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Dragnet (franchise)

Dragnet is an American media franchise created by actor and producer Jack Webb, following Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) Detective Joe Friday and his partners as they conduct by-the-book police work and solve crimes in Los Angeles. Originating as a radio drama on NBC in 1949, Dragnet has been adapted into several successful television shows and films, though the franchise's popularity has reduced since Webb's death in 1982. Its name is derived from the police term "dragnet", a system of coordinated measures for apprehending criminals or suspects.

Dragnet
Dragnet opening frame from the 1950s television series
Created byJack Webb
Original workRadio series
Owner
Years1949 – 2004
Films and television
Film(s)
Television series
List
Television film(s)1969 television film (1969)
Audio
Radio program(s)1949 radio drama (1949 – 1957)
Original music"Dragnet"

Dragnet is perhaps the most famous and influential police procedural crime drama in American media history. Webb's aims in Dragnet were for unpretentious acting and a realistic depiction of policing. The series portrayed police work as dangerous and heroic, and helped shape public perception of law enforcement in the 20th century, improving the public's opinion of police officers.[1]

Dragnet remains a key influence on the police procedural genre. Its cultural impact is such that seven decades after its debut, elements of Dragnet are familiar to those who are otherwise unfamiliar with the franchise itself:

  • "Dragnet", the four-note introduction to the franchise's brass and timpani theme music (though its origins date to Miklós Rózsa's score for the 1946 film version of The Killers).
  • The opening narration common across the franchise's series: "Ladies and gentlemen: the story you are about to hear is true. Only the names have been changed to protect the innocent." Over time, the "only" and "ladies and gentlemen" were eventually dropped. The television version used in the 1950s and 1960s series replaced "hear" with "see" and had a backdrop of Joe Friday's badge, number 714.
  • "Just the facts, ma'am", a catchphrase and misquotation often attributed to Joe Friday and popularly used to reference or evoke Dragnet, though Webb's portrayal of Joe Friday never said that exact phrase.

Actual cases edit

The opening of "The story you are about to hear is true" is derived from the fact that many works in the franchise are transcribed from official LAPD case files. In some cases, the source material has been identified, including the following:

  • The Big Thank You (Radio, 1950) – Louise Peete's post-prison years and third murder, which led to her becoming the second of only four women to be executed in the California gas chamber.
  • 1969 TV movie – The killing spree of serial killer Harvey Glatman in the late 1950s.[2] Pierce Brooks, an LAPD captain who was involved in Glatman's arrest and interrogation, served as a technical advisor for the film.[3]

Radio edit

Dragnet began as a radio series, running on the NBC radio network from 1949 to 1957.[4]

Television edit

1951–1959 original edit

In 1951, Dragnet shifted to the field of television, running on NBC from 1951 to 1959. Most early episodes of the television series were dubbed or lip-synced adaptations of episodes of the radio show, but later episodes were original plotlines. Most of the cast members were veteran radio actors who could be relied upon to read the matter-of-fact dialogue naturally.

1967–1970 revival edit

 
Webb and Morgan in 1968

Webb relaunched Dragnet in 1966, with NBC once again chosen to air the series. He tried to persuade Ben Alexander to rejoin him as Frank Smith. Alexander was then committed to an ABC police series, Felony Squad, and the producers would not release him. Webb reluctantly came up with a new character to take the role of Joe Friday's partner, calling upon his longtime friend Harry Morgan to play Officer Bill Gannon. Morgan had previously portrayed rooming-house proprietor Luther Gage in the 1949 radio series episode "James Vickers". George Fenneman returned as the show's primary announcer, with John Stephenson replacing Hal Gibney in the role of announcing the trial dates and subsequent punishments for the offenders. Fenneman replaced Stephenson in that role during the fourth season. Unlike the previous Dragnet series, the revival was produced and aired in color.

Webb produced a TV movie pilot for the new version of the show for Universal Television, although the pilot was not aired until January 1969. NBC bought the show on the strength of the movie, and it debuted as a midseason replacement for the sitcom The Hero on Thursday nights in January 1967. To distinguish it from the original, the year was included in the title of the show (i.e., Dragnet 1967). Although Friday had been promoted to lieutenant in the final episode of the 1950s production, Webb chose to have Friday revert to sergeant with his familiar badge, "714".[5]

When real-life LAPD Sergeant Dan Cooke, Webb's contact in the department during production of the revived Dragnet series, was promoted to lieutenant, he arranged to carry the same lieutenant's badge, number 714, as worn by Joe Friday. Cooke was technical advisor to the KNBC documentary Police Unit 2A-26, directed by John Orland. He brought that to the attention of Webb, who hired Orland to direct and film This is the City, a series of minidocumentaries about Los Angeles that preceded most TV episodes during the 1969 and 1970 seasons.[citation needed] The show had good ratings on NBC's schedule for four seasons (although its popularity at that time did not exceed that of the 1950s version), but the show was canceled after the completion of the 1969-1970 season.

Much as was done 11 years earlier, Webb decided voluntarily to discontinue Dragnet after its fourth season to focus on producing and directing his other projects through Mark VII Limited. The first of these projects was titled Adam-12, a 30-minute police procedural similar to Dragnet, but focusing on patrol officers rather than detectives. The series premiered in the fall of 1968, while Dragnet 1969 was in production, and ran for seven seasons, coming to an end in 1975. In 1971, with producer Robert A. Cinader, Webb developed another pilot originally intended to be centered around the staff of a Los Angeles–area medical center's emergency room. When researching for the pilot, Webb and Cinader were introduced to the Los Angeles County Fire Department's fledgling paramedic program, and the premise was reworked to include the Los Angeles County Fire Department, and Emergency! was born; running as a weekly series until 1977, and as a series of made-for-television movies for two years after that. Emergency! was centered on the then-fictitious Los Angeles County Fire Department paramedic rescue unit, Squad 51.

During the early 1970s, reruns of this version of Dragnet were popular on local stations, usually broadcast during the late afternoon or early evenings. From 1991 to 1995, Dragnet was shown on Nick at Nite, then moved to its sister cable channel TV Land. From October 1, 2011, to April 26, 2013, the series ran daily on the digital cable channel Antenna TV, and before that, the show aired on the Retro Television Network.

