TV Reviews : ‘H.E.L.P.’: There’s Life in the Rescue Genre Yet

At first sight, ABC’s new “H.E.L.P.” appears to be nothing more than prime-time’s umpteenth rescue series--yet more adventures of an emergency unit of the police or fire department that bravely faces danger to save lives.

Originating with “Rescue 8” in the late 1950s, the formula has yielded “Emergency,” “240 Robert” and others series in a line leading directly to the present CBS program “Rescue 911,” which enlivens the genre dramatically by building episodes around footage from actual cases.

Premiering at 8 tonight on Channels 7, 3, 10 and 42, “H.E.L.P.” (Harlem Eastside Lifesaving Program) is indeed another chip off an old and durable block, one offering the usual assortment of life-threatening emergencies and humorous predicaments encountered by an eclectic unit of firefighters, police and paramedics under the command of Battalion Chief Patrick Meacham (John Mahoney).

What elevates the opener for “H.E.L.P.” above the crowd, however, is atmospheric shooting in New York, good direction by co-executive producer Christopher Crowe, an interesting plot (again from Crowe) and a fine, sensitive performance by Mahoney in what is essentially a stock role.

Tonight finds Meacham on the verge of being promoted to a bigger, higher-paying job “downtown,” only to learn that his own future may be decided by the outcome of an arson investigation that could turn out to be embarrassing for the department.

Although too much of “H.E.L.P.” is trite and telescoped, tonight’s blazing conclusion is deeply affecting despite its predictability. Much more compelling than the story’s fire-fighting aspects, however, are the sooty politics and inter-department squabbles that at least temporarily take this series to another level.