These episodes were produced back in 1959 to 1970. And yet, as much as they were often a treatise on societal issues of the era, they remain relevant today because of the passage of a half century of time. What so many of these episodes delved into, the drug culture, the me-first mentality, the anti-authority culture, can be evaluated with the wisdom to see what's happened in the generations that followed.
Some seek to ridicule the series for being stereotypical in its portrayal of an antiseptic ideal, but instead the series is an unflinching look at the difference between those who believe in the rule of law versus those who believe in the rule of the mob.
And in seeing California go from likely the most respected and desirable state in the nation, when this series was produced, to currently being portrayed as a society in turmoil, if not chaos, one can look at these episodes and evaluate for himself which vision offered the most promise, and which one offered up the most tribulation.
In creating and producing this series, Jack Webb chose to pull no punches. Based upon a detailed examination of police reports and medical records resulting from those arrests, Webb crafted an in-your-face rebuke to the ills then facing Californian society. At the time, these counter-culture expressions were within a minority, almost cult-like, enclave.
Webb intended this series to be a siren's call, alerting the public to what he perceived as threats to a good society, where people could grow up safe and free. With the wholesale degeneration of so much of society today, with the war on drugs and today's opioid crises, it's hard to view these episodes as ridiculous, but instead visionary.
When you ask real life police officers who in Hollywood came the closest to getting it right, meaning accurate, nearly all of them to this day say Jack Webb. He was buried with police honors, and the LAPD Sergeant's badge in the opening credits, number 714, was retired from active use in memory to Webb.
It takes something special for police to honor a civilian in that way. With Dragnet and Adam-12, Jack Webb indeed worked something special. It would seem those most wiling to ridicule this series ought instead to look at them more objectively, and evaluate what's happened in society over the last fifty plus years.
While equal rights is a wonderful thing, it's a shame that we've also lost so much of the innocence and respect for good order that most people lived their lives by when these shows were produced.
Maybe, we ought to consider re-embracing the best of that era, while retaining the things we actually did improve upon! And, if people are wiling to do that, there are few examples from television that can offer up the stark morality of what people most often considered worthy so long ago, and what might well be a fine path for us to walk to self-improvement today.
Some seek to ridicule the series for being stereotypical in its portrayal of an antiseptic ideal, but instead the series is an unflinching look at the difference between those who believe in the rule of law versus those who believe in the rule of the mob.
And in seeing California go from likely the most respected and desirable state in the nation, when this series was produced, to currently being portrayed as a society in turmoil, if not chaos, one can look at these episodes and evaluate for himself which vision offered the most promise, and which one offered up the most tribulation.
In creating and producing this series, Jack Webb chose to pull no punches. Based upon a detailed examination of police reports and medical records resulting from those arrests, Webb crafted an in-your-face rebuke to the ills then facing Californian society. At the time, these counter-culture expressions were within a minority, almost cult-like, enclave.
Webb intended this series to be a siren's call, alerting the public to what he perceived as threats to a good society, where people could grow up safe and free. With the wholesale degeneration of so much of society today, with the war on drugs and today's opioid crises, it's hard to view these episodes as ridiculous, but instead visionary.
When you ask real life police officers who in Hollywood came the closest to getting it right, meaning accurate, nearly all of them to this day say Jack Webb. He was buried with police honors, and the LAPD Sergeant's badge in the opening credits, number 714, was retired from active use in memory to Webb.
It takes something special for police to honor a civilian in that way. With Dragnet and Adam-12, Jack Webb indeed worked something special. It would seem those most wiling to ridicule this series ought instead to look at them more objectively, and evaluate what's happened in society over the last fifty plus years.
While equal rights is a wonderful thing, it's a shame that we've also lost so much of the innocence and respect for good order that most people lived their lives by when these shows were produced.
Maybe, we ought to consider re-embracing the best of that era, while retaining the things we actually did improve upon! And, if people are wiling to do that, there are few examples from television that can offer up the stark morality of what people most often considered worthy so long ago, and what might well be a fine path for us to walk to self-improvement today.