Customer Reviews

Emergency! Season One

5 star:		(97)
4 star:		(31)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

Emergency was a revolutionary TV show. It portrayed the work of firefighters, paramedics, and doctors pretty much the way it happens in real life. Prior to Emergency medical based shows tended to lean towards soap opera style dramatics to create compelling stories. With Emergency the writers used the real jargon spoken by these professionals ("51 start an IV, D5W TKO," "We're transmitting EKG," "We're sending you a strip, vitals to follow. Pulse is 160, the victim is in extreme pain, Rampart. V-fib!"), and it showed how lives were really saved.

The danger of firefighters' work was really shown for the first time in Emergency, and while the show did tend to glamorize firefighters to a small degree it also showed the dedication that they have to their jobs. Decades before the movie Backdraft you saw firefighters risking their lives on nearly a daily basis. Realism was goal one for the producers, and they achieved that goal.

Season 1 has some great episodes, but it also lacks the cast chemistry that came a year or two later with the addition of Michael Norell as Captain Stanley. The cast - filled with great personalities like Randolph Mantooth, Kevin Tighe, Robert Fuller, Bobby Troup, Ron Pinkard, and Julie London - spent the first season finding their footing with their characters. By season 2 most of them had their characters pegged and developed great interplay with each other.

The other firefighters on the show, played by Tim Donnelly, Marco Lopez, and Mike Stoker also deserve mention because although some of them were given very little to stretch them as actors they did have the perfect personalities to play those characters.

Jack Webb co-created Emergency, and it was his desire to make the show in as close to a "documentary" style as possible. The realism of Emergency ultimately paved the way for later medical shows such as ER.

This is definitely a show that should have its entire run on DVD. Hopefully this first season sells well enought to see the rest of the show released on DVD. To quote Captain Stanley, "Station 51, KMG 365."

While I realize this won't be released for a couple of months, I have a copy of all the episodes on video tape and just can't wait for the clarity of DVD. If you're too young to remember this 70s favorite, you need to watch. This series singlehandedly changed the face of emergency medicine by showing the U.S. how paramedics made a difference. The series inspired thousands to become firefighters, paramedics, nurses, and doctors. The paramedic program was, within one year, at least 20 years ahead of what it would've been without it. As the prior reviewer said, Universal, you rock! Now, let's get cracking on the other seasons' episodes.

Emergency! without a doubt is the single most important program of our time.With the exception possibly of "Americas Most Wanted" and "Unsolved Mysteries",Emergency! made more of a difference than any other "fluff" show on TV.Who had ever heard of Paramedics,or rescue squads before this show? Anyone who has ever dialed 9-1-1 and requested medical assistance,can thank Jack Webb,Mr Cinader,Johnny and Roy and everybody else associated with this groundbreaking show for urging nationwide EMT coverage.Remember,in the old days,ambulances could not perform lifesaving treatments and could only transport the injured.Many died enroute to the hospital not due to the severity of their injuries,but due to the lack of initial treatment,and no possible diagnosis of how serious their injuries were.Yup....every American today and from 1972- up to today owes a debt of gratitude to this amazing show.Forget CSI,ER,and Law & Order.....they are lightweights compared to the reach of this production.To this day,the Crown engine,the Ward LaFrance engine,and the 72 Dodge squad along with all surviving cast members are....every one...legends.Get ready for Emergency! mania once this DVD is released....It deserves it...and its the least we can do to honor the incredible program that we are fortunate to have.

Okay, now that I have caught my breath from the total elation I just experienced when I happened on this soon to be released DVD series. I am a huge TV on DVD fan and have collected many of my old childhood favorites. Emergency!, I have to say, tops my list. This was one of my favorite shows as a child, I was so in love with Randolph Mantooth!! A few years back I was able to get some of the episodes on VHS, and the show was still as great as ever, it was fun to watch with my children, not something you can do with todays prime time offerings. Highly, highly recommended series for any who have not watched it. I can't praise this series enough.

Emergency! was a little accident of history that changed the face of the fire service forever. The History of EMS in all of these other reviews is correct, and Emergency! was a very clean show. (where's family hour today?) My mother made me be good in church on Saturday evening, and if I wasn't, I couldn't watch Emergency! when we got home. I was one kid who enjoyed it, and I entered a volunteer fire department in 1989, in part because of "Emergency!"

In 1998, I was a gift basket presenter at the "Emergency!" convention. At least 500 people showed up. Randy Mantooth, Kevin Tighe, Bobby Troup, Robert Fuller, Marco Lopez, Mike Stoker, and Tim Donnelly were there. ALL of them were enthusiastic and friendly. NONE were treating anyone like "here's your autograph, bye." I would say at least 300 of the 500 convention attendees were either doctors, nurses, paramedics, EMT's, firefighters, police officers, medical professionals, etc. who came to say "thank you." What other TV show has had that? Jim Page would say, "that simply would not have happened, without the impact of Emergency!"

The Journal of Emergency Medical Services speaks favorably of Emergency!. Gary Ludwig of the Memphis FD said that Emergency! was one of the most positive images of the fire service on Television (I concur), and Randolph Mantooth paid tribute to Jim Page at the last EMS convention I attended. The next time you get on your truck, thank Jack Webb, R.A. Cinader, and Jim Page. Also thank those from the first paramedic classes whose perseverance was a big help in those early days. Where would you be today without the trailblazers? Would ambulances still be the "you crash we dash method?" Think about it.