Dragnet was broadcast Monday through Friday on Me-TV. The show was part of the "CriMe TV" morning block with Perry Mason and The Rockford Files, with Dragnet shown back to back from 11:00 am until 12:00 pm. In December 2014, Me-TV added a third airing of Dragnet to its late-night lineup; the series airs at 12:30 am following a second episode of Perry Mason. Me-TV ended the run of Dragnet on January 1, 2015, whereupon it became part of Cozi TV's regular lineup. In January 2020 Dragnet returned to MeTV along with its sibling series Adam-12 after Cozi TV dropped both series; Dragnet currently broadcasts two episodes weekday mornings from 5:30 to 6:30 a.m.

Webb's later years edit

In 1982, Webb had begun working on a revival of Dragnet, writing and producing five scripts and continuing his role as Joe Friday. Once again, he needed to create a new character for Friday's partner; Ben Alexander had died in 1969 and Harry Morgan was tied up with his commitments to M*A*S*H, and its already greenlit followup AfterMASH. Webb decided on former Adam-12 star Kent McCord who had several guest appearances early in the 1967 revival series, to fill the undefined role. No indication was given whether McCord would be playing his character of Jim Reed from Adam-12 or a totally new character. On December 23, 1982, Webb died unexpectedly from a heart attack and the Dragnet revival was scrapped.

After Webb's death, LAPD Chief Daryl Gates announced that badge number 714—Webb's number on the television show—was retired, and Los Angeles city offices lowered their flags to half staff. At Webb's funeral, the LAPD provided an honor guard, and the chief of police commented on Webb's connection with the LAPD. An LAPD auditorium was named in his honor. Jack Webb's LAPD sergeant's badge and ID card are on display at the Los Angeles Police Academy.

Film versions edit

Dragnet (1954) edit

In 1954, a theatrical feature film titled Dragnet, an adaptation of the series, was released with Webb, Alexander, and Richard Boone. Dennis Weaver plays R. A. Lohrman, a detective captain. The film begins with the shooting of small-time hood Miller Starkie (Dub Taylor) on orders from his boss, Max Troy (Stacy Harris). Friday and Smith's superior is LAPD Intelligence Division Captain Jim Hamilton (Boone), a department member and the film's technical advisor. The Intelligence Division focused on the pursuit of organized-crime figures, and some of Max Troy's habits resemble that of Mickey Cohen, the known Los Angeles underworld boss; for example, Troy's LAPD file reads that he could be found at "Sunset Strip taverns and joints", as could Cohen. The film depicts the working relationship between the LAPD and the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office; Friday and Smith work to gather evidence that the DA's office deems sufficient to gain the indictment and ultimate conviction of Troy and his fellows. One scene contains a violent fist-fight involving the two detectives, with the close-up cinematic technique typical of Webb's style of direction. The movie's ending represents a departure from most Dragnet stories; no arrest is made at the story's conclusion. Chester Davitt (Willard Sage), Troy's underling and Starkie's killer, is killed by underworld figures, and Troy succumbs to cancer before the detectives, having gathered sufficient evidence against him, can make the arrest.

The film earned an estimated $4.7 million at the North American box office during its first year of release.[6][7]

Dragnet 1966 (aired 1969) edit

Dragnet 1966 is a made-for-TV movie that initiated the return of the Dragnet series to television. It was produced as the TV pilot for Dragnet 1967, but was not broadcast until 1969. The movie stars Jack Webb as Sgt. Friday and Harry Morgan as Officer Bill Gannon. The story focuses on crime more typical of the 1960s than of the previous Dragnet era; the detectives are assigned to find a voyeuristic serial killer similar to Harvey Glatman (played by Vic Perrin, who appeared in the 1954 film as an assistant district attorney). Also appearing is Virginia Gregg, who had a role in the 1954 feature and was a frequent guest actor in the 1951–59 series and the 1967–70 episodes, and John Roseboro, a catcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers, who dabbled in acting in the off season; Roseboro played a plainclothes detective who had been the target of racial slurs by a child molester until Friday came to his aid.

Dragnet (1987) edit

In 1987, a comedy film version of Dragnet was released starring Dan Aykroyd as the stiff Joe Friday (nephew of the original Sergeant Joe Friday), and Tom Hanks as his partner, Detective Pep Streebeck. The film contrasted the terse, clipped character of Friday, a hero from an earlier age, with the "real world" of Los Angeles in 1987 to broad comedic effect. Apart from Aykroyd's spot-on imitation of Webb's Joe Friday and Harry Morgan reprising his role of Bill Gannon (now Captain), the film version has few similarities with previous incarnations. This Dragnet parody was a hit with audiences, though no sequel was produced. LAPD Lieutenant Dan Cooke, who had served as technical advisor for the Jack Webb series, was also technical advisor for this production.

Remakes after Webb's death edit

The New Dragnet (1989) edit

A revival of Dragnet by The Arthur Company, titled The New Dragnet, aired in first-run syndication in tandem with The New Adam-12, a revival of the Jack Webb series Adam-12. Like The New Adam-12, The New Dragnet had entirely different characters, music, and presentation compared to the original series, and starred Jeff Osterhage as Detective Vic Daniels, Bernard White as Detective Carl Molina, and Don Stroud as Captain Lussen.

Fifty-two episodes were aired over two seasons. The first season aired from October 24, 1989, to January 21, 1990; the second season aired from April 19, 1990, to September 9, 1990.

L.A. Dragnet (2003) edit

In 2003, a Dragnet series was produced by Dick Wolf, the producer of NBC's Law & Order series and spin-offs. It aired on ABC, and starred Ed O'Neill as Joe Friday and Ethan Embry as Frank Smith. After a 12-episode season that followed the traditional formula, the format of the series was changed to an ensemble crime drama in an attempt to boost ratings. (The change apparently reflected Webb's intentions for the 1980s revival series, with Joe Friday promoted again to Lieutenant and overseeing a pair or group of younger detectives.)

In L.A. Dragnet, Friday was promoted to lieutenant with less screen time and Frank Smith was written out, in favor of a younger and ethnically diverse cast played by Eva Longoria, Desmond Harrington, Evan Dexter Parke, and Christina Chang. Roselyn Sanchez was added to the regular cast in a few episodes. With the Dragnet formula no longer in place, the program had the feel of a typical procedural drama. It was cancelled five episodes into its second season. Three episodes premiered on USA Network in early 2004, with the final two on the Sleuth channel in 2006. In other countries such as the Netherlands, the show is retitled Murder Investigation.

