DUM, DE DUM, DUM… Just like Law & Order with its famous “dum, dum, doink, doink,” Dragnet had its own sound and brassy music. Dragnet first aired in December 1951 and lasted until August 1959–an eternity in television. During that time, 276 episodes were broadcast. As a kid in the 1950s, Dragnet both fascinated me and scared me. Jack Webb’s staccato delivery and the sudden gunplay branded Dragnet as a cop show that meant business.
While I was rummaging around in a Salvation Army Thrift Store, I found this 4-Episode DVD of Dragnet. Here’s what’s on it:
1. “The Big September Man” (5/8/52)
2. “The Big Break” (2/19/53)
3. “The Big Little Jesus” (12/24/53)
4. “The Big Crime” (9/9/54)
This Golden Movie Classics DVD says the Dragnet episodes are “digitally remastered” and that that it’s “sound enhanced.” I enjoyed this little trip down Memory Lane. Are you a fan of Dragnet? Do you like cop shows? GRADE: B+
When I was young our babysitter was a woman who was eight days older than dirt. My earliest memories of her were about DRAGNET, a show that she loved. At the time, I couldn’t see the attraction; I was more of a dyed in the wool Hopalong Cassidy fan.
Jerry, I was a TV sponge as a kid. I loved Hopalong Cassidy as much as I loved DRAGNET.
Ask Art. He’s the Jack Webb maven. I always enjoyed Dragnet when I saw an episode. Believe it or not, as a kid I was a fan of HIGHWAY PATROL with Broderick Crawford.
Jeff, I liked HIGHWAY PATROL, too. I think Art Scott has the complete DVD set of HIGHWAY PATROL. And I’ve sent Art a number of DRAGNET DVDs over the years.
I watch it on YouTube all the time and I have a bunch of episodes on tape! My father looked a lot like Ben Alexander, too! Love the shows, even the later ones with Harry Morgan, and love all of Webb’s other franchises–Adam 12, Emergency!, etc.!
Broderick Crawford was such a drunk that the law wouldn’t allow him to drive his car on Highway Patrol! Not even to coast up a few feet before stopping! I loved the show, though, and his 10-4 is iconic!
Bob, as a kid I watched DRAGNET and HIGHWAY PATROL. Like you, I think the Jack Webb empire of franchises did very well monetarily.
In A LITTLE ROMANCE, the movie with Laurence Olivier and Diane Lane, Broderick Crawford played himself. There are even references to his drinking and very hazy memory.
Jeff, Broderick Crawford was both an icon and a lush.
Sorry to get in late to this discussion. As you know, I’m a huge Dragnet fan, and have been picking up VCR & later DVD packages for many years. Usually the same episodes show up again and again, but once in a while a new one turns up. These 4 are perennials, and Big Crime is noteworthy for tackling child molesting, with Oscar winner Jack Kruschen giving a strong performance. I was surprised to discover a few years ago that there are quite a few episodes on YouTube and other websites that never turned up on a DVD package, most notably the first episode, the only one with Friday’s original radio partner, Ben Romero (Barton Yarborough), who died shortly after filming. Raymond Burr is in it too, as the Chief of Detectives.
It’s a crime that, unlike many (less deserving) tv shows of that vintage that have turned up in “complete series” packages on DVD, the original Dragnet never has and never will, as apparently no proper archive was kept and many episodes – perhaps a hundred or so – are likely lost forever. The less desirable 2nd series with Harry Morgan has been properly packaged complete, and surprisingly nearly all of the radio shows (which supplied the scripts for most of the b&w tv shows) are available.
Years ago I went to an OTR convention in Seattle. Michael Hayde, author of the definitive reference on the series, MY NAME’S FRIDAY, was there promoting his book, and I had a chance to talk with him and with three members of Webb’s radio/tv “stock company”: Harry Bartell, Art Gilmore and Herb Ellis. For a good chunk of nearly every year, Dragnet radio episodes are my companions in the car, for months at a time.
Art, you are my go-to expert on DRAGNET. I think it’s a tragedy that a 100 episodes of DRAGNET are lost.