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TV medical dramas have been the rage for decades with the emphasis on hospital-based medical shows. However, the first responder drama can be just as thrilling. Firefighters are the usual focus yet there can also be paramedics or other types of emergency workers. The shows are usually packed with thrills and the focus on “emergency of the week” storylines.

The best ones also have compelling characters, well written subplots and enthrall viewers every week. There are a lot out there and thanks to streaming, you can find plenty around. For anyone into a first responder drama, these dozen are worth tracking down on streaming.

Fire Country “Pilot” – Max Thieriot stars as Bode Donovan, a young convict seeking redemption and a shortened prison sentence by joining a prison release firefighting program in Northern California where he and other inmates are partnered with elite firefighters to extinguish massive, unpredictable wildfires across the region.

Globoplay, the freemium streaming service of Brazilian media giant Globo, has renewed flagship series “Dissident Archangel” for a fourth season as Latin America’s biggest local streamer is hitting pay dust forging franchises of its own making, led by stylish crime action thrillers which question their own brutality.

“Sessão de Terapia,” Brazil’s equivalent of “In Treatment,” both re-versioning Israeli original “BeTipul,” has also been re-upped for a sixth season.

The renewals come after acclaimed ER drama “Under Pressure,” screened at Toronto, ran to five instalments over 2017-22; “The Others” returns this August and “Rensga Hits!” later this year, with a third season completing production.

Brazil’s First ‘Afroverso’: ‘Anti-Kidnapping Unit,’ ‘Dissident Archangel,’ ‘The Game’

Why Globoplay homegrown franchises are lifting off is another question. The most impactful answer is three series made with AfroReggae Audiovisual, the film-tv offshoot of Grupo Cultural AfroReggae, a Rio-based Ngo created to offer...