Rescue 8

Does anybody know if VHS tapes or DVDs of the episodes of Rescue 8 are available? I've looked and looked, but no luck so far! There is one site that claims to have it, but it appears to be a scam. I tried contacting them via email several times, but received no answer. And there's no phone number. I'd like to get all 73 episodes. I can remember watching the show as a child, and I looked forward to it every week. It probably influenced me to be a volunteer fireman in my community most of my adult life. Any help on locating copies of the show would be appreciated.

Tom

I was a rabid fan of Rescue 8 when I was, oh, 4 or so. I can only imagine, today, what the show must actually have been like. But to a small kid, it was just thrilling, and the two stars were my heroes. These guys worked in a fire department, but they weren't firemen; they were rescue experts, specialists who were constantly plucking hapless souls off 1,000-foot cliffs after whipping up impossibly-complex safety and climbing harnesses out of spit and rope.

Insofar as I can tell, this was almost the very first of what eventually became a staple feature of American TV: the rescue drama centered around police, fire, or medical personnel. Now, in 2004, we see such shows as ER (a show that jumped the shark a long time ago, yet still plugs on) and Third Watch containing elements first seen in 30-minute bites on Rescue 8 back in 1958.

I too recall watching Rescue 8. One episode is very vivid in my mind was a rescue involving a private plane (was it "The Birdman"). The dramatic music score that played while the squad truck was en-route on call, I recall hearing in other TV shows and some cartoons. My memory played tricks on me, for a while I thought Rory Calhoun played the part of Wes Cameron but it was actually Jim Davis. Guess in my mind they looked alike. Like others in this blog, I too was very influenced by this show. I later became a firefighter, a National Registered EMT, Army Medic Instructor, and a founding member of the National Assoication of EMTs. We should be ever mindful of the powerful nature of television that can influence young minds for good or bad.

1. 9/23/1958: Ferris Wheel..A woman and child are trapped in the top seat of a ferris wheel. Wes: Jim Davis. Skip: Lang Jeffries. Patty: Nancy Rennick.

2. 9/30/1958: 102 to Bakersfield..A robber hijacks a bus and takes it into an area being dynamited. Wes: Jim Davis. Nick: Douglas Dick. Terry: Toni Gerry.

3. 10/7/1958: The Cliff..The rescue men try to save a young boy who fell to the ledge of a cliff. Wes: Jim Davis. Tom: Rand Brooks. Skip: Lang Jeffries.

4. 10/14/1958: The Subterranean City..Wes and Skip search for a child lost in a storm-sewer system. Wes: Jim Davis. Skip: Lang Jeffries. Patty: Nancy Rennick. Pete: Warren Oates. Whitey: Ralph Votrian.

5. 10/21/1958: The Cage..Wes tries to save a crazed killer trapped in a bear pit. Wes: Jim Davis. Ann: Ruta Lee. Walt: Jack Weston. Skip: Lang Jeffries.

6. 10/28/1958: The Crackup..Wes realizes he will not be able to free a pregnant woman from a plane wreck before her baby is born. Wes: Jim Davis. Riley: Bruce Bennett. Joan: Gloria Henry. Skip: Lang Jeffries. Patty: Nancy Rennick.

7. 11/4/1958: The Ammonia Trap..An earthquake traps three men in an ice vault with a broken ammonia pipe line. Wes: Jim Davis. Skip: Lang Jeffries.

8. 11/11/1958: The Chasm..The rescue team must save a man and his son-in-law from the side of a dam. Ollie: Ralph Moody. Jim: William Phipps. Wes: Jim Davis.

9. 11/18/1958: Steel Mountain..Searching for stolen loot, a man gets trapped between two trolley cars. Wes: Jim Davis. Skip: Lang Jeffries. Mickey: Michael Dante

10. 11/25/1958: Find That Bomb..The team makes a frantic search for a time bomb left aboard a yacht. Joe: Mike Connors. Kit: Barbara Hayden. Wes: Jim Davis.

11. 12/2/1958: The Cavein..A man is buried waist deep in a dirt pit with the soil level rising each minute. Ezra: Will Wright. Wes: Jim Davis. Lucy: Grace Field.

12. 12/9/1958: The Bells of Fear..On Christmas Eve, a clockmaker gets caught in the bell mechanism of a church clock. Ben Kopak: Eduardo Ciannelli. Wes Cameron: Jim Davis. Skip Johnson: Lang Jeffries.

13. 12/16/1958: Danger! 20,000 Volts..A derailed train is trapped under exposed high voltage wires so that any passenger trying to leave will be electrocuted. Wes: Jim Davis. Martha: Anne Gwynne. Fred: John Pickard. Skip: Lang Jeffries.

