Emergency!

I watched this show back in the 70's and I liked it very much. I am starting to buy the DVD's now.



pete

Emergency! Reruns are back on the air thanks to RTV (Retro Television Network) http://www.myretrotv.com/ This is a great thing!





"This series features the adventures of the paramedics of Los Angeles County Fire Dept. Station 51, John Gage and Roy Desoto. Together they respond to emergencies ranging from false alarms to major disasters. As at this time, the Paramedic program, which is designed to keep emergency patients alive long enough to get to medical facilities, is still a relatively recent service, the paramedics must be guided by licensed medical personnel through radio contact on site. This is where the staff of Rampart Hospital come in with doctors Brackett and Early as well as Head Nurse McCall providing the necessary instructions for the paramedics to do their jobs. In addition to that, we see the work of the medical staff on their own as deal with the medical problems they encounter." - Kenneth Chisholm

Emergency was a landmark show for spotlighting the work of paramedics. It helped to increase awareness of emergency care. The show centers on one of the shifts at Station 51 and staff at Rampart General Hospital where victims are taken.





There are six men assigned to each shift: an engineer, a captain, two fire fighters, and two fire fighter paramedics. There were two Captains during the series. I prefer Captain Stanley. He came off more personal with the his men.





Mike Stoker who played the engineer was a fire fighter/engineer in real life. They needed someone who was certified to drive the engine. Mike also happened to have a screen actors' guild card. They under used him. He hardly ever got lines.





Marco Lopez and Chet Kelly were fire fighters. Marco was fluent in Spanish and translated on a few occasions. Chet had an alter ego he called the Phantom who loved to torment John Gage.





John Gage and Roy DeSoto were the paramedics. They generally had several rescues during the episode. It was realistic in that they didn't save everyone.





Dr. Brackett, Dr. Early, Dr. Morton, and nurse Dixie McCall were the regulars on the hospital staff. They made a good team. Once the patient was brought into Rampart, they swung into action. As with the paramedics, the hospital staff couldn't always save everyone, making it very realistic. In addition to the rescues, we saw the relationships the characters had with each other. They all had their ups and downs.





Emergency was very realistic and beats the so called reality shows of today hands down.

This show was one of the best classics on tv land. I wasnt around in the 1970s but I later started watching it on TV. Land. It was one good show. I had no Idea parimedics were out there in the 1970s until I saw this show. It was a really good show. It has allways been one of my favorites. I have the first three seasons on DVD Boxsets. The DVD's are really good. I'm still waiting for season four. If they release a season four boxset I'm going to get it. I hope it comes out soon. I really like Emergency.

Emergency really was a breakthrough show for it's time. This show was about the L..A. County paramedic program and featured real life dramas that split the action between the paramedics in the field and the followup in the hospital.





The mark of a great show is how well it stands the test of time. Watching the reruns for this show I still find it just as compelling as the first time I saw it. Even though the clothes, hairstyles, and slang places this show firmly in the Seventies there is nothing outdated about the story lines. The dramatic scenes are still able to hold me on the edge of my seat and the moral issues covered are still very relevant to today. Emergency has stood the test of time and will continue to do so for many years to come.

The show is great althought I haven't seen in on quite sometime and Roy Desoto and John Gage characters have development over the past three season. I hope it willl continue though out the season and the seaons thereafter. I would like to see seasons four and five. Actually I would like to see all seven sasons. It would great to see them online and I don't have a way to by them on DVD, which is sad. Even Capt. Stanley and Cheko is coming around, there character I mean. The only sad thing is the show ends, but but it ends on a good note.

This show was such a positive example for so many people interested in the medical and emergency fields. I believe that it inspired a lot of people to become nurses, paramedics and firefighters. It was well written, directed and acted. I loved all the different characters personalities and the diffent situations that they would get into. But they were always there for each other when it counted. They also did a good job at combining the field with the hospital and showed continuous treatment of the patients. This show was really dynamic when you consider the years it was on tv.

Outstanding show ahead of it's time. This is the way TV Shows use to be made when I was growing up. A great cast and Thrilling action about the paramedics/Doctors/Nurse and Fireman doing there job and how they fought to save lives. It's great that is out on DVD now.

