Police procedural / crime docudrama · NBC
Dragnet
June 3, 1949 – February 26, 1957 · 397 broadcasts
"Ladies and gentlemen: the story you are about to hear is true. Only the names have been changed to protect the innocent." With those words, Dragnet reset American crime drama. Premiering on NBC in 1949, it followed LAPD Sergeant Joe Friday and his partners through by-the-book police work -- Homicide, Robbery, Burglary, Missing Persons -- rendered with a documentary flatness that ran from patrols and paperwork to lab work and questioning. Later episodes carried the famous "The Big ____" titles, each naming the trivial detail that proved to be the key. Jack Webb created, produced, and starred in it, building the show from his bit part as a forensic scientist in the 1948 film He Walked by Night and from real cases shared by LAPD Sgt. Marty Wynn. Webb rode night patrols, sat in on Police Academy courses, and insisted on underplayed realism -- "as real as a guy pouring a cup of coffee." Verisimilitude was everywhere: the LAPD's actual call sign KMA367, real officials' names, Walter Schumann's ominous four-note theme. When partner Barton Yarborough died in 1951, his character Sgt. Ben Romero was written out with a heart attack. Dragnet became one of the most influential procedurals in media history, lifted public opinion of police, and made "Just the facts" a national catchphrase. The radio cast and format carried straight into the long-running TV series, seeding Webb's Mark VII franchise.
Collection status:
375 of 397 held (94% complete)
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Episode Spine
Grouped by year. Jump to the full list below, or open a season on its own page.
- 1949 (40 episodes)
- 1950 (52 episodes)
- 1951 (54 episodes)
- 1952 (52 episodes)
- 1953 (44 episodes)
- 1954 (52 episodes)
- 1955 (53 episodes)
- 1956 (41 episodes)
- 1957 (9 episodes)
1949
June 3, 1949
(no official title)
Friday and Romero hunt the gunmen who shot down two police officers.
June 10, 1949
Homicide
A robber who beats and holds up waitresses draws Friday onto a violent trail.
A barroom holdup ends in gunfire, and Friday goes after the trigger-happy stickup men.
June 24, 1949
Homicide
Friday works the killing of Helen Corday, bludgeoned to death with a pipe.
A bandit posing as a policeman preys on motorists until Friday closes in.
Friday races to stop a man threatening to blow up City Hall.
A Missing Persons detail sends Friday searching for the vanished Juanita Lasky in a Christmas story.
July 28, 1949
Big Missing
Friday chases the crew behind a string of narcotics thefts from local hospitals.
A woman is slain and mutilated, and Friday hurries to catch a killer before he strikes again.
August 11, 1949
Homicide
Sixteen jewel thefts point Friday toward an elusive burglar.
Friday runs down a three-man crew responsible for eighteen holdups.
Organized car-burglary gangs strike across the city, and Friday moves to break them.
September 1, 1949
Myra, the Redhead
When Eric Kelby's wife disappears, Friday's inquiry turns up a grim discovery.
Friday hunts a kidnapper known only as 'The Wolf.'
The killing of a police officer sends Friday on a relentless pursuit.
A mass killer is loose in the city, and Friday works against the clock to stop him.
Friday goes after a gang of truck hijackers.
October 1, 1949
Tom Laval
Two officers are gunned down, and Friday takes up the hunt for their killer.
October 13, 1949
Big Buy
A large cache of stolen heroin reaches the streets, and Friday works to trace it.
October 20, 1949
Big Lamp
A safecracker has been at work for seven months before Friday picks up the trail.
October 27, 1949
Big Drink
Friday investigates the brutal slaying of a woman.
November 3, 1949
Casco and Breen
A pair of forgers flood the city with worthless checks, and Friday tracks them down.
November 10, 1949
Big Bar
A savage killer roams the streets while Friday works a violent robbery case.
November 17, 1949
Harry Girard
Friday pursues a confidence man who has swindled citizens out of $200,000.
Friday investigates the murder of a sixty-two-year-old woman.
November 24, 1949
Mother-in-law Murder
Friday confronts an organized juvenile gang behind a wave of crimes.
Eight thousand dollars in jade is stolen, and Friday works the theft.
December 8, 1949
Jade Thumb Rings
Friday investigates the murder of Laura Barclay.
A nine-year-old boy vanishes just before Christmas, and Friday races the clock to bring him home.
December 22, 1949
Twenty-two Rifle for
A rash of armed holdups keeps Friday on the robbers' trail.
1950
Friday joins the manhunt after convict Max Tyler breaks out of prison.
