Hey kids (of all ages), it's Saturday Morning Cartoon time again!
The story you are about to see is true. Only the names have been changed to protect the innocent.
Jack Webb is best known for creating TV series somewhat more grounded in real…
Hey kids (of all ages), it's Saturday Morning Cartoon time again!
The story you are about to see is true. Only the names have been changed to protect the innocent.
Jack Webb is best known for creating TV series somewhat more grounded in reality than typical dramas. His best-remembered examples were DRAGNET (police detectives), ADAM-12 (uniformed patrol cops), and EMERGENCY! (paramedics)... The Doctor recently uploaded episodes of the latter series on his channel at https://www.bitchute.com/channel/the_doctor_2099/
In the '70s, the killjoy parental action groups were pushing Saturday Morning Cartoons away from awesome violence and mindless silliness toward more 'socially responsible and educational' type stuff. An animated version of the Emergency! series might fit the bill without boring the kids into a coma... All they had to do was throw-in some Meddling Kids and mascot animals.
One notable fact about this show is that Emergency! stars actually voice their cartoon counterparts. Another is that it somehow is NOT a Filmation production, despite that studio being the go-to for licensed properties and animated versions of live-action series including STAR TREK and MY FAVORITE MARTIAN. Nor was it Hanna-Barbera (who only occasionally did licensed characters), DePatie-Freleng, Rankin-Bass, or any of the other name players. The opening card lists "Emergency +4 Productions"... Closing credits cite Mark VII (Jack Webb's outfit) and Universal... The latter suggests that, had the show been done just a couple years earlier, Walter Lantz's studio might've been tapped to do the animation. It would have been interesting to see what the WOODY WOODPECKER crew did with this kind of material.
The producer of the show was Fred Calvert. Though lesser-known, he'd been involved in early animation work for SESAME STREET a few years earlier, and would go on to do a show starring Muhammad Ali later.
EMERGENCY +4 did well enough to get two production seasons (unusual at the time) for 23 total episodes which, of course continued in reruns an additional couple years on NBC. This is the first episode from Sept 1973. The title has nothing to do with GHW Bush's Gulf War of the same name, which happened over a decade and a half later.
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