In a lot of ways Emergency brought about change in the Rescue field that many of us couldn't even imagine.There once was a time when car accident victims couldn't be treated on site,as in the pilot Emergency episode demonstrated,that all changed with the help and exposure of Emergency.The term EMT was never heard of before,nor "Paramedic" by many,but thankfully the service that we take for granted today was helped along big time by Jack Webb and the talented cast of Emergency.I cant imagine anyone forgetting about this program,for it was a big part of every kid's viewing and play acting habits in the 70s (and 80s too with the syndicated "Emergency One" reruns).I cant think of any other program that has done so much good for so many as this program has (excepting Americas Most Wanted and Unsolved Mysteries).Remember,there would have been no "Rescue 9-1-1" with William Shatner,no St Elsewhere,no ER...had Gage and Desoto not rescued the injured in their trusty red 72 Dodge.Praise them all,and may Jack Webb be forever immortalized. Now the 1st season will be released in August on DVD!!!! Finally! Time for Emergency to live again,and that adorably cute Nurse Sharon Walter (Patricia Mickey)to gain a whole new crowd of male fans.

This is a happy childhood memory. Loved the firefighting action, the daring rescues by our heroes and the cutting (cough) edge medical dramas. The firehouse friendships were pretty funny and always heart-rending when one of Station 51 was in trouble – and that happened in almost every episode. For casting straight off the studio lot, Kevin Tighe and Randolph Mantooth pulled off the buddy-show vibe very well, and the heavy-handed morality plays seemed almost natural coming from Robert Fuller and Julie London.





But Emergency! didn’t just combine daring rescues, Jack Webb morality and campy humor, it also influenced society for the better. It put the paramedic program on the map, and informed not only everyday viewers, but even law makers about the importance of the emergency medical program. Amazing. And people say television doesn’t affect our culture.

I really enjoyed this show growing up, and inspired me into a medical field. I wanted to become a paramedic at a young age, but later, discovered that rather work with athletes. I feel if it was not for this show, I would not have the interest in my chosen profession.

i myself truly enjoy this series.i hope that when everyone else gets a chance to whatch this that they to come to relize that they truly have a rare chance to not only to two terricfic actors playing in roles that shot there carres to the top but would also not only teach but to enlighten the general public on the subject of a new and exciting wolrd of emergency medecine. you just cant help but not too 100% enjoy the action and drama the accurs each and every single weekly episode of this enjoyable series. my every one else i hope feel the same

Emergency is one of the most fabulous shows that I have ever watched on TV land, I would always stop what I was doing just to watch Johny and Roy help save someone's life. Watching the show also helped me find out what I wanted to do in the future, even though I'm only 18 I am now qualified to save people's life cause I'm an emergency first responder. It was all because Johnny and Roy drove me to help save people's lives for real. I would love it if they would put it back on TV land, Johnny and Roy are like my hero's for helping me find out what I wanted to do in life. The show is awsome and I can't wait until they put all the other season's out on DVD. Thanks for reading my review sorry I rambled on about nothing but I get excited just thinking about Emergency. Have a wonderful day and God bless!

This was a really good show it had action comedy, good storied and likeable characters. I enjoyed this show as it kept me into it, and was interesting as well as informing. It kind of gave you a look at the lives of rescue workers, including that dog that never left the couch. They had some scenes while they were in the firehouse waiting for something to happen, and it showed how the handle the down time in that type of job. I think they did a good job in their portrayal of rescue workers (fire & Ambulance) from what I have seen in documentaries and other shows.

You have to consider a show great if it can convincingly combine both medical drama and nail-biting action rescues. The writers, creators, special effects artists and stuntmen on this show went to great ends to think up convincing accidents and then depict them for entertainment purposes while yet keeping them concievable and believable. Throw in two likeable guys in the form of Kevinn Tighe and Randy Mantooth along with a station of cut-ups and you have a hit series on your hands. A lot of tongue in cheek humor made this series for me as Gage was always trying to get rich quick or fireman Chet Kelly letting loose with the practical jokes, but yet it was all played straight to save others as we the viewers learned at least superficially the ins and outs of the paramedic business. Kudos to a well remembered and well liked show !

Emergency is an amazing one of a kind show. Most shows focus on police officers, but this is the only television show I know that is focused on fire fighters. The writers of this show did an excellant job of portraying the job of a fire fighter. I love how in each episode there is about three "emergencies" going on along with some comical backstory. I have seen just about every episode of Emergency and there is not one that I do not like. If more television shows were like this one I think that the tv we watch today would be even greater.

This was one of the best shows on television. It was so good that people believed the characters were real people! If only reality was this good.





The series ran for 7 years. It could have gone on for more if NBC hadn't made the mistake of cancelling it. Still, it was a good, strong run and a very enjoyable, and at times timeless, series.