January 5, 1950
Big Escape
Friday works to crack an active narcotics ring in the first half of a two-part case.
Friday closes in on the narcotics ring as the two-part case reaches its end.
Friday hunts the killer of two small girls.
A girl hitchhiker shoots a motorist, and Friday runs her down.
Friday goes after Wallace, a smooth confidence man working the city.
A cop is killed out of revenge, and Friday works the case.
Friday tracks an ex-murderess who has broken parole.
Friday hunts four young hoodlums wanted for a string of robberies.
With a gangland war looming, Friday moves to head it off in the first of a two-parter.
Friday works to stop the gang war as the two-part case concludes.
Friday traces a supply of obscene books reaching juveniles.
A thief has been victimizing Army officers, and Friday moves to stop him.
Friday works the case of Sheila Gordon, struck down in traffic.
The murder of a police officer sends Friday after a fugitive con man.
A bandit posing as a policeman preys on the public until Friday intervenes.
Friday hunts a teenage boy slashing young women.
An elderly woman is beaten in a robbery, and Friday goes after her attacker.
A body is found in a churchyard, and Friday works the homicide.
Friday looks into a rookie officer accused of assault.
A woman is shot dead in a hotel room, and Friday investigates.
A woman is beaten in a robbery as the show marks its first anniversary.
The owner of a fur store is murdered, and Friday works the killing.
A phony policeman abducts a woman, and Friday hunts him down.
A dead man is found in a gutter, and Friday untangles a traffic case.
Friday races to stop a man trying to blow up City Hall.
Friday takes on Cheney, the 'gentleman bandit,' in the first of a two-part case.
The gentleman-bandit case reaches its conclusion.
A woman is stabbed to death, and Friday works the homicide.
An actor is caught stealing narcotics, and Friday takes the case.
Friday looks into a spree of green-paint vandalism by juveniles.
A highway patrolman goes missing, and Friday searches for him.
Friday works to shut down a check-forgery racket.
An elderly couple vanish, and Friday's inquiry turns toward homicide.
A shop owner and his daughter are shot, and Friday hunts the gunman.
A pair of thieves loot homes across the city until Friday closes in.
Friday goes undercover after being hired to kill a woman.
A salesman is shot dead by a bandit, and Friday works the case.
A burglar posing as a doctor works the city, and Friday runs him down.
Friday tracks an old woman passing bad checks.
Drug peddlers are on the loose, and Friday moves against them.
A man receives threatening letters, and Friday's case turns deadly.
A newborn baby is kidnapped, and Friday races to recover the child.
A man, his wife, and their parrot are found dead, and Friday works the puzzle.
Friday goes after swindlers peddling worthless watches.
Fifteen markets are robbed, and Friday hunts the crew behind them.
Friday breaks up a racket using lewd photos and fake scout troops.
Friday closes in on robbery suspect George Hoffman.
A nine-year-old boy vanishes just before Christmas, and Friday races the clock to bring him home.
December 21, 1950
Twenty-two Rifle for
A wealthy businessman goes missing, and Friday takes the case.
1951
Friday hunts the 'Rattlesnake Bandit' behind a deadly holdup.
Friday works to talk a man down from a thirteenth-floor ledge.
A crew of young bandits strikes, and Friday moves to stop them.
Marijuana is being sold to teenagers, and Friday goes after the dealers.
Three children are found abandoned, and Friday searches for answers.
Twelve men vanish, and Friday works a baffling case.
Four-year-old twins go missing, and Friday races to find them.
Friday goes after a husband-and-wife bunco team.
A bandit robs a jewelry store, and Friday hunts him down.
A cop-killer is loose on New Year's Eve, and Friday takes up the chase.
A man is robbed, beaten, and left without his car, and Friday works the case.
A former actress is murdered, and Friday investigates.
Friday pursues a con man swindling trusting women.
A woman is killed by someone close to her, and Friday finds the truth.
Robbery victims are being beaten, and Friday moves to stop the attacker.
A young drug addict shoots a doctor, and Friday takes the case.
Friday's inquiry into an auto-theft ring leads to Herman's salvage yard.
Friday investigates the death of Mrs. Robinson, found dead at home.
A string of grocery-store burglaries draws Friday's attention.
A mother is murdered in her bed, and Friday works the homicide.
Friday goes after a thief looting mailboxes across the city.
Heroin pushers are working the streets, and Friday moves against them.
A ten-year-old boy disappears, and Friday searches for him.
A dentist's wife goes missing, and Friday's case turns grim.
