Sierra (TV series)

Sierra
Behind-the-scenes photo of how Cruncher the bear, a show regular, was filmed.
Genre	police drama
Created by	Jack Webb
Starring	James G. Richardson Ernest Thompson Susan Foster Jack Hogan Michael Warren
Theme music composer	Lee Holdridge and John Denver performed by Denny Brooks
Composer(s)	John Denver (additional music by) Lee Holdridge (1.1, 1.5)
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	14 (13 + 1 movie)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Jack Webb Robert A. Cinader
Producer(s)	Bruce Johnson
Location(s)	California (Yosemite Nat. Park) Wyoming
Camera setup	multi-camera
Running time	60 mins.
Production company(s)	Mark VII Limited Universal Television
Distributor	NBCUniversal Television Distribution
Release
Original network	NBC
Picture format	1.33 : 1 color
Audio format	monoaural
Original release	12 September – 24 December 1974 (full-length movie; series actually cancelled on 12 December 1974)
Chronology
Related shows	Emergency!

Sierra is a 1974 television crime drama series focusing on the efforts of National Park Service rangers to enforce federal law and to effect wilderness rescues. The program aired on NBC and was packaged by Jack Webb's Mark VII Limited for Universal Television. The show's theme song was written by Lee Holdridge (music) and John Denver (lyrics). Robert A. Cinader, executive producer of Mark VII's Emergency! (which partially inspired this show), handled this program also; Bruce Johnson produced.

The show derived its name from its setting, the fictional Sierra National Park, a part of the U.S. National Park Service. In reality, exteriors were filmed at Yosemite National Park. The tenth episode, "The Urban Ranger", established that the park also existed within the same fictional world populated by the characters of Emergency!, its sister Mark VII show. The series was spun off as a backdoor pilot episode of Emergency!. The two paramedic characters from Emergency!, played by Kevin Tighe and Randolph Mantooth, also appeared in an episode of Sierra.

Like many Mark VII Limited television dramas, the show centered on a pair of leads in a public service job, backed up by a supporting cast of characters from within the same organization. In this case, the leads were James G. Richardson as Ranger Tim Cassidy and Ernest Thompson as Ranger Matt Harper. The cast was rounded out by their boss, Chief Ranger Jack Moore (Jack Hogan), and fellow rangers Julie Beck (Susan Foster) and P. J. Lewis (Michael Warren).