'CHiPs' on the table? Erik Estrada to host religious home improvement show in Wilmington

For those who grew up on (or were around for) network television shows of the late 1970s and early 1980s, Wilmington is about to get a visit from a familiar face.

Erik Estrada − who made his name as a star of NBC cops-and-crime drama "CHiPs," on which he played the friendly, motorcycle-riding California Highway Patrol Officer Francis "Ponch" Poncherello from 1977 to 1983 − is coming to Port City to shoot a religious- and community-themed home improvement show called "Divine Renovations."

Monty Hobbs, a longtime Wilmington film worker who is one of the show's producers, said shooting will take place at several area locations beginning Sept. 26 and continuing into October.

Hobbs said he met Estrada at a convention in New Jersey seven or eight years ago, "And we kept in contact."

He said Estrada is the perfect host for the show he and co-producer Valerie Smaldone want to make because Estrada "wants to do meaningful work, not just show biz stuff," Hobbs said. "When you think of happiness, you can't deny that smile."

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Estrada received a Golden Globe nomination for his work on "CHiPs," which had enough of a cultural impact that it was later made into a 2017 movie and a 2010s stage musical, both spoofy takes on the TV show's often-goofy tone.

Before "CHiPs," Estrada appeared in such '70s-era TV series as "Hawaii Five-O," "Emergency!," "Mannix," "Kojak," "Police Woman," "Barnaby Jones," "Baretta" and "The Six Million Dollar Man." He got to reprise his role as Ponch for TV movie "CHiPs '99" and has a very lengthy list of credits that includes voiceover work ("King of the Hill," "Adventure Time with Finn and Jake") and such recent streaming hits at "Cobra Kai."

"Divine Renovations" is being produced by Heartlight Entertainment, which is comprised of Hobbs, Smaldone and Matthieu Chazareix.

Smaldone said the idea for "Divine Renovations" was born from "The Thursday Night Club," a Christmas movie she directed, and that Hobbs produced, for the faith-and-family streaming site Pure Flix. Set to air in November, the movie stars singer and actress Gloria Gaynor as one of four friends who come together to help a young woman who suffers a devastating loss.

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"The idea is to bring people together in order to help other people," Smaldone said. "It's about the power of kindness."

Working with Wilmington-area churches and nonprofits, Heartlight has identified a number of people whose homes need various kinds of renovations. They include a 6-year-old boy with special needs and a young woman, formerly homeless, who is now a homeowner but whose house needs work beyond what she can afford or do for herself.

Hobbs said the show will be shooting scenes at Life Church, St. James AME Church and Living Water Ministries in Wilmington, in addition to other locations. Community groups the show is working with include the Wilmington Area Rebuilding Ministry, Family Promise of the Lower Cape Fear and Coastal BUDS (Bringing Up Down Syndrome) of Southeastern NC.

Hobbs said Heartlight Entertainment has received strong interest in the show, and that he expects it to be out on a faith-based network sometime in 2023.

Contact John Staton at 910-343-2343 or John.Staton@StarNewsOnline.com.