✿ ThiRd WaTch✿

Third Watch has always been one of my favourite TV Shows of all time...

I recently manage to catch all the episodes online..and it makes me realized how much I have actually missed this show. The show had 6 seasons and 132 episodes air between 1999 and 2005. 

Character Guide

	Off. Maurice 'Bosco' Boscorelli played by Jason Wiles		Off. Faith Yokas played by Molly Price
	Monte 'Doc' Parker played by Michael Beach		Jimmy Doherty played by Eddie Cibrian
	Carlos Nieto played by Anthony Ruivivar		Kim Zambrano played by Kim Raver
	Roberto 'Bobby' Caffey played by Bobby Cannavale		Off. Tyrone 'Ty' Davis Jr. played by Coby Bell
	Off. John 'Sully' Sullivan played by Skipp Sudduth		Off. Sasha Monroe played by Nia Long
	Sgt. Maritza Cruz played by Tia Texada		Off. Brendan Finney played by Josh Stewart
	Alexandra 'Alex' Taylor played by Amy Carlson

 ♥ Summary ♥

 

Third Watch , is a tv series which were supposed to give us a glimpse into how all three elements – police, firefighters and paramedics – worked together in New York City.

 This show had everything that those of us who had worked on the Third Watch (3PM – 11PM or 4PM – 12AM) were used to.  Anyone who has worked the shift knows that it’s one of the busiest shifts in New York City.  This is when the shit hits the fan – rush hour accidents, alcohol-induced muscle matches outside bars, out of control fires started by faulty heaters – these are the hours when things are hopping.  I worked this shift for eight years and I can honestly say that, while there was some down time, for the most part, when the action happened, it was non-stop.

   
Third Watch’s episodes threw viewers right into the mix.  We were introduced to the police, firefighters and paramedics whose headquarters borders the fictional locale of King and Arthur.  (There are actual streets in New York City with those names – they just don’t intersect.)  The episode opened with the men and women of “Camelot” getting down and dirty right at the start of their shift.  Viewers got to see what it’s like being a rookie paramedic working his first nasty car accident.  They learned what it’s like for a rookie cop on his first day of patrol.  They saw what it’s like for firemen running into full-blown fires, never knowing if this fire might be their last.  They learned about the danger involved for any first responder – not just cops – when there is a weapon involved. 

 
But Third Watch wasn’t just about showing viewers the drama…the horrors…of working the third shift.  It was also about the camaraderie, the family issues, the politics of the jobs.  The makers of Third Watch wanted viewers to see what the jobs were like on personal levels – guys and girls trying to make ends meet, trying to have a family life outside of a very demanding job on an equally demanding shift, people truly caring for people.  They also wanted viewers to see the lighter moments – the practical jokes, the nicknames, the tom-foolery – the kind of stuff that takes place to help lighten the burden of the harsher moments of the job.

There was a focus on the human side of the job.  That was what made this show different from most.  Yes, there were crime scenes and fires and accidents, but the show focused more on the way these things affected the humanity of the police, firefighters and paramedics called to the scene.  Third Watch wasn’t a cop show – crimes happened on a show to show basis, never stretching over more than one episode.  Sure, you would see certain characters again, but they were involved in something different in each episode.  This was realistic – if you walk a beat day after day, you’re bound to run into the same individuals hanging out on the same corners.

In watching the retrospective featurette and learning what went into making Third Watch, I have to give kudos to the creators.  It was a stroke of genius to combine police, fire and paramedics rather than simply focusing on one department or the other.  This was totally unchartered territory and it’s what made Third Watch unique.  Using actual police and firefighters as consultants was also a stroke of genius in that it ensured that much of the show would be believable.  Having them appear in cameos and sometimes recurring roles was just as intelligent.  Who better to play a fireman than a real fireman, right?

I also have to thank them for creating such terrific characters and then casting them with actors who somehow made viewers forget they were watching a fictional drama.  The actors were so believable in their roles that it is sometimes hard to see them on other television shows now that Third Watch is over.  Skip Sudduth as veteran cop John “Sully” Sullivan, Coby Bell as Tyrone Davis, Jr, a rookie cop following in his deceased father’s footsteps, Jason Wiles as the off-the-wall cop Maurice “Bosco” Boscorelli and his partner Faith Yokas as portrayed by Molly Price, Anthony Ruivivar as rookie paramedic Carlos Nieto, Michael Beach as Monte “Doc” Parker, Kim Raver as paramedic Kim Zambrano, Bobby Cannavale as paramedic Bobby Caffey, Eddie Cibrian as firefighter Jimmy Doherty – each one of these actors played their roles with such incredible believability that you found yourself wanting to know more and more about their characters as the show went on.

 

Courtesy from a few website