To all of the fans that watched this movie and wondered what happened to Craig Brice? The tall black man that replaced James G. Richardson in the movie was Sam Lanier- the actual L.A. County FD dispatcher whose voice was heard on almost every episode. Richardson was unavailable at the time of filming. This was the producers' backdoor way of saying "thanks" to him and the L.A. Co FD for all of their support. Other firefighters in the promotional scene were actual L.A. Co FD paramedics that had served as technical advisors to the show over the years.
Yes, the movie was cheesy and the show deserved a better finale than what was filmed, but Emergency! was always an "underdog" show. It was never a favorite of the critics or the Nielsens. This movie gave Gage and DeSoto what they deserved in terms of their promotions, but didn't offer the fans any resolution for the rest of Station 51 or the Rampart staff. Did Captain Stanley get promoted to Battalion Chief? Did his working relationship with Chief McConicke improve? Did Chet ever pass the engineer/specialist exam? Did Marco ever open a restaurant and sell his Irish Stew? Did Stoker get promoted to Captain? Did Dr. Brackett become the hospital administrator? Did Dr. Morton complete his residency? Did Dixie retire? Did Dr. Early become the head of the ER or Neurology departments? Those kind of questions would have been answered in a proper finale. Maybe, 43 years since its cancellation, Universal will attempt a reboot of Emergency! in time for the 50th anniversary of its premiere.
Yes, the movie was cheesy and the show deserved a better finale than what was filmed, but Emergency! was always an "underdog" show. It was never a favorite of the critics or the Nielsens. This movie gave Gage and DeSoto what they deserved in terms of their promotions, but didn't offer the fans any resolution for the rest of Station 51 or the Rampart staff. Did Captain Stanley get promoted to Battalion Chief? Did his working relationship with Chief McConicke improve? Did Chet ever pass the engineer/specialist exam? Did Marco ever open a restaurant and sell his Irish Stew? Did Stoker get promoted to Captain? Did Dr. Brackett become the hospital administrator? Did Dr. Morton complete his residency? Did Dixie retire? Did Dr. Early become the head of the ER or Neurology departments? Those kind of questions would have been answered in a proper finale. Maybe, 43 years since its cancellation, Universal will attempt a reboot of Emergency! in time for the 50th anniversary of its premiere.