Gripping story with well-crafted characters

Far from Perfect, Far from Terrible

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

Blistering performances.

I too recall watching Rescue 8. One episode is very vivid in my mind was a rescue involving a private plane (was it "The Birdman"). The dramatic music score that played while the squad truck was en-route on call, I recall hearing in other TV shows and some cartoons. My memory played tricks on me, for a while I thought Rory Calhoun played the part of Wes Cameron but it was actually Jim Davis. Guess in my mind they looked alike. Like others in this blog, I too was very influenced by this show. I later became a firefighter, a National Registered EMT, Army Medic Instructor, and a founding member of the National Assoication of EMTs. We should be ever mindful of the powerful nature of television that can influence young minds for good or bad.

Does anybody know if VHS tapes or DVDs of the episodes of Rescue 8 are available? I've looked and looked, but no luck so far! There is one site that claims to have it, but it appears to be a scam. I tried contacting them via email several times, but received no answer. And there's no phone number. I'd like to get all 73 episodes. I can remember watching the show as a child, and I looked forward to it every week. It probably influenced me to be a volunteer fireman in my community most of my adult life. Any help on locating copies of the show would be appreciated.Tom

1. 9/23/1958: Ferris Wheel..A woman and child are trapped in the top seat of a ferris wheel. Wes: Jim Davis. Skip: Lang Jeffries. Patty: Nancy Rennick.2. 9/30/1958: 102 to Bakersfield..A robber hijacks a bus and takes it into an area being dynamited. Wes: Jim Davis. Nick: Douglas Dick. Terry: Toni Gerry.3. 10/7/1958: The Cliff..The rescue men try to save a young boy who fell to the ledge of a cliff. Wes: Jim Davis. Tom: Rand Brooks. Skip: Lang Jeffries.4. 10/14/1958: The Subterranean City..Wes and Skip search for a child lost in a storm-sewer system. Wes: Jim Davis. Skip: Lang Jeffries. Patty: Nancy Rennick. Pete: Warren Oates. Whitey: Ralph Votrian.5. 10/21/1958: The Cage..Wes tries to save a crazed killer trapped in a bear pit. Wes: Jim Davis. Ann: Ruta Lee. Walt: Jack Weston. Skip: Lang Jeffries.6. 10/28/1958: The Crackup..Wes realizes he will not be able to free a pregnant woman from a plane wreck before her baby is born. Wes: Jim Davis. Riley: Bruce Bennett. Joan: Gloria Henry. Skip: Lang Jeffries. Patty: Nancy Rennick.7. 11/4/1958: The Ammonia Trap..An earthquake traps three men in an ice vault with a broken ammonia pipe line. Wes: Jim Davis. Skip: Lang Jeffries.8. 11/11/1958: The Chasm..The rescue team must save a man and his son-in-law from the side of a dam. Ollie: Ralph Moody. Jim: William Phipps. Wes: Jim Davis.9. 11/18/1958: Steel Mountain..Searching for stolen loot, a man gets trapped between two trolley cars. Wes: Jim Davis. Skip: Lang Jeffries. Mickey: Michael Dante 10. 11/25/1958: Find That Bomb..The team makes a frantic search for a time bomb left aboard a yacht. Joe: Mike Connors. Kit: Barbara Hayden. Wes: Jim Davis.11. 12/2/1958: The Cavein..A man is buried waist deep in a dirt pit with the soil level rising each minute. Ezra: Will Wright. Wes: Jim Davis. Lucy: Grace Field.12. 12/9/1958: The Bells of Fear..On Christmas Eve, a clockmaker gets caught in the bell mechanism of a church clock. Ben Kopak: Eduardo Ciannelli. Wes Cameron: Jim Davis. Skip Johnson: Lang Jeffries.13. 12/16/1958: Danger! 20,000 Volts..A derailed train is trapped under exposed high voltage wires so that any passenger trying to leave will be electrocuted. Wes: Jim Davis. Martha: Anne Gwynne. Fred: John Pickard. Skip: Lang Jeffries.14. 12/23/1958: The Scrap-Iron Jungle..Fleeing police, two girls hide in a junked auto, not knowing it's about to be dropped into a hot press. Wes: Jim Davis. Candy: Sue George. Skip: Lang Jeffries. Madge: Rebecca Welles. Salesman: Ray Walker.15. 