Fox gave their fall show L.A. Firefighters a summer preview on 3 June 1996. It went down in flames in a little over a month and was yanked on 8 July.
The LA County Fire Department and the Firefighters Union even ran a campaign to demand that their name be removed from the show, expressing their anger at the flagrant disregard for the basic rules of safety and firefighting in the opening episodes as the actors dashed through flames without masks or protective clothing (while women firefighters ran around the firehouse in shorts and tank tops).
Portraying the fire chief as an alcoholic also didn’t go over well.
It was obvious from the start that the show wasn’t going to make it. It was overly melodramatic, excessively corny and lacked the personal involvement and tense realism of a successful drama like E.R.
Despite a nebulous promise to return at some future date with the seven other episodes which were filmed but never aired – retooled as Fire Co. 132 – the show never returned to the Fox schedule.
Captain Jack Malloy
Jarrod Emick Erin Coffey
Christine Elise Battalion Chief Dick Coffey
Brian Smiar Kay Rizzo
Alexandra Hedison Ray Grimes
Carlton Wilborn Phil Regan
Kane Picoy Bernie Ramirez
Miguel Sandoval J. B. Baker
Brian Leckner Lenny Rose
Michael Gallagher Mike Durning
John Bradley Jed Neal
Rob Youngblood
Episodes
LA Fire | Till Death Do Us Part | It’s a Family Affair | The Fire Down Below | Curiouser and Curiouser | A Mad Tea Party