Thanks Universal, you've made me happy. It's a crying shame this is no longer showing on TV Land or any other network. This was my favorite Saturday night show, which came on right after Hee Haw. I am sad to know that Julie London and husband Bobby Troup (of Route 66 fame) are no longer with us.

I was so inspired by the show's preparedness spirit, that, to this day, I keep a first aid kit in a tackle box, similar to what they used. While a drama, there was still plenty of action, and hardly ever a boring moment. Compare that to most any show today, and there's just no way to beat Emergency!

Having this first installment of the series, will allow my kids to see just what basically started the whole paramedic/EMT thing in the first place. This was a show like no other.

I'm also buying Dragnet 1967, because there will never again be a brilliant mind quite like that of Jack Webb. "Just the facts, ma'am"

Thanks again Universal, and keep more of it coming ! KMG-365 Clear

Most television shows attempting to be a PSA ultimately abandon audience interest in favor of being saccharine and preachy---and are subsequently forgotten years later. Despite the outdated medical equipment and protocol (the paramedics have to call their local hospital for treatment authorizations) this Jack-Webb directed series overall stands the test of time.

A show about the daily adventures of paramedics is not very revolutionary today, but in the early 1970's it was groundbreaking. In that earlier era, most people had grown up knowing that an ambulance could not patch people up en route to Rampart Hospital---something which my generation takes as a given today.

The people in this series are (of course) Hollywood actors, but the message they deliver is effective. Even with comparatively sanitized scripts (these paramedics apparently specialize in treating bloodless injuries!) and an eerily quiet hospital where Dr. Kelly Brackett (Robert Fuller) and Nurse Dixie McCall (Julie London) work, the scripts are amazing for what they were.

This TV drama even earned praise from then-Senator Alan Cranston (D-CA) for informing the public about the numerous benefits of the paramedic program. Receiving commendations from a Federal Legislator is a pretty impressive track sheet for a fictional television show. Today's so-called reality shows can only dream of having such cultural impact upon the American psyche.

11 episodes are included in the 1972-1973 season. Extras on this disc are the Wedsworth-Townsend Act (actually the first 'episode) which explains how the paramedic program is authorized--and the subsequent episodes themselves can exist.

The short season is compensated by realistic script writing acknowlleging that these paramedics are immediately and then constantly at work once they come into existence, this is not a job for the slacker. Plus, it certainly does not hurt that the two male leads themselves are very hunky--I'm genuinely torn between Kevin Tighe and Randolph Mantooh!

Because they do get easily scratched (including with careful handing!) I am concerned that Universal gave a show of such socio-cultural importance the double-sided DVD treatment.

Emergency! is an excellent show that the whole family can watch together without worrying mom and dad.

Jack webb and the actors did an excellent job presnting a realistic view of the paramedic program,yet not too real so that people would be squeamish while viewing the hosptial scenes.

Fans of St. Elsewhere and ER can also see what inspired those shows as well.

"Emergency!" is, in my opinion, one of the best medical shows ever to appear on prime time television. It depicts the day-to-day, real-life adventures of the paramedics of Los Angeles County in the early 1970's.

In the late 1960's, doctors, some firemen, and a California State Assemblyman recognized the need for immediate emergency medical treatment. On the flip side, there were many people who were against the idea of "hose jockeys" acting like doctors and performing some of the jobs that doctors did. The general consensus back then was that doctors should practice medicine and fire fighters should practice fire fighting.

Many people, then and now, who were very sick or injured, could not wait for emergency treatment at a hospital. Ambulance attendants at that time were no more than hospital orderlies who, possessing only a basic understanding of first aid, could not administer emergency medicine.

Thus, the "Wedworth-Townsend Act" was born. This Act, signed into law July 15, 1970 by then-governor Ronald Reagan, authorized medical training for rescue firemen and allowed them to administer the emergency treatment patients needed to stabilize them for transport to a hospital.

"Emergency!" is a very realistic depiction of those early paramedics. A little artistic license is used here and there, of course, but generally the series is quite accurate, and many of the episodes are based on actual incidents. The series is also credited with prompting other fire departments across the country to create their own paramedic services.

Shows such as "ER," "Chicago Hope" and "Doc" depict emergency medicine from the hospital's point of view. "Emergency!" depicts emergency medicine from the paramedics' point of view.

If you're looking for realistic, fast-paced drama with just a touch of humor interjected here and there, I highly recommend this series. I give the show itself a five-star rating, although the overall rating is four stars only because the episodes are stored on double-sided DVDs, which can be easily scratched.

"Emergency!" should be a "must-have" in everyone's DVD collection. It is a ground-breaking series that set the precedent for all other emergency-medical shows after it.

Finally, after years, Universal has released Emergency! on DVD. I got my set the first day and have enjoyed the episodes everyday since then. The pilot movie and the short first season is all that's included,(except for previews of other Universal coming releases). I was disappointed there were no extras at all. Many of the stars are still acting and I would have appreciated some interviews with them and some of the great directors as was the case with Battlestar Galactica (Cylon Head edition) also from Universal. The DVDs look great, the captioning is very helpful and my set only has a very brief instant of stalling. A popular tv shows site that has voting has over 1800 votes for Emergency!, it's popularity with fans is undisputed. As a mature viewer I appreciate the show's good taste in showing sanitized injuries, a common practice at that time. Strategic placement of nurses and furniture make it possibe to maintain good taste when doctors or paramedics are attending to patients. The fire scenes are exciting and watchable too, very believable to a civilian's eye anyway. The shows are uplifting and entertaining. I'm hoping all the subsequent seasons will be released soon.