What The Stars Of Hit NBC Series CHiPs Thought About The Movie Remake

Hollywood being Hollywood, almost everything gets a modern-day remake at some point or another. But when it came time for "CHiPs" to receive its 2017 movie makeover, the original show's stars didn't quite see eye to eye on the new version.

Airing on NBC from 1977 to 1983, the classic police procedural show "CHiPs" followed the lighthearted adventures of two California Highway Patrol motorcycle officers: the straight-laced Jon Baker (Larry Wilcox) and his smooth-talking, free-wheeling partner Francis "Ponch" Poncherello (Erik Estrada).

In 2017, Warner Bros. felt it was time to make a movie based on the TV show — but reimagined the series as a hard-R comedy directed by Dax Shepard. It was Shepard who also stepped into Wilcox's boots as Jon, alongside Michael Peña taking on the role of Ponch. The shift from wholesome primetime TV to raunchy humor left the original duo split down the middle, however. Based on the trailers alone, Wilcox was not a fan — he didn't hold back on social media, taking to Twitter to air his frustration: "Way to go Warner Bros – just ruined the Brand of CHIPS and of the Calif Highway Patrol. Great choice!"

Speaking to USA Today in March 2017, Wilcox doubled down on his critique of the film's crude comedic direction. "I'm very candid. I wasn't enamored with two guys rubbing genitals in their faces and talking about CHiPs," Wilcox told the outlet. Yet, despite his initial distaste, he noted he would eventually watch the movie in order to gain a fully informed opinion. "Even if you are 'Dumb and Dumber,' it should be a major success by just riding on the coattails of the previous branding bonanza," he noted, adding, "I wish them luck."

Estrada, however, supported the film. He even made a cameo as a paramedic in the movie. (According to Vulture, Wilcox was never asked to appear; he told the outlet, "I wasn't invited to my own party.") While Estrada understood that older fans might not have been enamored with the show's remake, he urged them to cut the new version some slack.

"I'm getting a lot of reaction from 'CHiPs' fans that the movie is insulting," he told USA Today. "They are not insulting anybody. They are just doing their own version of it. Not everyone makes the same chicken cacciatore. I'm good with it. I've got no ax to grind." Estrada also had advice for the purists who refused to see the new iteration of the TV crime drama: "If they want the 'CHiPs' they grew up with, go every day at 4 p.m. and watch it on MeTV."