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'

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.

It's not good form to comment on other reviewers but I make a brief exception here. It's one thing to dislike something for articulable reasons, but quite another to characterize it as 'creepy' (one of the most egregious but casually tossed around deprecations made these days) without stating why. For me it says more about the commentator than the target.

Not to mention that reducing Harmon's role as a 'dog catcher' illustrated the point of the episode! That said, this episode was formulaic, predictable and looked very much like a pilot for a spin-off. Nevertheless I found it fun and informative. Though I love them, Jack Webb's public service shows tend to be clunky in dialog but this one was better than usual. It was corny, but when the injured firefighter at Rampart gave up his place in line, so to speak, for treatment of the goat, I gave him my applause.

If nothing else, watch this one for the by-play between all the ER professionals, Brackett and Dixie in particular. David Huddleston makes a great case for DVMs as well, and humanizes Brackett in the process.

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?

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.