Case of the (Re)Runs: Emergency!

Those of you who are old enough know what show I'm talking about ... Emergency!, with paramedics/firefighters Roy DeSoto and Johnny Gage.

A picture might refresh your memory:



Anyway, used to watch these reruns as a kid, on good ol' WFLD Channel 32 in Chicagoland. Emergency! had everything an 8-year-old kid (and a 39-year-old nerd) could want:

* Firetrucks and ambulances with cool sirens
* These vehicles rumble down the streets of metro L.A., past tons of cool, vintage 1960s and 1970s cars. If you're watching with someone else, play the "slug bug" game.
* Goofy characters who, in between rescues, have funny little subplots to act out
* A hospital filled with hot nurses in short skirts and tight shirts (none of whom ever give Johnny Gage what he wants)

This show was far from my consciousness until a coworker told me he had picked up the first five seasons on DVD at Walmart for $25.

Now, once a week after my desk shift, I'll crack open a Kokanee or two, munch on some Triscuits and pop in an episode of Emergency!

Anyone else dig this show? C'mon ... you can admit it, we're all anonymous on here.

And if you really want to dig in on Emergency! trivia, visit this site: http://www.emergencyfans.com/

Peace out ...

 

I would suspect I'm a bit older than you, Coco, but Emergency! was appointment television in my house when it was in first-run on NBC, Saturday nights at 7 (central). Great show.

In fact, made-up Emergency! quotes are still an occasional joke in my group of friends. One friend still drops this: "Rampart, we got a guy here ... we don't know what the hell is wrong with him!"

"Squad 51, give him an IV of Ringer's Lactate and transport as soon as possible."

 

Loved that show when I was a kid.

My wife and I have been watching old 70s cop shows on DVD - Streets of San Francisco, Dragnet, Adam 12, Rockford Files, Hawaii Five-O. We got the first season of Emergency.

One of the things that cracks me up -- and this goes for all of them, not just Emergency -- is the utter lack of urgency among paramedics on these shows. There's a lot of standing around and "looks bad... better call Rampart," and virtually no attempt to actually help the injured.

 

Man, this takes me back. Just the mention of Emergency! triggered a Pavlovian decades-slumbering "Rampart" to pop into my head. Johnny and Roy were the coolest.

I was a huge fan of Rockford Files, Hawaii Five-O and Baretta. "Don't do the crime, if you can't do the time ..."

 

I loved this show when I was a kid. I have this as part of my rain delay theater rotation at the ballpark along with SWAT since they are both on Hulu.

 

Loved the show, too, probably because my dad was a firefighter (he's retired now). It's on the Retro Television Network at 3 p.m. Eastern weekdays. I'm almost always at work then, but I watch it when I'm home.

I get RTV because I don't have cable. It's the "second" channel for our local ABC affiliate. I also watch "Adam 12" and "Dragnet" on RTV when I can.

 

Emergency! was the reason I wanted to be a paramedic. I even went through the first half of the training years ago.

And as a kid, watching the show in its first run, I was in love with Johnny Gage.

 

Between Emergency and Mission Impossible that was a pretty good Saturday night for youngster before I found girls. In fact Barbara Bain and Julie London probably speed up my interest.

You can watch old episodes on NBC.com.

http://www.nbc.com/Vintage_Shows/Emergency/about/

 

And for that 21 is grateful.

 

Hell, yea, I remember that show. More so because my brother loved it and is now a firefighter/paramedic.

And because of it the name Randolph Mantooth is forever embedded in the front of my brain.

 

Big show from my youth. Randy Mantooth was one of my high school crushes. When Kevin Tighe showed up on "Lost" I yelled at JR in the other room "Roy from 'Emergency' in on "Lost"! You had to love a hospital where the chief doctor and nurse were jazz musicians.

 

Emergency!, Dragnet, Adam 12 and other such shows ran on TV Land before TV Land redefined nostalgic programming as stuff dating all the way back to 2005.