Gawker: defamer, chips

Erik Estrada Celebrates Donut-Consuming Heritage Of His Law Enforcement Brethern

Seth — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 21:36:38 EDT

In honor of the long-overdue release of the first season of CHiPs on DVD, Erik Estrada was on hand to oversee a donut-eating contest outside a familiar landmark, the Randy's Donuts stand near the airport. (Were they drawing some connection between law enforcement and the greedy consumption of glazed, deep-fried treats? We certainly hope not.) LAist.com posted several video clips, including the one above featuring the recent Walk of Fame inductee introducing the event, as well as unveiling a CHiPs logo donut-sculpture created by a Japanese artist whose tongue-twisting name he gamely attempts to pronounce at the 1:45 mark, to extremely entertaining effect.

One of these men just ate 18 donuts... [LAist]

Valderrama, Audiences Face Challenge With His Role In CHiPs

Seth — Thu, 02 Feb 2006 18:54:31 EST

The world shifts in contorted, fidgety anticipation of the upcoming big screen adaptation of CHiPs, with the Venezuelan crown prince of messy starlet arm candy, Wilmer Valderrama, in the pivotal role of Francis "Ponch" Poncherello. But if all you see staring back out of those deep, brown eyes is the smug face of a lucky kid who managed to spin a throwaway sitcom part into the quintessential scene-whore Hollywood power trip, think again. Valderrama realizes it's all about the work:

He says he expects the Highway Patrol cop story to be something so explosive that it will propel him to above-the-title status for good. "It's one of those things where [I'm like], 'OK, this is a different time now,' " said the actor, who will play Ponch and start shooting in the spring. "For me the challenge is ... how does a sidekick for eight years on a sitcom go from that to a leading man?"

We'll refrain from offering the easy answer (Everyone together now: "He doesn't!" Feel better?) and instead focus on the fact that while Valderrama may be ready for his leap to the big screen, audiences very well may not be, especially when they realize they are in for a straight up, 100-minute, darkened-theater dose of giant Valderrama, minus the trusty Wilmer-filtering devices of remote controls and regular commercial breaks.

Movie File [MTV News]
Previously: Fez Does Ponch [Defamer]

Fez Does Ponch

Mark — Thu, 08 Dec 2005 12:26:10 EST

In what has to be the biggest no-brainer in the annals of casting history, Warner Bros. (the studio who brought you big-screen remakes of Starsky & Hutch and, less successfully, The Dukes of Hazzard) has placed Erik Estrada's blue helmet on Wilmer "Fez" Valderrama's head, anointing him to star as Ponch in an "action-comedy" (read: neither exciting nor funny) remake of ChiPs. It appears that the role of whitebread partner Jon Baker hasn't yet been cast, but if you rush to your preferred place of worship and make the appropriate offerings to your deity, there may still be time to prevent Ashton Kutcher from getting the job, a move which would almost certainly trigger a cataclysmic tidal wave that would wipe out everything from Santa Monica to Las Vegas. And quite frankly, we all deserve to suffer His righteous wrath if we allow the studio to complete such an unholy coupling.

Valderrama saddles up for 'CHiPs' [THR]