''Rescue 8'' is a
syndicated American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
action
Action may refer to:
* Action (narrative), a literary mode
* Action fiction, a type of genre fiction
* Action game, a genre of video game
Film
* Action film, a genre of film
* ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford
* ''Action'' (1980 fil ...
adventure
An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme spo ...
crime
In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definit ...
drama series
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-gen ...
about
Los Angeles County Fire Department
The Los Angeles County Fire Department (LACoFD) provides firefighting services as well as technical rescue services, hazardous materials response services and emergency medical response services for the unincorporated parts of Los Angeles County ...
Rescue Squad
A rescue squad is an emergency service that provides technical rescue services, and may also provide emergency medical services and firefighting services. Rescue squads may be standalone organizations or an integrated part of fire departments o ...
8. It premiered in 1958 and originally ran for two seasons with syndicated reruns continuing for almost a decade thereafter. It starred
Jim Davis as fireman Wes Cameron (much later cast as
Jock Ewing
John Ross "Jock" Ewing Sr. (1909–1982) is a fictional character in the American television series ''Dallas'' created by David Jacobs. Jock was played by Jim Davis in the show's first four seasons from 1978 to 1981, and as a young man by Dale ...
on
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...
's ''
Dallas
Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...
''), and
Lang Jeffries
Lang Jeffries (June 7, 1930 – February 12, 1987) was a Canadian-American television and film actor.
Biography
From 1958 to 1960, Jeffries starred as Skip Johnson in the adventure television series ''Rescue 8''.
He starred in several American ...
as the fireman Skip Johnson.
Nancy Rennick and
Mary K. Cleary each appeared in twenty-four episodes as Patty Johnson and Susan Johnson, the wife and daughter, respectively of Skip Johnson. The series was produced by
Screen Gems
Screen Gems is an American brand name used by Sony Pictures' Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group, a subsidiary of Japanese multinational conglomerate, Sony Group Corporation. It has served several different purposes for its parent ...
, with directors Dann Cahn and
William Witney
William Nuelsen Witney (May 15, 1915 – March 17, 2002) was an American film and television director. He is best remembered for the action films he made for Republic Pictures, particularly serials: ''Dick Tracy Returns'', ''G-Men vs. the Black ...
. ''Rescue 8'' produced seventy-four half-hour episodes. The first season ran on Tuesday evenings, and the second season on Wednesdays.
Selected episodes
In the series premiere, "The Ferris Wheel" (September 23, 1958), the firemen must devise a plan to retrieve a woman, who was recently released from a mental institution (
Jeanne Bates
Jeanne Bates (May 21, 1918 – November 28, 2007) was a retired American radio, film and television actress. After performing in radio serials, she signed a contract with Columbia Pictures in 1942 which began her career in films both in bi ...
), and her young daughter (Gina Gillespie) from the top of a
Ferris wheel
A Ferris wheel (also called a Giant Wheel or an observation wheel) is an amusement ride consisting of a rotating upright wheel with multiple passenger-carrying components (commonly referred to as passenger cars, cabins, tubs, gondolas, capsules ...
on which they are trapped.
Rand Brooks
Arlington Rand Brooks Jr. (September 21, 1918 – September 1, 2003) was an American film and television actor.
Early life
Brooks was born in Wright City, Missouri. He was the son of Arlington Rand Brooks, a farmer. His mother and he moved ...
guest stars in the first of his two appearances as Tom Hickey.
In "Subterranean City" (October 14, 1958), rescuers Wes and Skip search for a lost girl in the sewer tunnels and encounter three criminals hiding out underground, one of whom is Skip's nephew, Pete, played by
Warren Oates
Warren Mercer Oates (July 5, 1928 – April 3, 1982) was an American actor best known for his performances in several films directed by Sam Peckinpah, including ''The Wild Bunch'' (1969) and ''Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia'' (1974). A ...
. Pete breaks with his companions and joins the firemen in finding the child.
