Fire Critic An Unadulterated View of the Fire Service
Chicago Fire is a brand new show on NBC premiering tonight Oct. 10, 2012.
An edge-of-your-seat view into the lives of everyday heroes committed to one of America’s noblest professions. For the firefighters, rescue squad and paramedics of Chicago Firehouse 51, no occupation is more stressful or dangerous, yet so rewarding and exhilarating. These courageous men and women are among the elite who forge headfirst into danger when everyone else is running the other way and whose actions make the difference between life and death.
The pressure to perform on such a high level has a way of taking a personal toll, sometimes putting team members from the Truck and the specially trained Rescue Squad at odds with each other. Despite any differences, this is an extended family, and when it’s “go time,” everyone inside Firehouse 51 knows no other way than to lay it all on the line for each other. When a tragedy claims one of their own, there’s plenty of guilt and blame to go around. Lt. Matthew Casey (Jesse Spencer, “House”), in charge of the Truck, tries to carry on, but butts heads with the brash Lt. Kelly Severide (Taylor Kinney, “The Vampire Diaries”) of the Rescue Squad – and each blames the other for their fallen team member. Adding to the turmoil, Casey, unbeknownst to his colleagues, is in the midst of a separation from Hallie (Teri Reeves, “Three Rivers”).
The firehouse also includes Battalion Chief Wallace Boden (Eamonn Walker, “Oz”), a fireman’s fireman who is confronted by important personal decisions, paramedics Gabriela Dawson (Monica Raymund, “The Good Wife”) and Leslie Shay (Lauren German, “Hawaii Five-O”), who share a close bond and team together to face some of the most harrowing situations imaginable, Peter Mills (Charlie Barnett, “Law & Order: SVU”), an academy graduate who is the latest generation in a family of firefighters, and Christopher Herrmann (David Eigenberg, “Sex and the City”), a seasoned veteran who loses his home to foreclosure and now must uproot his family to move in with his in-laws.
Follow The Fire Critic on Facebook
My first thought on “Chicago Fire” was “Where are the fat guys?” Yes, I realize that is a rather unfortunate first thought, but I am being realistic, there should be at least one! I am staying realistic in that I know this show is not for firefighters…it is about firefighters. It simply cannot be for firefighters because no one has ever been able to put actual “firefighting” in a television show or movie unless it was a documentary. Even then, it isn’t quite the real thing. Firefighters will watch something like this and tear it to pieces until someone changes the channel to keep from hearing more. I am sure the same thing can be said about Nurses and Doctors watching Grey’s Anatomy for something other than the drama.
I think shows like these are good for the fire service. They remind people that we are there. They give some insight on what we do and can be positive for our image. That isn’t always the case though.
You can watch the first episode RIGHT NOW
Plain and simple, you cannot put our lives and what we do on TV because most of us simply aren’t that interesting AND when we do fight fires, you cannot see inside a burning building. On top of that you can’t understand what we are saying while in SCBA.
All of that aside, I am certain that with enough drama mixed in to proper character building the show should be a success. More successful than any EMS show, anyone remember “Trauma”? Before you yell “What about Emergency?”….remember that was about a Fire Department with Firefighters and Firefighter/Paramedics.
Rescue Me did pretty good. Seven or eight seasons is a success. That show was almost so F’ed up it was nearly believable for firefighters… infidelity, drunks, the occasional fire.
I have not seen Chicago Fire yet. I will watch it tonight.
Let me know what you think!
Links:
