Case of the (Re)Runs: Emergency!

Great show. Loved it watching it when I was growing up. Although, yes, when you see it in reruns, it is a little dated.

 

Here's some trivia - the sweaty hands that held the hammer and stamp for the "Mark VII Limited" logo at the end of every Jack Webb show? Yep....Jack Webb himself.

 

Loved, loved, LOVED this show as a kid. Still do. I had the two Matchbox Emergency! vehicles and a Station 51 plastic helmet. Whenever I'd play with the Matchbox cars, I'd always have them roll out of the station together.

I've read a lot of kids from that generation who became paramedics attribute it to the show. That's about as great a compliment to Jack Webb and everyone involved as you can get.

 

I still can remember the three-tone sound of the alarm as clear as yesterday.

People have mentioned their favorite police shows ... remember Cannon? I just discovered that show was released on DVD in 2008 ... sweet! I liked how William Conrad drove an Uncle Buck-type Lincoln Mark IV as his car of choice.

 

Firefighter Kelly had the coolest stache.
I remember a couple of other shows that were kind of spin-offs that didn't last: Mobile1 about a news guy and Sierra about forest rangers. There was a cross-over episode with Sierra and the guy who sang and wrote it's theme song? John Denver.

Anyone remember 240 Robert? John Bennett Perry (Matt's dad), Mark Harmon and Joanna Cassidy.

 

I do remember 240 Robert. Joanna Cassidy was a real hottie back in the day.

 

It was good that William Conrad got to experience lasting TV stardom, considering he wasn't given the chance to play Marshal Matt Dillon on the small screen as he had done on radio.

 

Good to see I've got company on the Emergency! bandwagon (albeit a few decades later)

Fun fact for those of us here in the Inland Northwest: The actor who played Capt. Stanley is originally from Wallace, Idaho

 

You are absolutely right, DJ. I've gotten into listening to old-time radio late at night, and Conrad was pretty amazing in the radio version of Gunsmoke. He actually got two bites at the TV apple with his later role in "Jake and the Fat Man."

And at the risk of outing myself as old, I'm old enough to remember the Emergency! first run. Quintessential TV for any red-blooded SoCal boy in the mid-late 70s.

Another piece of useless information, not really show-related: Apparently, the LA City and LA County fire departments can't stand each other, and some of the rancor revolves around jealousy over the show.

 

I had the helmet, and for a very brief while, 51 was my favorite number because of Emergency!



I honestly barely remember it these days. I was pretty young when it was in its heyday.

 

There is a channel on my cable system, called RDF or something like that, that shows Emergency! every day between 4-5 p.m. It has nothing but old shows. A-Team, Kojak, Rockford Files. It's great. And on the weekends, Peter Gunn! Not only that, but it shows the original Bill Cosby Show where Cosby plays a single guy that was on sometime in the late '60s or early 70s. Call your local franchise today and demand to get this channel!

 

Pretty sure I had one of these as a kid: