9-1-1: Notruf L.A.

I've been a reserve law enforcement officer and a volunteer fire fighter, yet somehow I knew going into this show that I wasn't going to be presented with accurate interpretations of the work. Why? Because it's scripted television.

Do they get most of the tactical elements wrong? Yup. Are the situations these people put themselves into completely ridiculous? Yup. Are we supposed to care? Nope. It's scripted television.

Take any TV show about any specific line of work - law enforcement, Fire/EMS, attorneys, military, hospital/medical - and anyone who works in that field is going to shred the show. Why? Because it's scripted television. I was a professional broadcaster for the better part of 20 years and even though a lot of what happened on WKRP, NewsRadio, and The Newsroom was completely wrong, the shows were still entertaining.

If I were a full time cop, firefighter, or dispatcher, the last thing I'd want to watch when I get home is a dead-accurate TV show about what I just did for the last 12+ hours. 9-1-1 is unrealistic and sometimes very silly, but then again it was never meant to be anything but. It's entertainment, pure and simple, and if you go into this show with that in mind, you'll be far less ragey.

Really this show is absolutely awful. It is so unrealistic and cheesey but man do I love it. Just the kind of switch your brain off show I needed in my life

Sometimes I let TV shamelessly pull on all my heart strings. I know what I am watching is a distortion, but I don't care. I know none of these actors are giving the performance of their careers, but I don't care. There's a lot of other content on TV right now to satisfy my need for tier one well written and compelling drama. This show satisfies a different craving in my viewing habits. I don't know anything about EMT first responders work, and I don't expect this (or any show) to be a crash course or remotely accurate. The stories push buttons of humanity and compassion; sympathy and empathy in heavy doses. And I like it all Sometimes I need a bit of this stuff in my TV diet to counter the tsunami of content exploring the darker sides of better written and more interesting characters. I'm fully aware I'm escaping into characters whose one dimensional goodness isn't what a lot of people expect. I'm good with that.

Everyone says that this show is horrible. It is a TV show, not a reality show. Of course things happen in the show that would never happen in real life. That is what TV is. This show is not a documentary. I personally like the show and wait for it every week. Other people may not share this view, but that I my personal take on it.

It's a serious show but at the same time doesn't take itself too seriously. Some of the emergencies are downright absurd but you can't help laughing. I've had two med students roll their eyes at how the victims survive their ordeals. Its over the top emergencies with all its action makes up for its exaggerations. Anyway... who doesn't like to see Angela Bassett in uniform?