In "The Cave-In" (December 2, 1958),
Will Wright played an elderly man who attempts with shovel and bucket to build a backyard swimming pool for his grandchildren with disastrous results because of the lack of proper shoring.
In "The Bells of Fear" (December 9, 1958), an elderly clockmaker who is trying to repair the chimes in a church clock is trapped inside the instrument just before Christmas Eve.
Joe Flynn and
Russell Johnson
Russell David Johnson (November 10, 1924 – January 16, 2014) was an American actor. He played Professor Roy Hinkley in ''Gilligan's Island'' and Marshal Gib Scott in ''Black Saddle''.
Early life
Johnson was born in Ashley, Pennsylvania, on ...
appear in this episode. In "Calamity Coach" (December 30, 1958), Wes Cameron and Skip Johnson seek to rescue three actors on location when a stagecoach tumbles down a mountain,
Douglas Kennedy guest stars.
In "The Secret of the Mission" (January 6, 1959),
J. Pat O'Malley
James Rudolph O'Malley (15 March 1904 – 27 February 1985) was an English character actor and singer who appeared in many American films and television programmes from the 1940s to 1982, using the stage name J. Pat O'Malley. He also appeared on ...
plays a priest who is trapped with a would-be thief named Carlos (Rafael Campos) under the roof of a collapsed church.
In "Disaster Town" (February 17, 1959),
Gail Kobe
Gail Kobe (born Gabriella Kieliszewski; March 19, 1932 – August 1, 2013) was an American actress and television producer.
Early years
Kobe was born Gabriella Kieliszewski in Hamtramck, Michigan (near Detroit) to Benjamin and Theresa Kobe. She ...
plays Ellen Mason, a mother looking for her son, Jimmy, in a
ghost town
Ghost Town(s) or Ghosttown may refer to:
* Ghost town, a town that has been abandoned
Film and television
* Ghost Town (1936 film), ''Ghost Town'' (1936 film), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser
* Ghost Town (1956 film), ''Ghost Town'' ...
.
Jay North
Jay North (born August 3, 1951) is an American actor. His career as a child actor began in the late 1950s with roles in eight TV series, two variety shows and three feature films. At age 7 he became a household name for his role as the well-mean ...
, some six months before the premiere of his
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...
situation comedy
A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...
, ''
Dennis the Menace'', played the missing son.
Craig Hill, the co-star of
Whirlybirds
''Whirlybirds'' (sometimes called ''The Whirlybirds'' or ''Copter Patrol'') is a syndicated American drama/adventure television series, which aired for 111 episodes — broadcast from February 4, 1957, through January 18, 1960. It was pro ...
, played the father, Chuck Mason. The rescue team is called when the woman is trapped after falling through the floor of an abandoned building.
In "A Handful of Vengeance" (February 24, 1959), Pete Brocco played Stephano, a deranged
pyromaniac
Pyromania is an impulse control disorder in which individuals repeatedly fail to resist impulses to deliberately start fires, to relieve some tension or for instant gratification. The term ''pyromania'' comes from the Greek word (''pyr'', 'fi ...
, who threatens the lives of a warden, his wife, and their two children and then turns on the rescuers as well.
In "International Incident" (March 17, 1959),
Robert Cabal
Harold Christopher McColgan (April 7, 1917 – May 11, 2004) was an American film and television actor. He was a regular cast member of '' Rawhide''.
Selected filmography
Selected Television
References
External links
*
*
1917 births ...
plays a foreign prince, Raj Tamal, who is trapped in an automobile accident and is also the target of an assassin, portrayed by
Vito Scotti
Vito Giusto Scozzari (January 26, 1918 – June 5, 1996), also known as Vito Scotti, was an American character actor who played both dramatic and comedy roles on Broadway, in films, and later on television, primarily from the late 1930s to the ...
.
Denver Pyle
Denver Dell Pyle (May 11, 1920 – December 25, 1997) was an American film and television actor and director. He was well known for a number of TV roles from the 1960s through the 1980s, including his portrayal of Briscoe Darling Jr. in se ...
guest stars as Sergeant Frank Hogan.
