Rescue 8

I loved watching "Rescue 8" on TV as a child in the early 1960s on Australian Television in Sydney. I use to enjoy watching it on week day afternoons after school. I recall seeing actors such as Robert Redford in guest starring roles. Jim Davis and Lang Jeffreys were my heros.

I guess this show was a major factor in my becoming a vol. firefighter & EMT-CC.

It was the only show that I would get upset about if I missed it.

I even remember part of the introduction: "Rescue 8, one of the 27 such teams attached to the LA County Fire Department".

Many people familiar with Emergency! don't believe this actually was it's predecessor. I still contend Rescue 8 was much more realistic than any Rescue 8 or Squad 51 shows.

I sure do miss it. :(

I've been searching the internet, albeit in vain, for actual videos from the show. If anyone can point me in the right direction, I'd sure appreciate it.

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.

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.

31. 4/21/1959: Tower of Hate.. The rescue team must save a wounded man who is clinging to a girder 400 feet above water. Wes: Jim Davis. Bill: Ross Elliott. Heinrich: Jack Kruschen.

32. 4/28/1959: Danger in Paradise.. A night watchman at a movie studio chases a pair of intruders onto a shaky catwalk high above the stage. Wes: Jim Davis. Marge: Suzanne Lloyd. Pete: William Swan.

33. 5/5/1959: Hour of Rage.. A man swears revenge when Wes and Skip fail to revive his dead wife. Johnny: Harry Landers. Wes: Jim Davis. Skip: Lang Jeffries.

34. 5/12/1959: If the Bough Breaks..A huge branch crushes a man against the trunk of a tree he's sawing. Dora: Hope Summers. Wes: Jim Davis. Dot: Sally Fraser. Charles: Emerson Treacy. Skip: Lang Jeffries.

35. 5/19/1959: High Pressure.. Two men trapped in a chasm are menaced by oncoming flood waters. Wes: Jim Davis. John: Paul Langton. Foley: Morris Ankrum.

36. 5/26/1959: One More Step.. An actress falls from a catwalk into a network of hoist ropes. Wes: Jim Davis. Melinda: Kaye Elhardt. Skip: Lang Jeffries.

37. 6/2/1959: Left Hook to Hades.. A boxer refuses to throw a fight and is attacked by gangsters. Lou: Walter Duke. Wes: Jim Davis. Skip: Lang Jeffries. Thompson: Walter Burke. Terry: Lester Maxwell.

38. 6/9/1959: The Trap.. A man is trapped in a fire with enough nitroglycerin to level the entire area. Wes: Jim Davis. Skip: Lang Jeffries. Fred: Terry Becker.

39. 6/16/1959: Death for Hire.. A fisherman gets pinned under the boat he was launching. Wes: Jim Davis. Skip: Lang Jeffries. Rocha: Joe Vitale.

40. 9/23/1959: Suitcase Fireman.. Chased by a gunman, a man falls onto a steel girder next to a roaring furnace. Wes: Jim Davis. Skip: Lang Jeffries. Jackson: Brett King. Gander: Richard Benedict.

41. 9/30/1959: The Rock Prison.. While exploring a cave, a boy falls into a shaft too narrow for rescuers to enter. Rusty: William Bakewell. Will: Robert Crosson. Wes: Jim Davis. Skip: Lang Jeffries

42.10/7/1959: Fool's Gold.. Robbers drop an unconscious watchman into a maze of pipes leading to a grain elevator. Wes: Jim Davis. Manuel: Peter Brocco. Skip: Lang Jeffries. Freddy: Marc Cavell.

43.10/14/1959: Paid in Full..Barney Carter pushes blackmailers off a cliff onto a narrow ledge. Barney: Tom Brown. Wes: Jim Davis. Guzik: Joseph Ruskin.

44.10/21/1959: Dangerous Salvage..A seaman battles to save his son's life after a shipboard explosion. Wes: Jim Davis. Skip: Lang Jeffries. Jake: Rusty Lane.

45.10/28/1959: 3 Mile Bomb.. Wes and Skip work to free a driver from his overturned truck which is leaking deadly gas. Wes: Jim Davis. Skip: Lang Jeffries. Joe: Walter Sande.

46.11/4/1959: Not for Glory.. Wes is injured in a fall when a rope holding him slips from Skip's hands. Wes: Jim Davis. Skip: Lang Jeffries. Captain: Bruce Bennett.

47.11/11/1959: Forced Landing.. A tyrannical father is bitten by a rattler and the only one who can help is his son. Wes: Jim Davis. Skip: Lang Jeffries. Jerry: Ralph Dumke. Steve: Ralph Votrian

48.11/18/1959: Smashout.. A convict escapes from prison with Wes and Skip as hostages. Wes: Jim Davis. Landers: Dean Stanton. Skip: Lang Jeffries.

49.11/25/1959: Runaway.. A runaway boy retreats to the woods where he meets an escaped lion. Grandpa: Ralph Moody. Wes: Jim Davis. Billy: Lee Aaker.

50.12/2/1959: The Third Strike.. Hit by a baseball, a player suffers amnesia and frightening personality changes. Wes: Jim Davis. Skip: Lang Jeffries.

51.12/9/1959: Pitfall.. A teenager gets his leg caught in a gas tank's giant rollers. Wes: Jim Davis. Skip: Lang Jeffries. Mary: Linda Rand. Wayne: Joel Crothers. Patty: Nancy Rennick.

52.12/16/1959: Heat Wave.. Two men are trapped above a vat of acid that's about to explode. Wes: Jim Davis. Skip: Lang Jeffries. Carbo: Barry Cahill.

53.12/23/1959: The Birdman.. Suffering from a broken jaw, an air-crash victim can't tell Wes about a second victim left dangling on a cliff. Wes: Jim Davis. Professor: Robert Cornthwaite.

54.12/30/1959: The Collision.. After a collision, a young woman is left crushed behind the steering wheel. Wes: Jim Davis. Ron: Jack Hilton. Ann: Nancy Marshall.

55. 1/6/1960: Leap for Life.. Wes and Skip help Indian fire fighters battle a forest blaze. Charlie: Jay Silverheels. Wes: Jim Davis. Skip: Lang Jeffries.

56. 1/13/1960: The Squatters.. Rescuers search for a madman setting traps in the woods for human beings. Wes: Jim Davis. Skip: Lang Jefferies.

57. 1/20/1960: Backfire.. A publicity man's risky scheme leaves him trapped in a car teetering above a deep precipice. Wes: Jim Davis. Skip: Lang Jeffries. Larry: Dan Tobin. Marty: Roy Engel.

58. 1/27/1960: High Explosive.. Wes rescues a spoiled rich boy (Richard Chamberlain) whose escape from police ended in a crack-up. Wes: Jim Davis. Randolph: John Hubbard. Skip: Lang Jeffries.

59. 2/3/1960: Add a Pinch of Death.. Although a second blast is expected,Wes goes in after two men trapped in a lab explosion. Wes: Jim Davis. Skip: Lang Jeffries. Max: Robert Boon.

60. 2/10/1960: Ten Minutes to Doomsday.. A construction site is rocked by a series of mysterious explosions. Wes: Jim Davis. Skip: Lang Jeffries. Gomez: Ken Mayer.