905-Wild

Emergency! 905-Wild. Jack Webb wanted to show and praise some other public servants. The Animal Rescue squads with a TV Show of their own.

It wasn't to be, but the pilot appears to have been chopped up and turned into an Emergency! episode. I just saw it and many of the edits show up as what reminds me the way torn film splices from old movies looked.

Getting to see a very young Mark Harmon as one of the stars was really cool. The Emergency! regulars look a bit uncomfortable at times. Probably cause they didn't understand what was going on.

Jack Webb, R.A. Cinader and guys like that who wanted TV shows that really showed how some of our First Responders worked and even their domestic issues, was something I have always thought as valuable. Many mocked his Dragnet deliveries, but he really didn't want the actors to be the stars. Just wanted to show people 'The Facts, ma'am, just the facts'

Several reviews are pretty negative because they treat a goat. I think watching the ep from the perspective that it was essentially a test for some new series is all the more interesting especially with the guest stars including a very young Mark Harmon. Just from the guest stars it is a good ep, having the animals makes it even more so, and so one can think of what series was never to be makes it worthy of watching.

Whether a separate project edited into an episode of "Emergency!", or an episode of "Emergency!" meant from the start as a backdoor pilot, this clearly*was* a trial run for another series idea, in this case about animal services.

Unfortunately, it fails on several levels.

First and foremost is dramatic jeopardy. The tension seems forced throughout this very long, slow hour. It's impossible to imagine sustaining a level of interest through multiple episodes of a series.

Then there's dialogue. There's a certain timbre and cadence to a "Joe Friday" lecture. Jack Webb had it (obviously), because he originated it. So did Robert Fuller. David Huddleston simply did not.

Finally, there are the production values. The level of OBVIOUS stock footage breaks the feeling of continuity, without adding anything.

Taken all together, an interesting concept tgat fails in both execution and viability.

I can't figure out why this series would not have garnered at least an attempt, from this Pilot! It is easily MY favorite, of the whole series! Would have been good to see some crossover episodes worked in as well! Too bad they decided not to persue it. This episode kept my interest from start to finish!

This episode was very awkward. According to the other review, it might have been pieced together from a longer sequence, but it was awfully cheesy in a lot of respects. The premise would be interesting (wildlife personnel), but I don't think it would have been a good regular series (i.e., week-to-week).

{{Wow, they want these reviews to be at least 10 lines long!}}

Anyway, it's always interesting to watch shows featuring wild animals, as the filming is often choppy... the star of the show rarely being seen with the wild animal, it's usually just hands, or from the back, etc., and you know it's not the star. Like I said, I like the idea of a show like this, but I'm glad it didn't get made. Nowadays we can watch "Animal Cops" on Animal Planet.