Emergency!: Difference between revisions
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{{short description|American television series}} |
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{{Other uses}} |
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{{Other uses|Emergency (disambiguation)}} |
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{{infobox television | |
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{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2022}} |
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| show_name = Emergency! |
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{{Infobox television |
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| show_name_2=''Emergency One!'' |
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| alt_name = ''Emergency One!'' |
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| image = [[File:EmergencyLogo.jpg|250px]] |
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| image = EmergencyLogo.jpg |
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| caption = ''Emergency!'' title screen |
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| executive_producer= {{plainlist| |
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| format = [[Medical drama]]/[[Action (fiction)|Action-adventure]] |
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* Jack Webb |
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* Robert A. Cinader |
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* [[Hannah Louise Shearer]] |
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}} |
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| runtime = approx. 50 minutes | network = [[NBC]] |
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| runtime = approx. 50 minutes |
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| composer=[[Nelson Riddle]]<br />[[Billy May]]<br />(incidental music) |
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| network = [[NBC]] |
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| editor= Richard Belding '''supervisor'''<br />''and others'' |
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| composer = {{plainlist| |
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| first_aired = January 15, 1972 |
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* [[Nelson Riddle]] |
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* [[Billy May]]}} |
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| editor = Richard Belding |
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| first_aired = {{start date|1972|1|15}} |
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| theme_music_composer=[[Nelson Riddle]] |
| theme_music_composer=[[Nelson Riddle]] |
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| last_aired = |
| last_aired = {{end date|1977|5|28}} |
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| creator = [[Robert A. Cinader]] |
| creator = {{plainlist| |
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* [[Robert A. Cinader]] |
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* [[Harold Jack Bloom]] |
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* [[Jack Webb]] |
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}} |
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| producer=Robert A. Cinader<br />Edwin Self<br />William Stark |
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| company = {{plainlist| |
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| associate_producer=Hannah Louise Shearer<br />[[Gino Grimaldi]]<br />[[Albert J. J. Zuniga]] |
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* [[Mark VII Limited]] |
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| related=''[[Sierra (TV series)|Sierra]]''<br />''[[Adam-12]]'' |
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* [[Universal Television]] |
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| starring = [[Robert Fuller (actor)|Robert Fuller]] <br /> [[Julie London]] <br /> [[Bobby Troup]] <br /> [[Randolph Mantooth]] <br /> [[Kevin Tighe]] <br /> [[Tim Donnelly (actor)|Tim Donnelly]] <br /> [[Mike Stoker]] <br /> [[Marco Lopez (actor)|Marco Lopez]] <br /> [[Michael Norell]] <br /> [[Ron Pinkard]] |
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}} |
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| producer = {{plainlist| |
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* Robert A. Cinader |
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* Edwin Self |
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* William Stark |
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}} |
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| related = {{plainlist| |
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* ''[[Sierra (TV series)|Sierra]]'' |
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* ''[[Adam-12]]'' |
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* ''[[Emergency +4]]'' |
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}} |
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| starring = {{plainlist| |
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* [[Robert Fuller (actor)|Robert Fuller]] |
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* [[Julie London]] |
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* [[Bobby Troup]] |
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* [[Randolph Mantooth]] |
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* [[Kevin Tighe]] |
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* [[Tim Donnelly (actor)|Tim Donnelly]] |
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* Mike Stoker |
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* [[Marco Lopez (actor)|Marco Lopez]] |
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* [[Michael Norell]] |
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* [[Ron Pinkard]] |
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* [[Vince Howard]] |
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}} |
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| num_seasons = 6 |
| num_seasons = 6 |
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| num_episodes = |
| num_episodes = 122 + 6 TV movies |
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| list_episodes = List of Emergency! episodes |
| list_episodes = List of Emergency! episodes |
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}} |
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'''''Emergency!''''' is an American [[ |
'''''Emergency!''''' is an American [[Action fiction|action-adventure]] [[medical drama]] television series jointly produced by [[Mark VII Limited]] and [[Universal Television]]. Debuting on [[NBC]] as a [[midseason replacement]] on January 15, 1972, replacing two [[situation comedy]] series, ''[[The Partners]]'' and ''[[The Good Life (1971 TV series)|The Good Life]]'', it ran for a total of 122 episodes until May 28, 1977, with six additional two-hour television films in 1978 and 1979. |
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The series stars [[Randolph Mantooth]] and [[Kevin Tighe]] as two rescuers, who work as [[paramedics]] and [[firefighter]]s in the [[Los Angeles metropolitan area]]. The duo formed Squad 51, a medical and rescue unit of the [[Los Angeles County Fire Department]], working together with the fictional Rampart General Hospital medical staff (portrayed by [[Robert Fuller (actor)|Robert Fuller]], [[Julie London]] and [[Bobby Troup]]), and with the firefighter engine company at Station 51. |
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Nearly 30 years after ''Emergency!'' debuted, the [[Smithsonian Institution|Smithsonian Institute]] accepted ''Emergency!'' memorabilia into its Natural History Museum.{{cn|date=November 2013}} |
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''Emergency!'' was produced by [[Jack Webb]] and created by [[Robert A. Cinader]], who had also created the police dramas ''[[Adam-12]]'' and ''[[Dragnet (series)|Dragnet]]''. [[Harold Jack Bloom]] is also credited as a creator; Webb does not receive screen credit as a creator. In the show's original TV-movie pilot, Webb was credited only as its director. However, the series aimed to be much more realistic than its predecessors as it portrayed [[emergency medical services]] (EMS). Pioneering EMS leader [[James O. Page]] served as a [[technical advisor]], and the two main actors underwent some paramedic training. |
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== Central characters and core format == |
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The show focuses on [[paramedic]]s John Gage and Roy DeSoto (played by [[Randolph Mantooth]] and [[Kevin Tighe]] respectively) of the [[Los Angeles County Fire Department]]'s Squad 51 based out of Station 51 in Carson (Actually LACoFD Station 127), and Rampart General Hospital [[emergency room]] headed by chief staff physician/surgeon Dr. Kelly Brackett and Head Nurse Dixie McCall, worked with physician/surgeon Dr. Joe Early and young intern Dr. Mike Morton (played by [[Robert Fuller (actor)|Robert Fuller]], [[Julie London]], [[Bobby Troup]] and [[Ron Pinkard]]) with whom the paramedics work to save lives. The Squad crew was stationed with LACoFD Engine Company 51 who often responded with them. The show, which portrayed dedicated civil servants who handled two or three varied and unrelated incidents during a typical shift, often showed real-life medical and firefighting procedures. It was also the first show to show paramedics who help rescue people injured or in peril. |
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The series aired at a time when [[ambulance]] coverage in the United States was rapidly expanding and changing, and the role of a paramedic was emerging as a profession, and is credited with popularizing the concepts of EMS and paramedics in American society, and even inspiring other states and municipalities to expand the service.<ref name="BehindTheScenes" /><ref name="bergman">{{cite journal|url=https://scholarworks.law.ubalt.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1810&context=ublr|title=EMERGENCY!: Send a TV Show to Rescue Paramedic Services!|first=Paul|last=Bergman|journal=University of Baltimore Law Review|issue=3|volume=36|date=Spring 2007}}</ref> |
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=== Broadcast history === |
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{{See also|List of Emergency! episodes}} |
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Never a Top 30 series, ''Emergency!'' still garnered a loyal audience and enjoyed a six-season run before its cancellation in 1977. The show spawned six "Movie of the Weeks" during the next two years. Three of the TV movies show the two paramedic characters traveling to [[Seattle]] (April 1978) and [[San Francisco]] (both in mid-1979) for EMS conventions. While in both cities, they end up assisting the local agencies (Seattle's [[Seattle & King County Emergency Medical Services System|Medic One]] and San Francisco's Rescue-2) with several rescues. The others were "The Steel Inferno", which dealt with a high-rise blaze (the final episode featuring most of the series cast), "Survival on Charter #220", in which two airplanes crash over a residential neighborhood—at the time it was reportedly the most expensive TV-movie ever made){{Citation needed|date=September 2007}}, and the "Greatest Rescues On ''Emergency!''", consisting mainly of clips from previous episodes, in which the firefighter/paramedics are both promoted to captain. Series stars London, Troup (who were husband and wife), Mantooth and Tighe appeared in all the episodes of the series, throughout its run; Fuller appeared in all but one episode. Years after the cancellation of the series, it was sold into syndication on [[TV Land]], [[Retro Television Network|RTV]] and [[Me-TV|MeTV]]. |
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Nearly 30 years after ''Emergency!'' debuted, the [[Smithsonian Institution]] accepted ''Emergency!'' memorabilia into its [[National Museum of American History]]'s public-service section,<ref name="TVguide-Smithsonian">{{cite web | url=http://www.tvguide.com/news/emergency-smithsonian-35871.aspx | title=Emergency! at the Smithsonian | publisher=TVGuide.com | date=15 May 2000 | access-date=3 January 2014 | author=Reiner, Jonathan}}</ref> including the firefighters' [[Firefighter's helmet|helmets]], [[Bunker gear|turnouts]], [[Biophone]], and [[Defibrillator#Types|defibrillator]].<ref name="One-on-One">{{cite web | url=http://tolucantimes.info/section/one-on-one/one-on-one-with-randolph-mantooth/ | title=One-on-One with Randolph Mantooth | publisher=The Tolucan Times | date=12 December 2013 | access-date=7 January 2014 | author=Ames, Denise | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131217010201/http://tolucantimes.info/section/one-on-one/one-on-one-with-randolph-mantooth/ | archive-date=17 December 2013 }}</ref> The vehicles of Station 51 are a part of the collection of the [[Los Angeles County Fire Museum]]. |
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=== Music === |
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Composer [[Nelson Riddle]] wrote the series' theme song and scored the first two seasons, with [[Billy May]] taking over the scoring duties in the third season. |
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== Cast == |
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[[File:Emergency! cast 1973.jpg|thumb|Cast of TV's ''Emergency!'' (1973), L-R: [[Kevin Tighe]], [[Robert Fuller (actor)|Robert Fuller]], [[Julie London]], [[Bobby Troup]] and [[Randolph Mantooth]] ]] |
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{{See also|List of Emergency! characters}} |
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Set at the fictional Fire Station 51 of the [[Los Angeles County Fire Department]], where one [[fire engine]] and the paramedic rescue squad are stationed, the series focuses on two young firefighter-paramedics: young and immature John Roderick "Johnny" Gage ([[Randolph Mantooth]]), who is always unlucky in love, and more mature family man Roy DeSoto ([[Kevin Tighe]]), who crew the rescue squad, Squad 51, and, in addition to providing emergency medical care, perform technical rescues such as [[vehicle extrication]]. |
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The paramedics are supervised by the [[Emergency department|emergency room (ER)]] staff of Rampart General Hospital: head physician Dr. Kelly Brackett ([[Robert Fuller (actor)|Robert Fuller]]), head nurse Dixie McCall ([[Julie London]]), neurosurgeon Dr. Joe Early (played by London's real-life husband [[Bobby Troup]]), and young intern Dr. Michael "Mike" Morton ([[Ron Pinkard]], though in the early episodes was a character named Dr. Thomas Gray). |
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=== Cast === |
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[[File:Los Angeles County Fire Department station 127 - A22.JPG|thumb|Fire Station 51]] |
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The series follows the early years of the [[paramedic]] program in the [[Los Angeles County, California|Los Angeles County]] [[Los Angeles County Fire Department|Fire Department]] (LACoFD) with the focus on the personnel of Fire Station 51 A Shift, in particular of young firemen/paramedics [[John Gage (Emergency!)|John Gage]] ([[Randolph Mantooth]]) and [[Roy DeSoto]] ([[Kevin Tighe]]). The paramedics coordinate with the [[Emergency department|Emergency Room (ER)]] staff of Rampart General Hospital: head physician [[Kelly Brackett|Dr. Kelly Brackett]] ([[Robert Fuller (actor)|Robert Fuller]]), head nurse [[Dixie McCall]] ([[Julie London]]), neurosurgeon [[Joe Early|Dr. Joe Early]] (played by Julie's real-life husband [[Bobby Troup]]), and young intern Dr. Mike Morton ([[Ron Pinkard]]). |
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Other regular characters are the firefighters of Station 51's "A" shift, Chester B. "Chet" Kelly (played by [[Tim Donnelly (actor)|Tim Donnelly]]) and Marco Lopez (played by actor [[Marco Lopez (actor)|Marco Lopez]]). Mike Stoker, a Los Angeles County Fire Department firefighter specialist, drove Engine 51.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/image/105793937/?terms=%22Mike%20Stoker%22&match=1 Inman, Julia, TV Scene, ''The Indianapolis Star'', May 2, 1973, page 32]</ref> Los Angeles County Fire Department Dispatcher Samuel Lanier portrayed himself in an uncredited voice role (over the radio) throughout the series, and he is also occasionally shown in a brief clip at the dispatch office just before a dispatch is heard in later seasons; he retired from the department shortly after ''Emergency!'' finished.<ref>"Sam Lanier." Sam Lanier. Emergency Fans, 2004. Web. 22 Oct. 2014.</ref> Lopez speaks [[Spanish language|Spanish]], and occasionally translated for the crew when a victim or onlooker spoke Spanish but no English. Unusually, Lopez, Stoker and Dick Hammer play characters named after themselves, though in two episodes, Hammer's character is played by [[John Smith (actor)|John Smith]]. |
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=== Other regular characters === |
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The crew of Engine 51 was [[Chet Kelly|Chester "Chet" Kelly]] ([[Tim Donnelly (actor)|Tim Donnelly]]), Marco Lopez ([[Marco Lopez (actor)|Marco Lopez]], an actor using his real name), Mike Stoker (LACoFD firefighter [[Mike Stoker]] as himself), Captain [[Dick Hammer]] (LACoFD Captain Richard Hammer as himself; later, John Smith, first season), Captain [[Hank Stanley|Henry "Hank" Stanley]] ([[Michael Norell]], during the remaining seasons. 51s C shift Captain Gene "Captain Hook" Hookrader also led A shift in couple of later episodes). LACoFD Dispatcher Sam Lanier portrayed himself in an uncredited voice role (over the radio) throughout the series, and he is also occasionally shown in a brief clip at the dispatch office just before a dispatch is heard in later seasons. |
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Various characters held the rank of Captain throughout the series. These include Captain [[Dick Hammer]] (Los Angeles County Fire Department Captain Richard Hammer as himself for first season/episodes 1–9, then later John Smith for the last two episodes of the season), Captain Hank Stanley ([[Michael Norell]], during the remaining seasons) and Captain Gene "Captain Hook" Hookrader in a couple of later episodes. Actor [[John Anderson (actor)|John Anderson]] portrayed Captain Bob Roberts in one Season 4 episode, "Smoke Eater". |
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Lopez spoke [[Spanish language|Spanish]], and occasionally translated for the crew when a victim or onlooker spoke Spanish but no English. Lopez had done this occasionally on ''[[Dragnet (series)|Dragnet]]'' as well. |
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Other [[recurring character]]s |
Other [[recurring character]]s include Battalion Chiefs Conrad ([[Art Balinger]]), Sorensen ([[Art Gilmore]]), Miller, and McConnike ([[William Boyett]]), Firefighter Conway / Firefighter Paramedic Tom Wheeler / Animal Control Supervisor Walt Marsh ([[Gary Crosby (actor)|Gary Crosby]]), [[Los Angeles County]] Sheriff's Deputy/Carson Police Officer/Sergeant Vince (Vince Howard), and recurring ambulance attendants Albert "Al" (Angelo DeMeo) and his assistant, George (George Orrison). Boyett and Crosby regularly appeared as Sergeant MacDonald and Officer Ed Wells respectively on ''[[Adam-12]]'', while Gilmore appeared on that show as watch commander Lieutenant Moore, a recurring character. |
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* [[Robert Fuller (actor)|Robert Fuller]] as Kelly Brackett, [[Medical Doctor|M.D.]], [[American College of Surgeons|F.A.C.S.]], [[American College of Emergency Physicians|A.C.E.P.]], chief of [[emergency medicine]] |
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== Series format == |
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* [[Julie London]] as Dixie McCall, [[Registered Nurse|R.N.]], chief nurse of the [[emergency room]] |
