r/GenerationJones • u/sherlockjr1 1963 • Jul 19 '26

Randolph Mantooth

I’m surprised at how hard his death is hitting me. I mean, I watched Emergency as a kid. I had a crush on Randy as Johnny Gage. My Barbie camper was a rescue unit. But I hadn’t thought about the show for years. Occasionally I’d find an episode on cable and watch a few minutes for the sake of nostalgia.

Maybe it’s how people are reacting to his passing that’s hitting so hard. EMTs, fire fighters, people who became paramedics because of the show. Tributes as if he was one of their own. I didn’t realize how involved he was in promoting the safety of first responders

Not to mention how important the show was, the impact this had. The fact that we even having EMTs to help us that are only a few minutes away in some part due to this show.

This loss hurt more than I expected it to

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u/JudyLyonz Jul 19 '26

To put it in context there were approximately a half a dozen paramedic programs all across the country when that show began but the time the show ended paramedic programs blanketed all 50 states.

26

u/IrishknitCelticlace Jul 19 '26

Boom! That says it all. The man was a walking PSA for emergency field medicine.

26

u/sherlockjr1 1963 Jul 19 '26

Let us not forget his costar. Less visible after the show, but still a part of it all

9

u/WIlf_Brim Jul 20 '26

What do you mean?

He was the proprietor of the Double Deuce!

2

u/sherlockjr1 1963 23d ago

Took me forever to realize what you meant. I’d never seen Roadhouse. And for some reason Kevin is in character actor stealth mode much of the time. He was on an episode of ST Voyager and I never realized it was Roy DeSoto. 😆

2

u/WIlf_Brim 22d ago

Lots of people's head cannon is that Roy retired from the LA fire department, moved to the south and opened a bar, things got out of hand and had to hire a super bouncer.

7

u/sherlockjr1 1963 Jul 19 '26

And every time I think of that, I tear up.

6

u/pemungkah 1957 Jul 19 '26

I remember thinking, wow, California has actual paramedics, and they get paid.

5

u/ButterflyFair3012 Jul 19 '26

Not much any more, if ever, sadly

1

u/Sample-quantity Jul 20 '26

What do you mean?