Related works edit

Music edit

The theme from Dragnet has been recorded by many artists, achieving popular success. Artists who charted with it include Ray Anthony (1953) and The Art of Noise (1987).

Nonfiction edit

  • In 1958, Webb authored The Badge, a book containing chapters of true stories told from the view of a patrolman, sergeant, lieutenant, and others. It had a number of photographs and recently was reissued with a foreword by James Ellroy, author of L.A. Confidential, which features a fictional show, Badge of Honor, modeled after Dragnet.[8]
  • In 2001, Michael J. Hayde wrote My Name's Friday: The Unauthorized But True Story of "Dragnet" and the Films of Jack Webb, with a foreword by Harry Morgan (Bill Gannon).[9]

Parodies edit

  • The Little Shop of Horrors, a 1960 cult classic comedy horror film by Roger Corman, features a parody of the traditional Dragnet dry, hard-boiled voiceover narration throughout, and in the second half of the film, an onscreen parody of Dragnet and Joe Friday's robotic stoicism, a police detective named Joe Fink who says in voiceover "My name is Fink. Joe Fink... I'm a fink".
  • "St. George and the Dragonet", a 1953 short audio satire by Stan Freberg, was a smash hit reaching number one on both the Billboard and the Cash Box record charts. In this satire, Freberg used the line "Just the facts, ma'am", which entered popular lexicography as an actual catchphrase from Dragnet, despite the line never being used on the show,[10][11] except for Season Two, Episode Eight ("Big Lease"). Freberg followed "St. George..." with "Little Blue Riding Hood" and "Christmas Dragnet".
  • The 1954 Woody Woodpecker cartoon Under the Counter Spy was a parody of Dragnet. At the beginning, a narrator says, "The story you are about to see is a big fat lie. No names have been changed to protect anybody!" At the end, a hammer and stamp make the words "THE END", and the hammerer hits his thumb.
  • The 1955, Three Stooges short Blunder Boys parodies Dragnet. In place of the familiar "Dragnet" theme, the first four notes of "The Song of the Volga Boatmen", which is in the public domain, is used. At the end of the film, Moe stamps Larry's head with a hammer; Larry's forehead then reads, "VII 1/2 The End".
  • A 1956 Looney Tunes short, Rocket Squad, starred Daffy Duck and Porky Pig as Sgt. Joe Monday and Det. Schmoe Tuesday, respectively. Daffy narrated, giving a running timeline in the manner of Sgt. Friday. This police adventure ends with both officers convicted and imprisoned for false arrest. The opening title reads: "Ladies and Gentlemen, the story you are about to see is true. The drawings have been changed to protect the innocent". Another short, Tree Cornered Tweety, featured Tweety imitating the narrator of Dragnet as he is being pursued by Sylvester again.
  • A segment of the Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoon show called "Bullwinkle's Corner", which featured Bullwinkle Moose in a poetry reading of "Tom, Tom the Piper's Son," parodied Dragnet, as Bullwinkle is apprehended in the act of stealing a pig by two detectives who interrogate Bullwinkle using a terse, clipped monotone similar in style to Joe Friday and Frank Smith ("You got a name?" "I'm Tom, Tom the Piper's Son." "All right, Piperson, what were you going to do with the pig?").
  • A 1968 sketch entitled the "Copper Clapper Caper" during Jack Webb's appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. Webb reprised Friday interviewing the equally deadpan victim of a robbery (played by Carson). The details of the crime started with the alliterative "k" or "kl" consonant sound, such as "Claude Cooper, the kleptomaniac from Cleveland."[12]
  • A Sesame Street Muppet skit from the early 1970s, "Dragnet" featured Sgt. Thursday and his partner, Ben, searching for a fugitive letter ”W” using a drawing Ben carries with him of the letter; when they do encounter the letter W it disguises itself turning upside down into a letter “M”.
  • The final segment of each episode of PBS's Square One was titled "Mathnet" and opened with the Dragnet theme and an arrangement of the lines "The story you're about to see is a fib—but it's short. The names are made up, but the problems are real." Each story arc of the show's five-season run lasted five daily episodes (one week) and featured detectives Kate Monday (seasons 1–3) or Pat Tuesday (seasons 4–5) and George Ernest Frankly (all five seasons), of the LAPD in the first two of the show's five seasons and the New York Police Department in the last three seasons, using mathematics to solve crimes.
  • Isaac Air Freight, a Christian sketch comedy troupe, parodied Dragnet twice: on their 1978 album Fun in the Son (track 11, "Jerusalem Dragnet") and 1980 album Foolish Guy to Confound the Wise (track 8, "Jerusalem Dragnet II").[13]
  • In 1983, "Prog #310" of UK sci-fi comic 2000AD featured a time-travelling parody of Dragnet in the story "Chrono Cops", written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Dave Gibbons. In five pages, "Joe Saturday" and "Ed Thursday" encounter several time-travel "tropes", including a character attempting to kill his own great-grandfather.[14]
  • The season-five episode of The Simpsons titled "Marge on the Lam" centers around Marge Simpson and neighbor Ruth Powers being pursued by police while illegally driving Ruth's ex-husband's car; the episode ends with a Dragnet-style epilogue detailing the characters' fates, as narrated by original series announcer George Fenneman, then the end credits run over a graphic of a police badge while a version of The Simpsons theme done in the style of the famous "Dragnet March" plays. Also, the season-seven episode "Mother Simpson" has Homer Simpson's mother, Mona Simpson, as a fugitive from Charles Montgomery Burns, who is about to be captured after 27 years. Burns is helped by officers Joe Friday and Bill Gannon (voiced by Harry Morgan).
  • Dragnet is parodied at the end of the episode of The New Adventures of Winnie-the-Pooh titled: "Sorry, Wrong Slusher". Winnie-the-Pooh performs a closing narration as a mug shot of Christopher Robin is shown on screen, in the style of Dragnet.
  • The Amazon original series Man in the High Castle features a show in the fictional universe where Germany won the Second World War called "American Reich", shot in the style of Dragnet. The show's title crawl music is similar to Dragnet, and the title card contains a police badge with a swastika in the center. In keeping with the alternate history, the character equivalent of Friday is a straight-laced Nazi, with catchphrases including "Ein Volk, Ein Reich, Ein phone call" ("One people, one empire, one phone call.").[15]

Home media edit

Radio series (1949–1957) edit

Original television series (1951–1959) edit

Most, if not all, episodes of this series are in the public domain,[citation needed] and 52 episodes were released by many DVD labels. These collections feature a variety of the same 52 episodes. These include "The Human Bomb", "The Big Actor", "The Big Mother", "The Big Cast", "The Big September Man", "The Big Phone Call", "The Big Casing", "The Big Lamp", "The Big Seventeen", "The Big .22 Caliber Rifle for Christmas", "The Big Grandma", "The Big Show", "The Big Break", "The Big Frank", "The Big Hands", "The Big Barrette", "The Big Dance", "The Big Betty", "The Big Will", "The Big Thief", "The Big Little Jesus", "The Big Trunk", "The Big Boys", "The Big Children", "The Big Winchester", "The Big Shoplift", "The Big Hit & Run Killer", "The Big Girl", "The Big Frame", "The Big False Make", "The Big Producer", "The Big Fraud", "The Big Crime", "The Big Pair", "The Big Missing", "The Big Bar", "The Big Present", "The Big New Year", "The Big Rod", "The Big Lift", "The Big Gap", "The Big Look", "The Big Glasses", "The Big Bird", "the Big Smoke", "The Big Bounce", "The Big Deal", "The Big Hat", "The Big Net", "The Big War", "The Big Oskar", and "The Big Counterfeit". Often, some are mislabeled as no onscreen titles are used.

Three collections released from Alpha Video feature four episodes each. Eclectic DVD released a collection of three episodes.

Platinum Video released seven episodes from the original series in 2002. The episodes are: "Big Crime", "Big Pair", "Big Producer", "Big Break", "Big September Man", "Big Betty", and "Big Trunk". The two-disc set includes episodes from Burke's Law; Peter Gunn; Richard Diamond, Private Detective; Mr. Wong, Detective; and Bulldog Drummond.

Dragnet feature film (1954) edit

This movie was released on DVD in 2009 as part of Universal Studios' "Vault Series".

The movie was released on bluray in 2020 by Kino Lorber. The transfer features a 2K scan.

Dragnet pilot movie (1966) edit

This movie is a bonus feature on Shout! Factory's "Dragnet 1968: Season Two" (Release Date: July 6, 2010).

Dragnet (1967–1970) edit

On June 7, 2005, Universal Studios released the first season on DVD in Region 1. Because sales numbers did not meet Universal's expectations, no plans were made to release the remaining three seasons.

On March 17, 2010, Shout! Factory acquired the rights to distribute the series under license from Universal. They subsequently released seasons 2–4.

DVD Name Ep # Release Date
Season 1 17 June 7, 2005
February 13, 2018 (re-release)
Season 2 28 July 6, 2010
Season 3 27 December 7, 2010
Season 4 26 April 12, 2011

The New Dragnet (1989) edit

No DVD releases to date of this remake that lasted two seasons.

L.A. Dragnet (2003) edit

Universal Studios Home Entertainment was going to release the first season of this short-lived remake on DVD on November 11, 2003, but this release was cancelled. It is not known if the set will be released.[16]

References edit

  1. ^ On a March 1953 episode, the Detroit Police Officers' Association gave Dragnet a commendation, citing the program's efforts at increasing public esteem of policemen, and described it as the "finest and most accurate" police program on radio or television.
  2. ^ Hayde, M.J. (2001). My Name's Friday: The Unauthorized But True Story of Dragnet and the Films of Jack Webb. Nashville, Tennessee: Cumberland House. pp. 178–9. ISBN 1581821905.
  3. ^ Hayde (2001), p. 177.
  4. ^ http://www.radioechoes.com/?page=series&genre=OTR-Detective&series=Dragnet [bare URL]
  5. ^ Snauffer, Douglas (2006). Crime Television, The Praeger television collection. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0275988074.
  6. ^ "The Top Box-Office Hits of 1954", Variety Weekly, January 5, 1955
  7. ^ TCM.com
  8. ^ Webb, Jack (1958). The Badge: True and Terrifying Crime Stories That Could Not Be Presented on TV, from the Creator and Star of Dragnet (Reprint ed.). Da Capo Press. ISBN 978-1560256885.
  9. ^ Hayde, Michael J. (June 1, 2001). My Name's Friday: The Unauthorized But True Story of Dragnet and the Films of Jack Webb. Cumberland House Publishing. ISBN 978-1581821901.
  10. ^ Sharrett, Christopher (Summer 2012). "Jack Webb and the Vagaries of Right-Wing TV Entertainment". Cinema Journal. 51 (4): 165–171. doi:10.1353/cj.2012.0087. JSTOR 23253590. S2CID 191632779. Retrieved February 2, 2022.
  11. ^ Mikkelson, David (March 29, 2002). "Dragnet: 'Just the Facts. Ma'am'". Snopes. Retrieved February 2, 2022.
  12. ^ Funniest Moments: Copper Clapper Caper On Johnny Carson's Tonight Show. YouTube (official channel). August 27, 2012. Archived from the original on November 18, 2021. Retrieved October 19, 2014.
  13. ^ "Jerusalem Dragnet". YouTube.
  14. ^ . Archived from the original on November 2, 2013. Retrieved November 1, 2013.
  15. ^ "Don't miss American Reich, the Fall's most anticipated TV show. #HighCastle #WhatIfWeLost". Facebook. September 25, 2015.
  16. ^ Dragnet DVD news: Dragnet (2003) DVD Cancelled | TVShowsOnDVD.com November 10, 2004, at the Wayback Machine

General sources edit

  • Dunning, John, On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio, Oxford University Press, 1998, ISBN 0-19-507678-8.
  • Michael J. Hayde, My Name's Friday: The Unauthorized but True Story of Dragnet and the Films of Jack Webb, Cumberland House, 2001, ISBN 1-58182-190-5
  • Jason Mittell, Genre and Television: From Cop Shows to Cartoons in American Culture. Routledge, 2004, ISBN 0-415-96903-4.

