Celebrating 50 Years of Emergency!

Last month I attended a 50th Anniversary tribute for the TV series EMERGENCY! (1972-79) in Cerritos, California.

"50 Years of EMERGENCY! on Television" was hosted by the Los Angeles County Fire Museum at the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts. I was thrilled to attend, as this series was a key part of my childhood -- "appointment viewing" every Saturday night. I was always so excited when the opening theme music started, eagerly anticipating the week's new adventures.

The series, created and produced by Robert Cinader and Jack Webb, originally aired just as the nation's first paramedic program was rolling out in Los Angeles; the show's popularity is widely credited with helping to inspire paramedic programs to become standard throughout the United States. As stated here, the show was "the first time most Americans had heard the term 'paramedic.'"

Such was the show's importance that today Los Angeles County Fire Station 127 in Carson, where the show's exteriors were filmed, is the Robert A. Cinader Memorial Fire Station. Cinader became such an expert on issues related to paramedics and emergency medicine that he was appointed to the county's Emergency Medical Services Commission in 1975, serving until his passing in 1982.

There were some wonderful cast photos in the lobby when we arrived. It was difficult to get good photos of all of them due to the glare of lobby lights and windows off the glass, but every single cast member was honored with a photo, including one of the stars, Julie London (above) and numerous supporting players such as Tim Donnelly (who sadly passed on in September 2021) and Marco Lopez:

The series inspired many people to become first responders. A large percentage of the audience stood up when paramedics and fire fighters were asked to stand.

An entire weekend of events and tours had been organized along with the anniversary program, with some fans flying in from around the country.

Stars Randolph Mantooth and Kevin Tighe were in attendance and interviewed as part of the program. Star Robert Fuller is still with us at the age of 89 but was not there that evening.

Randolph Mantooth's sister, Tonya Mantooth, moderated their interview. Mantooth and Tighe struck me as still very much "Johnny" and "Roy" in their relationships and responses to one another. I felt as though perhaps the actors were cast to portray characters fairly close to their real-life personalities.

I don't take notes of interviews at such events, so that I can be "in the moment," and consequently I don't tend to have a lot of anecdotes to share later on. My main takeaways were 1) The importance of the show encouraging the development of paramedic programs; and 2) The affection the actors and everyone involved with the series felt for one another. The actors especially loved Julie London!

Along with the lead actors, separate interviews were held with the show's paramedic and medical advisors and Hannah Louise Shearer (below right), who wrote many episodes.

Mantooth and Tighe are seen here with two of L.A. County's original paramedics, who served as technical advisors on the show.  The moderator on the right is Steve Martin, a retired firefighter.

Randolph Mantooth and Kevin Tighe remain close friends to this day. Together they have recently coproduced a documentary, INTO THE UNKNOWN: THE PARAMEDICS' JOURNEY.

I happened to enter through a side door and sadly didn't realize that the Squad 51 truck was parked out front, so I missed a chance to photograph it, but someone else shared photos on Twitter!

A 50th anniversary documentary on EMERGENCY!, subtitled THE SHOW THAT SAVED YOUR LIFE, recently aired on Cozi TV. The documentary features some of the same guests at we saw the live program and utilizes some of the same "clip reels" we saw that night. The documentary is currently available on YouTube, and I recommend that my fellow fans check it out.

The EMERGENCY! series is available on DVD. When my own kids were young they loved it just as I had and watched the show in its entirety. It's recommended viewing.

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