12/30/1958: Calamity Coach..A young actor is uncooperative when Wes tries to rescue him from the side of a cliff. Ric: Robert Lowery. Wes: Jim Davis. Linda: Jolene Brand. Skip: Lang Jeffries.16. 1/6/1959: Secret of the Mission..A young thief is trapped at the scene of his crime when a church ceiling collapses. Wes: Jim Davis. Carlos: Rafael Campos. Father Flynn: J. Pat O'Malley.17. 1/13/1959: Trial by Fire..Skip makes a deadly enemy of another rescue man. Then the two meet at a factory fire. Wes: Jim Davis. Skip: Lang Jeffries. Chad: James Best. Patty: Nancy Rennick.18. 1/20/1959: High Hazard..A man's life is endangered when his nephew's wife switches medical records. Stanton: Howard Wendell. Wes: Jim Davis. Skip: Lang Jeffries. Sandra: Regina Gleason.19. 1/27/1959: Rubber Gold..In a tire plant, Wes and Skip must find a wounded man who is half blind. Rocky: Mike Mazurki. Kolb: Roy Barcroft. Wes: Jim Davis. Skip: Lang Jeffries.20. 2/3/1959: Flash Flood..Threatened by a flood, a demented man (John Carradine) sets a series of traps to discourage his rescue. Wes: Jim Davis. Skip: Lang Jeffries. Millie: Virginia Christine.21. 2/10/1959: Initiation to Danger.. A freshman hazing ends in disaster: a boy is locked in a water tank with the water running. Wes: Jim Davis. Rocklin: James Beck. Paul: Tommy Ivo. Skip: Lang Jeffries.22. 2/17/1959: Disaster Town..While searching for her son in a ghost town, a woman falls through a rotting floor. Wes: Jim Davis. Ellen: Gail Kobe. Jimmy: Jay North.23. 2/24/1959: A Handful of Vengeance.. A madman locks a family and the rescue team in a burning house. Stephano: Peter Brocco. Wes: Jim Davis. Mary: Anne Bellamy.24. 3/3/1959: Forty-Five Fathoms, Dead or Alive..A man is trapped on the ocean floor when his brother accidentally jams the winch that could save him. Wes: Jim Davis. Skip: Lang Jeffries. Fred: John Archer. Janet: Ann McCrea. Norris: Don Durant.25. 3/10/1959: Children of the Sun..Skip's mother-in-law must be rescued from an earthquake area. Wes: Jim Davis. Skip: Lang Jeffries. Mrs. Curtis: Louise Lorimer.26. 3/17/1959: International Incident..A prince's life is endangered by assassins who tampered with his car's brakes. Wes: Jim Davis. Prince: Roberto Cabal. Skip: Lang Jeffries. Panda Lal: Lou Krugman.27. 3/24/1959: Nine Minutes to Live..An engineer is trapped in a mine with a time bomb set to go off. Wes: Jim Davis. Skip: Lang Jeffries. Barston: Frank Ferguson.28. 3/31/1959: No Trespassing.. Wes is forced to operate on an appendicitis victim while a doctor instructs him by phone. Wes: Jim Davis. Clem: Jason Johnson. Skip: Lang Jeffries. Jane: Patricia Blair. Ronald: Richard Rust.29. 4/7/1959: Three Men in a Vault..Trying to thwart a robbery, a man locks himself and the crooks in an airtight vault. Wes: Jim Davis. Crotty: John Alvin. Skip: Lang Jeffries. Trig: James Anderson.30. 4/14/2007: The Walking Death..An AWOL sailor is suspected of having typhoid fever. Wes: Jim Davis. Skip: Lang Jeffries. Ralph: Johnny Seven.

I was a rabid fan of Rescue 8 when I was, oh, 4 or so. I can only imagine, today, what the show must actually have been like. But to a small kid, it was just thrilling, and the two stars were my heroes. These guys worked in a fire department, but they weren't firemen; they were rescue experts, specialists who were constantly plucking hapless souls off 1,000-foot cliffs after whipping up impossibly-complex safety and climbing harnesses out of spit and rope.Insofar as I can tell, this was almost the very first of what eventually became a staple feature of American TV: the rescue drama centered around police, fire, or medical personnel. Now, in 2004, we see such shows as ER (a show that jumped the shark a long time ago, yet still plugs on) and Third Watch containing elements first seen in 30-minute bites on Rescue 8 back in 1958.