Rescue 911

Rescue 911
Genre	Docudrama
Written by	Paula Deats Nancy Platt Jacoby Aaron Kass Jim Milio Jean O'Neill
Directed by	Sheri Goldstein Mary Hardwick Nancy Platt Jacoby Jim Milio Chris Pechin Ronnie Weinstock Segment directors Ron Brody Mark Cole Michael Collins Allison Grodner Robin Groth Dan Jackson Jim Milio Steve Muscarella Chris Pechin
Presented by	William Shatner
Theme music composer	Scott Roewe
Composers	Richard Stone(Seasons 1–3) Stu Goldberg(Seasons 4–7)
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No.of seasons	7
No.of episodes	186 (and 2 specials)(list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Arnold Shapiro Jean O'Neill (Seasons 5–7)
Producers	Nancy Platt Jacoby (Seasons 1–2) Jim Milio (Seasons 3–7) Sueann Fincke (Season 7)
Running time	60 minutes (30 minutes in syndication)
Production companies	CBS Entertainment Productions(1989–1995) CBS Productions(1995–1996) Arnold Shapiro Productions
Original release
Network	CBS
Release	April 18, 1989(1989-04-18)– August 27, 1996(1996-08-27)

Rescue 911is an informationaldocudramatelevision series that premiered onCBSon April 18, 1989, and ended on August 27, 1996. The series was hosted byWilliam Shatnerand featured reenactments (and occasionally real footage) of emergencies that often involved calls to911.

Though never intended as a teaching tool, various viewers used the knowledge they obtained watching the show. Two specials, titled100 Lives Savedand200 Lives Saved,were dedicated to these viewers who had written to CBS with their stories on how the knowledge they obtained watching the show allowed them to save the lives of others. At least 350 lives have been saved as a result of what viewers learned from watching it.The show's popularity coincided with, if not led to, the widespread adoption of the 911 emergency system replacing standalone police and fire numbers that varied from municipality to municipality; the number is now universally understood in the United States and Canada to be the number dialed for emergency assistance.

At its height, the show was adapted in 45 countries (with their own 911 equivalent showcased).

Broadcast history

Further information:List of Rescue 911 episodes

Conception and early airing

The idea forRescue 911was conceived in early 1989 by then-president of CBS Entertainment Kim LeMasters, when he heard a recording of a dramatic 911 call onCharles Osgood's radio show while driving to work. LeMasters discussed the idea of creating a television program centered on actual 911 recordings with in-house production headNorman Powellwho, in turn, hired documentary producerArnold Shapiroto produce three television specials.LeMasters initially suggested thatLeonard Nimoyshould host the show, but Shapiro felt William Shatner would be a better fit due to his role as a police officer on the TV seriesT. J. Hooker.

The firstRescue 911special aired on April 18, 1989, and included a segment ( "Arlington" ) featuring the 911 recording that had given LeMasters the idea for the show.A second special aired on May 9, 1989. Both specials received high ratings, prompting CBS to pick upRescue 911for the 1989 fall season.It began airing as a regular series on September 5, 1989, and ran for 7 seasons, with the last new episode airing on August 27, 1996, though it was not acknowledged as the series finale. The last episode to air on CBS (a repeat of Episode 627) aired on September 3, 1996.

Though it aired Tuesdays at 8:00 PM for most of its run,Rescue 911occasionally aired on other nights either as an additional episode shown during that week, or a temporary rearrangement to make room for another program.

Syndication

In 1993,The Family Channelbegan airing reruns, but it was removed from the lineup when the Family Channel became the FOX Family Channel in August 1998.The original format was most recently shown in Ecuador onOromar Televisiónand in Brazil onSBTandCanal Viva.

That same year, a reformatted version (see below) of the show was sold into off-networksyndication.The syndicated version continued to air both in the U.S. and internationally long after the show's cancellation, but it had not aired in the U.S. since July 2005. The syndicated version of the show aired on theJustice Networkfrom October 2017 to November 2019, onGetTVfrom August 2019 to May 2020, and currently has its own channel onPluto TV,where it airs 24 hours a day.