External links edit

  • Dragnet (Radio Series) in the Internet Archive's Old-Time Radio Collection
  • Dragnet (1951–59) at IMDb  
  • Dragnet (1954 film) at IMDb  
  • Dragnet (1967) at IMDb  
  • Dragnet (1987 film) at IMDb  
  • The New Dragnet at IMDb  
  • Dragnet (2003) at IMDb  
  • Tonight Show/Dragnet Parody on YouTube – "Copper Clappers" sketch, featuring Johnny Carson and Jack Webb from a 1968 Tonight Show episode

dragnet, franchise, other, uses, dragnet, policing, dragnet, american, media, franchise, created, actor, producer, jack, webb, following, angeles, police, department, lapd, detective, friday, partners, they, conduct, book, police, work, solve, crimes, angeles,. For other uses see Dragnet policing Dragnet is an American media franchise created by actor and producer Jack Webb following Los Angeles Police Department LAPD Detective Joe Friday and his partners as they conduct by the book police work and solve crimes in Los Angeles Originating as a radio drama on NBC in 1949 Dragnet has been adapted into several successful television shows and films though the franchise s popularity has reduced since Webb s death in 1982 Its name is derived from the police term dragnet a system of coordinated measures for apprehending criminals or suspects DragnetDragnet opening frame from the 1950s television seriesCreated byJack WebbOriginal workRadio seriesOwnerMark VII Limited Universal PicturesYears1949 2004Films and televisionFilm s 1954 film 1954 1987 film 1987 Television seriesList 1951 television series 1951 1959 1967 television series 1967 1970 1989 television series 1989 1991 2003 television series 2003 2004 Television film s 1969 television film 1969 AudioRadio program s 1949 radio drama 1949 1957 Original music Dragnet Dragnet is perhaps the most famous and influential police procedural crime drama in American media history Webb s aims in Dragnet were for unpretentious acting and a realistic depiction of policing The series portrayed police work as dangerous and heroic and helped shape public perception of law enforcement in the 20th century improving the public s opinion of police officers 1 Dragnet remains a key influence on the police procedural genre Its cultural impact is such that seven decades after its debut elements of Dragnet are familiar to those who are otherwise unfamiliar with the franchise itself Dragnet the four note introduction to the franchise s brass and timpani theme music though its origins date to Miklos Rozsa s score for the 1946 film version of The Killers The opening narration common across the franchise s series Ladies and gentlemen the story you are about to hear is true Only the names have been changed to protect the innocent Over time the only and ladies and gentlemen were eventually dropped The television version used in the 1950s and 1960s series replaced hear with see and had a backdrop of Joe Friday s badge number 714 Just the facts ma am a catchphrase and misquotation often attributed to Joe Friday and popularly used to reference or evoke Dragnet though Webb s portrayal of Joe Friday never said that exact phrase Contents 1 Actual cases 2 Radio 3 Television 3 1 1951 1959 original 3 2 1967 1970 revival 3 3 Webb s later years 4 Film versions 4 1 Dragnet 1954 4 2 Dragnet 1966 aired 1969 4 3 Dragnet 1987 5 Remakes after Webb s death 5 1 The New Dragnet 1989 5 2 L A Dragnet 2003 6 Related works 6 1 Music 6 2 Nonfiction 6 3 Parodies 7 Home media 7 1 Radio series 1949 1957 7 2 Original television series 1951 1959 7 3 Dragnet feature film 1954 7 4 Dragnet pilot movie 1966 7 5 Dragnet 1967 1970 7 6 The New Dragnet 1989 7 7 L A Dragnet 2003 8 References 9 General sources 10 External linksActual cases editThe opening of The story you are about to hear is true is derived from the fact that many works in the franchise are transcribed from official LAPD case files In some cases the source material has been identified including the following Sullivan Kidnapping The Wolf Radio 1949 The 1927 kidnapping and murder of Marion Parker The Big Thank You Radio 1950 Louise Peete s post prison years and third murder which led to her becoming the second of only four women to be executed in the California gas chamber 1969 TV movie The killing spree of serial killer Harvey Glatman in the late 1950s 2 Pierce Brooks an LAPD captain who was involved in Glatman s arrest and interrogation served as a technical advisor for the film 3 Radio editMain article Dragnet radio series Further information List of Dragnet radio series episodes Dragnet began as a radio series running on the NBC radio network from 1949 to 1957 4 Television edit1951 1959 original edit Main article Dragnet 1951 TV series Further information List of Dragnet 1951 TV series episodesIn 1951 Dragnet shifted to the field of television running on NBC from 1951 to 1959 Most early episodes of the television series were dubbed or lip synced adaptations of episodes of the radio show but later episodes were original plotlines Most of the cast members were veteran radio actors who could be relied upon to read the matter of fact dialogue naturally 1967 1970 revival edit Main article Dragnet 1967 TV series nbsp Webb and Morgan in 1968 Webb relaunched Dragnet in 1966 with NBC once again chosen to air the series He tried to persuade Ben Alexander to rejoin him as Frank Smith Alexander was then committed to an ABC police series Felony Squad and the producers would not release him Webb reluctantly came up with a new character to take the role of Joe Friday s partner calling upon his longtime friend Harry Morgan to play Officer Bill Gannon Morgan had previously portrayed rooming house proprietor Luther Gage in the 1949 radio series episode James Vickers George Fenneman returned as the show s primary announcer with John Stephenson replacing Hal Gibney in the role of announcing the trial dates and subsequent punishments for the offenders Fenneman replaced Stephenson in that role during the fourth season Unlike the previous Dragnet series the revival was produced and aired in color Webb produced a TV movie pilot for the new version of the show for Universal Television although the pilot was not aired until January 1969 NBC bought the show on the strength of the movie and it debuted as a midseason replacement for the sitcom The Hero on Thursday nights in January 1967 To distinguish it from the original the year was included in the title of the show i e Dragnet 1967 Although Friday had been promoted to lieutenant in the final episode of the 1950s production Webb chose to have Friday revert to sergeant with his familiar badge 714 5 When real life LAPD Sergeant Dan Cooke Webb s contact in the department during production of the revived Dragnet series was promoted to lieutenant he arranged to carry the same lieutenant s badge number 714 as worn by Joe Friday Cooke was technical advisor to the KNBC documentary Police Unit 2A 26 directed by John Orland He brought that to the attention of Webb who hired Orland to direct and film This is the City a