Two elderly women are run down, and Friday hunts the driver.
An old man's wife is found dead, and Friday works the case.
A wife and child vanish, and Friday's search leads toward homicide.
Thieves are looting the homes of the wealthy, and Friday closes in.
A boy turns to stealing to feed his family, and Friday steps in.
A man is kidnapped for ransom, and Friday races to recover him.
An organized burglary gang strikes, and Friday moves to break it.
Friday shuts down a crooked TV-repair racket.
An elderly man is killed, and Friday works the homicide.
Truck hijackers strike again, and Friday takes up the trail.
A thirty-year-old woman's twin sister goes missing, and Friday investigates.
Friday breaks up a teenage narcotics ring.
September 6, 1951
Big Seventeen
A sixty-four-year-old shopkeeper is killed, and Friday finds the culprit.
An elderly couple is robbed, and Friday hunts the thieves.
A secretary is beaten to death by a steel-pipe killer, and Friday tracks him.
Friday goes after crooked dealers running an auto-theft scheme.
Friday works to catch a compulsive shoplifter.
Churches are being burglarized, and Friday moves to stop the thief.
Eleven food markets are held up, and Friday hunts the crew.
Chester Dillon goes missing, and Friday's inquiry turns to homicide.
A bakery truck runs down a woman and boy, and Friday hunts the driver.
An informer fingers a burglar, and Friday moves in.
An unidentified woman is found killed, and Friday works to name her.
Jewelry stores are being held up, and Friday goes after the robbers.
A forty-year-old mother is knifed to death, and Friday works the case.
A banker's daughter is abducted, and Friday races to recover her.
A nine-year-old boy vanishes just before Christmas, and Friday races the clock to bring him home.
December 20, 1951
Twenty-two Rifle for
Sgt. Ben Romero dies of a heart attack as Friday takes on two escaped convicts, in an episode dedicated to the late Barton Yarborough.
1952
Friday takes on a hundred-thousand-dollar narcotics ring in the first of a two-part case.
The narcotics-ring case reaches its conclusion.
Friday steps into a teenage gang war.
A case of mistaken identity complicates Friday's robbery investigation.
Ralph Tabor disappears, and Friday works the case.
Friday goes after a swindler who preys on women through marriage.
Friday questions a suspect in a robbery.
Friday traces obscene books circulating at a high school.
Florence Abbett goes missing, and Friday's inquiry turns grim.
Friday looks into a false charge leveled against a policeman.
An apartment owner plots arson, and Friday's case turns to homicide.
Friday joins the hunt for escapees from San Quentin.
Rose Baker goes missing, and Friday searches for her.
A wife shoots her husband, and a passing streetcar helps Friday pin down the scene.
A seven-week-old baby is abandoned, and Friday works the case as new partner Bill Lockwood joins him.
Friday goes after a swindler peddling a fake business opportunity.
A woman's body is found in an elevator, and Friday works the homicide.
Friday investigates a safe burglary.
Friday works a vice-detail case built around a night's big game.
A U.S. mail truck is robbed, and Friday hunts the crew.
Friday breaks up an extortion racket run by a phony cop.
An eight-month-old baby is stolen, and Friday races to recover the child.
A woman is killed with chloroform, and Friday works the homicide.
Friday goes after crooks running a phony-charity bunco racket.
Narcotics are pouring into the city, and Friday moves to cut off the supply.
Ken Gorman is abducted, and Friday works to bring him back.
Friday walks through three linked traffic-accident cases.
A man is found in a freight car beside a woman's body, and Friday investigates.
Two ex-cons rob an old man, and Friday hunts them down.
A jewelry salesman is robbed, and Friday works the case.
A body is found in a vacant lot, and Friday works the homicide.
A check forger is loose, and Friday goes after him.
A mother's son fakes his own killing in Mexico, and Friday untangles it.
A husband is poisoned at dinner and dies, and Friday works the case.
A burglar has made off with eighty thousand dollars, and Friday hunts him.
Friday works the Bull Bentley robbery as the show moves to Sundays for Chesterfield.
A man is shot at the Pink Rat nightclub as Officer Frank Smith joins Friday's beat.
A badly beaten man is found in a car trunk, and Friday works the case.
A high-school student sparks a near-riot in class, and Friday steps in.
Edith Curtis's son is killed, and Friday works the homicide.
Two Marines are poisoned, and Friday hunts the culprit.
A bank is robbed by a bandaged bandit, and Friday takes the case.
A death on a movie set draws Friday into a homicide inquiry.
