User Reviews

Wow. At one point in the show, Joe and Bill are talking to a handsome lieutenant. He looked a bit familiar, like a football player or something, so I looked him up on IMDb. It turns out this is Rafer Johnson--the 1956 decathlon silver medalist and the 1960 gold medalist! That's pretty unexpected and kind of cool. Another shock came soon afterwords, as within a room filled with prospective applicants to the police force is O.J. Simpson--and in hindsight, it's probably good the police did NOT allow him into the academy!

This episode finds Friday and Gannon doing police recruiting. In particular, they are looking to get more minorities on the force. The show begins with them addressing a group of black applicants and they decide that they could use some help next time. This help is having a well-respected black officer address them, as squares like Friday and Gannon naturally have a more difficult time with relating to this audience. Don Marshall stars as Officer Evans and at first his meeting with the men seems very positive. However, when Friday and Gannon later find out that Evans is quitting the force, they go to Evans' home and try to keep him on the force.

Overall, it's nice to see the show was trying in this and several episodes to address minorities--in particular the needs of black Americans. For the late 1960s, "Dragnet" was actually pretty progressive in this respect--even if it all looks a bit dated today.

Friday and Gannon are assigned to talk to a group of potential police recruits in predominantly black East Los Angeles. It is the season of the Fuzz and nobody is interested. So the two officers invite Dave Evans to address the group. Evans is kind of a local hero. He's black, he played with the Pittsburgh Steelers, and he's making something of himself.

This time the class listens as Evans goes into his spiel, except for one cynic who does nothing but criticize and accuse Officer Evans of lying. O. J. Simpson is among the listeners but has no lines. What is he doing there, anyway? Wasn't he playing professional ball in 1967? No matter. Some kids throw bricks through the window of Officer Evans' home in a black neighborhood. Evans decides to quit the force, feeling that he's a traitor to his own people. When Friday tries to talk him out of it, he demands just one example of a time when he personally made a difference in community relations.

The next day, Friday and Gannon witness Evans doing exactly that, in breaking up an argument (and a potential riot) between a black kid and a white kid -- just using authority and common sense. The shop owners gather round Evans and ask for his badge number and the name of his chief because they are going to send a letter of praise to the LAPD. Evans changes his mind about quitting.

The whole thing is a fairy tale, of course, but it warms the heart to see how things should ideally work. I was genuinely touched when the shop owners practically carted Evans off on their shoulders.

Gannon has some amusing nonsense involving Friday's horoscope but it's not among the best comic threads in the series.