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Where Webb's ''Dragnet'' typically followed a pair of detectives investigating a single crime or a series of related crimes, ''Emergency!'' much more resembled ''Adam-12'', typically following the firemen and paramedics of Station 51, and the Emergency Room staff of Rampart General Hospital, through a series of incidents, some of which advance one or more overall plot threads that serve to unify the episode, and others of which are completely unrelated. Usually, the very first incident or its aftermath will begin the overall plot. Most episodes included at least one incident included strictly for comic relief, which usually involved someone or something humorously trapped in a basically harmless manner, yet which requires intervention by the crew of Station 51 and/or Rampart Hospital. Episodes frequently concluded with a spectacular fire or rescue taking up the entire final act, with the overall plot usually concluding in concurrence with the final incident in some way. |
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* [[Bobby Troup]] as Joe Early, [[Medical Doctor|M.D.]], [[American College of Surgeons|F.A.C.S.]], [[American College of Emergency Physicians|A.C.E.P.]] |
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* [[Ron Pinkard]] as Mike Morton, [[Medical Doctor|M.D.]] (identified in the cast of the pilot as "Dr. Tom Gray", also an intern—the two characters never appeared together). |
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* [[Randolph Mantooth]] as [[paramedic|Firefighter Paramedic]] John Gage, L.A. County FD Squad 51 |
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* [[Kevin Tighe]] as [[paramedic|Firefighter Paramedic]] Roy DeSoto, L.A. County FD Squad 51 |
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* [[Tim Donnelly (actor)|Tim Donnelly]] as [[Firefighter]] Chester B. "Chet" Kelly, L.A. County FD Engine 51 |
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* [[Marco Lopez (actor)|Marco Lopez]] as Firefighter Marco Lopez, L.A. County FD Engine 51 |
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* [[Mike Stoker]] as Firefighter Specialist Mike Stoker, L.A. County FD Engine 51 |
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* [[Dick Hammer]] as [[Fire captain|Captain]] [[Dick Hammer]] (First Season Only), L.A. County FD Engine 51 |
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* [[John Smith (actor)|John Smith]] as [[fire captain|Captain]] Hammer in episode "Hang-Up" 1st season, as [[fire captain|Captain]] in episode "Crash" 1st season, L.A. County FD Engine 51 (The back of this actor's turnout coat reads "Van Orden", but he is never called by name on the show; he is simply referred to as "Captain".) |
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* [[Art Balinger]] as [[Battalion Chief]] Conrad |
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* Art Moore as [[Battalion Chief]] |
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* [[Michael Norell]] as [[Fire captain|Captain]] Henry "Hank" Stanley, L.A. County FD Engine 51 (after first season) |
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* [[James McEachin]] as Detective Lieutenant Ronald Crockett LAPD. |
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* [[Vince Howard]] as L.A. County Sheriff's Deputy Vince Howard/Carson Police Officer/Sergeant Vince Howard. |
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* [[William Boyett]] as [[Battalion Chief]] McConnike (Season 6) Chief Battalion 14 |
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* Sam Lanier (uncredited) as, and providing the voice of, the Los Angeles County Fire Department dispatcher. |
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The role of Dixie McCall was originally written as a love interest for Fuller's character, Dr. Kelly Brackett, though the on-screen romance between Brackett and McCall was gradually downplayed and eventually ignored over the course of the series; this was explained by Brackett's and McCall's romance not having worked out. |
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Where ''Dragnet'' and ''[[Adam-12]]'' were half-hour shows, ''Emergency!,'' because of the greater scope of its format, was a full-hour series. |
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== Development == |
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Actual local disasters were worked into some story lines, such as the [[1971 San Fernando earthquake|1971 Sylmar earthquake]] which destroyed the newly completed [[Olive View Medical Center]] in the [[San Fernando Valley]]; and the 1973 "Crenshaw Fire" brush fire on the [[Palos Verdes Peninsula]]. |
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The series was created by [[Robert Cinader]] and [[Jack Webb]].<ref name="bergman"/><ref name=hmdb>{{cite web|title=Robert A. Cinader|url=http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=50349|website=Historical Marker Database|access-date=September 27, 2015}}</ref> Webb had previously created ''[[Dragnet (franchise)|Dragnet]]'', and with Cinader had jointly created ''[[Adam-12]]'', both of which were TV series about policing. In 1971, Cinader and Webb met with Captain Jim Page <!-- is this the seme Page linked below?--> and other officers from the Los Angeles County Fire Department to discuss creating a show about firefighters. Initially they planned to focus the show on physical rescues, but felt that there would not be enough ideas for episodes. Page suggested they look to the Los Angeles County Fire Department's new paramedic program for ideas.<ref name="bergman"/> |
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At the time, the Los Angeles area was home to 2 of only 12 paramedic programs in the United States (as opposed to ambulances that provided basic first aid or only transport). In 1970, Governor [[Ronald Reagan]] had signed the Wedworth-Townsend Act which allowed paramedic programs to be trialed in [[Los Angeles County]].<ref name="bergman"/> In September 1971, Cinader and Webb signed a contract with NBC to develop the series.<ref name="bergman"/> The initial pilot film of ''Emergency!'', titled "[[The Wedsworth-Townsend Act]]", focuses on the passage of a similar law to the Wedworth-Townsend Act that permits paramedics to operate.<ref>"Virtual Museum EMS History." 1969-Los Angeles Area Paramedic Programs. Np, 31 July 2011. Web. 14 Oct. 2014.</ref> |
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== Fire apparatus, equipment, stations and personnel == |
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The creators of ''Emergency!'' tried to accurately portray the Los Angeles County Fire Department (LACoFD) by using [[Fire apparatus|apparatus]] and [[Glossary of firefighting equipment|equipment]] in current use. Although a few key items were fictionalized, such as the identification of Station 51 and its equipment, many of the locations and apparatus reflected the operating reality of locations used in some filming. The extensive cooperation of the LACoFD is repeatedly apparent in the program. |
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Cinader asked the writers to get all the rescues that were to be portrayed on the show from fire stations' logbooks.<ref name="RM-QA-2014"/> Along the same line, the series was technically accurate as every script was fact-checked and approved by the series' technical consultants, Dr. Michael Criley (the man who had initially created the Los Angeles County Fire Department Paramedic program) and Los Angeles County Fire Department Battalion Chief [[James O. Page]]. There were always real paramedics serving as technical advisors on set every day for further technical advice.<ref name="RM-QA-2014"/> |
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=== Apparatus === |
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To train for their parts, the actors, Mantooth and Tighe sat in some paramedic classes (although they never actually took any written exams) and went on extensive [[ride-along]]s with Los Angeles County Fire Department.<ref name="RM-QA-2014">{{cite web | url=http://www.route51.com/Randy_Mantooth/Blog/Entries/2014/2/1_Q%26A_January_2014.html | title=Q & A with Randolph Mantooth | publisher=route51.com | date=1 February 2014 | access-date=2 February 2014 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140219202433/http://www.route51.com/Randy_Mantooth/Blog/Entries/2014/2/1_Q%26A_January_2014.html | archive-date=19 February 2014 }}</ref> In an interview with Tom Blixa of [[WTVN]], Mantooth said that the producer wanted them to train so that they would at least know the fundamentals and look like they knew what they were doing on camera. Mantooth mentioned that you needed to take the entire course and pass all the skills stations and final certification exam to be a paramedic, and went on to admit that "if anyone has a heart attack, I'll call 911 with the best of them."<ref name="WTVN">{{cite interview | title=Randolph Mantooth | date=23 May 2013 | access-date=11 November 2013 | interviewer=Tom Blixa | url=http://www.610wtvn.com/pages/producertom.html?article=11319270 | publisher=WTVN | location=Columbus, Ohio | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131019162356/http://www.610wtvn.com/pages/producertom.html?article=11319270 | archive-date=19 October 2013 }}</ref> Mantooth became an advocate for firefighters and paramedics after the series ended. He continued, as of late October 2014, to give speeches and make appearances all over the country at special events.<ref>"EMS Isn't a Right ... It's a Privilege." Randolph Mantooth. Nickel One Productions, 2012. Web. 22 Oct. 2014.</ref> |
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==== Squad 51 ==== |
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[[File:Squad 51.jpg|thumb|250px|left|Squad 51 before restoration, picture taken in the 1970s]] |
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The vehicle which represented Squad 51 was constructed by Universal crews and was an accurate replica of the units built in-house on stock truck chassis by LACoFD at the time. The LACoFD shops were unable to fulfill a request from Universal to build a unit for the show within the short deadline the studio asked, but did provide the [[blueprint]]s to Universal crews so the studio could build its own unit on a 1972 [[Dodge D Series|Dodge D300]] "dualie" (two rear tires on each side, on one axle) [[chassis]]. (This conversion was subsequently completed on a 1973 and 1974 Dodge D300 chassis as well.) The replica's accuracy is evident that the white light atop the "Twinsonic" lightbar was part of the blueprint, but never installed by LAcoFD on its departmental units. This light was supposed to differentiate paramedic units from regular rescue units. After the filming of the show, the studio donated the unit to LACoFD in 1978, which pressed it into occasional service as a reserve unit before it was eventually retired from service. |
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==Episodes== |
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In 1999, LACoFD donated the Universal-built squad to the [[Los Angeles County Fire Museum]], which restored it and put it on display.<ref>[http://www.lacountyfiremuseum.com/Squad51.html County Of Los Angeles Fire Museum's Squad 51<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref name="clafma.org">[http://www.clafma.org/VisitUs.html]{{dead link|date=October 2013}} Visit the County Of Los Angeles Fire Museum</ref> |
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{{Further|List of Emergency! episodes}} |
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{{:List of Emergency! episodes}} |
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== |
==Setting== |
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Interior scenes were shot on Universal's sound stages.<ref name="RM-QA-2014"/> Exterior scenes of the fire station were shot at Station 127 in Carson, while exterior scenes of the hospital were shot at Harbor General Hospital (now [[Harbor-UCLA Medical Center]]). |
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The original [[Engine 51]] was a 1965 open-cab [[Crown Coach Corporation|Crown Firecoach]], and was portrayed by LACoFD Engine 127's 1965 Crown in stock footage at the fire station (in reality LACoFD Station 127), and by LACoFD Engine 60's 1965 Crown (the unit assigned to Universal Studios) for filming on the grounds of the studio. In a few instances in the first and second seasons, the regular apparatus borrowed from LACoFD and used for filming appear to have been unavailable as some scenes show a slightly different vintage Crown Firecoach pumper, most evident by the different style of emergency lights on the cab's roof. The mixing of stock station and response footage with footage filmed for specific storylines created continuity errors by mixing these apparatus. |
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=== Station 51 === |
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Early in the third season, Engine 51 was represented by a 1973 [[Ward LaFrance Truck Corporation|Ward LaFrance]] P80 Ambassador triple-combination pumper. LACoFD was purchasing numerous P80s at the time, and Ward LaFrance donated a P80 unit to Universal Studios specifically for use in the show. The Ward LaFrance Engine 51 was thus not a disguised unit and did not require the use of LACoFD resources for filming. |
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[[File:Los Angeles County Fire Department station 127 - A22.JPG|thumb|Los Angeles Fire Station 127 was used to represent Station 51 in the series.({{coord|33|49|28|N|118|14|18|W|type:city}})]] |
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[[File:Engine 51.jpg|thumb|200px|right|The Engine 51 from Ward La France, shown in a photo shot in the 1970s.]] |
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Station 51 was represented by [[Los Angeles County Fire Department#Stations and apparatus|Los Angeles Fire Station 127]], located at 2049 East 223rd Street (between Wilmington Avenue and Alameda Street, with the [[Interstate 405 (California)|San Diego Freeway (I-405)]] visible in the background in wide shots) in [[Carson, California]]. |
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Engine 127's 1965 Crown, one of the two originally used for the show, was later refitted with a closed cab. Eventually it was placed into reserve status when Station 127 received a new engine. In its reserve capacity, it was serving temporarily as Engine 95 when it was involved in a collision. Beyond repair, it was salvaged for parts and sold as scrap.<ref>[http://modena.intergate.ca/personal/pl8s/Manifest/EMF_CWN_17.htm Engine 127 - Deceased]{{dead link|date=October 2013}}</ref> The County of Los Angeles Fire Museum Association now owns and has restored the 1965 Crown which formerly served as Engine 60 at Universal Studios<ref>[http://www.lacountyfiremuseum.com/Engine51Crown.html Los Angeles County Fire Museum Collection - 1965 Crown Firecoach]</ref> and appeared most often as the Crown version of Engine 51. |
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At the time the series aired, the Los Angeles County Fire Department had no Station 51. It was the number of a station that had previously existed at the intersection of Arlington and Atlantic Avenues on the outskirts of [[Lynwood, California|Lynwood]] and [[Compton, California|Compton]], and closed in the late 1960s when the area was annexed by Lynwood. Since 1994, the Los Angeles County Fire Department has had a Station 51 in a different location. In an homage to the show, the fire station on the grounds of Universal Studios was renumbered from Station 60 to Station 51, more than 20 years after the debut of ''Emergency!''. The vehicles based at Station 60 were accordingly renumbered. This station is therefore home to an actual Engine 51 and Squad 51, as well as Patrol 51 and [[Quint (fire apparatus)|Quint]] 51 (a ladder truck with ground ladders, fire pump, water tank and hose).<ref>[http://lacountyfire.com/modules.php?name=Stations&stat=showStationdetail&stationNo=51 Los Angeles County Fire Station 51] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090208090403/http://www.lacountyfire.com/modules.php?name=Stations&stat=showStationdetail&stationNo=51 |date=2009-02-08 }}</ref> |
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The Ward LaFrance P80 Ambassador that represented Engine 51, owned by the studio outright, made its final ''Emergency!'' appearance in the movie ''The Steel Inferno'', but was marked as Engine 110. The Ward remained at Universal Studios as a prop following the conclusion of the show, and made brief appearances such as in the 1979 film ''[[The China Syndrome]]'' and a short educational film produced by the [[National Fire Protection Association]] in 1984.<ref name="Emergency: Behind The Scene, pp 349"/> Eventually, the Ward was pressed into active duty at [[Yosemite National Park]], as MCA Recreation Services (Universal's then-owner/operator) was under contract to provide visitor services at the park at the time, and it remained with YNP Fire after MCARS' involvement at the Park ended.<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20091028071851/http://www.geocities.com/cnf_e32/apparatus/E51/E51.htm Engine 51 at Yosemite National Park]</ref> It served continuously as YNP Fire's Engine 7 until it was retired and replaced in July 2008. Per terms of a previous agreement between the Park and the County of Los Angeles Fire Museum Association, the museum assumed ownership of the Ward and added it to the museum collection. In 2012, the museum finished a complete restoration of the Ward to its original appearance in the show.<ref>{{cite web|title=Engine 51 Restoration|url=http://www.lacountyfiremuseum.com/Engine51Restoration.html|publisher=LA County Fire Museum, Inc.|accessdate=25 May 2013}}</ref><ref>[http://www.lacountyfiremuseum.com/Engine51Ward.html County Of Los Angeles Fire Museum's Engine 51 Ward LaFrance<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref name="clafma.org"/> |
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Station 127 was chosen by series co-creator Robert A. Cinader, and the station was eventually named in his honor (a plaque honoring Robert A. Cinader is now mounted on the station next to the office front door). Station 106 in [[Rolling Hills Estates, California]], a similar design to 127, was initially the choice, but faced north (versus south), which would make it difficult to light properly. At the time of filming Station 127 housed Engine 127 and Truck 127 (a [[Fire engine#Aerial appliance|ladder truck]]), whereas the fictional Station 51 had a small rescue truck instead of a ladder truck. As of 2018, Station 127 now instead houses Quint 127 and Foam 127. |
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=== Locations === |
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When filming on location took place, Truck 127 was moved off-site and replaced with Universal's Squad 51, while Engine 127 was disguised as Engine 51. After Universal obtained a 1973 Ward LaFrance to use as Engine 51, both of Station 127's apparatus would be replaced by Universal's Engine 51 and Squad 51 for filming on location. Despite being "kicked out" of their own station for filming, Truck 127 still appeared in numerous episodes under its own callsign. The Carson location of Station 127 was directly referenced in one episode where a phone call was traced to a house "in Carson" that Engine 51 and Squad 51 eventually responded to. Interior scenes at Station 51 were filmed on sets at the studio, which accurately recreated the interior of Station 127. |
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==== Station 51 ==== |
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Station 51 was represented by LACoFD [[Fire station|Fire Station]] 127, located at 2049 East 223rd Street (between Wilmington and Alameda Streets) in [[Carson, California]] ({{coord|33|49|28|N|118|14|18|W|type:city}} - [http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=2049+East+223rd+Street&sll=33.831068,-118.238082&sspn=0.02442,0.033817&g=carson,+ca&layer=c&ie=UTF8&ll=33.82884,-118.237846&spn=0.01221,0.016909&z=16&cbll=33.824265,-118.238368&panoid=B-DWKLjk7xR_iGY5q_n_Gw&cbp=1,354.2753834993099,,0,0.12433240775227414|Google Maps Street View]), and it is still in use today.<ref>[http://lacountyfire.com/modules.php?name=Stations&stat=showStationdetail&stationNo=127 Los Angeles County Fire Station 127]</ref> Universal was permitted to use the station number of "51" for the program because at that time there was no existing Station 51 since the closing of LACoFD Station 51, which had been located near the intersection of Arlington and Atlantic Avenues, and closed in the late 1960s due to the area being annexed by the city of Lynwood. |