series of minidocumentaries about Los Angeles that preceded most TV episodes during the 1969 and 1970 seasons citation needed The show had good ratings on NBC s schedule for four seasons although its popularity at that time did not exceed that of the 1950s version but the show was canceled after the completion of the 1969 1970 season Much as was done 11 years earlier Webb decided voluntarily to discontinue Dragnet after its fourth season to focus on producing and directing his other projects through Mark VII Limited The first of these projects was titled Adam 12 a 30 minute police procedural similar to Dragnet but focusing on patrol officers rather than detectives The series premiered in the fall of 1968 while Dragnet 1969 was in production and ran for seven seasons coming to an end in 1975 In 1971 with producer Robert A Cinader Webb developed another pilot originally intended to be centered around the staff of a Los Angeles area medical center s emergency room When researching for the pilot Webb and Cinader were introduced to the Los Angeles County Fire Department s fledgling paramedic program and the premise was reworked to include the Los Angeles County Fire Department and Emergency was born running as a weekly series until 1977 and as a series of made for television movies for two years after that Emergency was centered on the then fictitious Los Angeles County Fire Department paramedic rescue unit Squad 51 During the early 1970s reruns of this version of Dragnet were popular on local stations usually broadcast during the late afternoon or early evenings From 1991 to 1995 Dragnet was shown on Nick at Nite then moved to its sister cable channel TV Land From October 1 2011 to April 26 2013 the series ran daily on the digital cable channel Antenna TV and before that the show aired on the Retro Television Network Dragnet was broadcast Monday through Friday on Me TV The show was part of the CriMe TV morning block with Perry Mason and The Rockford Files with Dragnet shown back to back from 11 00 am until 12 00 pm In December 2014 Me TV added a third airing of Dragnet to its late night lineup the series airs at 12 30 am following a second episode of Perry Mason Me TV ended the run of Dragnet on January 1 2015 whereupon it became part of Cozi TV s regular lineup In January 2020 Dragnet returned to MeTV along with its sibling series Adam 12 after Cozi TV dropped both series Dragnet currently broadcasts two episodes weekday mornings from 5 30 to 6 30 a m Webb s later years edit In 1982 Webb had begun working on a revival of Dragnet writing and producing five scripts and continuing his role as Joe Friday Once again he needed to create a new character for Friday s partner Ben Alexander had died in 1969 and Harry Morgan was tied up with his commitments to M A S H and its already greenlit followup AfterMASH Webb decided on former Adam 12 star Kent McCord who had several guest appearances early in the 1967 revival series to fill the undefined role No indication was given whether McCord would be playing his character of Jim Reed from Adam 12 or a totally new character On December 23 1982 Webb died unexpectedly from a heart attack and the Dragnet revival was scrapped After Webb s death LAPD Chief Daryl Gates announced that badge number 714 Webb s number on the television show was retired and Los Angeles city offices lowered their flags to half staff At Webb s funeral the LAPD provided an honor guard and the chief of police commented on Webb s connection with the LAPD An LAPD auditorium was named in his honor Jack Webb s LAPD sergeant s badge and ID card are on display at the Los Angeles Police Academy Film versions editDragnet 1954 edit Main article Dragnet 1954 film In 1954 a theatrical feature film titled Dragnet an adaptation of the series was released with Webb Alexander and Richard Boone Dennis Weaver plays R A Lohrman a detective captain The film begins with the shooting of small time hood Miller Starkie Dub Taylor on orders from his boss Max Troy Stacy Harris Friday and Smith s superior is LAPD Intelligence Division Captain Jim Hamilton Boone a department member and the film s technical advisor The Intelligence Division focused on the pursuit of organized crime figures and some of Max Troy s habits resemble that of Mickey Cohen the known Los Angeles underworld boss for example Troy s LAPD file reads that he could be found at Sunset Strip taverns and joints as could Cohen The film depicts the working relationship between the LAPD and the Los Angeles County District Attorney s office Friday and Smith work to gather evidence that the DA s office deems sufficient to gain the indictment and ultimate conviction of Troy and his fellows One scene contains a violent fist fight involving the two detectives with the close up cinematic technique typical of Webb s style of direction The movie s ending represents a departure from most Dragnet stories no arrest is made at the story s conclusion Chester Davitt Willard Sage Troy s underling and Starkie s killer is killed by underworld figures and Troy succumbs to cancer before the detectives having gathered sufficient evidence against him can make the arrest The film earned an estimated 4 7 million at the North American box office during its first year of release 6 7 Dragnet 1966 aired 1969 edit Dragnet 1966 is a made for TV movie that initiated the return of the Dragnet series to television It was produced as the TV pilot for Dragnet 1967 but was not broadcast until 1969 The movie stars Jack Webb as Sgt Friday and Harry Morgan as Officer Bill Gannon The story focuses on crime more typical of the 1960s than of the previous Dragnet era the detectives are assigned to find a voyeuristic serial killer similar to Harvey Glatman played by Vic Perrin who appeared in the 1954 film as an assistant district attorney Also appearing is Virginia Gregg who had a role in the 1954 feature and was a frequent guest actor in the 1951 59 series and the 1967 70 episodes and John Roseboro a catcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers who dabbled in acting in the off season Roseboro played a plainclothes detective who had been the target of racial slurs by a child molester until Friday came to his aid Dragnet 1987 edit Main article Dragnet 1987 film In 1987 a comedy film version of Dragnet was released starring Dan Aykroyd as the stiff Joe Friday nephew of the original Sergeant Joe Friday and Tom Hanks as his partner Detective Pep Streebeck The film contrasted the terse clipped character of Friday a hero from an earlier age with the real world of Los Angeles in 1987 to broad comedic effect Apart from Aykroyd s spot on imitation of Webb s Joe Friday and Harry Morgan reprising his role of Bill Gannon now Captain the film version has few similarities with previous incarnations This Dragnet parody was a hit with audiences though no sequel was produced LAPD Lieutenant Dan Cooke who had served as technical advisor for the Jack Webb series was also technical advisor for this production Remakes