The following networks have aired the show in the syndicated format:

• Numerous localaffiliates
• The Family Channel(also showed theoriginal format)
• Odyssey/The Hallmark Channel
• Discovery Health Channel
• Reality TV/Zone Reality
• Justice Network/True Crime Network
• GetTV
• Pluto TV
• Living
• CI (Australia)
• AXN
• Uganda Broadcasting Corporation(Uganda)
• RPN(Philippines), under partnership with Silverstar Communications

Potential revival

In October 2018,Varietyannounced that CBS Television Studios was developing a two-hourRescue 911reboot with William Shatner slated to return as host. The reboot would have featured a live format similar to that ofLive PDshowing rescuers responding to calls in real time (in the original versions, only a small portion of the segments were done as such and were pre-recorded). However in February 2020, Shatner said in a radio interview that the reboot had not moved forward because CBS could not work out the logistical difficulties of obtaining consent from accident victims to be filmed live as the events unfolded; incidentally, many loyal fans of the original series had criticized the reboot for the same reasons.

Seasonal timeslots/ratings

Season	TV season	Regular timeslot (EDT)	Episode count	Season premiere	Season finale	Rank	Rating
1	1989–1990	Tuesday, 8 p.m.	30	September 5, 1989	May 15, 1990	#54
2	1990–1991		29	September 11, 1990	May 14, 1991	#31	14.0
3	1991–1992		27	September 17, 1991	May 19. 1992	#13	15.1
4	1992–1993		28	September 15, 1992	May 25, 1993	#18	14.61
5	1993–1994		28	September 14, 1993	May 24, 1994	#29	13.2
6	1994–1995		29	September 13, 1994	May 23, 1995	#48	10.8
7	1995–1996	Thursday, 9 p.m.	15	September 12, 1995	August 27, 1996	#84	7.7

Additional/alternate timeslots

• Season 2:Wednesday, 8 p.m.: April 1990 (in addition to Tuesday at 8 p.m.)
• Season 3:Friday, 8 p.m.: January–February 1992 (in addition to Tuesday at 8 p.m.)
• Season 7:Tuesday, 8 p.m.: September 1995, August–September 1996 (with the majority of the rest of the season airing on Thursdays at 9 P.M.)

Ratings by episode

Format

Original format

When the show aired on CBS, episodes normally ran 60 minutes and featured four stories, although some episodes featured three or five stories. Three-story episodes were common during the second and third seasons, but became less common during the later seasons.

Because the show was paired withThe CBS Tuesday Night Moviefor most of its run, episodes with irregular running times were occasionally created to accommodate movies that didn't fit the regular two-hour time slot. Such episodes usually ran 30 minutes and contained two stories. Others included a 90-minute episode, a 50-minute episode, a 45-minute episode, and a 15-minute episode containing only one story.

From seasons one through five, an opening disclaimer was shown before each episode. Shatner's voice was heard saying:

"This program contains true stories of rescues. All of the 911 calls you will hear are real. Whenever possible, the actual people involved have helped us reconstruct the events as they happened."

In a few of the early episodes, the last sentence of the disclaimer said:

"Unless indicated, the actual people involved have helped reconstruct the events as they happened."

In seasons six and seven, three segments from the episode were previewed in place of the disclaimer, and a shortened version of the original introduction was shown. Reruns from earlier seasons that aired after September 1994 had their old introductions replaced by the new version of the introduction.

When reruns aired on The Family Channel, episodes were edited for running time, censored for profanity and negative religious references, and graphic footage was sometimes cut out. Family initially showed the opening disclaimer at the beginning of the episodes, but it was later replaced with a short teaser that previewed one or two segments from the episode. Season six episodes that aired on Family had their introductions replaced with the original introduction, although the opening credits were not changed accordingly and were sometimes incorrect. Season seven episodes were never shown on Family.