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"KMG365", which is said by the crewmember acknowledging a call for a unit at Station 51, is a real [[Federal Communications Commission|FCC]] [[call sign]] used by Los Angeles County Fire Department assigned to Fire Station 98 in Bellflower, and it appears on the Station Patch for Station 127. |
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Station 127 was chosen for its natural lighting by series co-creator Robert A. Cinader, and the station was eventually named in his honor. A plaque honoring Robert A. Cinader is now mounted on the station next to the office front door. At the time of filming Station 127 housed Engine 127 and Truck 127, but it has never actually fielded its own paramedic unit. |
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=== Rampart General Hospital === |
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For filming on location, Truck 127 was moved off-site and replaced with Universal's Squad 51, while Engine 127 was disguised as Engine 51. After Universal obtained the 1972 Ward LaFrance for Engine 51, both of Station 127's companies would be replaced by Universal's Engine 51 and Squad 51 for filming on location. While some filming of scenes set at Station 51 were done on sets at the studio, these sets accurately recreated the interior of Station 127. |
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In the pilot episode, Rampart General Hospital is shown (in a letter to Dr. Brackett) to be located in [[Carson, California]]. At the time of filming, Rampart General Hospital was represented by [[Harbor–UCLA Medical Center|Harbor General Hospital]], located in [[Torrance, California]] at 1000 West Carson Street, the intersection of Vermont Avenue and Carson Street ({{coord|33|49|49|N|118|17|30|W|type:city}}). The pairing of Station 127 and Harbor General as "Station 51" and "Rampart" was accurate, since if a squad had actually been quartered at Station 127, it would likely have operated from Harbor General Hospital, since they are only 2.1 miles (3.4 km) apart. Not accurate was the response area of Station 51. Many examples exist. As seen in season 6 episode 5, where they responded to 4000 N. Riverton Ave. Universal City, Truck 127 appeared in one episode where a rescue event occurred at Rampart (Harbor General), as the hospital really is in Truck 127's "first-due" district. |
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In an episode near the end of the series, one character, an aged [[jazz]] musician, hearing the name Rampart General, says, "My grandaddy used to play on Rampart Street in [[New Orleans]]!" The name Rampart actually comes from the show ''[[Adam-12]]'' and is the real name of a division of the [[LAPD]].<ref name=EBS>{{citation |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cixPyu5pCaUC&pg=PA105 |title=Emergency!: Behind the Scene |author1=Richard Yokley |author2=Rozane Sutherland |chapter=Rampart Hospital |isbn=978-0-7637-4896-8 |year=2007 |publisher=Jones & Bartlett Learning |access-date=2013-10-31}}</ref> |
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Despite being "kicked out" of their own station for filming, Truck 127 still appeared in numerous episodes under its own callsign. The Carson location of Station 127 was directly referenced in one episode where a phone call was traced to a house "in Carson" that Engine 51 and Squad 51 eventually responded to. |
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In 1978, by the approval of the [[Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors]], Harbor General Hospital was renamed as [[Harbor-UCLA Medical Center]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.humc.edu/calendar/ca6070.html|title=HUMC – Celebrating 50 Years of Caring|access-date=22 December 2015}}</ref> |
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"KMG365", which is said by the crewmember acknowledging a call for a unit at Station 51, is a real [[Federal Communications Commission|FCC]] [[call sign]] used by LACoFD assigned to Fire Station 98 in Bellflower, and it appears on the Station Patch for Station 127, which today still houses Engine 127 and Truck 127 (now known as Light Force 127) as well as Foam 127. |
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In 2018, CrowdRx, Inc., launched their Mobile Emergency Room Trailer, naming it "Rampart" to honor Rampart General Hospital.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.crowdrx.org/rampart-mobile-emergency-room/|title=CrowdRx – Rampart Mobile Emergency Room|access-date=22 December 2018}}</ref> |
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In a nod to the show, LACoFD officially changed the designation of the fire station on the grounds of Universal Studios from Station 60 to Station 51 in 1994, more than 20 years after the debut of ''Emergency!'' The companies at Station 60 were also changed so that this station is now indeed the home of Engine 51 and Squad 51 as well as Patrol 51.<ref>[http://lacountyfire.com/modules.php?name=Stations&stat=showStationdetail&stationNo=51 Los Angeles County Fire Station 51]</ref> |
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<gallery class="center"> |
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File:Harbor-UCLA Medical Center 20150328 (1).jpg|Harbor-UCLA Medical Center; taken Sat. March 28, 2015 |
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File:Harbor-UCLA Medical Center 20150328 (2).jpg|Harbor-UCLA Medical Center; taken Sat. March 28, 2015 |
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File:Harbor-UCLA Medical Center 20150328 (3).jpg|Harbor-UCLA Medical Center; taken Sat. March 28, 2015 |
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File:Harbor-UCLA Medical Center 20150328 (4).jpg|Harbor-UCLA Medical Center; taken Sat. March 28, 2015 |
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</gallery> |
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=== Los Angeles County Fire Dispatch === |
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[[File:LACoFD Dispatcher Sam Lanier.jpg|thumb|Los Angeles County Fire Department Dispatcher Sam Lanier (uncredited voice of dispatcher). On the left is the Motorola Quik-Call system that created the familiar "alert tones" heard on the show.]] |
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At the time of filming, Rampart General Hospital was represented by Harbor General Hospital, located in [[Torrance, California]] at 1000 West Carson Street, the intersection of Vermont Avenue and Carson Street ({{coord|33|49|49|N|118|17|30|W|type:city}}). The pairing of Station 127 and Harbor General as "Station 51" and "Rampart" was accurate, since if a squad had actually been quartered at Station 127, it would likely have operated from Harbor General Hospital, since they are only 2.1 miles (3.4 km) apart. Truck 127 appeared in one episode where a rescue event occurred at Rampart (Harbor General), as the hospital really is in Truck 127's "first-due" district. |
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Footage of a dispatcher used during the show appears to have been filmed at the Los Angeles County Fire Department Keith E. Klinger dispatch center in East Los Angeles. The screen he looked at to see the street maps is a rear projection from a Kodak Carousel projector built into the console. The man was actual Los Angeles County Fire Department dispatcher Sam Lanier, who also lent his voice as the dispatcher for the series' entire run. |
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In an episode near the end of the series, one character, an aged [[jazz]] musician, hearing the name Rampart General, says, "My grandaddy used to play on Rampart Street in [[New Orleans]]!" The name Rampart actually comes from the show ''[[Adam-12]]'' and is the real name of a division of the [[LAPD]].<ref name=EBS>{{citation |url=http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=cixPyu5pCaUC&pg=PA105 |title=Emergency!: Behind the Scene |author=Richard Yokley, Rozane Sutherland |chapter=Rampart Hospital |isbn=978-0-7637-4896-8 |year=2007 |accessdate=2013-10-31}}</ref> |
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The familiar tones that called Station 51 into service were initiated by dispatch using a [[Quik Call I|Motorola Quik Call I]] unit, a radio listening on a common paging frequency for a pair of special audio tones assigned to that station. For a large incident, one could often hear many sets of tones calling many stations, but only a specific pair would sound the buzzer for Station 51. |
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In 1978, by the approval of the [[Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors]], Harbor General Hospital was renamed as [[Harbor-UCLA Medical Center]].<ref>[http://www.humc.edu/calendar/ca6070.html HUMC - Celebrating 50 Years of Caring<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> |
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A long scene showing the sequence of microfiche reader address lookup to quik-call dispatch appears in the season six episode "Family Ties". |
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==== Los Angeles County Fire Dispatch ==== |
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Footage of a dispatcher used during the show appears to have been filmed at the LACoFD dispatch center in East Los Angeles. The screen he looked at to see the street maps is a rear projection from a Kodak Carousel projector built into the console. The man was actual LACoFD dispatcher Sam Lanier, who also lent his voice as the dispatcher for the show's entire run. |
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==Props== |
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The familiar tones that called Station 51 into service were initiated by dispatch using a [[Quik Call I|Motorola Quik Call I]] unit, a radio listening on a common paging frequency for a pair of special audio tones assigned to that station. For a large incident, one could often hear many sets of tones calling many stations, but only a specific pair would sound the buzzer for Station 51. |
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{{more citations needed section|date=March 2017}} |
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The creators of ''Emergency!'' tried to accurately portray the Los Angeles County Fire Department by using [[Fire apparatus|apparatus]] and [[Glossary of firefighting equipment|equipment]] in current use. The extensive cooperation of the Los Angeles County Fire Department is repeatedly apparent in the program. Although a few key items were fictionalized, such as the identification of Station 51 and its equipment, many of the locations and apparatus reflected the operating reality of locations used in some filming. Nearly 30 years after ''Emergency!'' debuted, the [[Smithsonian Institution]] accepted ''Emergency!'' memorabilia into its National History Museum, public-service section,<ref name="TVguide-Smithsonian"/> including their helmets, turnouts, Biophone, and defibrillator.<ref name="One-on-One"/> |
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=== |
===Squad 51=== |
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[[File:Squad 51.jpg|thumb|left|Squad 51 before restoration, picture taken at [[In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip|Pomona Raceway]] in the 1970s]] |
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During a portion of the first season, real-life LACoFD [[Dick Hammer|Captain Richard Hammer]] portrayed himself as a Station 51 captain. Hammer died of cancer in 1999. |
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The vehicles which represented [[Squad 51]] were constructed by Universal crews and were accurate replicas of the units built in-house on stock 1970 Dodge D300 truck chassis by Los Angeles County Fire Department prior to the filming of "Emergency". There were three identical truck chassis' used to represent the original TV Squad 51. The Los Angeles County Fire Department shops were unable to fulfill a request from Universal to build the first unit for the show within the short deadline the studio required, but did provide the blueprints so the studio could build its own unit on a 1972 Dodge D300 chassis. |
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The replica's accuracy is evident in that the white light atop the Federal Signal Twinsonic lightbar was part of the blueprint, but never installed by Los Angeles County Fire Department on its departmental units. This light was intended to be used by other personnel and particularly helicopters to differentiate paramedic squads from regular rescue squads and other units operating that vehicle type. Prior to season 3, the studio acquired a 1973 D300 cab and chassis. All of the external paraphernalia (rear compartment box, lightbar, searchlights, K12 box, etc.) were removed and remounted on the new squad chassis. This vehicle lasted for two seasons. In season 5 the third and final Dodge truck appeared. It was a 1974 model and this is the vehicle that presently resides in the Los Angeles County Fire Department museum. Once again, the rear compartment box and lightbar from the original Squad 51 were remounted. Also, the last two chassis came with a different engine grille, so the parts from the first truck were kept. The whereabouts of the first two stripped-down Dodge D300s remains a mystery. After the filming of the series, at the Fire Department's request, the studio donated the unit to Los Angeles County Fire Department in 1978, which pressed it into occasional service as a reserve unit before it was eventually retired from service. |
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Another real-life LACoFD [[firefighter]], [[Mike Stoker]], portrayed himself throughout the entire run of the series as a driver/engineer of Engine 51. Since Stoker possessed a [[Screen Actors Guild]] card, it was helpful to Universal to have an actor who was also fully trained and qualified to actually drive and operate Engine 51. Stoker retired from the LACoFD as a Captain in 1996. |
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In 1999, Los Angeles County Fire Department donated the Universal-built squad to the [[Los Angeles County Fire Museum]], which restored it and put it on display.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lacountyfiremuseum.com/Squad51.html|title=County Of Los Angeles Fire Museum's Squad 51|access-date=December 22, 2015}}{{dead link|date=August 2024}}</ref><ref name="clafma.org">[http://www.lacountyfiremuseum.com/VisitUs.html] Visit the County Of Los Angeles Fire Museum</ref> |
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LACoFD Dispatcher Sam Lanier, although rarely seen on camera, portrayed himself as a dispatcher in virtually every episode. Despite being the recognizable voice over the radio sending Station 51 and other LACoFD crews to all sorts of emergencies, he was never listed in the show's credits. Lanier retired shortly after the show ended in 1977. He died of a massive heart attack in 1997, while attempting to assist at an automobile crash outside of his home.<ref name=lanier>{{cite web | title=A Man Known More by his Voice than his Name | accessdate=2009-09-03 | url=http://www.emergencyfans.com/people/sam_lanier.htm | first=Eric | last=Ruggeri}}</ref> |
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=== Engine 51 === |
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Numerous uncredited LACoFD personnel were used throughout the course of the series when other actual LACoFD units were used during filming. |
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[[File:Engine 51.jpg|thumb|The [[Engine 51]] from Ward La France, shown in a photo shot in the 1970s.]] |
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The original [[Engine 51]] was a 1965 open-cab [[Crown Coach Corporation#Firecoach|Crown Firecoach]], and was represented by Los Angeles County Fire Department Engine 127's 1965 Crown in stock footage at the fire station (in reality Los Angeles County Fire Department Station 127), and by Los Angeles County Fire Department Engine 60's 1965 Crown (the unit assigned to Universal Studios) for filming on the grounds of the studio. In a few instances in the first and second seasons, the regular apparatus borrowed from Los Angeles County Fire Department and used for filming appear to have been unavailable as some scenes show a slightly different vintage Crown Firecoach pumper, most evident by the different style of emergency lights on the cab's roof. As a condition of providing a Dept pumper for filming the Los Angeles County Fire Department required one of its own qualified Engineers be used to operate it, active Firefighter Engineer (later Specialist) [[Mike Stoker]], who already possessed a [[Screen Actors Guild]] card, was cast in the series. The mixing of stock station and response footage with footage filmed for specific storylines created [[Continuity (fiction)#Continuity errors|continuity errors]] by mixing these apparatus. |
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Early in the third season, Engine 51 was represented by a 1973 closed-cab [[Ward LaFrance Truck Corporation|Ward LaFrance]] P80 Ambassador triple-combination pumper. Los Angeles County Fire Department was purchasing numerous P80s at the time, and Ward LaFrance, through their local distributor, Albro Fire Equipment Co. of Los Angeles, donated a P80 unit to Universal Studios specifically for use in the series as [[product placement]]. The Ward LaFrance Engine 51 was thus not a disguised unit and did not require the use of Los Angeles County Fire Department resources for filming. |
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The character "John Gage" was named for James O. Page, a LACoFD battalion chief in charge of development of the paramedic rescue squads who was a technical advisor to Webb and Cinader. Page went on to become a lawyer and publisher of the ''Journal of Emergency Medical Services''. Originally, Cinader requested that Randolph Mantooth's character be named after Page, but he turned it down. |
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Engine 127's 1965 Crown, one of the two originally used for the series, was later refitted with a closed cab. Eventually it was placed into reserve status when Station 127 received a new engine. In its reserve capacity, it was serving temporarily as Engine 95 when it was involved in a collision. Damaged beyond repair in the collision, it was salvaged for parts and sold as scrap.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://johnweeks.com/tour/emergency/index.html|title=Emergency! TV Show Equipment And Filming Locations|access-date=December 22, 2015}}</ref> The County of Los Angeles Fire Museum Association now owns and has restored the 1965 Crown which formerly served as Engine 60 at Universal Studios<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lacountyfiremuseum.com/Engine51Crown.html|title=County Of Los Angeles Fire Museum's Engine 51Crown|access-date=December 22, 2015|archive-date=July 13, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110713180745/http://www.lacountyfiremuseum.com/Engine51Crown.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> and appeared most often as the Crown version of Engine 51. |
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=== Equipment === |
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[[File:Biophne.jpg|thumb|right| The Original Emergency! Biophone Model 3502]] |
