Emergency +4

I got a chance to catch this seldom seen Saturday Morning cartoon show from the early 1970's recently on a children's cable network. I have fond memories of it as a child when it came on the NBC network as part of its Saturday Morning schedule that ran for three months from September 8, 1973 until December 29, 1973. The show however was perfect since it premiered on the heels of its precessdor which was the prime-time live-action version of "Emergency!",a Saturday night Nielsen ratings hit show that ran for seven seasons on NBC(1972-1977) on which this cartoon was based with the full cooperation of the Los Angeles County Fire Department. The animated version was produced by Fred Calvert,under the executive producers Harold Jack Bloom and R.A. Cinader under Jack Webb's production company Mark VII Limited/MCA-Universal Television and Fred Calvert Productions. The first part of the series' title referred to paramedics Roy DeSoto and Johnny Gage,and for this animated version,actors Kevin Tighe and Randolph Mantooth,who initially appeared in the prime-time version,did there own voicework for this cartoon. In this animated version,they're teamed with four youngsters-Jason,Randy,Matthew,and Matthew's sister Sally,along with Flash the dog,Charlemagne the mynah bird,and Bananas the monkey to avert to disasters to assist Gage and DeSoto on daring rescues in Los Angeles County.

However,this show was just like its precessdor,and mostly at the end of the show,its original stars (Randolph Mantooth and Kevin Tighe) from the "Emergency"! show would come out and talk to kids about certain dangerous situations,and how to avoid them in case it happens(like for instance in case a fire breaks out in the home,and what to do if it happens;avoiding dangerous and deadly chemicals;and what to do if you see fallen power lines and how to avoid them if you see them,and also learning important procedures on how to save one's life,and many more). Very good cartoon show from the 70's.

Out of the 13 episodes that were produced,this animated series remain on NBC's Saturday Morning schedule during its second season in re-runs from January 5, 1974 until September 4, 1976. Only the first season were original episodes.

The first reviewer here is wrong. There were actually two seasons of first-run episodes. Those from 1974 included the show's only two-parter, "Odyssey." And Sally was replaced by Carol, who was also a blonde girl. None the less, it was a very good animated series that showed the way first responders do their jobs in a realistic manner. This is one I highly recommend.

There is a fierce loyalty to Emergency!, nearly 50 years after the show's debut. Reruns still get high viewership, and between runs on retro sideband networks COZI and MeTV, it outdraws the regular network feeds in the time slots. So....that brings us to Emergency+4.

Sadly, those fans who look for this to be a nice cartoon companion show to Emergency!, are extremely hard pressed to say that liked anything about it. The animation was 6/10 and the writing was 3/10 at best.

NBC was trying to capture kids on Saturday mornings, who were already hooked on the regular show at night. The result was a show that was laughed at, and just not cool to watch if you were a kid. We wanted the real McCoy, not a unbelievable knockoff with a bunch of kids tagging along, which real kids knew would NEVER be allowed.

You can find bootleg DVD's on eBay and waste money getting them, only to realize quickly there was a reason this show was mercifully put down after a short run. It's just plain unwatchable.

BTW, there are NO records of this being run on ANY network since its cancellation.