As for its precessdor of one of the most influential cop shows of all time,Dragnet has stood the test of time. Jack Webb was a master at what he did to keep the audience on the edge of their seats with harrowing stories that came from the files of the Los Angeles Police Department. The stories and events that the show had were from actual files and cases that were brought to life by the cops and detectives who were out there on the beat everyday in the silmy and gritty streets of one of the most roughest and dangerous cities in America,and it shows this in grand detail.
Television viewing at its very finest.
On January 12,1967,Jack Webb introduced audiences to a new format of the show called,"Dragnet:1967"(which was basically the precessdor to the Dragnet show of the 1950's revised after Jack Webb yanked it off the air after a eight year hiatus),but this time around was in color)which originally ran on NBC's Thursday night schedule in Prime Time for three seasons and 98 Technicolor episodes airing from January 12,1967 to the final episode of the series on April 16,1970(when creator-producer- director and actor Jack Webb voluntarily pull the plug on this series after it received good ratings). "Dragnet" was produced under Jack Webb's production company Mark VII Limited and Universal Television.
Here is something audiences never suspected which was totally new at the time...a vision of Los Angeles that has never been seen before and gives an exquistite detail of some of cities most famous places as well as its gorgeous scenery shots photographed. It also gave audiences a realistic view of Los Angeles in the mid-to-late 1960's and early-1970's where in most episodes dealt with the social injustices that occur and the crime epidemic that was out of control as well.
Here,Jack Webb is still Officer Joe Friday always going by the facts and always preaches what he goes by and also on this new venture is his new partner Bill Gannon(played by Harry Morgan,who also was Colonel Potter on M*A*S*H)who was his backup on police patrol when they were in some sticky situations,but always come out of them in some of the episodes.
This older version maybe campy today,but back in 1967 it packed an emotional wallop that left viewers on the edge of their seats and it was very controversial in handling some of the subject matter.
Some of the episodes I managed to find or keep,but these episodes were some of the best from the first two seasons with some of them dealing with the subject of race relations,police corruption,armed robbery and kidnapping,teen runaways,juvenile delinquency,civil rights,and the deadly effects of kids using LSD and drugs.
The most harrowing episode was the one were the parents were high on marijuana and LSD and they left a little girl drowning in the bathtub as of the result. The other was one where Friday and Gannon stumbled upon a young man near a park chewing the bark off a tree high on LSD and pills. The sad part is that his parents didn't know that their son was high and it was up to Friday to find the supplier before it was too late who gave him lethal drugs. The other,from the first season was the one where Gannon and Friday stumbled upon a man bent on destruction of destroying the city where they find not only a ton of ammo and weapons,but papers on bomb building,Nazism,and other racist propaganda. Gripping drama at its very best.
The third season wasn't that good since most of the episodes focus on a comedy routine involving Friday(which sucked badly)that was the scene at the home of Bill Gannon,his partner. But that was one episodes,but the following episodes stuck mainly to the script which mostly police procedures and rules that were strictly by the book,and Jack Webb's character was that way. When the series was abruptly canceled after more than three seasons and 98 episodes on April 16,1970, the powers that be over at NBC replaced "Dragnet" with the short-lived situation comedy series "Nancy" on September 17,1970 where it was placed in its original time slot.
Originally written on September 28, 2002 and was revised on November 10,2016.
Television viewing at its very finest.
On January 12,1967,Jack Webb introduced audiences to a new format of the show called,"Dragnet:1967"(which was basically the precessdor to the Dragnet show of the 1950's revised after Jack Webb yanked it off the air after a eight year hiatus),but this time around was in color)which originally ran on NBC's Thursday night schedule in Prime Time for three seasons and 98 Technicolor episodes airing from January 12,1967 to the final episode of the series on April 16,1970(when creator-producer- director and actor Jack Webb voluntarily pull the plug on this series after it received good ratings). "Dragnet" was produced under Jack Webb's production company Mark VII Limited and Universal Television.
Here is something audiences never suspected which was totally new at the time...a vision of Los Angeles that has never been seen before and gives an exquistite detail of some of cities most famous places as well as its gorgeous scenery shots photographed. It also gave audiences a realistic view of Los Angeles in the mid-to-late 1960's and early-1970's where in most episodes dealt with the social injustices that occur and the crime epidemic that was out of control as well.
Here,Jack Webb is still Officer Joe Friday always going by the facts and always preaches what he goes by and also on this new venture is his new partner Bill Gannon(played by Harry Morgan,who also was Colonel Potter on M*A*S*H)who was his backup on police patrol when they were in some sticky situations,but always come out of them in some of the episodes.
This older version maybe campy today,but back in 1967 it packed an emotional wallop that left viewers on the edge of their seats and it was very controversial in handling some of the subject matter.
Some of the episodes I managed to find or keep,but these episodes were some of the best from the first two seasons with some of them dealing with the subject of race relations,police corruption,armed robbery and kidnapping,teen runaways,juvenile delinquency,civil rights,and the deadly effects of kids using LSD and drugs.
The most harrowing episode was the one were the parents were high on marijuana and LSD and they left a little girl drowning in the bathtub as of the result. The other was one where Friday and Gannon stumbled upon a young man near a park chewing the bark off a tree high on LSD and pills. The sad part is that his parents didn't know that their son was high and it was up to Friday to find the supplier before it was too late who gave him lethal drugs. The other,from the first season was the one where Gannon and Friday stumbled upon a man bent on destruction of destroying the city where they find not only a ton of ammo and weapons,but papers on bomb building,Nazism,and other racist propaganda. Gripping drama at its very best.
The third season wasn't that good since most of the episodes focus on a comedy routine involving Friday(which sucked badly)that was the scene at the home of Bill Gannon,his partner. But that was one episodes,but the following episodes stuck mainly to the script which mostly police procedures and rules that were strictly by the book,and Jack Webb's character was that way. When the series was abruptly canceled after more than three seasons and 98 episodes on April 16,1970, the powers that be over at NBC replaced "Dragnet" with the short-lived situation comedy series "Nancy" on September 17,1970 where it was placed in its original time slot.
Originally written on September 28, 2002 and was revised on November 10,2016.