Syndicated format

The syndicated version of the show ran 30 minutes and typically included two stories, although a few episodes contained one long-running story. Some syndicated episodes featured stories that began on one episode and concluded on the next, which was never done in the show's original format. These syndicated episodes contained no new material; they consisted entirely of stories taken from episodes that aired in the original format. Stories featured on syndicated episodes were often edited for running time, omitting short scenes that were shown in the original broadcasts. Three hundred syndicated episodes were produced, and they featured segments from the first six seasons of the show.

Stories featured

Presentation

Shatner would introduce episodes (and usually, all segments within them) from inside 911dispatch centersorfire stations,or next topolice carsand/orambulances.He would end episodes from such locations as well. In addition, all segments includedvoiceover narrationby Shatner, interview clips with the people involved and, in many cases, the actual recorded 911 call. Most segments were about 9 to 13 minutes in running time, although some ran shorter, particularly on five-segment episodes, and a few were longer in duration. Usually, the first segment of an episode included a commercial break shortly after the incident itself unfolded, and after the break Shatner would usually pick up again from the station the segment was introduced.

Unless otherwise specified, stories were presented in the form of re-enactments. Occasionally, recorded video footage of all or part of the event itself (usually amateur video or television news coverage) would be used. In these instances, Shatner would mention that a particular amount of footage was taped "as events unfolded" in the opening to a segment in which recorded footage was included. Many re-enactments required complex presentation, such as the recreation ofhouse fires,automobile accidents,police chases,explosions,pregnant womeninlabor,and evennatural disasters.

Some stories took place in the form of adocumentary.In these stories, the show's camera crews wouldride alongwith paramedics, firefighters or police, or wait in hospitals and film whatever happened to unfold. These stories usually involved more than one event in a single segment at the same medical facility. One such story was theCharles Stuartmurder case, which happened during a ride-along withBoston EMS.

In the show's early seasons, Shatner would close episodes with a statement advising viewers to learn the emergency numbers in their area and to post them by each phone, as not all areas had the 911 system back then. Later in its run, however, the closing statements focused on other lifesaving tips such as learning various first aid techniques, among other things.

Each episode would end with Shatner making some variation of the following statement:

"This series is dedicated to all the men, women, and children who answer our calls for help, and are there when we need them most."

Situations

Crimes,automobile accidents,medical emergencies,fires,choking/asphyxiation,and miscellaneousinjurieswere the most common situations presented on the show. Other situations commonly presented on it includedtechnical rescues,near-drownings,childbirth,animalrescues,search and rescuesituations, andaircraft-related emergencies. Occasionally, stories involvinggas leaks,electrocutions,suicide attempts,scuba divingaccidents,drug overdoses,train-related accidents,allergic reactions,andnatural disasterswere also presented.

Although the show mostly featured serious emergencies, there were occasionally humorous stories of non life-threatening situations and false alarms. Examples included aburglarwho got stuck upside-down when he tried to enter a house through the chimney, a young boy who got stuck in alaundry chutewhile playinghide-and-seek,a young boy whose tongue froze to the inside of a freezer while he attempted to get ice cream, a man who got a plaster mask stuck on his face, a dog that stepped on the 911speed dialbutton after getting tangled in the phone cord (although the dog was in danger of being strangled), a woman who got a plaster mold stuck to her torso, a woman who called 911 when she mistook her parents' newmannequinfor an intruder, a girl who called 911 after her mom got stuck in her bathroom when the door's lock failed, a boy who got his tongue stuck in a canteen, a woman who got trapped in her apartment behind a mattress, and a man who woke up to a break-in at his house, only to discover the burglar was abobcat.

A few segments featured on the show had previously gained national news coverage. These incidents included theNew Year's Eve 1986 fireat Puerto Rico's DuPont Plaza Hotel, the1987 Amtrak train wreckin Maryland, two segments onHurricane Hugo,theJune 1990 Ohio tornado,theStuart murder case,theSalt Lake City Public Library hostage incident,and theOklahoma City bombing.

Deaths

Although the majority of stories featured ended with all lives being saved, there were some exceptions in which one or more victims died. Such occurrences became exceedingly rare later inRescue 911's run, and usually occurred in documentary segments or in those reenacting multiple casualty incidents in which other victims survived. This list does not include segments where criminals were killed, either directly or indirectly, as a result of the incident with no other deaths.

