Randolph Mantooth being have Seminole reminded me of my friend, Wayne B Urick, the Buncutter, in 1975 when we met him at USGS in Reston,Va. He was an exact identical to Mantooth, and acted exactly like him. That being said, we all watched the show from 72-79 and when the reruns came out recently on ME TV, my kids who are in their 30's are watching the show and are asking, "why aren't there shows like this on the air now?" Good question! Then we noticed that Mantooth later on was on a soap opera which my wife watched religiously because of him and his great acting skills. Very true that most people did not know the jargon concerning paramedics back in the mid 70's. I know because of my friends in the fire departments in Maryland that would all get together in the evening to watch the show together with their favorite beverages, etc. It's great to see this show back on the air now!

I remember watching it back in the 70's. Never missed an episode. Along with the exciting rescues, there were also some amusing situations. There was the call they got for a guy who got his big toe stuck in the tub faucet. Another was for a guy who was building a ship model and accidentally super-glued his hands to the model. He wouldn't let them cut the model from his hands, so they bring him into the hospital with the ship still attached to his hands as nautical music played in the background. Another was the one where they responded to a toilet on fire. When they arrived, they went to use their fire hose, but the hose caught on fire. Meanwhile, outside, a man threw a cigarette on a lawn where a sprinkler was going. The lawn caught fire. They figured out that the gas and water lines got crossed at a work site.But you could always count on a huge incident to climax each show. I seem to remember one episode where they were responding to a house fire, and while they were working that fire, a house across the street also caught fire. Another was a man who climbed out to the end of the crossarm of a 100 ft tall construction tower to commit suicide. He changed his mind, but then was afraid to move. When I heard about the new NBC show "Trauma", I was so hoping it would be much the same, however Trauma concentrated too much on the everyday lives of the characters and not enough on exciting rescues. Also, instead of the camaraderie and humor that the station 51 crew on Emergency had, Trauma's crew seemed to be conflicted and at odds with each other. The first episode of Trauma was the most exciting, but after that, things seemed to go downhill. I hear that Trauma has been canceled. I wish it would have worked. TV needs another show with the excitement and humor of Emergency!I just got the Season 1 DVD set! For the most part, it's great. There was one problem with disk 2, side 2, 2nd episode "Publicity Hound". When it got to the scene near the end when they are bringing the child up the ladder, it sticks then cuts out to the menu. There are only 4 scene selection options, the last starts before that rescue. The problem continued with the beginning of the 3rd episode, "Wierd Wednesday". After a bit of the beginning, it skipped to the opening credits. I missed the first rescue, something about a parachutist stuck in a tree.Now that Comcast is in the process of buying NBC/Universal, I hope they add this show to their On Demand TV Shows section.

One of my best-remembered shows as a kid. What set this show apart from its predecessors was in drawing respect from the audience for the firefighters it portrays; for the first time the paramedics, doctors and firefighters didn't arrive to wave a magic wand putting the fire out and saving the patient. The range of (at the time) operating medical and CB radio procedures and terminology, the open identification with real-time Los Angeles and the range of rescue situations faced by Station 51 and their paramedics showed how thorough Jack Webb's research and commitment to authenticity was, pushing the benefits of the paramedic program in the face of a skeptical California state government; as a concerned West Coast citizen with an eye on the Big One he probably knew this was an important step forward in public health that would save many, many lives when that day inevitably arrived. Rescue 911, ER, Law & Order, Third Watch, Cops; the entire medical and police reality television genre can trace their origins to Emergency! and once a compatible DVD box set for Australian players arrives I'll have it to reminisce with too.

This show was a staple of my childhood and I find that I still connect to the humour and drama, even if the medicine is out-of-date. The characters were so well-developed that I still find myself hooked to their trials, tribulations, and triumphs. I've especially developed a great appreciation for the supporting actors, which I didn't take much notice of back when I was a kid.I regularly watch the episodes on VHS so I'm happy Universal is releasing them on DVD. Anyone know when Season 3 and beyond is due out? They seem to have stopped releasing them for some unknown reason, yet you can get "He Man" on DVD; go figure :)