A woman's body is found in an apartment closet, and Friday investigates.
Friday works a high-grade heroin bust in Los Angeles.
Friday hunts a necktie strangler.
A man is found dead in a pawnshop, and Friday works the case.
A burglary points to an inside job, and Friday finds the culprit.
A tip on a big heroin buy sends Friday after the dealers.
A nine-year-old boy vanishes just before Christmas, and Friday races the clock to bring him home.
December 21, 1952
Twenty-two Rifle for
A black-masked bandit strikes as Friday opens a two-part case.
1953
The masked-bandit case reaches its conclusion.
A kindly-looking old woman passes bad checks, and Friday tracks her.
A wife goes missing with foul play suspected, and Friday investigates.
A father reports his son as a drug addict, and Friday steps in.
A sixteen-year-old boy dies in a stolen-car chase, and Friday works the case.
Two men are passing bad checks, and Friday runs them down.
A woman's mother disappears, and Friday searches for her.
A man is killed and his wife beaten, and Friday works the homicide.
Friday pursues a wanted burglary suspect turned fugitive.
A smooth talker cheats a woman, and Friday goes after him.
An invalid robs a market, and Friday untangles the improbable case.
Three men are arrested for nine burglaries after Friday works an informant's tip.
An old man robs a liquor store, and Friday takes the case.
Two men rob a store and shoot it out, and Friday hunts them.
Friday traces a rash of phony emergency calls.
A run of office-safe burglaries keeps Friday on the trail.
Three jewel thieves from San Diego draw Friday's attention.
An eight-thousand-dollar necklace is stolen, and Friday works the theft.
A man is offered five thousand dollars to kill, and Friday intervenes.
A man confesses to a grocery-market robbery, and Friday tests the story.
A rental truck is stolen as Friday opens a two-part auto-theft case.
The stolen-truck case reaches its conclusion.
A fifty-five-year-old man is shot, and Friday works the homicide.
A woman is beaten by her husband, and Friday steps in.
Harry Borg goes missing, and Friday searches for him.
A young girl is killed with a .22, and Friday works the season's last case.
A lone thief robs a string of stores as the new season opens.
Seventeen residential burglaries draw Friday onto the trail.
A run of robberies and beatings keeps Friday on the hunt.
A dealer takes in a stolen car, and Friday works the auto-theft case.
Friday works to reach a man on the brink of suicide.
Friday tracks a woman forging checks.
Friday goes after two holdup men.
Friday hunts a ring of car thieves.
Friday breaks up an extortion ring.
A woman is found badly beaten in a gutter, and Friday works the case.
Friday steps into a teenage gang war.
Friday hunts three holdup men.
Friday tracks the 'Milk Bottle Kid' behind a run of market robberies.
Friday goes after a crew of truck hijackers.
Friday works to catch a ring of pickpockets and a fugitive.
Friday hunts a bank-robbery gang.
A statue of the infant Jesus is stolen from a parish church, and Friday works the case through the holidays.
Friday goes after a crew of fur-coat thieves.
1954
Friday moves against a counterfeiting ring.
A young girl attempts suicide, and Friday works the case.
An elderly woman disappears, and Friday searches for her.
Friday investigates a clothing-store burglary.
Friday works the case of abandoned children.
A couple robs and terrorizes liquor stores, and Friday runs them down.
Friday goes after a swindler peddling fake diamonds.
A young woman is slain with a lead pipe, and Friday works the homicide.
A mother and her nine-month-old baby go missing, and Friday searches for them.
An elderly woman is beaten to death, and Friday hunts her killer.
A young woman is run down and left, and Friday goes after the hit-and-run driver.
A man robs a supermarket, and Friday works the case.
Paul Marcus confesses to killing Lorraine Farrol, and Friday tests the confession.
Two gunmen hold up a bank, and Friday hunts them.
Friday traces drug addiction spreading among teenagers.
Fourteen women are robbed and beaten by an unknown man, and Friday closes in.
Friday breaks up an organized gang of shoplifters.
A cop-killer is on the loose, and Friday takes up the chase.
A woman is badly beaten, and Friday works the case.
Check passers hit fifty stores, and Friday runs down the crew.
A market robbery draws Friday onto the trail.
A man convinced Indians are coming leads Friday into a strange homicide.
Bank robbers strike again, and Friday hunts them.
A circus panther escapes, and Friday works the odd auto-theft case around it.
An officer is shot on routine patrol, and Friday goes after the gunman.
A dead man is found in a lake, and Friday's narcotics case deepens.