List of deaths on Rescue 911

• "Church Bus" (Pilot/S1E17): A busload of children of swept away in a flooded river. Ten die, but many others are rescued.
• "Sudden Death" (Special 2/S1E09): A man in his 30s, who was stabbed and went into cardiac arrest, is pronounced dead after doctors try to save him.
• "Atlanta Fire" (S1E06): Five people die in a high-rise office building fire.
• "Baltimore Cops" (S1E06): A man is shot to death in a restaurant.
• "Double Football Player" (S1E09): FormerNFLplayerJerry Andersondrowns while saving a boy from a river.
• "Puerto Rico" (S1E13): In theDupont Plaza Hotel arson,98 people die while many are rescued.
• "Amtrak" (S1E16): Sixteen people die in thetrain collisionin Chase, Maryland.
• "Resurrection Rescue" (S1E19): Three children and a young man are pulled from a burning house. Two of the children survive, but one child and the young man do not.
• "Runaway Boxcars" (S1E19): An elderly woman is killed when the car she is riding in is hit by runaway boxcars; her husband survives.
• "Boston" (S1E20):Charles Stuartmurders his pregnant wife; his child later dies, and then he commits suicide.
• "Miami Medchopper" (S1E27): Two men are shot in a restaurant robbery; one dies.
• "Scuba Cave" (S2E02): Two out of threescuba diversare successfully rescued from an underwater cave; one dies.
• "Loma Linda Docu" (S2E02): An infant dies shortly after birth; its heart is transplanted into another newborn infant. Two months after the transplant, the mother's husband dies from a heart attack.
• "Philly Docu" (S2E05): One man dies in a hotel fire later found to bearson;all other tenants escape or are rescued.
• "Daytona" (S2E08):Slick Johnsonis killed in a crash during an auto race; a paramedic injured aiding another driver survives.
• "Bingo" (S2E10): A woman dies from complications 3 years after being shot by her husband. She was alive when the episode originally aired, but re-runs indicated that she later passed away.
• "Bar Blast" (S2E19): A man is murdered at a bar; officers chasing the suspects are threatened by gunfire, but survive and are later able to apprehend the suspects.
• S2E21: A man dies after being injured during a stock car race
• "Terror in the Sky" (S2E27): The pilot of an aircraft dies while flying the plane. His wife brings it to a safe landing, saving herself and a friend who was also on board.
• "Denver Chopper" (S2E29): A fleeing bank robber being chased by police strikes and kills a detective, and the suspect is later killed in a shootout with police. The gunman's hostage survives unharmed.
• "Cincinnati Neonatal Docu" (S3E06): A documentary follows three premature babies in a neo-natal care facility; one baby dies, specifically, from severe brain damage due to complications fromGroup B streptococcal infection.
• "St. Pete Docu" (S3E07): An elderly woman dies after being struck by a car.
• "Fernie's Heart" (S3E19): A boy is killed in a car crash. His family donates his organs, saving a five-year-old boy in need of a heart transplant.
• "Boomer's Rescue" (S3E26): A girl with terminal brain cancer's support dog is rescued from a house fire. She was alive when the episode originally aired, but re-runs indicate that she later passed away.
• "Las Vegas Docu II" (S4E06): A teen's friend is killed in a car crash caused by a drunk driver.
• "Oklahoma Cops Documentary" (S4E14): A young man is killed in adrive-by shooting.
• S5E19: A teen isbrain deadafter a car crash. Her family donates her organs, saving three people in need of organ transplants.
• "Butane Huffing" (S5E22): A teenage boy dies 11 hours after huffingbutane.This was the only re-enacted segment in which the sole victim died.
• "Repentant Drunk Driver" (S6E14): A drunk driver kills a man and seriously injures a woman.
• "Healing the Healers" (S6E27): TheOklahoma City Bombingis profiled.
• "Trooper Buddy Down" (S7E04): A woman is killed in a head-on collision. A state trooper and his pregnant fiancée survive the wreck.
• "Toddler Falls From Truck" (S7E15): A child opens the door of a moving pickup truck, falls out of it, and lands on theWalmartparking lot pavement headfirst. He suffers permanent head injuries and dies from choking on food when a nurse left him alone

