Emergency!
Smoke Eater
TV Flash files “Smoke Eater” as hour 70 of 128 in the TV Flash guide — Emergency! (1972–1979) on NBC, season 4, episode 16, aired 1975-01-11, 60 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S04E16: listed hour 70 of 128 in the Emergency! guide, hour 16 of 22 in season 4. It aired 1975-01-11 (60 min). The listed hour before it is “Transition” (S04E15). Next is “Kidding” (S04E17).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
An "old school" captain replaces a vacationing Capt. Stanley and immediately runs into a conflict with the paramedics, as he does not feel they should be practicing medicine. An elderly man falls asleep smoking and sets his chair on fire. Dr. Early and Roy want an apple out of the vending machine and keeps getting oranges, as did John (who really wanted an orange, from the same vending machine); Dixie bops her hips into the vending machine and is the only one to get an apple. The paramedics fight to keep a heart-attack victim alive. A boy with asthma gets trapped in a storm drain. A biker screams at Dixie to get a bandage for a head injury, and after he punches Dr. Brackett, the latter knocks the biker out. The firefighters encounter ethyl bromide fumes when fighting a fire inside a lab.
Viewer FAQ
Where does Smoke Eater sit in the Emergency! guide?
S04E16 is listed hour 70 of 128 — hour 16 of 22 in season 4, season 4 episode 16.
When did Emergency! S04E16 air?
Smoke Eater aired 1975-01-11 and is listed at 60 minutes.
Where should I start?
Start with Squad 51 and Rampart as a closed loop: Gage, DeSoto, and the ER doctors. Rescue-of-the-week structure does not need a binge map.
In the series
Why this series still plays
Squad 51 rolls before medical dramas discovered handheld cameras and hallway shouting. Randolph Mantooth and Kevin Tighe play paramedics as civic heroes while Jack Webb's shop keeps the procedures honest. The series that sold America on paramedic programs, sirens included, without turning the station house into a soap.
Squad 51 rolling is the whole assignment: L.A. County firefighter-paramedics answer rescue calls while Rampart Hospital doctors support from the ER, and NBC's Emergency! (1972–1979) keeps the procedures honest before medical dramas discovered handheld cameras and hallway shouting. Harold Jack Bloom, R.A. Cinader, and Jack Webb's Mark VII shop put Randolph Mantooth's John Gage and Kevin Tighe's Roy DeSoto in the squad with documentary-style urgency. Robert Fuller's Dr. Kelly Brackett, Julie London's Dixie McCall,…
Filed against
- Robert Fuller as Dr. Kelly Brackett
Robert Fuller's Dr. Kelly Brackett backed Emergency! before medical dramas discovered handheld cameras and hallway shouting — Squad 51 rolling, Randolph Mantooth and Kevin Tighe as civic heroes, Jack Webb's shop keeping procedures honest.…
- Julie London as Dixie McCall
Julie London’s Dixie McCall kept Emergency! honest in the hospital — Squad 51 rolling before medical dramas discovered handheld cameras and hallway shouting, Randolph Mantooth and Kevin Tighe as paramedics, Jack Webb’s shop keeping…
- Randolph Mantooth as Firefighter John Gage
Randolph Mantooth played Firefighter John Gage on Emergency!, 1970s Squad 51 rolling before medical dramas discovered handheld cameras and hallway shouting. Kevin Tighe as partner, Jack Webb’s shop keeping the procedures honest. TV Flash…
- Kevin Tighe as Firefighter Roy DeSoto
Kevin Tighe's Firefighter Roy DeSoto rolled Squad 51 on Emergency! before medical dramas discovered hallway shouting — paramedics as civic heroes, Jack Webb's shop keeping procedures honest, sirens as a public argument. TV Flash files him…
- Bobby Troup as Dr. Joe Early
Bobby Troup’s Dr. Joe Early rode Emergency! before medical dramas discovered hallway shouting — Squad 51, Randolph Mantooth and Kevin Tighe as paramedics, Jack Webb’s shop keeping procedures honest, the series that sold America on…