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The Ward LaFrance P80 Ambassador that represented Engine 51, owned by the studio outright, made its final ''Emergency!'' appearance in the movie ''The Steel Inferno,'' but it was marked as Engine 110. The Ward remained at Universal Studios as a prop following the conclusion of the series, and made brief appearances such as in the film ''[[The China Syndrome]]'' (1979) and a short educational film produced by the [[National Fire Protection Association]] in 1984.<ref name="Emergency: Behind The Scene, pp 349"/> Eventually, the Ward was pressed into active duty at [[Yosemite National Park]], as MCA Recreation Services (Universal's then-owner/operator) was under contract to provide visitor services at the park at the time, and it remained with YNP Fire after MCARS's involvement at the Park ended.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.geocities.com/cnf_e32/apparatus/E51/E51.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091028071851/http://www.geocities.com/cnf_e32/apparatus/E51/E51.htm|title=Fire Engines Page 1|archive-date=28 October 2009|access-date=December 22, 2015}}</ref> |
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The orange radio Gage and DeSoto used was a model 3502 Biocom [[Biophone]]. It came in an orange fiberglass case and was fully portable. It could transmit EKG and voice simultaneously, could be charged in 15 minutes, and had one hour of talking time. The radio had eight duplex UHF channels and a total of 12 watts of transmitting power. There were two Biophones used on the show, one smaller than the other.<ref>[http://www.bchwys.ca/E51/EMF_ME9.htm Emergency! Manifest]{{dead link|date=October 2013}}</ref><ref name="YokleySutherland2007">{{cite book|author1=Richard C. Yokley|author2=Rozane Sutherland|title=Emergency!: Behind the Scene|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=cixPyu5pCaUC&pg=PA117|accessdate=12 May 2013|date=15 July 2007|publisher=Jones & Bartlett Learning|isbn=978-0-7637-4896-8|pages=117–}}</ref> |
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As the fire department for the concession area was private (and not state or federal), the engine had the California personalized (vanity) license plate YCS E51. It served continuously as YNP Fire's Engine 7 until it was retired and replaced in July 2008. Per terms of a previous agreement between the Park and the County of Los Angeles Fire Museum Association, the museum assumed ownership of the Ward and added it to the museum collection. In 2012, the museum finished a complete restoration of the Ward to its original appearance in the show.<ref name="clafma.org"/><ref>{{cite web|title=Engine 51 Restoration|url=http://www.lacountyfiremuseum.com/Engine51Restoration.html|publisher=LA County Fire Museum, Inc.|access-date=25 May 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130515104600/http://www.lacountyfiremuseum.com/Engine51Restoration.html|archive-date=15 May 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lacountyfiremuseum.com/Engine51Ward.html|title=County Of Los Angeles Fire Museum's Engine 51 Ward LaFrance|access-date=December 22, 2015}}{{dead link|date=August 2024}}</ref> |
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In "Survival on Charter #220", Gage and DeSoto are briefly seen using a [[Motorola Apcor]], with Dr. Early and Nurse McCall using a Motorola base station back at Rampart. |
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[[File:Drugbox E!.jpg|thumb|200px|left|Old Pal Tackle Box PF-3300: AKA Drug Box, ''Emergency!'']] |
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The [[Electrocardiogram|electrocardiograph]] (ECG or EKG) machine used in the show was a [[Datascope]] Model 850 Dual Trace Physiological Monitor. This model came out in 1971 and was the first portable, battery rechargeable unit of its kind.<ref>[http://www.proactmedical.com.au/resource/sales_sheet2.pdf]{{dead link|date=October 2013}}</ref> Its original price was $2,000. In the middle of Season 4, the show switched to a Datascope MD/2, which was a combined monitor and defibrillator that allowed the monitor unit to slide out. The paramedics also carried some medical equipment in a black model "PF-3300" Old Pal tackle box, commonly used by LACoFD at the time. Mantooth and Tighe went through paramedic training as preparation for their role, both completing the class but neither actually taking the certification exam. There were times when the actors had some difficulty pronouncing the "medical" words in the show convincingly, so some scenes show the characters from the back or behind a mask, which allowed them to dub in the correct pronunciations at a later time.<ref name="YokleySutherland2007" /> |
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Both of Station 51's vehicles have also been immortalized as ''[[Hot Wheels]]'' diecast vehicles ''Emergency Squad'' (1998) and ''Fire-Eater'' (1977) respectively. |
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Many items of the equipment were donated to the [[Smithsonian Institute]]'s [[National Museum of American History]] in May 2000.<ref>[http://www.clafma.org/project51/project51artifacts.html Clafma.org]{{dead link|date=October 2013}}</ref> |
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===Antique Dennis fire engine=== |
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The protective clothing ("turn-out gear") that the firefighters wore, including the MSA Topgard helmets, as well as nearly all other equipment such as insignia, were standard LACoFD issue at the time. |
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An antique fire engine was the subject of three episodes of the show. In the third season, episode 2, entitled, "The Old Engine", Gage and DeSoto see a derelict fire engine in a scrap yard during a fire. They purchase the vehicle for $80 according to the script and attempt to restore it. The script says it is a [[Dennis Specialist Vehicles#Fire engines|1932 Dennis fire engine]], but the vehicle is a Dennis Ace model, manufactured from 1934 to 1939 and sold to the British market, including Australia, New Zealand, and India. Records indicate this model was not sold in the US.<ref name="auto">Richard Yokley, Rozane Sutherland (2007), "Rampart Hospital", Emergency!: Behind the Scene; {{ISBN|978-0-7637-4896-8}}</ref> |
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In Season 4, Episode 13, "The Parade", the two paramedics have finished their restoration of the Dennis Ace fire engine for the California Firefighters Parade, though having to replace a part that just busted. En route to the parade, wearing antique uniforms, the two spot an apartment fire and respond in the engine using its antiquated equipment to rescue two people trapped in the building before Los Angeles County Fire Department arrives. The Dennis Ace is heavily damaged when the structure collapses onto it. In Season 5, Episode 2, "The Old Engine Cram" the main characters are informed by Nurse McCall that a man is looking to buy that same model of fire engine.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0570710/|title="Emergency!" The Old Engine Cram (TV Episode 1975)|work=IMDb|access-date=December 22, 2015}}</ref> Unfortunately, the engine is mistakenly referred to in the script as a 1923 Paige when it is actually a Dennis.<ref name="auto"/> |
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The badges used in the series were authentic LACoFD badges. At the end of filming each day, they were collected, stored for safekeeping and then reissued the next day. |
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=== Equipment === |
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== Off-screen relationships == |
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[[File:Biophone - 1.jpg|thumb|right| The original ''Emergency!'' Biophone Model 3502]] |
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Bobby Troup and Julie London had been married since 1959, well before being cast as Dr. Joe Early and Nurse Dixie McCall in ''Emergency!''. The role of Dixie McCall was originally written as a love interest for the character of Dr. Kelly Brackett, though the on-screen romance between Brackett and McCall was gradually downplayed and eventually ignored during the course of the series. London had previously been married to producer Jack Webb from 1947 to 1953, though the divorce seems to have been amicable as Webb had also previously cast Troup for roles in ''[[Dragnet (series)|Dragnet]]'' and ''[[Adam-12]]''. Troup and London remained married until his death in 1999. London died the following year. |
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The orange radio Gage and DeSoto used was a model 3502 Biocom [[Biophone]]. It came in an orange fiberglass case and was fully portable. It could transmit EKG and voice, could be charged in 15 minutes, and had one hour of talking time. The radio had eight duplex UHF channels and a total of 12 watts of transmitting power. There were two Biophones used on the series, one smaller than the other.<ref name="YokleySutherland2007">{{cite book|last1=Yokley |first1=Richard C. |last2=Sutherland |first2=Rozane |title=Emergency!: Behind the Scene|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cixPyu5pCaUC&pg=PA117|access-date=12 May 2013|date=15 July 2007|publisher=Jones & Bartlett Learning|isbn=978-0-7637-4896-8|pages=117–}}</ref> |
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In "Survival on Charter #220", Gage and DeSoto are briefly seen using a [[Motorola Apcor]], with Dr. Early and Nurse McCall using a Motorola base station back at Rampart. |
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== Primary cast == |
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* [[Robert Fuller (actor)|Robert Fuller]] as [[Kelly Brackett]], [[Medical Doctor|M.D.]], [[American College of Surgeons|F.A.C.S.]], A.C.E.P. |
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* [[Julie London]] as [[Dixie McCall]], [[Registered Nurse|R.N.]] |
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* [[Bobby Troup]] as [[Joe Early]], [[Medical Doctor|M.D.]], [[American College of Surgeons|F.A.C.S.]], A.C.E.P. |
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* [[Ron Pinkard]] as [[List of Emergency! characters|Mike Morton]], [[Medical Doctor|M.D.]] (identified in the cast of the pilot as "Dr. Tom Gray"). |
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* [[Randolph Mantooth]] as [[paramedic|Firefighter Paramedic]] [[John Gage (Emergency!)|John Rodrick "Johnny" Gage]], L.A. County FD Squad 51 |
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* [[Kevin Tighe]] as [[paramedic|Firefighter Paramedic]] [[Roy DeSoto]], L.A. County FD Squad 51 |
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* [[Tim Donnelly (actor)|Tim Donnelly]] as [[Firefighter]] [[Chet Kelly|Chester B. "Chet" Kelly]], L.A. County FD Engine 51 |
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* [[Marco Lopez (actor)|Marco Lopez]] as Firefighter [[List of Emergency! characters|Marco Lopez]], L.A. County FD Engine 51 |
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* [[Mike Stoker]] as Firefighter Specialist [[List of Emergency! characters|Mike Stoker]], L.A. County FD Engine 51 |
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* [[Dick Hammer]] as [[Fire captain|Captain]] [[Dick Hammer]] (First Season Only), L.A. County FD Engine 51 |
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* [[John Smith (actor)|John Smith]] as [[fire captain|Captain]] Hammer in episode "Hang-Up" 1st season, as [[fire captain|Captain]] in episode "Crash" 1st season, L.A. County FD Engine 51 |
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* [[Michael Norell]] as [[Fire captain|Captain]] [[Hank Stanley|Henry "Hank" Stanley]], L.A. County FD Engine 51 |
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[[File:Drugbox E!.jpg|thumb|left|Old Pal Tackle Box PF-3300: AKA Drug Box, ''Emergency!'']] |
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=== Creators === |
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The [[Electrocardiogram|electrocardiograph]] (ECG or EKG) machine used in the show was a [[Datascope]] Model 850 Dual Trace Physiological Monitor. This model came out in 1971 and was the first portable, battery rechargeable unit of its kind.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Passport 2|url=http://www.proactmedical.com.au/resource/sales_sheet2.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080721023819/http://www.proactmedical.com.au/resource/sales_sheet2.pdf|archive-date=2008-07-21|website=proactmedical.com}}</ref> Its original price was $2,000. In the middle of Season 4, the show switched to a Datascope MD/2, which was a combined monitor and defibrillator that allowed the monitor unit to slide out. With the monitor docked, it can read and display an EKG through the defibrillator paddles; this function is shown several times during the series, and anticipates the development of the [[automated external defibrillator]], only a few years later. The paramedics also carried some medical equipment in a black model PF-3300 Old Pal tackle box, commonly used by the fire department at the time. There were instances when the actors encountered difficulty in pronouncing medical terms correctly, so some scenes show the characters from the back or behind a mask, which allowed them to dub in the correct pronunciations at a later time.<ref name="YokleySutherland2007" /> |
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The show was created by [[Robert A. Cinader|R.A. Cinader]] and [[Harold Jack Bloom]] and produced by [[Jack Webb]] and [[Mark VII Limited]]. |
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Many items of the equipment were donated to the [[Smithsonian Institution]]'s [[National Museum of American History]] in May 2000.<ref>[http://www.clafma.org/project51/project51artifacts.html Clafma.org] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090206030423/http://www.clafma.org/project51/project51artifacts.html |date=February 6, 2009 }}</ref> |
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== Guest stars == |
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A partial list of guest stars includes [[Vic Tayback]], [[Adam West]], [[Richard Jaeckel]], [[Marion Ross]], [[Mark Harmon]], [[Erik Estrada]], [[Henry Jones (actor)|Henry Jones]], [[Jackie Coogan]], [[Anne Lockhart (actress)|Anne Lockhart]], [[Dabbs Greer]], [[George Ives (actor)|George Ives]], [[John Carradine]], [[Ron Masak]], [[Nick Nolte]], [[Seymour Cassel]], [[Jeanette Nolan]], [[Robert Alda]], [[Mariette Hartley]], [[Jamie Farr]], [[Bruno Kirby]], [[Jock Mahoney]], [[Michael Lerner (actor)|Michael Lerner]], [[Melissa Gilbert]], [[Kim Richards]], [[John Travolta]], [[Ruth Buzzi]], and [[Jack Carter (comedian)|Jack Carter]]. |
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The protective clothing ("turn-out gear") that the firefighters wore, including the MSA Topgard helmets, as well as nearly all other equipment such as insignia, were standard fire department issue at the time. |
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Future ''[[Eight is Enough]]'' stars [[Dick Van Patten]] and [[Grant Goodeve]] made guest appearances on separate episodes, then current ''[[Adam-12]]'' stars [[Martin Milner]] and [[Kent McCord]] made a guest appearance on the [[television pilot|pilot]] of a two-part episode, while sports figures [[Kareem Abdul-Jabbar]] and [[Mark Spitz]] made [[Cameo appearance|cameo]] appearances on two separate episodes. Future ''[[Kojak]]'' stars Mark Russell and [[Kevin Dobson]] made [[Cameo appearance|cameo]] appearances in various episodes. Relatives and friends of the cast of ''Emergency!'' made guest appearances on various episodes, including those of London's and Troup's children, [[Ronne Troup|Ronne]] and Kelly, while Cynnie Troup was [[script supervisor]]. Mantooth's brother Donald and Fuller's ex-''Laramie'' co-star [[John Smith (actor)|John Smith]] each made a guest appearance on separate episodes early in the 2nd season, and former ''Leave It To Beaver'' star [[Tony Dow]] made an appearance in season one as a looter. |
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[[File:Biophone by BioCom Inc.jpg|thumb|Possibly the actual Biophone used in the show. |
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This is the unit on display at the Los Angeles County Fire Department fire museum. |
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This unit has a connection port in the front that can be seen on screen. The above model does not.]] |
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The badges used in the series were authentic fire department badges. At the end of filming each day, they were collected, stored for safekeeping and then reissued the next day. |
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==Legacy== |
==Legacy== |
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===Impact on emergency medical services=== |
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{{Quote box |
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| quote = An analysis of ''Emergency!''{{'}}s influence on the rapid expansion of paramedic services must begin with the acknowledgement of the familiar adage that "[[Correlation does not imply causation|correlation does not equal causation]]." ... However, ample evidence supports a conclusion that the TV show was a primary factor that fueled the legal changes that allowed paramedic services to develop and expand. |
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| align = left |
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| width = 300px |
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| author = Paul Bergman |
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| source = ''[[University of Baltimore School of Law|University of Baltimore Law Review]]'', 2007<ref name="bergman"/> |
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}} |
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Prior to ''Emergency!'', ambulances had been operating for decades in the United States. However, their crews rarely had training beyond basic [[first aid]]. Most states did not license them to perform more advanced medical treatment. The alternative was to staff ambulances with traditional healthcare professionals like doctors, which was expensive and posed recruitment challenges.<ref name="bergman"/> |
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Writing in the ''[[University of Baltimore School of Law|University of Baltimore Law Review]]'' in 2007, Paul Bergman argued that ''Emergency!'' encouraged the growth of EMS. The conclusion is shared by Yokey and Sutherland in the book ''Emergency! Behind the Scenes''.<ref name="BehindTheScenes" /> Bergman acknowledges that some of this trend had already been in motion, due to developments such as the 1966 report ''[[Accidental Death and Disability: The Neglected Disease of Modern Society]]'' and California's Wedworth-Townsend Act in 1970. In 1971, there were only 12 paramedic services operating in the United States. In the first three years that ''Emergency!'' aired, 46 out of 50 states enacted laws that allowed paramedics to practice. On a federal level, the 1974 Emergency Medical Services Systems Act was enacted to encourage the trend.<ref name="bergman"/> By 1982, half of the American population was within ten minutes' reach of a paramedic unit.<ref name="BehindTheScenes" /><ref name="bergman"/> |
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The show was referenced during a debate in the Health Committee of the [[California State Assembly]], during the passage of a bill to make the Wedworth-Townsend Act permanent.<ref>Interim Hearing on Emergency Medical Services, 1972 Leg., 1972 Reg. Sess. 23 (Cal. 1972).</ref> A 1977 ''[[Newsweek]]'' article wrote that "[t]he television series ''Emergency!'' helped create a national demand for such services."<ref>Peter Bonventre et al., "It's an Emergency", ''Newsweek'', Nov. 21, 1977, p. 105.</ref> In a 1993 paper, Byron K. Toma argued that it "helped convince the public that they are entitled to the highest levels of emergency medical aid technologically available."<ref>{{cite journal |first=Byron |last=Toma|title=The Decline of Emergency Medical Services Coordination in California: Why Cities Are at War With Counties Over Illusory Ambulance Monopolies|url=https://heinonline.org/HOL/Page?handle=hein.journals/swulr23&div=20&g_sent=1&casa_token= |journal=Southwestern University Law Review |date=1993}}</ref> |
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In episode 17 of season 3, "Fools", singer [[Bobby Sherman]] plays an arrogant intern who shows disdain for John and Roy ... until he is sent out with them by Dr. Brackett to see exactly what they do. Sherman's character changes his mind quickly upon watching them perform a harrowing rescue. In real life, Sherman would leave show business and become an EMT. He worked with paramedics and taught CPR and first aid and subsequently joined the Los Angeles Police Department Reserve Officer Program. He served as a training officer for many years and would be promoted to the rank of Captain; Sherman credited his role on that episode of ''Emergency!'' as a guiding force in his choice of career change. |
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=== Spin-offs and crossovers === |
=== Spin-offs and crossovers === |
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''Emergency!'' was a third-generation spin-off, having been spawned from ''[[Adam-12]] |
''Emergency!'' was a third-generation spin-off, having been spawned from Jack Webb's ''[[Adam-12]]'', which itself was spun off from Jack Webb's ''[[Dragnet (series)|Dragnet]]''. All three series take place in the same universe and depict different aspects of the public safety infrastructure of Los Angeles, California. |
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Characters from ''Emergency!'' and ''Adam-12'' "crossed over" twice. The police officers appeared briefly in the [[The Wedsworth-Townsend Act|pilot episode]] of ''Emergency!'', and the firefighter/paramedics appeared in the ''Adam-12'' episode titled "Lost and Found. |
Characters from ''Emergency!'' and ''Adam-12'' "crossed over" twice. The police officers appeared briefly in the [[The Wedsworth-Townsend Act|pilot episode]] of ''Emergency!'', and the firefighter/paramedics appeared in the ''Adam-12'' episode titled "Lost and Found". Unusually, in the ''Emergency!'' episode titled "Hang-Up", there was a subplot in which the crew of Station 51 watched the television show ''Adam-12'', despite sharing a fictional universe with those characters. |
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''Emergency!'' spun off an animated version called '' |
''Emergency!'' spun off an animated version called ''[[Emergency +4]]'' which ran on NBC Saturday mornings from 1973 to 1976, and featured four youngsters and their three pets who participated in rescue adventures with firefighter/paramedics DeSoto and Gage. |
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Mantooth's Gage and Tighe's DeSoto appeared in the tenth episode of ''[[Sierra (TV series)|Sierra]]'', another Webb/Cinader production |
Mantooth's Gage and Tighe's DeSoto appeared in the tenth episode of ''[[Sierra (TV series)|Sierra]]'', another Webb/Cinader production about a pair of [[National Park Service]] [[park ranger|rangers]], which appeared for only a partial season in 1974. In that episode, "The Urban Ranger", the two paramedics participate in [[mountain rescue]] training and get involved in many of the episode's subplots. Following recurring themes from ''Emergency!'', Gage continues to fail in his attempts to get a date, while DeSoto briefly considers changing careers to become a park ranger.<ref name="Sierra">[http://www.emergencyfans.com/episodes/sierra.htm "Sierra X-Over"], Emergencyfans.com. Accessed August 24, 2007.</ref> |
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The "905-Wild" episode of ''Emergency!'', broadcast during Season 4 on March 1, 1975, was intended to be the pilot for a new |
The "905-Wild" episode of ''Emergency!'', broadcast during the closing of its Season 4 on Saturday March 1, 1975, was intended to be the pilot for a new series created and produced by Jack Webb. The series was to have been about the adventures of two Los Angeles County Department of Animal Control officers, and the staff of a county [[animal shelter]]. The episode featured [[Albert Popwell]] and [[Mark Harmon]] as the officers and [[David Huddleston]] and [[Gary Crosby (actor)|Gary Crosby]] in supporting roles. However, it failed to sell and the follow-up series was never produced. |
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Squad 51 briefly appeared in the ''[[CHiPs]]'' episode "Cry Wolf" (season 1, ep. 18), where it can be seen responding from the station to a false accident report. Further in the episode "MAIT Team" (season 2, ep. 15), Engine 51 and Squad 51 can be seen responding from the station to a traffic accident.<ref name="Emergency: Behind The Scene, pp 349">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cixPyu5pCaUC|title=Emergency!|isbn=9780763748968|access-date=22 December 2015|last1=Yokley|first1=Richard|last2=Sutherland|first2=Rozane|date=May 2007|publisher=Jones & Bartlett Learning }}</ref> Again in the episode "Hot Wheels" (season 3, ep. 8) Squad 51 arrives on the scene of a traffic accident. It has a major role in the episode "E.M.T" when it responds to aid a young boy trapped in his clubhouse under a busy freeway, where [[California Highway Patrol]] officers Ponch and Jon retrieve equipment from the squad to aid in the rescue of the boy. |
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The episode "Cover Up" of ''[[Quincy, M.E.]]'' featured a paramedic team from Squad 44 contacting Rampart General Hospital while tending a heart attack patient, although the patient is directed to a closer hospital. When Dr. Quincy later visits Station 44 to question the paramedics concerning the patient's death, stock footage of the exterior of Station 51 is used. This episode was written by R.A. Cinader. Earlier, in the season 1 episode "Has Anyone Seen Quincy?" Harbor General Hospital is used as the filming location of the unnamed hospital seen throughout the episode. Rampart is again contacted in season 7's "The Golden Hour", but the patient is directed to a closer hospital, and Engine 51 responds to a hotel fire in the same season's episode "Smoke Screen". |
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Fire Station 51 also briefly appeared in an episode of ''[[Quincy, M.E.]],'' as an LAFD Fire Station. The episode later showed LAFD paramedics supposedly from that station on a [[cardiac arrest]] call. |
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Station 51 appears in the TV movie ''The Great Los Angeles Earthquake'' (1990), in a segment where all Los Angeles police and fire personnel are deployed to prepare for a massive Southern California earthquake. Stock footage from "Emergency!" is used.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Rp5nifbB2Y&t=6127| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211118/3Rp5nifbB2Y| archive-date=2021-11-18 | url-status=live|title=The Great Los Angeles Earthquake (1990)|last=Gordon Burnett|date=20 June 2013|via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref> |
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Rampart Hospital is briefly mentioned in the ''[[9-1-1 (TV series)|9-1-1]]'' episode "Hen Begins" (season 2, ep. 9), where Hen is introduced to fellow peers who are struggling to fit into their roles (Edit: The Rampart mentioned is not the fictional hospital, but the real-life LAPD station.) |
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=== TV movies === |
=== TV movies === |
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From 1978 through 1979, the show returned as a series of "Movies of the Week". The TV movies premiered in this order: |
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From 1978 through 1979, the show returned as a series of "Movies of the Week". The first was ''The Steel Inferno'' and was the final appearance of all the original major cast. Next was ''Survival on Charter #220'', which featured only Dr. Early and Nurse McCall in addition to Gage and DeSoto. ''Most Deadly Passage'' saw Gage and DeSoto visiting Seattle to observe the paramedic operations there and was a [[back door pilot]] for a series, ''Medic 1 Seattle'', about the Seattle Fire Department's renowned [[Medic One]] program. On New Year's Eve 1978, ''Greatest Rescues on "Emergency!"'' aired. It was essentially a [[clip show]], featuring flashbacks from the original series of the notable rescues and incidents involving Gage and DeSoto and showed them both achieving the rank of Captain. This was followed by two additional movies, ''What's a Nice Girl Like You Doing...'' and ''The Convention'' that showed Gage and DeSoto visiting San Francisco. |
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''The Steel Inferno'': A fire breaks out in a skyscraper and the members of Squad 51 along with other Los Angeles County Fire Department members from Station #110 help rescue those who are trapped. Personnel from Rampart General Hospital set up a triage area at the scene to care for the injured awaiting to be transported to the hospital. A Coast Guard helicopter helps firefighters with rooftop evacuations. One conflict of the episode is Squad 110's paramedic attempting to save his missing fiancé. This television movie was similar to [[Irwin Allen]]'s ''[[The Towering Inferno]]'' (1974). |
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The TV movies were in syndication on [[TV Land]] during 2001 and also were shown in syndication as two-part episodes starting in the 1980s. |
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''Survival on Charter #220'': While Squad 51 is on a call, two planes collide with one crash landing in a Los Angeles subdivision, trapping Gage and DeSoto. A resident of the subdivision which was the site of the crash was the girlfriend of one of Squad 51's other paramedics from another shift. The on and off-duty firefighters make multiple rescues to save survivors. During the event, however, one of the engines from the plane lands on the squad, destroying it. |
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''Most Deadly Passage'': The paramedics from Squad 51 travel to Seattle to watch how their paramedics of the [[Seattle Fire Department]] Medic One Program treat patients and respond to calls for help. The most notable incident in the movie is the ferry that catches fire in the middle of a trip due to a fueling error. |
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''What's a Nice Girl Like You Doing?'': Gage and DeSoto travel to San Francisco to observe some female paramedics work as well as the rescue crew of the [[San Francisco Fire Department]]. A worker is rescued from the Golden Gate Bridge, an ambulance gets into an accident that ends up killing the patient being transported to the hospital, an epileptic in a coffee shop is treated along with someone having a heart attack at a dance bar. A pier at the Embarcadero catches on fire. |
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''Greatest Rescues of "Emergency!"'': Gage and DeSoto are both promoted to the rank of captain, at which rank they were no longer permitted to hold paramedic certification. They think back to their time on Squad 51 and some of the rescues they carried out. [[Robert A. Cinader]] wrote and directed the framing story, which included clips from other such installments as the pilot, on whose writing Harold Jack Bloom had collaborated with Cinader. This film marked the "official" ending of the series. |
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''The Convention'': John and Roy are back in San Francisco for a paramedic convention and they ride along with the San Francisco Fire Department's paramedics.<ref>"Emergency: The Final Rescues (The Steel Inferno, Survival on Charter #220, Greatest Rescues of Emergency!, More)." DVD Talk. DVD Talk, 29 Mar. 2011. Web. 22 Oct. 2014.</ref> |
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The TV movies were shown in syndication as two-part episodes starting in the 1980s. They also aired on [[TV Land]] in 2001, on [[MeTV]] in June 2015, and on [[Cozi TV]] in late 2019. |
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===Other media=== |
===Other media=== |
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The book ''Emergency!: Behind the Scenes'' by Richard Yokely and Rozane Sutherland was published in 2008.<ref name="BehindTheScenes">{{cite book | title=Emergency! Behind the Scenes | publisher=Jones & Bartlett Learning; 1 edition (July 13, 2007) | |
The book ''Emergency!: Behind the Scenes'' by Richard Yokely and Rozane Sutherland was published in 2008.<ref name="BehindTheScenes">{{cite book | title=Emergency! Behind the Scenes | publisher=Jones & Bartlett Learning; 1 edition (July 13, 2007) |author1=Yokley, Richard |author2=Sutherland, Roxane | year=2007 | isbn=978-0763748968}}</ref> |
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[[Charlton Comics]] out of [[Derby, Connecticut]], published several issues of an ''Emergency!'' comic book in the mid-1970s, geared towards youth readers. One of the issues contains some of the earliest published work of [[John Byrne (comics)|John Byrne]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://comics.org/series.lasso?SeriesID=2316 |title=''Emergency!'' – June 1976 – December 1976 |work=Grand Comics Database Project|publisher=comics.org|access-date=Feb 8, 2008}}</ref> Charlton also published four issues of an illustrated black-and-white magazine geared more towards adult readers featuring art by [[Neal Adams]] and others, these projects were overseen by publisher Steve Kahn, in parallel with similar books for ''[[The Six Million Dollar Man]]'' and ''[[Space: 1999]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://comics.org/series.lasso?SeriesID=2317 |title=''Emergency!'' – July 1976 – January 1977 |work=Grand Comics Database Project|publisher=comics.org|access-date=Feb 8, 2008}}</ref> |
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[[Wonderland Records]] produced three original [[audio drama]]s based on ''Emergency!''; these were released on a single 33 rpm [[LP record|LP]]. These were: "The Jaws of Life" (in which the title gadget proves its worth when Gage and DeSoto must rescue one man from a subway mishap and another from a burning car; they also help a woman shocked by a high-voltage power line; both are uneasy about supper this week, since Lopez is the designated chef at Station 51), "Front Page Story" (in which Gage and DeSoto, after rescuing an elderly man from a burning – and supposedly abandoned – wharf, must deal with investigative reporter Jenny James ... who's been instructed to write an exposé on Squad 51; she observes – and unwittingly complicates – their treatment of a blind teenage diabetic with a fractured skull, who might need on-the-spot surgery to save his life), and "The Used Car Caper" (in which our paramedics assist a security guard shot in a bank robbery, and then a young woman injured by a reckless driver; the latter call ties into the subplot, as DeSoto puts his old car up for sale ... and gets an offer from a fellow who's suspiciously eager to close the deal). |
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Milton Bradley released an ''Emergency!'' board game in 1973.<ref>[https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/9603/emergency-game The Emergency! Game]</ref> |
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[[Charlton Comics]] published several issues of an ''Emergency!'' comic book in the mid-1970s. One of the issues contains some of the earliest published work of [[John Byrne (comics)|John Byrne]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://comics.org/series.lasso?SeriesID=2316 |title=''Emergency!'' - June 1976 - December 1976 |work=Grand Comics Database Project|publisher=comics.org|accessdate=Feb. 8, 2008}}</ref> Charlton also published four issues of an illustrated black-and-white magazine featuring art by [[Neal Adams]] and others.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://comics.org/series.lasso?SeriesID=2317 |title=''Emergency!'' - July 1976 - January 1977 |work=Grand Comics Database Project|publisher=comics.org|accessdate=Feb. 8, 2008}}</ref> |
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=== Syndication === |
=== Syndication === |
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The |
The series was first [[television syndication|syndicated]] in 1976, after the fifth season. Local stations mainly aired it between 4:30 and 6 p.m. Eastern (3:30 to 5:00 Central) for the same viewers that were its most loyal audience on NBC, elementary school-aged children. However, ''Emergency!'' was not nearly as successful in reruns as ''Dragnet 1967–70'' and ''Adam-12'' were. When the program was first syndicated, it went by the title ''Emergency One!'' (the stock title "Emergency!" appeared with the word "One" fading in beneath) to avoid confusion with the new episodes still airing Saturday nights on [[NBC]] and continued to be called that when the TV movies aired as well. The syndicated episodes would revert to the original title, ''Emergency!'', in 1979. Renaming programs for syndication was commonplace until the 1980s. Although in the early 2000s it had a brief run on [[TV Land]], ''Emergency!'' had been rarely seen in recent times because the series had come under the ownership of the Jack Webb Estate. The show is now seen on [[MeTV]]. |
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''Emergency!'' seasons 1 – 6 were available on [[Netflix]] on Demand in high definition (though several episodes are missing due to rights issues), having been restored and rescanned from the original film negatives. The series ran on [[MeTV]] from September 2013 to December 2016, an over-the-air service mainly seen on digital subchannels of local television stations. Starting in January 2017, the series moved to the NBC Universal owned digital broadcast network [[Cozi TV]]. As of Spring 2022, the series airs on [[FETV]], a satellite and cable network featuring classic programming and family entertainment. It is only available for purchase on DVD in the US from [[Universal Studios, Inc.|Universal Studios]] Home Entertainment and through major retailers.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.uphe.com/tv/emergency-the-complete-series |title=Universal Studios Home Entertainment Web Store|work=Emergency: The Complete Series|date=April 13, 2016 |publisher=Universal Studios Home Entertainment|access-date=May 30, 2018}}</ref> Until September 2024, it aired on Cozi TV. On October 14, 2024 MeTV resumed airing the show at 5 p.m. ET. |
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''Emergency!'' seasons 1 - 6 are now available on Netflix On Demand. Reruns are also available on [[MeTV]], an over-the-air service mainly seen on digital subchannels of local television stations. |
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=== |
===Home media=== |
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[[Universal Studios Home Entertainment|In 1998, Universal Studios released 39 episodes on VHS]], in a 20-volume set, distributed through Columbia House. The videocassettes each contained 2 episodes from the series, except for the first one, which only contained the two-hour pilot. |
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[[Universal Studios Home Entertainment]] has released all six seasons of ''Emergency!'', and the six post-series tele-films (as ''The Final Rescues''), on DVD in Region 1.<ref>[http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Emergency-The-Final-Rescues/14825 Emergency! DVD news: Announcement for Emergency - The Final Rescues | TVShowsOnDVD.com<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> |
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[[Universal Studios Home Entertainment|Universal Studios]] has released all six seasons of ''Emergency!'' and the six post-series tele-films (as ''The Final Rescues''), on DVD in Region 1.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Emergency-The-Final-Rescues/14825|title=Emergency! DVD news: Announcement for Emergency – The Final Rescues |work=TVShowsOnDVD.com |access-date=22 December 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222222451/http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Emergency-The-Final-Rescues/14825|archive-date=22 December 2015}}</ref> |