I'm so glad it's out on DVD. I started watching it again before it was on TV Land and was pleased I still enjoyed it as much now as I did when I was watching it for the first time back in 1975.

This was the best show on in the 70s. Why do you think most households had to buy 2 televisions. A set for the parents to watch gunsmoke every week while the kids watched Emergency on the other.... Until i moved out on my own and started watching it in reruns I always thought Johnny and Roy were only 3 inches tall and in black and white. Thank god we now have the DVDs. makes for a great rainy day at the cottage. Just throw on Emergency and every one is happy. Even my teens love watching it.... Another of jack Webbs stable of great shows

Emergency! Really was a true benchmark in the TV world when it came to realistic based dramas. And to this day the show still holds up quite strong and is still quite entertaining! Back in the 70's Emergency! along with Adam-12 were 2 shows that were based on real life situations. They helped paved the way for future shows like ER, and Law and Order. I really enjoyed the series, and think its a perfect blend of seriousness as well as some good old fashion light hearted comedy thrown into the mix. Overall its a classic 70 show!

i think that this show should still come on it is just so much fun to watch and see on how it was; for docs, nures,firefighters and paramedics did things back then it teachs yous on how things were done and also, so what it was like then, so look at on how thing are now no more glass iv.


also you can learn on how they put out fires and how they would take someone tho the hospital if tha ambelcane could get there to the hospital so in mt rateings i give it a A+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ and also 10000000000000000000000000000000000%











thanks for reading my review





kris

THIS is the show that made me decide to be a firefighter/EMT when I grew up. I remember spending many hours driving \"Coffee Table 51\" to calls with teh crew from Station 51. Either that, or keeping a fire engine and ambulance under the TV in it\'s own \"Station 51\".

This show orginally aired years before I was even born but in the 90's they would play the reruns from it and I was addicted. Being a medical major I love medical related shows and Johnny and Roy were so funny. I even own the first season on DVD and plan on getting the second season when it comes out!

It might be difficult for those who now live with 911 and OnStar at their fingertips to believe, but there once was a time when it was a toss-up if you could get to a hospital in time to save your life if you were seriously injured or sick. If you were dying of a heart attack you were as likely to get picked up by your local mortician's wagon as a private ambulance service. Or you hoped a loved one would break the traffic laws to get you help. And rarely did any of these means have the medical knowledge to keep you alive until you got there.





Then "Emergency!" came on the scene in the early 70's like, well, a screaming red fire engine and gave a lackadaisical America a shot of epinephrine to jolt it to its senses. Created by hit writer/producer Jack Webb (Dragnet; Adam-12) "Emergency!" was a fictionalized but still realistic look at how firefighting and emergency services were being dragged into the 20th century, particularly emphasizing the new-to-most and still dubious field of paramedical treatment. The show got its point across to the average American by showing dedicated but regular professionals going about their jobs of helping people and saving lives. Even when the general public wasn't always forthcoming in their gratitude.





Most of the show's action centered around the fictional Fire Station 51 (real-life Station 127 in Carson, CA) and its 6-man A-shift crew, but also emphasized the ER staff of Squad 51's base station at Rampart General (Harbor-UCLA Medical Center). Plus, LA County had no lack of children stuck in trees, linemen electrocuted by downed power lines, unwary boaters smoking too close to fuel tanks, and your garden variety chemical plant infernos to keep the action hopping. The show did occasionally slip into schmaltz and cliché but it still managed to make firefighting and medicine look not too-overly glamorous yet still an exciting challenge. Stories of the 1000's upon 1000's of young people the show inspired into emergency careers are legendary.





The show has recently been released on DVD by Universal so a whole new generation can now see what all the fuss was about. Plus, how shows like "ER" and "Third Watch" got their way paved. Emergency services have evolved with time and technology and, yes, hairstyles have *definitely* changed since its heyday, but "Emergency!" still has a timeless joy and energy to it that will never be dated. And it's still a thrill to hear Station 51's call-out klaxon go, "beep-boop-BRAAAKK!"

This show was amazing. My dad was a paramedic, and I would always watch this show and think about him. I only got to watch this show in reruns, but I was always glued to the TV when this show was on. I learned a lot about my dad'd job by watching Emergency!

Emergency was my favorite T.V. show from the seventies. I learned alot from watching this show. I always had a crush on the caracter John Gage I mean since I was 7 or 8. I Would still be watching Emergency If it was still being showed today. If I had my own Cable Channel this would be one of the shows I would air Daily. I loved this show!!!!!!

