never to make a regular return to show business.
"Because I put myself in a financial position that I can walk away from something if I don't like it," he says. "I don't have to do it for the money."
Estrada puts "Armed & Famous" in the category of passion projects. In the series, which premieres on CBS on Wednesday, Estrada and a slew of other similarly statured celebrities (including LaToya Jackson and Jack Osbourne) train to become actual reserve officers in the Muncie, Indiana police department.
"We're not here for the money," Estrada says. "This is something that we're doing here because of passion and that's the way I want to live the rest of my days, what passionates me."
Is it gonna be a gay movie?.......
Be still my heart.
I liked Chips as a kid, but Emergency! was way better.
This guy's gotta be 70.
"We're not here for the money," Estrada says.
I think he's being bi-truthful.
He was great in Dos Mujeres, Un Camino. I was hoping he would do some more.
What Erik really thinks about Wilmer:
A CHIPS movie? Who says Hollywood is running out of ideas?
4 in a row!!!
10-4.
MUNCIE, Ind. -- Former "CHiPs" star Erik Estrada got into an expletive-laced shouting match with a wounded community activist shortly after the man called him Emilio Estevez amid the filming of a reality television show.
Estrada, who was sworn in as a reserve officer last month for CBS' "Armed and Famous" show, was in an ambulance with Randall R. Sims, 53, when the exchange unfolded Wednesday night.
Estrada entered the ambulance after being asked to remove handcuffs from Sims, who had been stabbed in the leg during a domestic dispute.
After addressing Estrada as Emilio Estevez, Sims told him he didn't want to appear on the show, which also stars La Toya Jackson, Jack Osbourne, Wee Man and Trish Stratus.
The confrontation erupted after Sims, who led a successful push in 2004 to rename a Muncie street in honor of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., told Estrada he knew nothing about King and had only been in Muncie "for two days," The Star Press reported Friday.
Estrada told Sims he had been in town for six weeks and said he grew up in Spanish Harlem -- a rough Manhattan neighborhood King mentioned in his landmark 1967 speech calling for an end to the Vietnam War.
An exchange of obscenities followed before Estrada left the ambulance, with Sims telling the actor he intended to sue him.
Muncie Police Chief Joe Winkle told The Associated Press on Friday he had not seen footage of the confrontation, but had spoken with Estrada to let him know the incident was unacceptable.
"We talked about it last night with him, the fact that that's something we encounter all the time, that you have to get a little thicker skin," Winkle said. "With any new officer we would tell them, 'Hey, that's not how we conduct ourselves, don't get caught up in the moment, we're the ones who are professionals.' That's what we did with Erik and I think he truly understood that."
Sims was listed in fair condition Friday at Ball Memorial Hospital in Muncie following Wednesday night's altercation with a 28-year-old woman, who was arrested on a preliminary charge of domestic battery with a deadly weapon.
Police also filed a battery report on her behalf against Sims, who was cited for misdemeanor disorderly conduct.
IBTYAHP!
Thailand ?
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