When I was in third grade, I'd come home after school each weekday and watch reruns of Emergency! on Channel 11 in Houston. Seeing Randolph Mantooth and Kevin Tighe save people's hides just in the nick of time made me want to become a paramedic when I grew up.As I got a little older, seeing Julie London in those form-fitting Rampart Hospital nurse pants made me want to grow up to be Bobby Troup, London's bandleader/songwriter husband, who played Dr. Joe Early on the show.
Since this was a Jack Webb production, Emergency! relied on curt dialogue and tightly boxed plotlines moved along by repetitious prompts like the memorable dispatch tones heard whenever Station 51 got a call. Watching the show now, I crack up every time they cut to the same ragged stock footage of a speaker on the wall broadcasting the location of the latest emergency. If you drank a shot of tequila every time they showed that speaker, you'd be plastered by hour's end.
Fans of Emergency! are fortunate to have Erika and Rozane's exceptionally thorough tribute site to visit for episode guides, character sketches, cast news, bloopers and MP3 files of those unforgettable dispatch tones. Even better, a DVD of 12 season one episodes is set for release on August 23.
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3 comments:
I used to watch that show religiously. Wasn't that guy on the right named Johnny?
I also remember whenever they had scenes that took place in the hospital, you always heard this "Dr. Brackett, Dr. Brackett" in the background.
God, I haven't thought of this show in years.
Oh, I had such a crush on both the Emergency! guys when I was a wee lass.
It is still somewhat thrilling to see Kevein Tighe onscreen every now and then, although it constantly amazes me that my childhood crush always plays evil bad guys now.
Swoon...
Two words...
Randolph Mantooth!
SM
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