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On July 12, 2016, Universal released ''Emergency! – The Complete Series'' on DVD in Region 1.<ref>[http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Emergency-The-Complete-Series/22196 Watch Out, Guys ... Universal is Creating a Complete 'Emergency!' **UPDATED**] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160605100138/http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Emergency-The-Complete-Series/22196 |date=2016-06-05 }}</ref> The 32-disc set contains all 122 episodes of the series as well as the 6 post-series tele-films. |
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In 2017–2018, Universal re-released the first two seasons on DVD in new single sided disc collections. |
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'''Note:''' ''Seasons 1 & 2 in the complete series set were released on single sided discs; they were originally released on double sided discs in the individual season sets.'' |
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| Season One |
| Season One |
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| style="text-align:center;"|12 |
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| August 23, 2005 |
| August 23, 2005<br>{{small|May 9, 2017 (re-release)}} |
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| Season Two |
| Season Two |
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| style="text-align:center;"|21 |
| style="text-align:center;"|21 |
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| February 7, 2006 |
| February 7, 2006<br>{{small|March 27, 2018 (re-release)}} |
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| Season Three |
| Season Three |
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| style="text-align:center;"|6 |
| style="text-align:center;"|6 |
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| March 29, 2011 |
| March 29, 2011 |
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|- |
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| The Complete Series |
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| style="text-align:center;"|135 |
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| July 12, 2016 |
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|} |
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== Los Angeles County Fire Museum == |
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Yokley and Sutherland argue that the TV show led many municipalities to create paramedic units of their own. When the show premiered in 1972, there were only 12 such units in North America; by 1982, more than half of all Americans were within ten minutes of a paramedic rescue or ambulance unit.<ref name="BehindTheScenes" /> |
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The [[Los Angeles County Fire Museum]] currently houses the Universal-built [[Squad 51]], both [[Engine 51|Engines 51]] (the renumbered Crown Los Angeles County Fire Department Engine 60 and the Ward-LaFrance-donated Engine 51), a 1969 Chevrolet [[ambulance]] and various equipment used on the show. Such equipment includes: the orange "BioPhone", black "drug box" (tackle box), defibrillator, OB/GYN, radios, turnout coats, gear, various cast photographs, and other paraphernalia used on the show. |
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The museum, which relocated to 16400 Bellflower Blvd, Bellflower, California, USA ([https://www.google.com/maps/place/The+Los+Angeles+County+Fire+Museum/@33.8842615,-118.1259962,491m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m13!1m7!3m6!1s0x0:0x0!2zMzPCsDUzJzA5LjciTiAxMTjCsDA3JzI4LjUiVw!3b1!8m2!3d33.886025!4d-118.12458!3m4!1s0x80dd32b1e74d1c9d:0x97345d2d8af3e8d3!8m2!3d33.884791!4d-118.125122?hl=en 33.8842615N, 118.1259962W]) in July, 2018, allows fans to photograph and (for special events) touch / handle the various equipment. Some of the equipment is signed by various actors from the show. |
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The program introduced many in its worldwide audience to the concepts of pre-hospital care, fire prevention and CPR. The program was also credited for demonstrating [[first aid]] techniques that enabled some viewers to save lives in real [[medical emergencies]]. When the medical community saw that the general public were using First Aid and CPR in response to this show, they started the teaching programs for CPR in every state. The show later added a [[disclaimer]] stating that the first aid techniques demonstrated should only be performed by trained persons. In the episode "Grateful", one character's chest is injured when another character incorrectly performs a [[precordial thump]], a procedure sometimes been performed by Gage or DeSoto.<ref name="BehindTheScenes" /> |
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== See also == |
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* [[Biophone]] |
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* [[Fire station]] |
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* [[Firehouse USA: Boston]] |
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* [[Glossary of firefighting equipment]] |
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| image1 = E51 Crown.jpg |
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* [[Glossary of firefighting terms]] |
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* [[List of firefighting films]] |
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* ''[[Rescue 8]]'' |
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* ''[[Rescue 77]]'' |
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| image2 = E51 Ward LaFrance.jpg |
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* ''[[Trauma (TV series)|Trauma]]'' |
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* [[Squad 51]] |
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| image3 = Squad 51 at the museum.jpg |
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== References == |
== References == |
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== External links == |
== External links == |
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{{ |
{{commons category}} |
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* {{IMDb title|id=0068067|title=Emergency!}} |
* {{IMDb title|id=0068067|title=Emergency!}} |
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* |
* [https://www.nbc.com/emergency Emergency!] at [[NBC]] |
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* [https://www.tvgems.net/emergency Emergency! Episode Guide] at TV Gems |
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* [http://www.emergencyfans.com/ emergencyfans.com] |
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* [http:// |
* [http://nexxie.0catch.com/E!RescuesIndex/E!KeyPage.html Emergency! fansite] at nexxie.0catch.com |
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* [http://www.voyagerliveaction.com/engine51.html The Life And Times of Engine 51] |
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* [http://www.clafma.org/ County of Los Angeles Fire Museum Association] |
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* [http://www.policeinterceptor.com/emerg.htm Los Angeles County Fire dispatch tone archive] |
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*[http://www.tvgems.net/emergency/index.html Emergency! Episode Guide] at TV Gems |
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{{Jack Webb/Mark VII Limited}} |
{{Jack Webb/Mark VII Limited}} |
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[[Category: |
[[Category:Emergency!]] |
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[[Category:1970s American television series]] |
[[Category:1970s American medical drama television series]] |
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[[Category:1972 American television series debuts]] |
[[Category:1972 American television series debuts]] |
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[[Category:1977 American television series endings]] |
[[Category:1977 American television series endings]] |
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[[Category:American action adventure television series]] |
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[[Category:American English-language television shows]] |
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[[Category:American television spin-offs]] |
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[[Category:Charlton Comics titles]] |
[[Category:Charlton Comics titles]] |
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[[Category:English-language television programming]] |
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[[Category:Firefighting television series]] |
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[[Category:Fictional firefighters]] |
[[Category:Fictional firefighters]] |
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[[Category:NBC |
[[Category:NBC television dramas]] |
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[[Category:Television series about firefighting]] |
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[[Category:Television series by Mark VII Limited]] |
[[Category:Television series by Mark VII Limited]] |
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[[Category:Television series by Universal Television]] |
[[Category:Television series by Universal Television]] |
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[[Category:Television |
[[Category:Television shows set in Los Angeles]] |
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[[Category:Television shows set in Los Angeles, California]] |
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[[Category:Television spin-offs]] |
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[[Category:American medical television series]] |
Latest revision as of 04:15, 17 December 2024
Emergency! | |
---|---|
Also known as | Emergency One! |
Created by | |
Starring | |
Theme music composer | Nelson Riddle |
Composers | |
No. of seasons | 6 |
No. of episodes | 122 + 6 TV movies (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Executive producers |
|
Producers |
|
Editor | Richard Belding |
Running time | approx. 50 minutes |
Production companies | |
Original release | |
Network | NBC |
Release | January 15, 1972 May 28, 1977 | –
Related | |
Emergency! is an American action-adventure medical drama television series jointly produced by Mark VII Limited and Universal Television. Debuting on NBC as a midseason replacement on January 15, 1972, replacing two situation comedy series, The Partners and The Good Life, it ran for a total of 122 episodes until May 28, 1977, with six additional two-hour television films in 1978 and 1979.
The series stars Randolph Mantooth and Kevin Tighe as two rescuers, who work as paramedics and firefighters in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The duo formed Squad 51, a medical and rescue unit of the Los Angeles County Fire Department, working together with the fictional Rampart General Hospital medical staff (portrayed by Robert Fuller, Julie London and Bobby Troup), and with the firefighter engine company at Station 51.
Emergency! was produced by Jack Webb and created by Robert A. Cinader, who had also created the police dramas Adam-12 and Dragnet. Harold Jack Bloom is also credited as a creator; Webb does not receive screen credit as a creator. In the show's original TV-movie pilot, Webb was credited only as its director. However, the series aimed to be much more realistic than its predecessors as it portrayed emergency medical services (EMS). Pioneering EMS leader James O. Page served as a technical advisor, and the two main actors underwent some paramedic training.
The series aired at a time when ambulance coverage in the United States was rapidly expanding and changing, and the role of a paramedic was emerging as a profession, and is credited with popularizing the concepts of EMS and paramedics in American society, and even inspiring other states and municipalities to expand the service.[1][2]
Nearly 30 years after Emergency! debuted, the Smithsonian Institution accepted Emergency! memorabilia into its National Museum of American History's public-service section,[3] including the firefighters' helmets, turnouts, Biophone, and defibrillator.[4] The vehicles of Station 51 are a part of the collection of the Los Angeles County Fire Museum.
Cast
[edit]Set at the fictional Fire Station 51 of the Los Angeles County Fire Department, where one fire engine and the paramedic rescue squad are stationed, the series focuses on two young firefighter-paramedics: young and immature John Roderick "Johnny" Gage (Randolph Mantooth), who is always unlucky in love, and more mature family man Roy DeSoto (Kevin Tighe), who crew the rescue squad, Squad 51, and, in addition to providing emergency medical care, perform technical rescues such as vehicle extrication.
The paramedics are supervised by the emergency room (ER) staff of Rampart General Hospital: head physician Dr. Kelly Brackett (Robert Fuller), head nurse Dixie McCall (Julie London), neurosurgeon Dr. Joe Early (played by London's real-life husband Bobby Troup), and young intern Dr. Michael "Mike" Morton (Ron Pinkard, though in the early episodes was a character named Dr. Thomas Gray).
Other regular characters are the firefighters of Station 51's "A" shift, Chester B. "Chet" Kelly (played by Tim Donnelly) and Marco Lopez (played by actor Marco Lopez). Mike Stoker, a Los Angeles County Fire Department firefighter specialist, drove Engine 51.[5] Los Angeles County Fire Department Dispatcher Samuel Lanier portrayed himself in an uncredited voice role (over the radio) throughout the series, and he is also occasionally shown in a brief clip at the dispatch office just before a dispatch is heard in later seasons; he retired from the department shortly after Emergency! finished.[6] Lopez speaks Spanish, and occasionally translated for the crew when a victim or onlooker spoke Spanish but no English. Unusually, Lopez, Stoker and Dick Hammer play characters named after themselves, though in two episodes, Hammer's character is played by John Smith.
Various characters held the rank of Captain throughout the series. These include Captain Dick Hammer (Los Angeles County Fire Department Captain Richard Hammer as himself for first season/episodes 1–9, then later John Smith for the last two episodes of the season), Captain Hank Stanley (Michael Norell, during the remaining seasons) and Captain Gene "Captain Hook" Hookrader in a couple of later episodes. Actor John Anderson portrayed Captain Bob Roberts in one Season 4 episode, "Smoke Eater".
Other recurring characters include Battalion Chiefs Conrad (Art Balinger), Sorensen (Art Gilmore), Miller, and McConnike (William Boyett), Firefighter Conway / Firefighter Paramedic Tom Wheeler / Animal Control Supervisor Walt Marsh (Gary Crosby), Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputy/Carson Police Officer/Sergeant Vince (Vince Howard), and recurring ambulance attendants Albert "Al" (Angelo DeMeo) and his assistant, George (George Orrison). Boyett and Crosby regularly appeared as Sergeant MacDonald and Officer Ed Wells respectively on Adam-12, while Gilmore appeared on that show as watch commander Lieutenant Moore, a recurring character.
- Robert Fuller as Kelly Brackett, M.D., F.A.C.S., A.C.E.P., chief of emergency medicine
- Julie London as Dixie McCall, R.N., chief nurse of the emergency room
- Bobby Troup as Joe Early, M.D., F.A.C.S., A.C.E.P.
- Ron Pinkard as Mike Morton, M.D. (identified in the cast of the pilot as "Dr. Tom Gray", also an intern—the two characters never appeared together).
- Randolph Mantooth as Firefighter Paramedic John Gage, L.A. County FD Squad 51
- Kevin Tighe as Firefighter Paramedic Roy DeSoto, L.A. County FD Squad 51
- Tim Donnelly as Firefighter Chester B. "Chet" Kelly, L.A. County FD Engine 51
- Marco Lopez as Firefighter Marco Lopez, L.A. County FD Engine 51
- Mike Stoker as Firefighter Specialist Mike Stoker, L.A. County FD Engine 51
- Dick Hammer as Captain Dick Hammer (First Season Only), L.A. County FD Engine 51
- John Smith as Captain Hammer in episode "Hang-Up" 1st season, as Captain in episode "Crash" 1st season, L.A. County FD Engine 51 (The back of this actor's turnout coat reads "Van Orden", but he is never called by name on the show; he is simply referred to as "Captain".)
- Art Balinger as Battalion Chief Conrad
- Art Moore as Battalion Chief
- Michael Norell as Captain Henry "Hank" Stanley, L.A. County FD Engine 51 (after first season)
- James McEachin as Detective Lieutenant Ronald Crockett LAPD.
- Vince Howard as L.A. County Sheriff's Deputy Vince Howard/Carson Police Officer/Sergeant Vince Howard.
- William Boyett as Battalion Chief McConnike (Season 6) Chief Battalion 14
- Sam Lanier (uncredited) as, and providing the voice of, the Los Angeles County Fire Department dispatcher.
The role of Dixie McCall was originally written as a love interest for Fuller's character, Dr. Kelly Brackett, though the on-screen romance between Brackett and McCall was gradually downplayed and eventually ignored over the course of the series; this was explained by Brackett's and McCall's romance not having worked out.
Development
[edit]The series was created by Robert Cinader and Jack Webb.[2][7] Webb had previously created Dragnet, and with Cinader had jointly created Adam-12, both of which were TV series about policing. In 1971, Cinader and Webb met with Captain Jim Page and other officers from the Los Angeles County Fire Department to discuss creating a show about firefighters. Initially they planned to focus the show on physical rescues, but felt that there would not be enough ideas for episodes. Page suggested they look to the Los Angeles County Fire Department's new paramedic program for ideas.[2]
At the time, the Los Angeles area was home to 2 of only 12 paramedic programs in the United States (as opposed to ambulances that provided basic first aid or only transport). In 1970, Governor Ronald Reagan had signed the Wedworth-Townsend Act which allowed paramedic programs to be trialed in Los Angeles County.[2] In September 1971, Cinader and Webb signed a contract with NBC to develop the series.[2] The initial pilot film of Emergency!, titled "The Wedsworth-Townsend Act", focuses on the passage of a similar law to the Wedworth-Townsend Act that permits paramedics to operate.[8]
Cinader asked the writers to get all the rescues that were to be portrayed on the show from fire stations' logbooks.[9] Along the same line, the series was technically accurate as every script was fact-checked and approved by the series' technical consultants, Dr. Michael Criley (the man who had initially created the Los Angeles County Fire Department Paramedic program) and Los Angeles County Fire Department Battalion Chief James O. Page. There were always real paramedics serving as technical advisors on set every day for further technical advice.[9]
To train for their parts, the actors, Mantooth and Tighe sat in some paramedic classes (although they never actually took any written exams) and went on extensive ride-alongs with Los Angeles County Fire Department.[9] In an interview with Tom Blixa of WTVN, Mantooth said that the producer wanted them to train so that they would at least know the fundamentals and look like they knew what they were doing on camera. Mantooth mentioned that you needed to take the entire course and pass all the skills stations and final certification exam to be a paramedic, and went on to admit that "if anyone has a heart attack, I'll call 911 with the best of them."[10] Mantooth became an advocate for firefighters and paramedics after the series ended. He continued, as of late October 2014, to give speeches and make appearances all over the country at special events.[11]
Episodes
[edit]Season | Episodes | Originally aired | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
First aired | Last aired | |||
1 | 11 | January 22, 1972 | April 15, 1972 | |
2 | 21 | September 16, 1972 | April 7, 1973 | |
3 | 22 | September 12, 1973 | March 23, 1974 | |
4 | 22 | September 14, 1974 | March 1, 1975 | |
5 | 22 | September 13, 1975 | March 6, 1976 | |
6 | 24 | September 25, 1976 | May 28, 1977 | |
Television films | January 7, 1978 | July 3, 1979 |
Setting
[edit]Interior scenes were shot on Universal's sound stages.[9] Exterior scenes of the fire station were shot at Station 127 in Carson, while exterior scenes of the hospital were shot at Harbor General Hospital (now Harbor-UCLA Medical Center).