In "The Third Strike" (December 2, 1959),
John Beradino
John Beradino (born Giovanni Berardino, May 1, 1917 – May 19, 1996) was an American infielder in Major League Baseball and an actor. Known as Johnny Berardino during his baseball career, he was also credited during his acting career as John Bera ...
, a professional baseball player-turned-actor, was cast in the role of a baseball player who loses consciousness when struck by a wild pitch. He soon awakes with short-term amnesia.
On January 6, 1960,
Jay Silverheels
Jay Silverheels (born Harold Jay Smith; May 26, 1912 – March 5, 1980) was an Indigenous Canadian actor and athlete. He was well known for his role as Tonto, the Native American companion of the Lone Ranger in the American Western television ...
of ''
The Lone Ranger
The Lone Ranger is a fictional masked former Texas Ranger who fought outlaws in the American Old West with his Native American friend Tonto. The character has been called an enduring icon of American culture.
He first appeared in 1933 in ...
'' played an
American Indian fireman fighting a
forest fire
A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire ...
in the episode "Leap of Life".
In "Breakdown" (March 31, 1960), one of the last episodes of ''Rescue 8'',
Robert Redford
Charles Robert Redford Jr. (born August 18, 1936) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is the List of awards and nominations received by Robert Redford, recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Awards, Academy Award from four nomi ...
plays Danny Tilford, a mentally-disturbed young man trapped in the wreckage of his family garage.
Other guest stars
Comparisons
The real Los Angeles County Fire Department Station 8 is at 7643 West Santa Monica Boulevard in
West Hollywood
West Hollywood is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Incorporated in 1984, it is home to the Sunset Strip. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. Census, its population was 35,757. It is considered one of the most ...
,
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
. The real Station 8 was also depicted as "Station 10" in the opening scenes of the pilot movie for ''
Emergency!
''Emergency!'' is an American action-adventure medical drama television series jointly produced by Mark VII Limited and Universal Television. Debuting on NBC as a midseason replacement on January 15, 1972, replacing the two short-lived situatio ...
'' in 1972.
The Rescue 8 truck depicted in the series was a 1958 GMC Suburban equipped with classic, front-bumper General Motors "
dagmars". According to several Internet sources, the real Rescue 8 squad that existed during the 1958–60 timeframe of the series employed the use of a 1956 Chevrolet panel-van truck (a somewhat less robust version of the nearly identical GMC truck).
''Rescue 8'' shows more physically oriented rescues than seen 14 years later in the debut of the television series ''
Emergency!
''Emergency!'' is an American action-adventure medical drama television series jointly produced by Mark VII Limited and Universal Television. Debuting on NBC as a midseason replacement on January 15, 1972, replacing the two short-lived situatio ...
'' (1972–77), which also featured the Los Angeles County Fire Department's rescue squads. The latter show had physically oriented rescues, but also included emergency medical rescues. This is because rescue firemen were not then trained as
paramedics
A paramedic is a registered healthcare professional who works autonomously across a range of health and care settings and may specialise in clinical practice, as well as in education, leadership, and research.
Not all ambulance personnel are p ...
until 12 years after the premier of ''Rescue 8'', acquiring this expanded role with the passage of the Wedsworth-Townsend Pilot Paramedic Act in 1970. The creation of Paramedic Act itself was the main plot theme of the pilot movie of ''Emergency!''.
Episodes
Season 1 (1958–59)
Season 2 (1959–60)
References
External links
* {{IMDb title, id=0051307, title=Rescue 8
''Rescue 8''at CVTA
1958 American television series debuts
1960 American television series endings
1950s American drama television series
1960s American drama television series
American action adventure television series
Black-and-white American television shows
First-run syndicated television programs in the United States
Television series about firefighting
Television series by Screen Gems
Television series by Sony Pictures Television
Television shows set in Los Angeles
West Hollywood, California