Thirteen-year-old Bunny Moran disappears, and Friday searches for her.
Two armed men terrorize the city, and Friday moves to stop them.
House break-ins keep occurring on Fridays, and Friday hunts the burglar.
Friday goes after an auction-house robber.
A man is shot on a street corner, and Friday works the homicide.
A drug ring is supplying teenagers, and Friday moves against it.
Four thousand dollars in narcotics is stolen, and Friday hunts the thief.
A gang is breaking into stores, and Friday closes in.
Friday works through a wave of a hundred and seventy crimes in a single day.
Josephine Allen disappears, and Friday's inquiry turns grim.
A jewelry store is robbed, and Friday works the burglary.
A hit-and-run accident draws Friday into a homicide inquiry.
Friday works an attempted-suicide case.
A gang of thieves strikes, and Friday hunts them.
Ethel Graham goes missing, and Friday searches for her.
A man fails to return home, and Friday works the Missing Persons case.
A rash of drugstore robberies draws Friday onto the trail.
A man pawns a stolen ring, and Friday works the burglary case.
Friday hunts a firebug burglar.
An old man's dog is poisoned, and Friday's case turns to homicide.
A woman calls to say her husband is dead, and Friday works the homicide.
A flower shop is held up, and Friday takes the case.
A woman says her sister is missing, and Friday's search turns grim.
A woman is kidnapped and robbed, and Friday races to recover her.
A statue of the infant Jesus is stolen from a parish church, and Friday works the case through the holidays.
A used-car lot is robbed, and Friday works the burglary.
1955
Holdup men terrorize the downtown area, and Friday moves to stop them.
A junior high school is vandalized, and Friday steps in.
A gunman terrorizes downtown, and Friday goes after him.
A man passes bad checks, and Friday tracks him down.
Burglaries plague the San Fernando Valley, and Friday works the cases.
A pawnbroker suspects a swindle, and Friday looks into it.
A diamond merchant is robbed, and Friday hunts the thief.
A shooting in a liquor store draws Friday into a homicide case.
Drugs are being sold to juveniles, and Friday moves against the dealers.
Friday hunts a prowler working the Silver Lake district.
Two holdup men rob a bar patron, and Friday goes after them.
A watch salesman is robbed, and Friday works the case.
A man is shot in a hotel room, and Friday investigates.
A shotgun bandit holds up a downtown hotel, and Friday hunts him.
A necktie warehouse is robbed, and Friday works the burglary.
Friday goes after a gang of car thieves.
A two-year-old child is found dead, and Friday works the case.
An employer skips town with company records, and Friday tracks the fugitive.
A suspect is found but two hundred thousand dollars in loot is missing, and Friday digs in.
A teenage boy is found knifed and beaten in an alley, and Friday works the case.
A bank holdup leaves a guard dead, and Friday hunts the robbers.
A man steals three hundred dollars from a woman's apartment, and Friday finds him.
Friday uncovers a plot to hold up a brother's loan company.
A delicatessen is robbed, and Friday works the case.
A six-year-old girl is kidnapped, and Friday races to recover her.
Friday tracks a crew passing phony payroll checks.
Two men terrorize a string of taverns, and Friday goes after them.
A teenage boy steals food, and Friday steps in.
Friday works an internal-affairs case against a phony cop taking bribes.
A phony maid robs the houses she works, and Friday runs her down.
Friday investigates a drugstore burglary.
A woman's husband is planning a holdup, and Friday moves to stop it.
A night watchman is murdered, and Friday works the homicide.
Jeff Craner is swindled out of forty thousand dollars, and Friday hunts the con artist.
Two holdup men are headed for Los Angeles, and Friday prepares to intercept them.
A fresh heroin supply reaches the city, and Friday moves against it.
A man is selling heroin from his home, and Friday closes in.
A dead man is found in a motel, and Friday works what became the series' last new case.
A man is shot at the Pink Rat nightclub, and Friday works the robbery.
A badly beaten man is found in a car trunk, and Friday works the case.
A high-school student sparks a near-riot in class, and Friday steps in.
Edith Curtis's son is killed, and Friday works the homicide.
Two Marines are poisoned, and Friday hunts the culprit.
A bank is robbed by a bandaged bandit, and Friday takes the case.
A death on a movie set draws Friday into a homicide inquiry.
A woman's body is found in an apartment closet, and Friday investigates.
Friday works a high-grade heroin bust in Los Angeles.
Friday hunts a necktie strangler.
A man is found dead in a pawnshop, and Friday works the case.
