240-Robert

240-Robert is an American drama television series that ran on ABC from August 28, 1979, to March 21, 1981.^[1] The series title is a reference to the call-sign designation for the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department's search and rescue/paramedic teams.

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240-Robert
John Bennett Perry, Joanna Cassidy and Mark Harmon
Genre	Drama
Created by	Rick Rosner
Written by	Charlene Bralver Lew Hunter Simon Muntner James Schmerer Anthony Yerkovich
Directed by	Richard Benedict Phil Bondelli John Florea Bruce Kessler Sigmund Neufeld, Jr. Christian I. Nyby II Sutton Roley Ric Rondell
Starring	John Bennett Perry Mark Harmon Joanna Cassidy Stephan Burns Pamela Hensley
Theme music composer	Pete Carpenter Mike Post
Composers	Mike Post (1.1, 1.3) Pete Carpenter (1.1, 1.3) Ken Heller J. A. C. Redford (1.6, co-composer) Murray MacLeod (1.6) Harry Betts (1.10, 1.13) Mark Snow (2.1, 2.2, 2.3)
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	16
Production
Executive producer	Rick Rosner
Producer	Richard M. Rosenbloom
Editors	Dann Cahn Mike Renaud Randy Roberts Jack Tucker
Camera setup	Single-camera
Running time	45–48 minutes
Production companies	Rosner Television Filmways
Original release
Network	ABC
Release	August 28, 1979 (1979-08-28) – March 21, 1981 (1981-03-21)

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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 vehicles and a helicopter. Most of the assignments were sea/air/land search and rescue operations in the extensive (over 4,000 sq mi (10,000 km²)) jurisdiction. The show's creator was Rick Rosner (himself an LASD reserve deputy), who created the hit series CHiPs two years earlier for NBC.

The vehicles used at that time were 1979 Ford Broncos, while the helicopter was a Hughes 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. 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. The series was inspired, in part, on the experiences of Officer Charles Thibaudeau of the Hermosa Beach Police Department.

• John Bennett Perry as Deputy Theodore Roosevelt "Trap" Applegate III
• Mark Harmon as Deputy Dwayne "Thib" Thibideaux (episodes 1–13)
• Joanna Cassidy as Deputy Morgan Wainwright (episodes 1–13), the unit's helicopter pilot
• Stephan W. Burns as Deputy Brett Cueva (episodes 14–16), who replaced Thib
• Pamela Hensley as Deputy Sandy Harper (episodes 14–16), the new pilot of the unit

Cassidy and Hensley both had an expert helicopter pilot take over for them in the actual helicopter flight sequences; this regular stunt pilot was Charles 'Chuck' Tamburro who wore a wig to give the appearance of a female pilot.

Matthew Perry's first credited role was a small part in the show, where he played a child actor in a 1979 episode.^[2]

This section does not cite any sources. (November 2021)

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 due to an actor's strike) only lasted three episodes before ABC cancelled it due to poor ratings.