International versions

In New Zealand,TV2began screening the first season ofRescue 911in January 1991 and subsequent seasons following this. At the start of each episode, the network would display a reminder to viewers that the emergency number in New Zealand is 111. In 1992, with the permission of CBS, the show was renamed toRescue 111in New Zealand. This was done following reports of New Zealanders calling 911 in emergencies instead of 111. The show's starting was shortened with aRescue 111title replacing theRescue 911title. Its format remained the same, however, with Shatner still addressing the show asRescue 911along with all stories mentioning calling 911. He also recorded a special outro for the show reminding viewers of New Zealand's emergency number. When the final series screened in 1996, the show was simply calledRescue.

Featured episodes from the U.S. version ofRescue 911were dubbed over in Spanish byVenezuelandistributorEtcétera Group.It aired inMexicofrom 1993to at least 1996on theTV Aztecanetwork, and inEcuadorfrom 1994 to 2000 onRTS.The series was aired in Spain from 1991 to 2000 onTVE 2and also on regional networks such asTelemadrid.

France

The original French version was calledLa Nuit des héros,broadcast from September 14, 1991 to December 26, 1992 onAntenne 2(laterFrance 2) and was hosted byLaurent Cabroluntil June 1992, then replaced byMichel Cretonfor the remainder of its run. One reenactment per week came from the original CBS show, who were associated with the production of the French reenactments.

At the end of July 1992, the host Cabrol resigned from Antenne 2. Three weeks later,TF1announced the broadcast ofLes Marches de la gloire,a similar show with Cabrol as host and produced by the same production company, Plaisance Films. A few months later, the TF1 channel was ordered to pay France 2 55 million francs in damages forplagiarism.This version was aired from September 1992 to June 1993.

Italy

The Italian channelRai 3realized its version, calledUltimo Minuto:it ran on Saturday evening, during the period of winter and spring, from 1993 until 1997. It contained also some episodes fromRescue 911and999.The series inspired later shows includingEroi per caso(Italia 1,1999),Vivo x miracolo(La7,2009–2010),Eroi di tutti i giorni(Rai 1,2013) andAlive(Rete 4,2013–2015).

Germany

German networkRTLstarted its own version with a mix of cases from Germany and the US in 1992. The show ran for over 14 years, with the last episode broadcast on August 27, 2006, and from 1998 to 2001 also aired the offshootNotruf täglich.In August 2009, the format was briefly revived asHelfen Sie mir!.In 2024,Sat.1announced a reboot ofNotruf,which has been broadcast on weekdays since April 22, 2024 and hosted byBärbel Schäfer.In contrast to the original series, the cases are not re-enacted by the protagonists, but by actors.

Sweden

A Swedish version, entitledSOS – på liv och död,was originally broadcast onTV4from 1993 to 1996 and was hosted by journalistBengt Magnusson.The programme returned in 2003 on sister channelTV4 Plus(currentlySjuan) and ran for 30 episodes. This version was hosted by firefighterGlenn Borgkvist,also known as the lead singer ofBrandsta City Släckers.The features are based on authentic calls received by the emergency centers in both Sweden and the USA.

Other countries

A British version called999(after the UK emergency telephone number) premiered in 1992 and ran onBBC Oneuntil 2003, hosted by journalist and newsreaderMichael Buerk.

Hungarian channelRTL Klubran its own version from May 1, 1998, until August 27, 1999, hosted byGyörgy Cserhalmi.Each episode contained 2 cases fromRescue 911,one from Germany'sNotruf,and one original story. In Poland, the format has been running weekdays onPolsatsince 2016 asNa ratunek 112.

Merchandise

Home media

InRescue 911's early seasons onCBS,ads were shown after the end credits of every episode that gave an 800 number viewers could call to order a copy of that night's episode. This ad was dropped in later seasons.

