In a Heartbeat

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In a Heartbeat
Genre	Children's television series/Sitcom
Creator(s)	Jon Felson Steve Reiss Patricia Green
Starring	Shawn Ashmore Reagan Pasternak Danso Gordon Christopher Ralph Lauren Collins Jackie Rosenbaum
Country of origin	Canada United States
Production
Running time	60 min / USA:30 min (21 episodes)
Broadcast
Original channel	The Family Channel Disney Channel
Links
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

In a Heartbeat was a Disney Channel Original Series inspired by real life EMT squads whose staff consists of high school students (Post 53 in Darien, CT). The show follows the lives of several teenagers who volunteer as part-time EMTs while going to school and trying to maintain their lives as normal teenagers. The squad is made up of Hank Beecham (Danso Gordon) who manages playing football with the high school team as well as being the EMT intermediate of the group, Val Lanier (Reagan Pasternak) who is noted for being a good student and cheerleader, Tyler Connell (Shawn Ashmore), a football player and Hank’s best friend, and Jamie Waite (Christopher Ralph), the newest member of the squad initially there not by his own choice but as a result of a new program to help troubled teens get their life together by becoming EMTs. Waite is seen as the rebel of the group.

Other regulars in the show are Brooke Lanier (Lauren Collins), Val’s 12-year-old sister who volunteers with the squad after school and whose main job consists of managing the paperwork, and Caitie Roth (Jackie Rosenbaum), Val's best friend who is known for her dark clothes and purple-streaked hair. Caitie is also a good friend of Jamie’s.

In the series pilot Val's father has a heart attack to which Val is one of the responding EMTs. In following episodes this causes her family to lose their previous wealth due to their father's inability to work. During the series' short run, a budding romance was seen between Tyler and Val with such moments as him giving her "his lucky penny" that was from the year she joined the group. Later it is revealed that it was not really his lucky penny, but rather a gesture in an attempt to make her feel better.

The series premiered in 2000. In Canada, the series was shown on the Family Channel while in the US it was shown on the Disney Channel.

[edit] Criticism

The show received some criticism for some of it's mild language and sexual content. It was pulled of the air after one year as Disney Channel began wanting to restructure it's image, and come up with new shows to gain more of an audience.