Emergency!
Kidding
TV Flash files “Kidding” as hour 71 of 128 in the TV Flash guide — Emergency! (1972–1979) on NBC, season 4, episode 17, aired 1975-01-18, 60 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S04E17: listed hour 71 of 128 in the Emergency! guide, hour 17 of 22 in season 4. It aired 1975-01-18 (60 min). The listed hour before it is “Smoke Eater” (S04E16). Next is “Prestidigitation” (S04E18).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
John is assigned to conduct a tour of Rampart with several very inquisitive fifth-graders. A Vietnam War veteran thought to be suffering from PTSD is holding his wife at knifepoint; after the paramedics subdue him, the ER doctors determine he has a brain tumor. A woman gets stuck in a dog door. A famous novelist attempts suicide because he feels the new generation does not know him; when John's tour encounters the author, who is surprised. Dixie tells John that she used to watch a movie based on one of the author's books. A cargo plane crashes in a residential area, hitting a school bus.
Viewer FAQ
Where does Kidding sit in the Emergency! guide?
S04E17 is listed hour 71 of 128 — hour 17 of 22 in season 4, season 4 episode 17.
When did Emergency! S04E17 air?
Kidding aired 1975-01-18 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…