Station 51
[edit]Station 51 was represented by Los Angeles Fire Station 127, located at 2049 East 223rd Street (between Wilmington Avenue and Alameda Street, with the San Diego Freeway (I-405) visible in the background in wide shots) in Carson, California.
At the time the series aired, the Los Angeles County Fire Department had no Station 51. It was the number of a station that had previously existed at the intersection of Arlington and Atlantic Avenues on the outskirts of Lynwood and Compton, and closed in the late 1960s when the area was annexed by Lynwood. Since 1994, the Los Angeles County Fire Department has had a Station 51 in a different location. In an homage to the show, the fire station on the grounds of Universal Studios was renumbered from Station 60 to Station 51, more than 20 years after the debut of Emergency!. The vehicles based at Station 60 were accordingly renumbered. This station is therefore home to an actual Engine 51 and Squad 51, as well as Patrol 51 and Quint 51 (a ladder truck with ground ladders, fire pump, water tank and hose).[12]
Station 127 was chosen by series co-creator Robert A. Cinader, and the station was eventually named in his honor (a plaque honoring Robert A. Cinader is now mounted on the station next to the office front door). Station 106 in Rolling Hills Estates, California, a similar design to 127, was initially the choice, but faced north (versus south), which would make it difficult to light properly. At the time of filming Station 127 housed Engine 127 and Truck 127 (a ladder truck), whereas the fictional Station 51 had a small rescue truck instead of a ladder truck. As of 2018, Station 127 now instead houses Quint 127 and Foam 127.
When filming on location took place, Truck 127 was moved off-site and replaced with Universal's Squad 51, while Engine 127 was disguised as Engine 51. After Universal obtained a 1973 Ward LaFrance to use as Engine 51, both of Station 127's apparatus would be replaced by Universal's Engine 51 and Squad 51 for filming on location. Despite being "kicked out" of their own station for filming, Truck 127 still appeared in numerous episodes under its own callsign. The Carson location of Station 127 was directly referenced in one episode where a phone call was traced to a house "in Carson" that Engine 51 and Squad 51 eventually responded to. Interior scenes at Station 51 were filmed on sets at the studio, which accurately recreated the interior of Station 127.
"KMG365", which is said by the crewmember acknowledging a call for a unit at Station 51, is a real FCC call sign used by Los Angeles County Fire Department assigned to Fire Station 98 in Bellflower, and it appears on the Station Patch for Station 127.
Rampart General Hospital
[edit]In the pilot episode, Rampart General Hospital is shown (in a letter to Dr. Brackett) to be located in Carson, California. At the time of filming, Rampart General Hospital was represented by Harbor General Hospital, located in Torrance, California at 1000 West Carson Street, the intersection of Vermont Avenue and Carson Street (33°49′49″N 118°17′30″W / 33.83028°N 118.29167°W). The pairing of Station 127 and Harbor General as "Station 51" and "Rampart" was accurate, since if a squad had actually been quartered at Station 127, it would likely have operated from Harbor General Hospital, since they are only 2.1 miles (3.4 km) apart. Not accurate was the response area of Station 51. Many examples exist. As seen in season 6 episode 5, where they responded to 4000 N. Riverton Ave. Universal City, Truck 127 appeared in one episode where a rescue event occurred at Rampart (Harbor General), as the hospital really is in Truck 127's "first-due" district.
In an episode near the end of the series, one character, an aged jazz musician, hearing the name Rampart General, says, "My grandaddy used to play on Rampart Street in New Orleans!" The name Rampart actually comes from the show Adam-12 and is the real name of a division of the LAPD.[13]
In 1978, by the approval of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, Harbor General Hospital was renamed as Harbor-UCLA Medical Center.[14]
In 2018, CrowdRx, Inc., launched their Mobile Emergency Room Trailer, naming it "Rampart" to honor Rampart General Hospital.[15]
-
Harbor-UCLA Medical Center; taken Sat. March 28, 2015
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Harbor-UCLA Medical Center; taken Sat. March 28, 2015
-
Harbor-UCLA Medical Center; taken Sat. March 28, 2015
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Harbor-UCLA Medical Center; taken Sat. March 28, 2015
Los Angeles County Fire Dispatch
[edit]Footage of a dispatcher used during the show appears to have been filmed at the Los Angeles County Fire Department Keith E. Klinger dispatch center in East Los Angeles. The screen he looked at to see the street maps is a rear projection from a Kodak Carousel projector built into the console. The man was actual Los Angeles County Fire Department dispatcher Sam Lanier, who also lent his voice as the dispatcher for the series' entire run.
The familiar tones that called Station 51 into service were initiated by dispatch using a Motorola Quik Call I unit, a radio listening on a common paging frequency for a pair of special audio tones assigned to that station. For a large incident, one could often hear many sets of tones calling many stations, but only a specific pair would sound the buzzer for Station 51.
A long scene showing the sequence of microfiche reader address lookup to quik-call dispatch appears in the season six episode "Family Ties".
Props
[edit]This section needs additional citations for verification. (March 2017) |
The creators of Emergency! tried to accurately portray the Los Angeles County Fire Department by using apparatus and equipment in current use. The extensive cooperation of the Los Angeles County Fire Department is repeatedly apparent in the program. Although a few key items were fictionalized, such as the identification of Station 51 and its equipment, many of the locations and apparatus reflected the operating reality of locations used in some filming. Nearly 30 years after Emergency! debuted, the Smithsonian Institution accepted Emergency! memorabilia into its National History Museum, public-service section,[3] including their helmets, turnouts, Biophone, and defibrillator.[4]
Squad 51
[edit]The vehicles which represented Squad 51 were constructed by Universal crews and were accurate replicas of the units built in-house on stock 1970 Dodge D300 truck chassis by Los Angeles County Fire Department prior to the filming of "Emergency". There were three identical truck chassis' used to represent the original TV Squad 51. The Los Angeles County Fire Department shops were unable to fulfill a request from Universal to build the first unit for the show within the short deadline the studio required, but did provide the blueprints so the studio could build its own unit on a 1972 Dodge D300 chassis.
The replica's accuracy is evident in that the white light atop the Federal Signal Twinsonic lightbar was part of the blueprint, but never installed by Los Angeles County Fire Department on its departmental units. This light was intended to be used by other personnel and particularly helicopters to differentiate paramedic squads from regular rescue squads and other units operating that vehicle type. Prior to season 3, the studio acquired a 1973 D300 cab and chassis. All of the external paraphernalia (rear compartment box, lightbar, searchlights, K12 box, etc.) were removed and remounted on the new squad chassis. This vehicle lasted for two seasons. In season 5 the third and final Dodge truck appeared. It was a 1974 model and this is the vehicle that presently resides in the Los Angeles County Fire Department museum. Once again, the rear compartment box and lightbar from the original Squad 51 were remounted. Also, the last two chassis came with a different engine grille, so the parts from the first truck were kept. The whereabouts of the first two stripped-down Dodge D300s remains a mystery. After the filming of the series, at the Fire Department's request, the studio donated the unit to Los Angeles County Fire Department in 1978, which pressed it into occasional service as a reserve unit before it was eventually retired from service.
In 1999, Los Angeles County Fire Department donated the Universal-built squad to the Los Angeles County Fire Museum, which restored it and put it on display.[16][17]
Engine 51
[edit]The original Engine 51 was a 1965 open-cab Crown Firecoach, and was represented by Los Angeles County Fire Department Engine 127's 1965 Crown in stock footage at the fire station (in reality Los Angeles County Fire Department Station 127), and by Los Angeles County Fire Department Engine 60's 1965 Crown (the unit assigned to Universal Studios) for filming on the grounds of the studio. In a few instances in the first and second seasons, the regular apparatus borrowed from Los Angeles County Fire Department and used for filming appear to have been unavailable as some scenes show a slightly different vintage Crown Firecoach pumper, most evident by the different style of emergency lights on the cab's roof. As a condition of providing a Dept pumper for filming the Los Angeles County Fire Department required one of its own qualified Engineers be used to operate it, active Firefighter Engineer (later Specialist) Mike Stoker, who already possessed a Screen Actors Guild card, was cast in the series. The mixing of stock station and response footage with footage filmed for specific storylines created continuity errors by mixing these apparatus.
Early in the third season, Engine 51 was represented by a 1973 closed-cab Ward LaFrance P80 Ambassador triple-combination pumper. Los Angeles County Fire Department was purchasing numerous P80s at the time, and Ward LaFrance, through their local distributor, Albro Fire Equipment Co. of Los Angeles, donated a P80 unit to Universal Studios specifically for use in the series as product placement. The Ward LaFrance Engine 51 was thus not a disguised unit and did not require the use of Los Angeles County Fire Department resources for filming.
Engine 127's 1965 Crown, one of the two originally used for the series, was later refitted with a closed cab. Eventually it was placed into reserve status when Station 127 received a new engine. In its reserve capacity, it was serving temporarily as Engine 95 when it was involved in a collision. Damaged beyond repair in the collision, it was salvaged for parts and sold as scrap.[18] The County of Los Angeles Fire Museum Association now owns and has restored the 1965 Crown which formerly served as Engine 60 at Universal Studios[19] and appeared most often as the Crown version of Engine 51.
The Ward LaFrance P80 Ambassador that represented Engine 51, owned by the studio outright, made its final Emergency! appearance in the movie The Steel Inferno, but it was marked as Engine 110. The Ward remained at Universal Studios as a prop following the conclusion of the series, and made brief appearances such as in the film The China Syndrome (1979) and a short educational film produced by the National Fire Protection Association in 1984.[20] Eventually, the Ward was pressed into active duty at Yosemite National Park, as MCA Recreation Services (Universal's then-owner/operator) was under contract to provide visitor services at the park at the time, and it remained with YNP Fire after MCARS's involvement at the Park ended.[21]
As the fire department for the concession area was private (and not state or federal), the engine had the California personalized (vanity) license plate YCS E51. It served continuously as YNP Fire's Engine 7 until it was retired and replaced in July 2008. Per terms of a previous agreement between the Park and the County of Los Angeles Fire Museum Association, the museum assumed ownership of the Ward and added it to the museum collection. In 2012, the museum finished a complete restoration of the Ward to its original appearance in the show.[17][22][23]
Both of Station 51's vehicles have also been immortalized as Hot Wheels diecast vehicles Emergency Squad (1998) and Fire-Eater (1977) respectively.
Antique Dennis fire engine
[edit]An antique fire engine was the subject of three episodes of the show. In the third season, episode 2, entitled, "The Old Engine", Gage and DeSoto see a derelict fire engine in a scrap yard during a fire. They purchase the vehicle for $80 according to the script and attempt to restore it. The script says it is a 1932 Dennis fire engine, but the vehicle is a Dennis Ace model, manufactured from 1934 to 1939 and sold to the British market, including Australia, New Zealand, and India. Records indicate this model was not sold in the US.[24]
In Season 4, Episode 13, "The Parade", the two paramedics have finished their restoration of the Dennis Ace fire engine for the California Firefighters Parade, though having to replace a part that just busted. En route to the parade, wearing antique uniforms, the two spot an apartment fire and respond in the engine using its antiquated equipment to rescue two people trapped in the building before Los Angeles County Fire Department arrives. The Dennis Ace is heavily damaged when the structure collapses onto it. In Season 5, Episode 2, "The Old Engine Cram" the main characters are informed by Nurse McCall that a man is looking to buy that same model of fire engine.[25] Unfortunately, the engine is mistakenly referred to in the script as a 1923 Paige when it is actually a Dennis.[24]
Equipment
[edit]The orange radio Gage and DeSoto used was a model 3502 Biocom Biophone. It came in an orange fiberglass case and was fully portable. It could transmit EKG and voice, could be charged in 15 minutes, and had one hour of talking time. The radio had eight duplex UHF channels and a total of 12 watts of transmitting power. There were two Biophones used on the series, one smaller than the other.[26]
In "Survival on Charter #220", Gage and DeSoto are briefly seen using a Motorola Apcor, with Dr. Early and Nurse McCall using a Motorola base station back at Rampart.
The electrocardiograph (ECG or EKG) machine used in the show was a Datascope Model 850 Dual Trace Physiological Monitor. This model came out in 1971 and was the first portable, battery rechargeable unit of its kind.[27] Its original price was $2,000. In the middle of Season 4, the show switched to a Datascope MD/2, which was a combined monitor and defibrillator that allowed the monitor unit to slide out. With the monitor docked, it can read and display an EKG through the defibrillator paddles; this function is shown several times during the series, and anticipates the development of the automated external defibrillator, only a few years later. The paramedics also carried some medical equipment in a black model PF-3300 Old Pal tackle box, commonly used by the fire department at the time. There were instances when the actors encountered difficulty in pronouncing medical terms correctly, so some scenes show the characters from the back or behind a mask, which allowed them to dub in the correct pronunciations at a later time.[26]
Many items of the equipment were donated to the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History in May 2000.[28]
The protective clothing ("turn-out gear") that the firefighters wore, including the MSA Topgard helmets, as well as nearly all other equipment such as insignia, were standard fire department issue at the time.
The badges used in the series were authentic fire department badges. At the end of filming each day, they were collected, stored for safekeeping and then reissued the next day.
Legacy
[edit]Impact on emergency medical services
[edit]An analysis of Emergency!'s influence on the rapid expansion of paramedic services must begin with the acknowledgement of the familiar adage that "correlation does not equal causation." ... However, ample evidence supports a conclusion that the TV show was a primary factor that fueled the legal changes that allowed paramedic services to develop and expand.
Prior to Emergency!, ambulances had been operating for decades in the United States. However, their crews rarely had training beyond basic first aid. Most states did not license them to perform more advanced medical treatment. The alternative was to staff ambulances with traditional healthcare professionals like doctors, which was expensive and posed recruitment challenges.[2]
Writing in the University of Baltimore Law Review in 2007, Paul Bergman argued that Emergency! encouraged the growth of EMS. The conclusion is shared by Yokey and Sutherland in the book Emergency! Behind the Scenes.[1] Bergman acknowledges that some of this trend had already been in motion, due to developments such as the 1966 report Accidental Death and Disability: The Neglected Disease of Modern Society and California's Wedworth-Townsend Act in 1970. In 1971, there were only 12 paramedic services operating in the United States. In the first three years that Emergency! aired, 46 out of 50 states enacted laws that allowed paramedics to practice. On a federal level, the 1974 Emergency Medical Services Systems Act was enacted to encourage the trend.[2] By 1982, half of the American population was within ten minutes' reach of a paramedic unit.[1][2]
The show was referenced during a debate in the Health Committee of the California State Assembly, during the passage of a bill to make the Wedworth-Townsend Act permanent.[29] A 1977 Newsweek article wrote that "[t]he television series Emergency! helped create a national demand for such services."[30] In a 1993 paper, Byron K. Toma argued that it "helped convince the public that they are entitled to the highest levels of emergency medical aid technologically available."[31]
In episode 17 of season 3, "Fools", singer Bobby Sherman plays an arrogant intern who shows disdain for John and Roy ... until he is sent out with them by Dr. Brackett to see exactly what they do. Sherman's character changes his mind quickly upon watching them perform a harrowing rescue. In real life, Sherman would leave show business and become an EMT. He worked with paramedics and taught CPR and first aid and subsequently joined the Los Angeles Police Department Reserve Officer Program. He served as a training officer for many years and would be promoted to the rank of Captain; Sherman credited his role on that episode of Emergency! as a guiding force in his choice of career change.
Spin-offs and crossovers
[edit]Emergency! was a third-generation spin-off, having been spawned from Jack Webb's Adam-12, which itself was spun off from Jack Webb's Dragnet. All three series take place in the same universe and depict different aspects of the public safety infrastructure of Los Angeles, California.
Characters from Emergency! and Adam-12 "crossed over" twice. The police officers appeared briefly in the pilot episode of Emergency!, and the firefighter/paramedics appeared in the Adam-12 episode titled "Lost and Found". Unusually, in the Emergency! episode titled "Hang-Up", there was a subplot in which the crew of Station 51 watched the television show Adam-12, despite sharing a fictional universe with those characters.
