240-Robert is an American drama series

Dramatic programming

Dramatic programming in the UK, or television drama and television drama series in the US, is television program content that is scripted and fictional along the lines of √a traditional drama. This excludes, for example, sports television, television news, reality show and game shows, stand-up...

 that ran on ABC

American Broadcasting Company

The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...

 from 1979 to 1981. The series title is a reference to the call-sign designation for the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department's search and rescue

Search and rescue

Search and rescue is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger.The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, mostly based upon terrain considerations...

/paramedic

Paramedic

A paramedic is a healthcare professional that works in emergency medical situations. Paramedics provide advanced levels of care for medical emergencies and trauma. The majority of paramedics are based in the field in ambulances, emergency response vehicles, or in specialist mobile units such as...

 teams.

Synopsis

The series chronicles the missions of "240-Robert", a specialized unit of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (LASD), that utilized four wheel drive

Four Wheel Drive

The Four Wheel Drive Auto Company, more often known as Four Wheel Drive or just FWD, was founded in 1909 in Clintonville, Wisconsin, as the Badger Four-Wheel Drive Auto Company by Otto Zachow and William Besserdich.-History:...

 vehicles and a helicopter. Most of the assignments were sea/air/land search and rescue operations in the extensive (over 4000 sq mi (10,360 km²)) jurisdiction. The show's creator was Rick Rosner

Rick Rosner

Richard G. "Rick" Rosner is an American television writer and media figure known for his high intelligence test scores and his unusual career. He is reported to have achieved some of the highest scores ever recorded on IQ tests designed to measure exceptional intelligence. He has become known for...

 (himself an LASD reserve deputy), who created the hit series CHiPs

CHiPs

CHiPs is an American television drama series produced by MGM Studios that originally aired on NBC from September 15, 1977, to July 17, 1983. CHiPs followed the lives of two motorcycle police officers of the California Highway Patrol...

two years earlier for NBC

NBC

The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

.

The vehicles used at that time were 1979 Ford Bronco

Ford Bronco

The Ford Bronco is a sport utility vehicle that was produced from 1966 to 1996, with five distinct generations. Broncos can be divided into two categories: early Broncos and full-size Broncos ....

s, while the helicopter was a Hughes brand, Model HA-500C (similar in design to the current MD 500).

The series was based on real life cases encountered by the LASD's Emergency Services Detail. The real life ESD is actually headquartered in East Los Angeles

East Los Angeles, California

East Los Angeles is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in Los Angeles County, California, United States...

. Rick Rosner took artistic liberty and portrayed the headquarters as a beach-side station. The actual filming location was at a State of California ranger station located at Sycamore Cove in Ventura County, California

Ventura County, California

Ventura County is a county in the southern part of the U.S. state of California. It is located on California's Pacific coast. It is often referred to as the Gold Coast, and has a reputation of being one of the safest populated places and one of the most affluent places in the country...

.

Cast

• Deputy Theodore Roosevelt "Trap" Applegate III (John Bennett Perry
  John Bennett Perry
  John Bennett Perry is an American actor and former model. He is the father of actor Matthew Perry.-Life and career:Perry was born in Williamstown, Massachusetts, the son of Maria Schaefer and Alton L. Perry. He married twice...
  
  )
• Deputy Dwayne "Thib" Thibideaux (Mark Harmon
  Mark Harmon
  Mark Harmon is an American actor who has been starring in American television programs and films since the mid-1970s, after a career as a collegiate football player with the UCLA Bruins. Since 2003, Harmon has starred as Leroy Jethro Gibbs in the CBS series NCIS.-Early life:Harmon was born Thomas...
  
  , episodes 1-13)
• Deputy Morgan Wainwright (Joanna Cassidy
  Joanna Cassidy
  Joanna Cassidy is an American film and television actress. She is known for her role as the replicant Zhora in the Ridley Scott's film Blade Runner...
  
  , episodes 1-13), the unit's helicopter pilot
• Deputy Brett Cueva (Stephen W. Burns
  Stephen W. Burns
  Stephen W. Burns was an American actor.-Career:Born in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, Burns is best known for playing 'Pete Stancheck' in Herbie Goes Bananas and 'Jack Cleary' in the The Thorn Birds mini-series...
  
  , episodes 14-16), who replaced Thib
• Deputy Sandy Harper (Pamela Hensley
  Pamela Hensley
  Pamela Gail Hensley is an American actress. She is best known for playing Princess Ardala on the 1979-1981 television series Buck Rogers in the 25th Century and C.J...
  
  , episodes 14-16), the new pilot of the unit

Cancellation

Harmon and Cassidy left the series when their contracts expired after the first season. Burns and Hensley were brought in to replace them, but the second season (returning mid-season in early 1981) only lasted three episodes before ABC cancelled it due to poor ratings.

Season 1

1. "The Apology"
2. "Stuntman"
3. "Bathysphere"
4. "Models"
5. "Acting Sergeant"
6. "Bank Job"
7. "Out of Sight"
8. "Time Bomb"
9. "Double Trouble"
10. "Poison Air"
11. "Earthquake"
12. "The Applicant"
13. "Oil and Water"