Emergency!
Back-Up
TV Flash files “Back-Up” as hour 75 of 128 in the TV Flash guide — Emergency! (1972–1979) on NBC, season 4, episode 21, aired 1975-02-15, 60 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S04E21: listed hour 75 of 128 in the Emergency! guide, hour 21 of 22 in season 4. It aired 1975-02-15 (60 min). The listed hour before it is “The Mouse” (S04E20). Next is “905-Wild” (S04E22).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
Two young men dump off a female OD victim at the ER, then run away; further examination showed she was injected with milk. John gets upset at all the non-emergency calls they get, then sees a man falsifying a back injury for a free ride to the hospital. The paramedics help an ex-Los Angeles Rams player who kicked his TV screen when his old team blew a close game and received an electrical shock. The ER is being visited by administrators, during which time Dixie is swamped with so many issues, including a woman who complains about waiting two hours with a cigarette burn. Roy and John respond to a non-emergency while another squad 15 minutes away is called to a cardiac victim from which Squad 51 is only two minutes away–after responding to the cardiac case the paramedics are involved in a traffic accident in the ambulance en route to Rampart. With no replacement ambulance available for 15 minutes, Engine 51 comes to the rescue to transport the patient who then goes into full cardiac arrest. He is brought into Rampart and, with its hospital administrators looking on, doctors frantically try to save the patient's life.
Viewer FAQ
Where does Back-Up sit in the Emergency! guide?
S04E21 is listed hour 75 of 128 — hour 21 of 22 in season 4, season 4 episode 21.
When did Emergency! S04E21 air?
Back-Up aired 1975-02-15 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…