Eric Estrada Plays Cop in CBS Reality Show

Eric Estrada is going to be a real live cop. I wonder if they’ll call him “paunch,” in honor of his advanced years?

Erik Estrada carried a gun but rarely used it to stop bad guys in his 1970s TV police drama “CHiPs.” Now, the 57-year-old Estrada and other celebrities are training to carry guns for real, along with badges as Muncie reserve officers as part of a reality CBS TV show.

Estrada, La Toya Jackson, Jack Osbourne, Wee Man and Trish Stratus spent part of Sunday listening to Muncie police officer Scott O’Dell bark orders at them in front of City Hall.

“You the new recruits?” O’Dell asked the recruits, standing in front of a black limousine. “You got what it takes to be Muncie’s finest?”

Until Sunday, producers of the show had kept the identify of its cast secret.

Muncie Police Chief Joe Winkle said much of the day was spent arranging the arrival of the celebrities and handing out uniforms. The cast must be trained to meet the same standards as other reserve officers, and study constitutional law and ethics, Winkle has said. They will carry guns but won’t answer emergency calls on their own in the eastern Indiana city.

I’m not sure what’s funnier, Estrada as a real cop or the phrase, “You got what it takes to be Muncie’s finest?”

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