On May 27, 1997, "Rescue 911: World's Greatest Rescues" was released onVHS.This video featured stories of rescue attempts from around the world; segments were taken from both the U.S. and international versions of the show. The segments on the video were edited for running time, and the original narration on all segments (including those originally narrated by Shatner) were dubbed over by an uncredited narrator. The two stories taken from the U.S. version were about aNew Zealandgirl pinned beneath a flaming gasoline tanker (season three, episode 25) and the infamous documentary of theStuart murder caseinBoston, Massachusetts(season one, episode 20). The other stories, taken from international versions of the show, were about aBelgianfamily trapped in a car hanging precariously from a high overpass, aRussianhostage crisis in which a terrorist held two women captive, anAustrianskier who fell into an underground glacier river, and aFrenchmother who was forced to drop her two children 60 feet from a burning apartment to bystanders below (the latter segment is not included on some versions of the video).

Books

Several books were written that recounted stories featured onRescue 911:

• Rescue 911 Extraordinary Storiesby Linda Maron
• Rescue 911 Kid Heroesby Alison Hendrie
• Rescue 911 Amazing Rescuesby Alison Hendrie
• Rescue 911 Humorous Rescuesby R. M. Ferrara
• Rescue 911 Animal Rescuesby R. M. Ferrara
• The Rescue 911 Family First Aid & Emergency Care Bookby Julie Motz

Toys and games

• Model kits:In 1993,AMT-ERTLreleased threeRescue 911themed emergency vehiclemodel kits.Each of the three kits contained decals with theRescue 911logo, and each box had on its side panel a synopsis of a relevant story fromRescue 911.These models were:

• Police car(1990Ford Taurus). The side panel contained a synopsis of "911 Sister Abduction", in which a police officer rescued a six-year-old girl who was kidnapped from her back yard.
• Rescue ambulance(Dodge). The side panel contained a synopsis of "911 Cribbage Choke", in which paramedics performed a risky procedure on board an ambulance to save a young boy choking on acribbagepiece.
• Rescue helicopter(Civilian Medical Rescue Helicopter). The side panel contained a synopsis of "The Helicopter Horse", in which an injured horse was lifted out of a canyon by helicopter.

• Squirt Extinguisher:In 1993, JA-RU, Inc. released a toy fire extinguisher water squirter.
• Handheld game:In 1993, Micro Games of America released a handheld game based on the show. The objective of the game is to help the firefighter extinguish the fire in the building and the electrical room while avoiding falling debris.
• MatchBoxRescue 911themed carsPacecar, medic's car, and fire observer van and police van along with a search and rescue-themed vehicles.
• Slot car sets:In 1993, Marchon, Inc. released 2slot carsets called "Rescue 911 Chopper Rescue" and "Rescue 911 Police Pursuit". The Chopper Rescue set included two slot cars (a fire truck and a police jeep) and a complete racetrack. A unique feature of this track was that it allowed racers to jump their cars over a canyon with the aid of a magnetic helicopter. The Police Pursuit set included two slot cars (a sports car and a police car) and a battery powered racetrack which included an automatic lap counter.
• Emergency Communications Vehicle:In 1993, Marchon, Inc. released a toy battery-powered police car which included a remote control intercom.

Pinball machine

Main article:Rescue 911 (pinball)

In May 1994, Premier Technologies, trade-nameGottlieb,released aRescue 911pinball machine.It featured a helicopter that magnetically captured the ball as well as a red revolving light on the backbox.In March 2016, it was released inThe Pinball Arcadefor PC, Android mobile devices and iOS.

Awards

Year	Award	Result	Category	Recipient
1990	People's Choice Awards	Won	Favorite New TV Dramatic Series	-
1992	BMI Film & TV Awards		BMI TV Music Award	Scott Roewe and Stu Goldberg
1993			BMI TV Music Award	Scott Roewe and Stu Goldberg
1994			BMI TV Music Award	Scott Roewe and Stu Goldberg

External links

• Rescue 911atIMDb