after Webb s death editThe New Dragnet 1989 edit See also List of Dragnet 1989 TV series episodes A revival of Dragnet by The Arthur Company titled The New Dragnet aired in first run syndication in tandem with The New Adam 12 a revival of the Jack Webb series Adam 12 Like The New Adam 12 The New Dragnet had entirely different characters music and presentation compared to the original series and starred Jeff Osterhage as Detective Vic Daniels Bernard White as Detective Carl Molina and Don Stroud as Captain Lussen Fifty two episodes were aired over two seasons The first season aired from October 24 1989 to January 21 1990 the second season aired from April 19 1990 to September 9 1990 L A Dragnet 2003 edit Further information List of Dragnet 2003 TV series episodes In 2003 a Dragnet series was produced by Dick Wolf the producer of NBC s Law amp Order series and spin offs It aired on ABC and starred Ed O Neill as Joe Friday and Ethan Embry as Frank Smith After a 12 episode season that followed the traditional formula the format of the series was changed to an ensemble crime drama in an attempt to boost ratings The change apparently reflected Webb s intentions for the 1980s revival series with Joe Friday promoted again to Lieutenant and overseeing a pair or group of younger detectives In L A Dragnet Friday was promoted to lieutenant with less screen time and Frank Smith was written out in favor of a younger and ethnically diverse cast played by Eva Longoria Desmond Harrington Evan Dexter Parke and Christina Chang Roselyn Sanchez was added to the regular cast in a few episodes With the Dragnet formula no longer in place the program had the feel of a typical procedural drama It was cancelled five episodes into its second season Three episodes premiered on USA Network in early 2004 with the final two on the Sleuth channel in 2006 In other countries such as the Netherlands the show is retitled Murder Investigation Related works editMusic edit Main article Dragnet theme music The theme from Dragnet has been recorded by many artists achieving popular success Artists who charted with it include Ray Anthony 1953 and The Art of Noise 1987 Nonfiction edit In 1958 Webb authored The Badge a book containing chapters of true stories told from the view of a patrolman sergeant lieutenant and others It had a number of photographs and recently was reissued with a foreword by James Ellroy author of L A Confidential which features a fictional show Badge of Honor modeled after Dragnet 8 In 2001 Michael J Hayde wrote My Name s Friday The Unauthorized But True Story of Dragnet and the Films of Jack Webb with a foreword by Harry Morgan Bill Gannon 9 Parodies edit The Little Shop of Horrors a 1960 cult classic comedy horror film by Roger Corman features a parody of the traditional Dragnet dry hard boiled voiceover narration throughout and in the second half of the film an onscreen parody of Dragnet and Joe Friday s robotic stoicism a police detective named Joe Fink who says in voiceover My name is Fink Joe Fink I m a fink St George and the Dragonet a 1953 short audio satire by Stan Freberg was a smash hit reaching number one on both the Billboard and the Cash Box record charts In this satire Freberg used the line Just the facts ma am which entered popular lexicography as an actual catchphrase from Dragnet despite the line never being used on the show 10 11 except for Season Two Episode Eight Big Lease Freberg followed St George with Little Blue Riding Hood and Christmas Dragnet The 1954 Woody Woodpecker cartoon Under the Counter Spy was a parody of Dragnet At the beginning a narrator says The story you are about to see is a big fat lie No names have been changed to protect anybody At the end a hammer and stamp make the words THE END and the hammerer hits his thumb The 1955 Three Stooges short Blunder Boys parodies Dragnet In place of the familiar Dragnet theme the first four notes of The Song of the Volga Boatmen which is in the public domain is used At the end of the film Moe stamps Larry s head with a hammer Larry s forehead then reads VII 1 2 The End A 1956 Looney Tunes short Rocket Squad starred Daffy Duck and Porky Pig as Sgt Joe Monday and Det Schmoe Tuesday respectively Daffy narrated giving a running timeline in the manner of Sgt Friday This police adventure ends with both officers convicted and imprisoned for false arrest The opening title reads Ladies and Gentlemen the story you are about to see is true The drawings have been changed to protect the innocent Another short Tree Cornered Tweety featured Tweety imitating the narrator of Dragnet as he is being pursued by Sylvester again A segment of the Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoon show called Bullwinkle s Corner which featured Bullwinkle Moose in a poetry reading of Tom Tom the Piper s Son parodied Dragnet as Bullwinkle is apprehended in the act of stealing a pig by two detectives who interrogate Bullwinkle using a terse clipped monotone similar in style to Joe Friday and Frank Smith You got a name I m Tom Tom the Piper s Son All right Piperson what were you going to do with the pig A 1968 sketch entitled the Copper Clapper Caper during Jack Webb s appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson Webb reprised Friday interviewing the equally deadpan victim of a robbery played by Carson The details of the crime started with the alliterative k or kl consonant sound such as Claude Cooper the kleptomaniac from Cleveland 12 A Sesame Street Muppet skit from the early 1970s Dragnet featured Sgt Thursday and his partner Ben searching for a fugitive letter W using a drawing Ben carries with him of the letter when they do encounter the letter W it disguises itself turning upside down into a letter M The final segment of each episode of PBS s Square One was titled Mathnet and opened with the Dragnet theme and an arrangement of the lines The story you re about to see is a fib but it s short The names are made up but the problems are real Each story arc of the show s five season run lasted five daily episodes one week and featured detectives Kate Monday seasons 1 3 or Pat Tuesday seasons 4 5 and George Ernest Frankly all five seasons of the LAPD in the first two of the show s five seasons and the New York Police Department in the last three seasons using mathematics to solve crimes Isaac Air Freight a Christian sketch comedy troupe parodied Dragnet twice on their 1978 album Fun in the Son track 11 Jerusalem Dragnet and 1980 album Foolish Guy to Confound the Wise track 8 Jerusalem Dragnet II 13 In 1983 Prog 310 of UK sci fi comic 2000AD featured a time travelling parody of Dragnet in the story Chrono Cops written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Dave Gibbons In five pages Joe Saturday and Ed Thursday encounter several time travel tropes including a character attempting to kill his own great grandfather 14 The season five episode of The Simpsons titled Marge on the Lam centers around Marge Simpson and neighbor Ruth Powers being