Emergency!: Behind the Scene [Paperback]

Richard Yokley (Author), Rozane Sutherland (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 076374896X | ISBN-13: 978-0763748968 | Publication Date: July 13, 2007 | Edition: 1

This book captures the essence of an important chapter in television history: coverage of the origins of the Emergency!, a dramatic series significant beyond entertainment. Emergency! followed the daily lives of a pair of Los Angeles County Fire Department firefighters/paramedics, along with their colleagues at Station 51 and the emergency room staff of Rampart General Hospital. The book offers a behind the scenes look, packed with interviews from many of the medical and fire department technical advisors, cast members, writers, and other production crew members that worked on the series.

Product Details

• Paperback: 402 pages
• Publisher: Jones and Bartlett Publishers, Inc.; 1 edition (July 13, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 076374896X
• ISBN-13: 978-0763748968
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (44 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #126,962 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

53 of 56 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not Quite What I Expected, March 4, 2008

By 

Readz Alot (USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Emergency!: Behind the Scene (Paperback)

The first thing I noticed about this book is that the publisher, Jones and Barlett, is primarily a medical publisher -- they publish professional books for doctors, nurses and EMS workers. And indeed, in the preface, the authors write that they assume their readers to be primarily firefighters, firefighter hopefuls, and EMS workers. Fans of the tv show "Emergency!" aren't even on the list.

The content of the book is, perhaps due to this confusion, somewhat schitzophrenic. The authors try to do many things, and so fail to do any of them very well.

There is a fairly interesting, but all too brief history of EMS services and the paramedic program in Los Angeles.

There are brief biographies of the actors, including a fairly lengthy list of non-regulars, many of whom went on to bigger and better things. (And, as has been mentioned, they managed to misspell Bobby Troup's name every time.)

There is an excruciatingly detailed discussion of the various vehicles that appeared on the program, both the squads and the engines. Also described in great detail are the important rescue equipment (the biophone, Jaws of Life and so on) and the uniforms.

Then we get extremely brief summaries of the episodes themselves, with guest casts, air dates, and so on. (Information that is available, often in much more detail, from IMDB or other on-line sources.) A few episodes include some background trivia, but none go into any depth.

Finally we are offered information on various spin-off programs and films, tie-in merchandise, and some discussion of the long-term influence of the show.

What is lacking is, to a large extent, much of the 'behind the scenes' stuff promised in the title. Given that the DVD sets themselves are completely lacking in extras (no commentary tracks, documentaries, etc.) I had hoped to be able to read here some detailed discussion of how various stunts were done, memories of cast and crew, and so on. There is precious little of that. Also, presumably due to copyright issues, while there are photos of several real early paramedics and their vehicles, there are no stills from the program.

25 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A "fan" should know better ...., November 22, 2007

By 

Christopher K. Nagel "rmos" (Michigan City, Indiana) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Emergency!: Behind the Scene (Paperback)

This book was an great read, but if the authors are really "fans" of "Emergency!" then how did the misspelling of Bobby Troup's last name get by them? The spelling throughout the book is "Troop"! (as in "F-Troop" --- whoops, wrong program!). I also noticed a couple of other factual errors about Universal Studios and Jack Webb that should have been caught, too.

These may sound like small issues, but it does detract from the overall quality of the book. I would have given this book five stars except for the big boo-boos.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Take a Second Look, February 11, 2009

By 

Michelle Smith "Michelle Smith" (Chambersburg, PA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Emergency!: Behind the Scene (Paperback)

When this book arrived through Amazon my first impression while flipping through the pages was "oh, one of those books." Took me a month to sit down and actually read it from cover to cover. And lo and behold I realized first impressions were off centered. This book is great!

Dates when each episode was filmed, production numbers, production info, everything you want in a reference guide of this type. The trivia is detailed and if you enjoy watching the series on DVD I recommend you buy this book too so you can get a background knowledge of each episode. Certainly a companion piece. Photos of inter-office memorandums, details about the props, all of it. Definately worth grabbing.