Rescue 8

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.

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.

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

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.

It may surprise you as I played the daughter of Skip and Patty Johnson in the films Rescue 8. I played Susan , the show was to let people understand the Rescue and Police force in L A and to help people respect what they do. It honored them. The first was called The Ferris Wheel it aired in1958.It syndicated in75 markets it was a Screen Gems Inc. ( television subsidiary of Columbia Pictures Corp.) It was described as an dramatic action packed human interest series.' In the future I will give you more information as I get all my scrap books together. I am glad that Rescue 8 will not be forgotten as it was a great memory for me. We were like a family in filming it and I miss them Jim Davis and Lang Jeffries were wonderful people.Hi again ! Well Jim Davis and Lang Jefferies were in 73 of the Rescue 8's and Nancy Rennick at least 30 . I was in 30 myself . I found my scripts in a closet and thought I would let you know. They have other sites that you can go to to get titles and crew names. I typed in Rescue 8 TV series and then looked at the ones that were a part of the series . It was fun . TV archive's has a site that has the whole listings of the series. and their is also a site that has the music that was at the beginning and end of the series.Try it and have fun . Later Mary K. ( Played Susan Johnson in the series!!!