This DVD pack was excellent, a must for everyone to watch. It actually starts with the movie and goes from episode to episode like it should. Looking around at others who have it on 8 disc's seeling it for 90 bucks doesn't seem worth it to me when it's not in the right order. If you must watch it you have to watch it like it was made.

As I was growing up I spent alot of time sitting by the TV with my grandfather. There was always one show that could not be missed, Emergency! I grew up with a crush on Johnny Gage and his histerical antics. I have been waiting along time for this show to come to DVD and I am going to truely enjoy it. My grandfather was a firefighter when he was growing up and it was always fun to watch him critic the squad. There was always something wrong but he was always pointing out the good. Now that Emergency! is out on DVD I finally get part of my grandfather back!

To say the least, “Emergency!,” was a huge deal for me. Granted, I maybe 22 years old and the show may have ended before I was even born but nonetheless I still think to this day that the show was a major contributing factor for me to get involved in the field of Para medicine. Years before (many years), there were no such thing a Paramedics or E.M.T's, or at least to my knowledge, base of recognition of such a person. In 1971 director Jack Webb (Dragnet) had contemplated the idea of having a real life drama TV show about the new field of Para medicine. At first, many people were more or less skeptical about the idea. Though eventually, after the first two pilot episodes came on air in 1972, the show gradually gained publicity and eventually became a hit. Even more so after a few years when in 1979 the show aired its final episode and came to a close. Thus, after many years became an important and life changing T.V. show, making it a classic. I of course had only seen the re-runs of the show in the early 80’s but with every show I watched I was more and more fascinated and eager to become a Paramedic. My father, whom is also a Paramedic, was another contributing factor for me. But, I think what started the interest and goal to become a Paramedic was the “Emergency!” TV show. I know there are a multitude of differences between real life Paramedics and the Paramedics that are played by Kevin Tighe (Roy Desoto) and Randolph Mantooth (John Gage) but the factor remains that they were pioneers by there own right and I firmly believe if that show didn’t go on the air, many people would not have known about the paramedic programs or even the paramedics themselves. Also in comparison to the 70’s and today’s medical practices; the standards of what Para medicine go by are drastically different. What I mean by this is technology and the knowledge bases by today’s standards (illnesses, treatments, medications etc, etc) are obviously different. Then again, these changes had to start from somewhere. In hindsight of this, I feel that this show had built a sturdy stepping stone for future Paramedics or for that matter anyone who becomes interested in becoming a Paramedic. So to conclude this review I give the show a 10 out of 10 irregardless of the slight discrepancy in the way the treatment is performed from 1970 to 2005.

The premise for Emergency! was pulled directly from the real-life development of the Los Angeles Fire Department Paramedic Program in the early 1970's. Until the inception of this then-revolutionary program, the best pre-hospital, on-scene medical care a person could hope for was the "scoop and run" practices of ambulance crews. Ambulance crews of the time were untrained individuals (often morticians) that had no radio communication with doctors or hospitals...they literally "scooped" you onto a litter and made a "run" for the nearest hospital. Medical treatment did not begin until you arrived at the hospital. Consequently, survival rates were reduced due to lengthy delays before medical care could be initiated.





The establishment of the LAFD Paramedic Program dramatically changed all of that...and set the trend for similiar programs throughout the US. Likewise, Emergency! set the trend for medical dramas of it's day. Never before had a medical drama concentrated so directly on the actual care being given -- procedures being portrayed, actual drugs being mentioned and given, the portrayal of paramedics doing CPR, defibrillating a victim, etc. And this was all during a time when most average citizens had not been taught to perform CPR, nevermind see an actual defibrillator.





The program focuses around the two main paramedic characters of Roy DeSoto and John Gage, played by Kevin Tighe and Randolph Mantooth, respectively, but also include storylines involving the other firefighters from Company 51. Obviously, the storylines involve fires and people in need of rescue/medical care, but there are also elements of the firefighters/paramedics personal lives, comedy and, of course, their interactions with the Emergency Room staff at Rampart, the nearest hospital.





Although the special effects, some of the drugs and medical procedures, vehicles, clothing and lack of autonomy for the paramedics are all "dated", the overall effect of the series remains intact. And for anyone that thinks television can't be a GOOD influence...think again. Initiation of and enrollment in Paramedic programs absolutely skyrocketed after this series hit the airwaves. There are countless Emergency paramedics, doctors and nurses (like me) that first became interested in Pre-hospital and Emergency Medicine due to watching this show as youngsters.





The ONLY reason I gave this show a rating less than a 10 was due to the fact that some aspects of the show are now dated, as noted above.