14. 12/23/1958: The Scrap-Iron Jungle..Fleeing police, two girls hide in a junked auto, not knowing it's about to be dropped into a hot press. Wes: Jim Davis. Candy: Sue George. Skip: Lang Jeffries. Madge: Rebecca Welles. Salesman: Ray Walker.

15. 12/30/1958: Calamity Coach..A young actor is uncooperative when Wes tries to rescue him from the side of a cliff. Ric: Robert Lowery. Wes: Jim Davis. Linda: Jolene Brand. Skip: Lang Jeffries.

16. 1/6/1959: Secret of the Mission..A young thief is trapped at the scene of his crime when a church ceiling collapses. Wes: Jim Davis. Carlos: Rafael Campos. Father Flynn: J. Pat O'Malley.

17. 1/13/1959: Trial by Fire..Skip makes a deadly enemy of another rescue man. Then the two meet at a factory fire. Wes: Jim Davis. Skip: Lang Jeffries. Chad: James Best. Patty: Nancy Rennick.

18. 1/20/1959: High Hazard..A man's life is endangered when his nephew's wife switches medical records. Stanton: Howard Wendell. Wes: Jim Davis. Skip: Lang Jeffries. Sandra: Regina Gleason.

19. 1/27/1959: Rubber Gold..In a tire plant, Wes and Skip must find a wounded man who is half blind. Rocky: Mike Mazurki. Kolb: Roy Barcroft. Wes: Jim Davis. Skip: Lang Jeffries.

20. 2/3/1959: Flash Flood..Threatened by a flood, a demented man (John Carradine) sets a series of traps to discourage his rescue. Wes: Jim Davis. Skip: Lang Jeffries. Millie: Virginia Christine.

21. 2/10/1959: Initiation to Danger.. A freshman hazing ends in disaster: a boy is locked in a water tank with the water running. Wes: Jim Davis. Rocklin: James Beck. Paul: Tommy Ivo. Skip: Lang Jeffries.

22. 2/17/1959: Disaster Town..While searching for her son in a ghost town, a woman falls through a rotting floor. Wes: Jim Davis. Ellen: Gail Kobe. Jimmy: Jay North.

23. 2/24/1959: A Handful of Vengeance.. A madman locks a family and the rescue team in a burning house. Stephano: Peter Brocco. Wes: Jim Davis. Mary: Anne Bellamy.

24. 3/3/1959: Forty-Five Fathoms, Dead or Alive..A man is trapped on the ocean floor when his brother accidentally jams the winch that could save him. Wes: Jim Davis. Skip: Lang Jeffries. Fred: John Archer. Janet: Ann McCrea. Norris: Don Durant.

25. 3/10/1959: Children of the Sun..Skip's mother-in-law must be rescued from an earthquake area. Wes: Jim Davis. Skip: Lang Jeffries. Mrs. Curtis: Louise Lorimer.

26. 3/17/1959: International Incident..A prince's life is endangered by assassins who tampered with his car's brakes. Wes: Jim Davis. Prince: Roberto Cabal. Skip: Lang Jeffries. Panda Lal: Lou Krugman.

27. 3/24/1959: Nine Minutes to Live..An engineer is trapped in a mine with a time bomb set to go off. Wes: Jim Davis. Skip: Lang Jeffries. Barston: Frank Ferguson.

28. 3/31/1959: No Trespassing.. Wes is forced to operate on an appendicitis victim while a doctor instructs him by phone. Wes: Jim Davis. Clem: Jason Johnson. Skip: Lang Jeffries. Jane: Patricia Blair. Ronald: Richard Rust.

29. 4/7/1959: Three Men in a Vault..Trying to thwart a robbery, a man locks himself and the crooks in an airtight vault. Wes: Jim Davis. Crotty: John Alvin. Skip: Lang Jeffries. Trig: James Anderson.

30. 4/14/2007: The Walking Death..An AWOL sailor is suspected of having typhoid fever. Wes: Jim Davis. Skip: Lang Jeffries. Ralph: Johnny Seven.

When I was a kid in the 1950's Lang Jeffries' parents lived in my neighborhood in Port Huron, Michigan. His real name was Bill Lappin before his Hollywood days. I watched Rescue 8 all the time. It was a great realistic emergency program.

Then I remember he made a lot of Itallian westerns (Spagetti Westerns).It was a big deal in my neighborhood when we heard he married Rhonda Fleming.

I have never been able to find any biographical information on his youth days. If anyone knows any more before his Hollywood days, please post.