Dragnet is an American media franchise created by actor and producer Jack Webb and owned by his company Mark VII Limited and Universal Pictures. It follows 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. Its name is derived from the police term "dragnet", a system of coordinated measures for apprehending criminals or suspects.
Dragnet is one of the most influential police procedural crime dramas in American media history. Webb's aim in creating Dragnet was 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 American public's opinion of police officers.In 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.
Actual cases The opening of "The story you are about to hear is true" is derived from the fact that many works in the franchise are based on 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. Pierce Brooks, an LAPD captain who was involved in Glatman's arrest and interrogation, served as a technical advisor for the film.Hayde (2001), p. 177.
Radio
Dragnet began as a radio series, running on the NBC radio network from 1949 to 1957.
Television
1951–1959 original
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. A syndicated version of the series used the name Badge 714 to distinguish it from the network show. Friday's police badge number was 714.
1967–1970 revival
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".
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. 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. While researching the pilot, Webb and Cinader were introduced to the Los Angeles County Fire Department's fledgling paramedic program; the premise was reworked to include the 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 until its removal in December 2019. In January 2020, Dragnet returned to MeTV along with its sibling series Adam-12 after Cozi dropped both series. Dragnet currently broadcasts 2 episodes Sundays through Fridays at 5am & 5:30am EST. On August 19, 2024, Dragnet made its debut on FETV, currently airing weekday mornings at 8:10am EST.
Dragnet 1984 revival and Webb's later years In late 1982, Webb began working on a revival of Dragnet. Departing from the original format (with Harry Morgan tied up with his commitments to M*A*S*H, and its already greenlit followup AfterMASH), Webb himself would not appear in the series as Sgt. Joe Friday (other than in voice over), and approached former Adam-12 stars Martin Milner and Kent McCord (who had several guest appearances early in the 1967 revival series) to reprise their roles as now-detectives Malloy and Reed in the updated Dragnet 1984 series. Days after speaking with McCord about the project, 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 Dragnet (1954)
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."The Top Box-Office Hits of 1954", Variety Weekly, January 5, 1955
Dragnet 1966 (aired 1969) 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 actress 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)
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 Dragnet (1989 TV series)/The New Dragnet (1989)