905-Wild

OK this might not have been the best of the best Emergency episodes ever made but knowing what Animal Control officers go through on their day to day work load this was close to some of the adventures my Dad had gone through working in the City. Of course he never met a Tiger or Lion other then those who played on the Detroit Home Teams. But other then that he did come across some interesting events where they had to rescue Cat's and Other animals in house Attic's and other wild animal you might be surprised to find in a Big City.

I liked seeing a Very Young Mark Harmon in only his third TV appearance I'm surprised that the writers of NCIS haven't made a In-Joke about the team going after a Tiger or other Animal would be a Wink at the followers of Mark Harmon saying see where he got his start?

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!

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.

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.

Back in the 1960s and 70s, television shows were often used to introduce new shows or pilots of possible new shows. It was a cheap way to either make use of a pilot (as often they are never even seen by the public otherwise) or for the networks to try a new show and see how the public responds to it. In the case of "905-Wild", the show was aired as an episode of "Emergency!", though it barely features any of the stars of that show. And, it introduces the public to a cast that might be used if the series is approved by the network.

The show begins with Gage and DeSoto responding to what seems like a normal emergency. However, the injury appears to have been caused by a tiger in a bodega!! So, animal control is called and the remainder of the program follows these workers. The most interesting thing about this proposed show is that a very young Mark Harmon was cast in one of the leading roles.

Although Jack Webb was mostly known for cop shows like "Dragnet" and "Adam-12", he also tried branching out to other types of shows...all of which followed various government officials at work, such as with "Emergency!", "Project UFO" and "905-Wild".

So is it any good? Well, it's not bad. One problem is the portion with Dr. Bracket at the hospital treating a baby goat--this is dumb, improbable and would probably get the hospital shut down. There was no LOGICAL reason for the hospital regulars to be in this episode. Another problem is that the show was very specific and until recently, with shows like those on Animal Planet, there wasn't much like this...so its novelty probably worked against it and I could see why the networks passed on this one. Still, an interesting case of what might have been.