Emergency!: The Complete Series

When you have countless channels and too many streaming services to subscribe to, it’s easy to lose track of the best television series available. Especially the classics. While we have shiny new series like Doc, The Pitt, and the never-ending melodrama of Grey's Anatomy, it’s easy to forget where the medical emergency procedural drama started. There may have been small stabs at the genre before, but it was 1972’s Emergency! that broke ground and paved the way for other great series to follow. Through six seasons followed by six television event films, the series delivered one thrilling episode after another as Squad 51 arrived on the scene to save the day. 

The heart of the series follows pioneering rescue paramedics Roy DeSoto (Kevin Tighe) and his partner John Gage (Randolph Mantooth) as they race to the scene. Whether it’s a heart attack, a car accident, or a construction mishap, they’re the first men on the scene when seconds count. Back at the hospital, Doctors Brackett (Robert Fuller) and Early (Bobby Troup), with Head Nurse McCall (Julie London), are at the ready to assist with on-the-scene treatment before the patient is transported. One call after another, one death-defying rescue after another, we’re along for the ride for all 130 thrilling episodes. 

It seems quaint to look back on it, but I actually do count myself lucky for growing up without cable. With a simple roof aerial, we were limited to whatever was broadcasting in our area. Because we had a bunch of small UHF and independent affiliates, I got to see some pretty damn good television. Reruns of Star Trek, The Addams Family, and MASH frequently held my attention. Nestled in there was Emergency! But it wasn’t one that I recall watching very often. It’s the show I remember being on, but I remember little else about it. I didn’t discover this series in earnest until my college years as one of the late-night friends that I’d tune into after studying and needing to unwind.

Now, some twenty years later, here I am giving this series another go on Blu-ray, and it’s just as engrossing as ever. Through great performances, smart staging, and great direction, each episode is a tense hour of human drama. Part of the smart staging was how well it was budgeted. This isn’t a show that simply shoots on the Hollywood backlot on the cheap; they were also out there on the streets of L.A. and in the hills for an authentic feel to the dangerous situation. Adding to that realism is the fact that Tighe and Mantooth performed many of their own stunts. If you can see their faces, it’s really them! 

Now, a problem for me with reviewing complete television series is that I often get lost in the weeds while watching the show, when I should be focused on getting a review in. This is a prime case where I probably should have had this review in any number of weeks ago, but I just kept popping those discs in. Emergency!  is a highly engaging and entertaining series. Each episode is exciting and tension-filled, but it also has a nice balance of humor to take the edge off. I also really enjoy how it doesn’t revel in cynicism. Each hiccup in the plot is met with a determination to figure out how to save the patient. They don’t always win that battle, but they never quit. 

Added to the wonder of the series is its legacy in television. The first real medical emergency procedural show, the series was the first to get into the paramedic playbook and deliver that drama beat for beat. And when I call it a procedural, I mean pro-ce-dur-al. Especially in the early episodes, they don’t punt the small details too quickly to quicken the pace or heighten the drama. They let the situation's setup do that. Watching the show today, the techniques, equipment, or events may seem quaint compared to modern shows, but it’s still an intensely exciting run. The drama comes from the moment and performances, not slick camera placement or fast-cut editing. I inadvertently watched close to 30 episodes in the last few weeks, and I can’t say I saw a dud in the bunch. Most of them I remembered, but I was pleased to see some episodes I didn't remember in there. Sure, some were better than others, that’s a given with any series, but each was a great time and reminded me why this was one of my late-night go-to shows as a student. 

Vital Disc Stats: The Blu-ray 
Emergency!: The Complete Series rescues physical media with its full run of episodes and six television movies on Blu-ray from Universal Home Entertainment. The series is spread over 28 Region-Free BD50 Blu-ray discs. Thankfully, Universal ditched the more common and infinitely more crappy Epik Pak cases and opted to stick with tried and true standard-sized multi-disc cases. Each case houses two seasons, with each disc getting its own tray without being stacked. The inside of the insert art of each case offers an episode listing so you know what episode is on what disc. All of the cases are held together with a thin paper slipcase. Each episode loads to an easy-to-navigate main menu.

So, Emergency! has two things going for it on disc. First, each episode has been properly framed at 1.33:1; none of that reframing malarky that leaves the series looking worse for wear. Second, it looks pretty damned good in 1080p Blu-ray! I dare say most episodes are pretty damn great - to the point that I honestly wonder what 4K and good balanced disc encoding could do for this series (don’t want to see a Knight Rider on 4K type situation again). Compression is the only issue that could be contentious for some of the episodes. I'd rather a series like this only put 3-4 episodes to a disc instead of 5-6, let the bitrate breathe a little. Artifacts are negligible, but you can see some spots where some extra disc room would have given each episode a little more heft. While there might be the occasional soft shot here and there, some of the day-for-night shots don’t quite land, but that’s getting lost in some serious nitpicking weeds. More to the point, I was impressed at how clean and clear, and detailed each episode looked! Facial features, costumes, set design, and the real-life locations look great, especially in close-up. Colors are right on point. For a series knocking past 50 years old, these episodes enjoy impressive transfers.

On the audio side, each episode of the series makes the call with a pleasing DTS-HD MA 2.0 mono track. Given the balance of the series, the mixes give plenty of room for the action and drama of a serious situation while still prioritizing music cues and dialogue appropriately. Throughout each of the episodes and one or two of the TV movies I sampled through, dialogue was clean and clear without issue. If there’s something of a range to offer, I say the first season is a bit bland, sonically speaking. Those episodes were really focused on capturing each procedure in the moment, so it’d feel like each little sound effect would need that space to have its beat. As the series progressed, it felt like the sound editing would better match the moment's intensity and ramp up the excitement. 

As for bonus features, there really aren’t any. Technically, there is one, the Adam-12 crossover episode, but to me, that’s less of an extra feature and more of a necessity if you’re going to call this box set "the complete series." 

Season Five - Disc One

• Adam-12 Episode: Lost & Found

One of the wildest parts of the DVD revolution was the insane number of fan-favorite popular shows and deep-cut obscure series that made it to disc. People were grabbing those seasons off the shelf by the dozen, especially around the holidays. But those days are sadly long past. That fever to own your favorite series just didn’t pass into the Blu-ray era as strongly, so the great TV classics have had a slower rollout (if any at all). But when the greats come, we do get some gems. Emergency!: The Complete Series has been worth the wait. Not only is the show an exciting way to spend an hour, but the series maintained a strong presence all the way through 130 episodes and six TV films. There wasn’t a significant drop-off in quality; it stayed tightly scripted, well-acted, and entertaining. Now we get to enjoy the series in 1080p, and it looks and sounds pretty fantastic. The fans of the series who are tired of streaming will be pleased as punch. It might be a tall order for newcomers to blind buy this set, but if you’re a fan, it’s worth the upgrade to Blu-ray. Recommended