A burglary points to an inside job, and Friday finds the culprit.
A nine-year-old boy vanishes just before Christmas, and Friday races the clock to bring him home.
December 20, 1955
Twenty-two Rifle for
A black-masked bandit strikes as Friday opens a two-part case.
1956
The masked-bandit case reaches its conclusion.
A kindly-looking old woman passes bad checks, and Friday tracks her.
A wife goes missing with foul play suspected, and Friday investigates.
A father reports his son as a drug addict, and Friday steps in.
A sixteen-year-old boy dies in a stolen-car chase, and Friday works the case.
Two men are passing bad checks, and Friday runs them down.
A woman's mother disappears, and Friday searches for her.
A man is killed and his wife beaten, and Friday works the homicide.
Friday pursues a wanted burglary suspect turned fugitive.
A smooth talker cheats a woman, and Friday goes after him.
An invalid robs a market, and Friday untangles the improbable case.
A nine-year-old boy vanishes just before Christmas, and Friday races the clock to bring him home.
Three men are arrested for nine burglaries after Friday works an informant's tip.
An old man robs a liquor store, and Friday takes the case.
Two men rob a store and shoot it out, and Friday hunts them.
Friday traces a rash of phony emergency calls.
A run of office-safe burglaries keeps Friday on the trail.
Three jewel thieves from San Diego draw Friday's attention.
An eight-thousand-dollar necklace is stolen, and Friday works the theft.
A man is offered five thousand dollars to kill, and Friday intervenes.
A man confesses to a grocery-market robbery, and Friday tests the story.
A rental truck is stolen as Friday opens a two-part auto-theft case.
The stolen-truck case reaches its conclusion.
A fifty-five-year-old man is shot, and Friday works the homicide.
A woman is beaten by her husband, and Friday steps in.
Harry Borg goes missing, and Friday searches for him.
A young girl is killed with a .22, and Friday works the case.
A lone thief robs a string of stores, and Friday hunts him.
Seventeen residential burglaries draw Friday onto the trail.
A run of robberies and beatings keeps Friday on the hunt.
A dealer takes in a stolen car, and Friday works the auto-theft case.
Friday hunts three holdup men.
Friday tracks the 'Milk Bottle Kid' behind a run of market robberies.
Friday goes after a crew of truck hijackers.
Friday works to catch a ring of pickpockets and a fugitive.
Friday hunts a bank-robbery gang.
Friday goes after a crew of fur-coat thieves.
Friday moves against a counterfeiting ring.
A young girl attempts suicide, and Friday works the case.
An elderly woman disappears, and Friday searches for her.
A statue of the infant Jesus is stolen from a parish church, and Friday works the case through the holidays.
1957
Friday investigates a clothing-store burglary.
Friday works the case of abandoned children.
A couple robs and terrorizes liquor stores, and Friday runs them down.
Friday goes after a swindler peddling fake diamonds.
A young woman is slain with a lead pipe, and Friday works the homicide.
A mother and her nine-month-old baby go missing, and Friday searches for them.
An elderly woman is beaten to death, and Friday hunts her killer.
A young woman is run down and left, and Friday goes after the hit-and-run driver.
A man robs a supermarket, and Friday works the case.
The Story
"Ladies and gentlemen: the story you are about to hear is true. Only the names have been changed to protect the innocent." With those words, Dragnet reset American crime drama. Premiering on NBC in 1949, it followed LAPD Sergeant Joe Friday and his partners through by-the-book police work -- Homicide, Robbery, Burglary, Missing Persons -- rendered with a documentary flatness that ran from patrols and paperwork to lab work and questioning. Later episodes carried the famous "The Big ____" titles, each naming the trivial detail that proved to be the key. Jack Webb created, produced, and starred in it, building the show from his bit part as a forensic scientist in the 1948 film He Walked by Night and from real cases shared by LAPD Sgt. Marty Wynn. Webb rode night patrols, sat in on Police Academy courses, and insisted on underplayed realism -- "as real as a guy pouring a cup of coffee." Verisimilitude was everywhere: the LAPD's actual call sign KMA367, real officials' names, Walter Schumann's ominous four-note theme. When partner Barton Yarborough died in 1951, his character Sgt. Ben Romero was written out with a heart attack. Dragnet became one of the most influential procedurals in media history, lifted public opinion of police, and made "Just the facts" a national catchphrase. The radio cast and format carried straight into the long-running TV series, seeding Webb's Mark VII franchise.
Full story — coming soon while it's being curated.
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