"Dragnet 1967" (1967) TV series 1967-1970

User Rating:

8.1/10   

Creator:

Jack Webb

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4

Release Date:

12 January 1967 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Crime

Plot:

Police Detective Sgt. Joe Friday and his partners investigate crimes in Los Angeles.

Plot Keywords:

Police | Police Detective | Digit In Title | Detective Sergeant | Los Angeles California

Awards:

2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Jack Webb	...	Sgt. Joe Friday (98 episodes, 1967-1970)
Harry Morgan	...	Officer Bill Gannon (98 episodes, 1967-1970)

Also Known As:

"Dragnet 1968" (USA) (second season title)
"Dragnet 1969" (USA) (third season title)
"Dragnet 1970" (USA) (fourth season title)
"Dragnet" (USA) (syndication title)

Runtime:

30 min (100 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

Parker Center Police Headquarters - 150 N. Los Angeles Street, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Dragnet Productions

Trivia:

For the sake of continuity, Friday and Gannon always wore the same outfits in every episode. According to 'Harry Morgan', he and 'Jack Webb' decided to switch coats for one scene to see if anyone noticed. Since only Morgan was in the scene, no one on the set realized it until the scene had been shot. In the next scene, Morgan has on the correct coat. This is the only incident of faulty continuity in the series' run.

Quotes:

Friday: There are over five thousand men in this city who know that being a policeman is an endless, glamorless, thankless job that's gotta be done. I know it, too. And I'm damned glad to be one of them.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Simpsons: Mother Simpson (#7.8)" (1995)

Soundtrack:

Theme From Dragnet (Danger Ahead)

One hellva ride

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.

In the fall of 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,but this time around was in color)which originally ran on NBC-TV from 1967 to the final episode of the series in the spring of 1970. 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 scenary shots photographed in brillant Technicolor!

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 teenagers 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 the dope. The other,from the first season was the one where Gannon and Friday stumbled upon a man bent on destruction of the city where they find not only a ton of ammo and weapons,but papers on bomb building and Nazism. 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.

The last time this show aired was back in the late 80's on cable's USA and also in between the late 90's on cable's TV Land. Nowadays catch it on Encore's Mystery Channel. Dragnet was a gripping show to watch and you never know what to expect because it was one hellva ride of television at its best.