pursued by police while illegally driving Ruth s ex husband s car the episode ends with a Dragnet style epilogue detailing the characters fates as narrated by original series announcer George Fenneman then the end credits run over a graphic of a police badge while a version of The Simpsons theme done in the style of the famous Dragnet March plays Also the season seven episode Mother Simpson has Homer Simpson s mother Mona Simpson as a fugitive from Charles Montgomery Burns who is about to be captured after 27 years Burns is helped by officers Joe Friday and Bill Gannon voiced by Harry Morgan Dragnet is parodied at the end of the episode of The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh titled Sorry Wrong Slusher Winnie the Pooh performs a closing narration as a mug shot of Christopher Robin is shown on screen in the style of Dragnet The Amazon original series Man in the High Castle features a show in the fictional universe where Germany won the Second World War called American Reich shot in the style of Dragnet The show s title crawl music is similar to Dragnet and the title card contains a police badge with a swastika in the center In keeping with the alternate history the character equivalent of Friday is a straight laced Nazi with catchphrases including Ein Volk Ein Reich Ein phone call One people one empire one phone call 15 Home media editRadio series 1949 1957 edit Original television series 1951 1959 edit Most if not all episodes of this series are in the public domain citation needed and 52 episodes were released by many DVD labels These collections feature a variety of the same 52 episodes These include The Human Bomb The Big Actor The Big Mother The Big Cast The Big September Man The Big Phone Call The Big Casing The Big Lamp The Big Seventeen The Big 22 Caliber Rifle for Christmas The Big Grandma The Big Show The Big Break The Big Frank The Big Hands The Big Barrette The Big Dance The Big Betty The Big Will The Big Thief The Big Little Jesus The Big Trunk The Big Boys The Big Children The Big Winchester The Big Shoplift The Big Hit amp Run Killer The Big Girl The Big Frame The Big False Make The Big Producer The Big Fraud The Big Crime The Big Pair The Big Missing The Big Bar The Big Present The Big New Year The Big Rod The Big Lift The Big Gap The Big Look The Big Glasses The Big Bird the Big Smoke The Big Bounce The Big Deal The Big Hat The Big Net The Big War The Big Oskar and The Big Counterfeit Often some are mislabeled as no onscreen titles are used Three collections released from Alpha Video feature four episodes each Eclectic DVD released a collection of three episodes Platinum Video released seven episodes from the original series in 2002 The episodes are Big Crime Big Pair Big Producer Big Break Big September Man Big Betty and Big Trunk The two disc set includes episodes from Burke s Law Peter Gunn Richard Diamond Private Detective Mr Wong Detective and Bulldog Drummond Dragnet feature film 1954 edit This movie was released on DVD in 2009 as part of Universal Studios Vault Series The movie was released on bluray in 2020 by Kino Lorber The transfer features a 2K scan Dragnet pilot movie 1966 edit This movie is a bonus feature on Shout Factory s Dragnet 1968 Season Two Release Date July 6 2010 Dragnet 1967 1970 edit On June 7 2005 Universal Studios released the first season on DVD in Region 1 Because sales numbers did not meet Universal s expectations no plans were made to release the remaining three seasons On March 17 2010 Shout Factory acquired the rights to distribute the series under license from Universal They subsequently released seasons 2 4 DVD Name Ep Release Date Season 1 17 June 7 2005February 13 2018 re release Season 2 28 July 6 2010 Season 3 27 December 7 2010 Season 4 26 April 12 2011 The New Dragnet 1989 edit No DVD releases to date of this remake that lasted two seasons L A Dragnet 2003 edit Universal Studios Home Entertainment was going to release the first season of this short lived remake on DVD on November 11 2003 but this release was cancelled It is not known if the set will be released 16 References edit On a March 1953 episode the Detroit Police Officers Association gave Dragnet a commendation citing the program s efforts at increasing public esteem of policemen and described it as the finest and most accurate police program on radio or television Hayde M J 2001 My Name s Friday The Unauthorized But True Story of Dragnet and the Films of Jack Webb Nashville Tennessee Cumberland House pp 178 9 ISBN 1581821905 Hayde 2001 p 177 http www radioechoes com page series amp genre OTR Detective amp series Dragnet bare URL Snauffer Douglas 2006 Crime Television The Praeger television collection Greenwood Publishing Group ISBN 978 0275988074 The Top Box Office Hits of 1954 Variety Weekly January 5 1955 TCM com Webb Jack 1958 The Badge True and Terrifying Crime Stories That Could Not Be Presented on TV from the Creator and Star of Dragnet Reprint ed Da Capo Press ISBN 978 1560256885 Hayde Michael J June 1 2001 My Name s Friday The Unauthorized But True Story of Dragnet and the Films of Jack Webb Cumberland House Publishing ISBN 978 1581821901 Sharrett Christopher Summer 2012 Jack Webb and the Vagaries of Right Wing TV Entertainment Cinema Journal 51 4 165 171 doi 10 1353 cj 2012 0087 JSTOR 23253590 S2CID 191632779 Retrieved February 2 2022 Mikkelson David March 29 2002 Dragnet Just the Facts Ma am Snopes Retrieved February 2 2022 Funniest Moments Copper Clapper Caper On Johnny Carson s Tonight Show YouTube official channel August 27 2012 Archived from the original on November 18 2021 Retrieved October 19 2014 Jerusalem Dragnet YouTube Againwiththecomics com Archived from the original on November 2 2013 Retrieved November 1 2013 Don t miss American Reich the Fall s most anticipated TV show HighCastle WhatIfWeLost Facebook September 25 2015 Dragnet DVD news Dragnet 2003 DVD Cancelled TVShowsOnDVD com Archived November 10 2004 at the Wayback MachineGeneral sources editDunning John On the Air The Encyclopedia of Old Time Radio Oxford University Press 1998 ISBN 0 19 507678 8 Michael J Hayde My Name s Friday The Unauthorized but True Story of Dragnet and the Films of Jack Webb Cumberland House 2001 ISBN 1 58182 190 5 Jason Mittell Genre and Television From Cop Shows to Cartoons in American Culture Routledge 2004 ISBN 0 415 96903 4 External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dragnet series Dragnet Radio Series in the Internet Archive s Old Time Radio Collection Dragnet 1951 59 at IMDb nbsp Dragnet 1954 film at IMDb nbsp Dragnet 1967 at IMDb nbsp Dragnet 1987 film at IMDb nbsp The New Dragnet at IMDb nbsp Dragnet 2003 at IMDb nbsp Tonight Show Dragnet Parody on YouTube Copper Clappers sketch featuring Johnny Carson and Jack Webb from a 1968 Tonight Show episode Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Dragnet franchise amp oldid 1216301933, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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