Chopper One/Firehouse (1974)

January 17, 1974: 𝘾𝙃𝙊𝙋𝙋𝙀𝙍 𝙊𝙉𝙀 and 𝙁𝙄𝙍𝙀𝙃𝙊𝙐𝙎𝙀 debuted on ABC-TV.
ABC aired action-crime series 𝘾𝙝𝙤𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙧 𝙊𝙣𝙚 and drama/adventure series 𝙁𝙞𝙧𝙚𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙚 in a one-hour programming block.

𝘾𝙝𝙤𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙧 𝙊𝙣𝙚 depicted the activities of a fictional California police helicopter team, starring Jim McMullan and Dirk Benedict as police officers. The show followed the two officers as they used their Bell 206 JetRanger helicopter to aid officers on the ground with airborne surveillance or by assisting in chases. The series also featured Ted Hartley as their boss, Capt. McKeegan, and Lou Frizzell as Mitch, the mechanic. Chopper One aired on Thursdays at 8/7 Central and was produced by Spelling-Goldberg Productions. Each half-hour episode cost approximately $140,000 to produce due to needing two chopper pilots, two helicopters, and having to pay the city of Los Angeles various fees. The directors of each episode also reportedly received stunt pay wages because they had to fly in the helicopter to direct the action.

𝙁𝙞𝙧𝙚𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙚 followed the exploits of the firefighters of Engine Company Number 23 of the Los Angeles Fire Department, with James Drury starring as Captain Spike Ryerson. The series was inspired by the book "Report from Engine Co. 28." Firehouse aired on Thursdays at 8:30/7:30 Central directly following Chopper One and was also produced by Spelling/Goldberg. The show also featured actors Richard Jaeckel, Michael Delano, Brad David, and Bill Overton. Each episode contained two stories involving a fire to fight and a rescue. Both series were mid-season replacements that lasted for 13 episodes. Chopper One got a DVD https://amzn.to/3Ws0nXk and all eps are you YouTube, while Firehouse completely disappeared.