Each October, the Unsung Horrors podcast does a month of themed movies. This year, they will once again be setting up a fundraiser to benefit Best Friends, which works to save the lives of cats and dogs across America, giving pets second chances and happy homes.

Today’s theme: Series Episode

When Anna (Kelly Preston) gets into a hot tar accident on the highway, Ponch (Erik Estrada) suspects there’s more to it than meets the eye. The plot thickens when she’s found holding a cover to a Sea Thing comic book, the biggest comic book around, as Officer Bruce (Bruce Penhall) explains.

“Whatever happened to Tom and Jerry?” asks Ponch.

Someone steals a car, and when they arrest him, Ponch and Bruce find Anna’s wallet. As Anna stays with her friend Kathy (Joan Freeman), the creator of Sea Thing, Stanley Woods (Rich Little) stalks Anna. He also seems to live in Forrest Ackerman’s house, so maybe he’s a pervert hitting on teenage girls just like Forry. Actually, he’s in the  Malibu Castle or Castle Kashan, which was built by a local doctor in the late ’70s and belonged to Princess Lilly Lawrence. It burned down in the 2007 Malibu fires but was rebuilt.

Anna somehow has a different cover than the real book, which we find out from the owner of a comic book store.

In the world of CHiPS, Elvira owns a comic book store.

The real story unfolds when it’s revealed that Anna’s mom is the creator of Sea Thing, and a real Sea Thing attacks Ponch. The unexpected twist? Rich Little is a hologram and in drag! This supernatural episode of CHiPS is just one of many surprises, including “Trick or Treat” from season 2 and “Rock Devil Rock” from season 6.

Robert Pine, the leader of the California Highway Patrol, Sgt. Joseph Getraer directed this episode. This episode was written by Rick Rosner, Barry Jacobs and Stuart Jacobs.

I love that Elvira would just randomly show up on shows like this in the 80s. A magical time. I also have a weakness for CHiPS. Watching it now, it all seems so silly with characters wearing sauna suits to lose weight and Ponch investigating a monster. Royal Dano shows up as a coroner!

You can download this from the Internet Archive.