Emergency! spun off an animated version called Emergency +4 which ran on NBC Saturday mornings from 1973 to 1976, and featured four youngsters and their three pets who participated in rescue adventures with firefighter/paramedics DeSoto and Gage.
Mantooth's Gage and Tighe's DeSoto appeared in the tenth episode of Sierra, another Webb/Cinader production about a pair of National Park Service rangers, which appeared for only a partial season in 1974. In that episode, "The Urban Ranger", the two paramedics participate in mountain rescue training and get involved in many of the episode's subplots. Following recurring themes from Emergency!, Gage continues to fail in his attempts to get a date, while DeSoto briefly considers changing careers to become a park ranger.[32]
The "905-Wild" episode of Emergency!, broadcast during the closing of its Season 4 on Saturday March 1, 1975, was intended to be the pilot for a new series created and produced by Jack Webb. The series was to have been about the adventures of two Los Angeles County Department of Animal Control officers, and the staff of a county animal shelter. The episode featured Albert Popwell and Mark Harmon as the officers and David Huddleston and Gary Crosby in supporting roles. However, it failed to sell and the follow-up series was never produced.
Squad 51 briefly appeared in the CHiPs episode "Cry Wolf" (season 1, ep. 18), where it can be seen responding from the station to a false accident report. Further in the episode "MAIT Team" (season 2, ep. 15), Engine 51 and Squad 51 can be seen responding from the station to a traffic accident.[20] Again in the episode "Hot Wheels" (season 3, ep. 8) Squad 51 arrives on the scene of a traffic accident. It has a major role in the episode "E.M.T" when it responds to aid a young boy trapped in his clubhouse under a busy freeway, where California Highway Patrol officers Ponch and Jon retrieve equipment from the squad to aid in the rescue of the boy.
The episode "Cover Up" of Quincy, M.E. featured a paramedic team from Squad 44 contacting Rampart General Hospital while tending a heart attack patient, although the patient is directed to a closer hospital. When Dr. Quincy later visits Station 44 to question the paramedics concerning the patient's death, stock footage of the exterior of Station 51 is used. This episode was written by R.A. Cinader. Earlier, in the season 1 episode "Has Anyone Seen Quincy?" Harbor General Hospital is used as the filming location of the unnamed hospital seen throughout the episode. Rampart is again contacted in season 7's "The Golden Hour", but the patient is directed to a closer hospital, and Engine 51 responds to a hotel fire in the same season's episode "Smoke Screen".
Station 51 appears in the TV movie The Great Los Angeles Earthquake (1990), in a segment where all Los Angeles police and fire personnel are deployed to prepare for a massive Southern California earthquake. Stock footage from "Emergency!" is used.[33]
Rampart Hospital is briefly mentioned in the 9-1-1 episode "Hen Begins" (season 2, ep. 9), where Hen is introduced to fellow peers who are struggling to fit into their roles (Edit: The Rampart mentioned is not the fictional hospital, but the real-life LAPD station.)
TV movies
[edit]From 1978 through 1979, the show returned as a series of "Movies of the Week". The TV movies premiered in this order:
The Steel Inferno: A fire breaks out in a skyscraper and the members of Squad 51 along with other Los Angeles County Fire Department members from Station #110 help rescue those who are trapped. Personnel from Rampart General Hospital set up a triage area at the scene to care for the injured awaiting to be transported to the hospital. A Coast Guard helicopter helps firefighters with rooftop evacuations. One conflict of the episode is Squad 110's paramedic attempting to save his missing fiancé. This television movie was similar to Irwin Allen's The Towering Inferno (1974).
Survival on Charter #220: While Squad 51 is on a call, two planes collide with one crash landing in a Los Angeles subdivision, trapping Gage and DeSoto. A resident of the subdivision which was the site of the crash was the girlfriend of one of Squad 51's other paramedics from another shift. The on and off-duty firefighters make multiple rescues to save survivors. During the event, however, one of the engines from the plane lands on the squad, destroying it.
Most Deadly Passage: The paramedics from Squad 51 travel to Seattle to watch how their paramedics of the Seattle Fire Department Medic One Program treat patients and respond to calls for help. The most notable incident in the movie is the ferry that catches fire in the middle of a trip due to a fueling error.
What's a Nice Girl Like You Doing?: Gage and DeSoto travel to San Francisco to observe some female paramedics work as well as the rescue crew of the San Francisco Fire Department. A worker is rescued from the Golden Gate Bridge, an ambulance gets into an accident that ends up killing the patient being transported to the hospital, an epileptic in a coffee shop is treated along with someone having a heart attack at a dance bar. A pier at the Embarcadero catches on fire.
Greatest Rescues of "Emergency!": Gage and DeSoto are both promoted to the rank of captain, at which rank they were no longer permitted to hold paramedic certification. They think back to their time on Squad 51 and some of the rescues they carried out. Robert A. Cinader wrote and directed the framing story, which included clips from other such installments as the pilot, on whose writing Harold Jack Bloom had collaborated with Cinader. This film marked the "official" ending of the series.
The Convention: John and Roy are back in San Francisco for a paramedic convention and they ride along with the San Francisco Fire Department's paramedics.[34]
The TV movies were shown in syndication as two-part episodes starting in the 1980s. They also aired on TV Land in 2001, on MeTV in June 2015, and on Cozi TV in late 2019.
Other media
[edit]The book Emergency!: Behind the Scenes by Richard Yokely and Rozane Sutherland was published in 2008.[1]
Charlton Comics out of Derby, Connecticut, published several issues of an Emergency! comic book in the mid-1970s, geared towards youth readers. One of the issues contains some of the earliest published work of John Byrne.[35] Charlton also published four issues of an illustrated black-and-white magazine geared more towards adult readers featuring art by Neal Adams and others, these projects were overseen by publisher Steve Kahn, in parallel with similar books for The Six Million Dollar Man and Space: 1999.[36]
Wonderland Records produced three original audio dramas based on Emergency!; these were released on a single 33 rpm LP. These were: "The Jaws of Life" (in which the title gadget proves its worth when Gage and DeSoto must rescue one man from a subway mishap and another from a burning car; they also help a woman shocked by a high-voltage power line; both are uneasy about supper this week, since Lopez is the designated chef at Station 51), "Front Page Story" (in which Gage and DeSoto, after rescuing an elderly man from a burning – and supposedly abandoned – wharf, must deal with investigative reporter Jenny James ... who's been instructed to write an exposé on Squad 51; she observes – and unwittingly complicates – their treatment of a blind teenage diabetic with a fractured skull, who might need on-the-spot surgery to save his life), and "The Used Car Caper" (in which our paramedics assist a security guard shot in a bank robbery, and then a young woman injured by a reckless driver; the latter call ties into the subplot, as DeSoto puts his old car up for sale ... and gets an offer from a fellow who's suspiciously eager to close the deal).
Milton Bradley released an Emergency! board game in 1973.[37]
Syndication
[edit]The series was first syndicated in 1976, after the fifth season. Local stations mainly aired it between 4:30 and 6 p.m. Eastern (3:30 to 5:00 Central) for the same viewers that were its most loyal audience on NBC, elementary school-aged children. However, Emergency! was not nearly as successful in reruns as Dragnet 1967–70 and Adam-12 were. When the program was first syndicated, it went by the title Emergency One! (the stock title "Emergency!" appeared with the word "One" fading in beneath) to avoid confusion with the new episodes still airing Saturday nights on NBC and continued to be called that when the TV movies aired as well. The syndicated episodes would revert to the original title, Emergency!, in 1979. Renaming programs for syndication was commonplace until the 1980s. Although in the early 2000s it had a brief run on TV Land, Emergency! had been rarely seen in recent times because the series had come under the ownership of the Jack Webb Estate. The show is now seen on MeTV.
Emergency! seasons 1 – 6 were available on Netflix on Demand in high definition (though several episodes are missing due to rights issues), having been restored and rescanned from the original film negatives. The series ran on MeTV from September 2013 to December 2016, an over-the-air service mainly seen on digital subchannels of local television stations. Starting in January 2017, the series moved to the NBC Universal owned digital broadcast network Cozi TV. As of Spring 2022, the series airs on FETV, a satellite and cable network featuring classic programming and family entertainment. It is only available for purchase on DVD in the US from Universal Studios Home Entertainment and through major retailers.[38] Until September 2024, it aired on Cozi TV. On October 14, 2024 MeTV resumed airing the show at 5 p.m. ET.
Home media
[edit]In 1998, Universal Studios released 39 episodes on VHS, in a 20-volume set, distributed through Columbia House. The videocassettes each contained 2 episodes from the series, except for the first one, which only contained the two-hour pilot.
Universal Studios has released all six seasons of Emergency! and the six post-series tele-films (as The Final Rescues), on DVD in Region 1.[39]
On July 12, 2016, Universal released Emergency! – The Complete Series on DVD in Region 1.[40] The 32-disc set contains all 122 episodes of the series as well as the 6 post-series tele-films.
In 2017–2018, Universal re-released the first two seasons on DVD in new single sided disc collections.
Note: Seasons 1 & 2 in the complete series set were released on single sided discs; they were originally released on double sided discs in the individual season sets.
Name | Ep# | Region 1 |
---|---|---|
Season One | 12 | August 23, 2005 May 9, 2017 (re-release) |
Season Two | 21 | February 7, 2006 March 27, 2018 (re-release) |
Season Three | 22 | February 13, 2007 |
Season Four | 22 | January 29, 2008 |
Season Five | 24 | January 20, 2009 |
Season Six | 24 | April 13, 2010 |
The Final Rescues | 6 | March 29, 2011 |
The Complete Series | 135 | July 12, 2016 |
Los Angeles County Fire Museum
[edit]The Los Angeles County Fire Museum currently houses the Universal-built Squad 51, both Engines 51 (the renumbered Crown Los Angeles County Fire Department Engine 60 and the Ward-LaFrance-donated Engine 51), a 1969 Chevrolet ambulance and various equipment used on the show. Such equipment includes: the orange "BioPhone", black "drug box" (tackle box), defibrillator, OB/GYN, radios, turnout coats, gear, various cast photographs, and other paraphernalia used on the show.
The museum, which relocated to 16400 Bellflower Blvd, Bellflower, California, USA (33.8842615N, 118.1259962W) in July, 2018, allows fans to photograph and (for special events) touch / handle the various equipment. Some of the equipment is signed by various actors from the show.
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d Yokley, Richard; Sutherland, Roxane (2007). Emergency! Behind the Scenes. Jones & Bartlett Learning; 1 edition (July 13, 2007). ISBN 978-0763748968.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Bergman, Paul (Spring 2007). "EMERGENCY!: Send a TV Show to Rescue Paramedic Services!". University of Baltimore Law Review. 36 (3).
- ^ a b Reiner, Jonathan (May 15, 2000). "Emergency! at the Smithsonian". TVGuide.com. Retrieved January 3, 2014.
- ^ a b Ames, Denise (December 12, 2013). "One-on-One with Randolph Mantooth". The Tolucan Times. Archived from the original on December 17, 2013. Retrieved January 7, 2014.
- ^ Inman, Julia, TV Scene, The Indianapolis Star, May 2, 1973, page 32
- ^ "Sam Lanier." Sam Lanier. Emergency Fans, 2004. Web. 22 Oct. 2014.
- ^ "Robert A. Cinader". Historical Marker Database. Retrieved September 27, 2015.
- ^ "Virtual Museum EMS History." 1969-Los Angeles Area Paramedic Programs. Np, 31 July 2011. Web. 14 Oct. 2014.
- ^ a b c d "Q & A with Randolph Mantooth". route51.com. February 1, 2014. Archived from the original on February 19, 2014. Retrieved February 2, 2014.
- ^ "Randolph Mantooth" (Interview). Interviewed by Tom Blixa. Columbus, Ohio: WTVN. May 23, 2013. Archived from the original on October 19, 2013. Retrieved November 11, 2013.
- ^ "EMS Isn't a Right ... It's a Privilege." Randolph Mantooth. Nickel One Productions, 2012. Web. 22 Oct. 2014.
- ^ Los Angeles County Fire Station 51 Archived 2009-02-08 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Richard Yokley; Rozane Sutherland (2007), "Rampart Hospital", Emergency!: Behind the Scene, Jones & Bartlett Learning, ISBN 978-0-7637-4896-8, retrieved October 31, 2013
- ^ "HUMC – Celebrating 50 Years of Caring". Retrieved December 22, 2015.
- ^ "CrowdRx – Rampart Mobile Emergency Room". Retrieved December 22, 2018.
- ^ "County Of Los Angeles Fire Museum's Squad 51". Retrieved December 22, 2015.[dead link ]
- ^ a b [1] Visit the County Of Los Angeles Fire Museum
- ^ "Emergency! TV Show Equipment And Filming Locations". Retrieved December 22, 2015.
- ^ "County Of Los Angeles Fire Museum's Engine 51Crown". Archived from the original on July 13, 2011. Retrieved December 22, 2015.
- ^ a b Yokley, Richard; Sutherland, Rozane (May 2007). Emergency!. Jones & Bartlett Learning. ISBN 9780763748968. Retrieved December 22, 2015.
- ^ "Fire Engines Page 1". Archived from the original on October 28, 2009. Retrieved December 22, 2015.
- ^ "Engine 51 Restoration". LA County Fire Museum, Inc. Archived from the original on May 15, 2013. Retrieved May 25, 2013.
- ^ "County Of Los Angeles Fire Museum's Engine 51 Ward LaFrance". Retrieved December 22, 2015.[dead link ]
- ^ a b Richard Yokley, Rozane Sutherland (2007), "Rampart Hospital", Emergency!: Behind the Scene; ISBN 978-0-7637-4896-8
- ^ ""Emergency!" The Old Engine Cram (TV Episode 1975)". IMDb. Retrieved December 22, 2015.
- ^ a b Yokley, Richard C.; Sutherland, Rozane (July 15, 2007). Emergency!: Behind the Scene. Jones & Bartlett Learning. pp. 117–. ISBN 978-0-7637-4896-8. Retrieved May 12, 2013.
- ^ "Passport 2" (PDF). proactmedical.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 21, 2008.
- ^ Clafma.org Archived February 6, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Interim Hearing on Emergency Medical Services, 1972 Leg., 1972 Reg. Sess. 23 (Cal. 1972).
- ^ Peter Bonventre et al., "It's an Emergency", Newsweek, Nov. 21, 1977, p. 105.
- ^ Toma, Byron (1993). "The Decline of Emergency Medical Services Coordination in California: Why Cities Are at War With Counties Over Illusory Ambulance Monopolies". Southwestern University Law Review.
- ^ "Sierra X-Over", Emergencyfans.com. Accessed August 24, 2007.
- ^ Gordon Burnett (June 20, 2013). "The Great Los Angeles Earthquake (1990)". Archived from the original on November 18, 2021 – via YouTube.
- ^ "Emergency: The Final Rescues (The Steel Inferno, Survival on Charter #220, Greatest Rescues of Emergency!, More)." DVD Talk. DVD Talk, 29 Mar. 2011. Web. 22 Oct. 2014.
- ^ "Emergency! – June 1976 – December 1976". Grand Comics Database Project. comics.org. Retrieved February 8, 2008.
- ^ "Emergency! – July 1976 – January 1977". Grand Comics Database Project. comics.org. Retrieved February 8, 2008.
- ^ The Emergency! Game
- ^ "Universal Studios Home Entertainment Web Store". Emergency: The Complete Series. Universal Studios Home Entertainment. April 13, 2016. Retrieved May 30, 2018.
- ^ "Emergency! DVD news: Announcement for Emergency – The Final Rescues". TVShowsOnDVD.com. Archived from the original on December 22, 2015. Retrieved December 22, 2015.
- ^ Watch Out, Guys ... Universal is Creating a Complete 'Emergency!' **UPDATED** Archived 2016-06-05 at the Wayback Machine
External links
[edit]- Emergency! at IMDb
- Emergency! at NBC
- Emergency! Episode Guide at TV Gems
- Emergency! fansite at nexxie.0catch.com
- Emergency!
- 1970s American medical drama television series
- 1972 American television series debuts
- 1977 American television series endings
- American action adventure television series
- American English-language television shows
- American television spin-offs
- Charlton Comics titles
- Fictional firefighters
- NBC television dramas
- Television series about firefighting
- Television series by Mark VII Limited
- Television series by Universal Television
- Television shows set in Los Angeles