On the heels of Wednesday’s podcast I wanted to share some more thoughts on Sirens and try to explain why I think this show is as great as I do. It is a comedy. No doubt. Its crude at times, but I like that, I am a fan of that kind of humor. The beauty of Sirens though, is it is not a comedy about working on an ambulance. Instead, it is a comedy that takes place on an ambulance. The real beauty of Sirens is in the characters.
Take look around you. Look at the people you work with, and the people that you know who work int he industry. Each of us knows that person who is better at managing their work life than their personal life, whose partner seems to know their life better than they do, or someone who is obsessed with gore. Each service has that sage-like older EMT, and someone who seems to have far more knowledge in their heads than the average EMT. And final, we all know that far too eager rookie who has no idea what they are getting into.
Each of those characters is represented in Sirens. They’re all there. Johnny, Hank, VooDoo, Stats, Cash, and Brian. Each of them seems to represent a certain personality that we all encounter far too often, and they each do it well.
Now, although I am a big fan of the character work on this show, the EMS, while not completely accurate treatment wise, is topically accurate. They deal with those weird calls that we run into, and the MCI’s and frequent fliers. They also dive just below the surface of how we as an industry deal with those types of calls. If you want proof of that look no further than the 9th episode of the first season called There’s No I in Ice Cream. It is probably the most serious of the episodes in the first season, and because of that, it is by far my favorite.
The biggest thing that I took from my time talking to Kevin Bigley and Kevin Daniels was the amount of respect both men have for our profession. This does not surprise me one bit, considering the fact that this is a Denis Leary driven project. Denis loves his first responders and does a lot for them. The respect he shows clearly tricked down hill and has been bought into completely by the actors and actresses in Sirens.
There are technical issues in the show, no doubt. It’s Hollywood. It happens. How many times did Dr. Carter shock asystole? Where did the uniformed officers wear their badges in the show The Shield? If you want accuracy, find a good documentary. Check out Burn, or better yet, watch Tell Me and I Will Forget.
Don’t get hung up on what Sirens isn’t. It is not the dissection of an EMT’s day. It is not and will never be Emergency! but it does not claim to be either of these things. It is a comedy. It is meant to be funny, and it is. Its subject matter could be a roundtable war story swap session with a group of seasoned EMTs and paramedics.
Check the show out. It is worth your time. With the first season in the books, I am crossing my fingers that USA does the right thing and picks the show up for another season!