The original 1951-58 DRAGNET is my all-time favorite TV series. The 1949-51 DRAGNET is my all-time favorite radio series. The DRAGNET movie, a huge box office hit in the late Summer of 1954, was and still is the best TV to movie adaptation ever done, and #6 on my Best List for that best of all Movie Years. On top of all that, I wrote Jack Webb what amounted to a fan letter, and he wrote me back - trademark black flow pen signature and all.
So, if you're looking for a pan, don't hold your breath. Jack Webb was a genius, pure and simple; DRAGNET in its early years was a work of art nearly every week, with all the classic pieces firmly in place. Others have mentioned favorite episodes; I agree on each, but would like to especially note "The Big Little Jesus", the famous Christmas episode first telecast in 1953. Ever the innovator, Jack filmed that show in Color, at a time when Color TV was in its infancy. By the next year (1954) we had an RCA 18 inch TV.
This made it possible to see Betty Hutton in Max Liebman's "Satins and Spurs", the Army- Navy game, and Frank and Joe's search for the stolen statue. Richard Breen's brilliant script was perfect, with lines that still bring an emotional response: "Particularly thieves, Sergeant." "Paco's family, they're very poor." "Are they, Father?"
Another episode I always liked, "The Big White Rat", showed the daily grind of police work as usual, but forced the cops to shoot the last of several toxic lab rats, one of which had become a kid's pet before the bubonic plague infected rats had been diagnosed. Joe and Frank end up in the crawlspace of Ann Doran's home, finally killing Sammy Ogg's pet rat. Doran, concerned over her son's grief, and unaware of the cops' mission, lays into Friday and Smith: "We pay taxes, which help pay your salary, right?.....Tell me, what have you done today to earn it??"
But all this isn't going to be very useful. Let me say then, DRAGNET is a true classic; one that has aged well, inspired any number of copycats, none close to as good; and has a direct descendant, LAW AND ORDER: SVU, still drawing decent ratings on NBC in its tenth season. Jack Webb was a pioneer and a genius. DRAGNET is his masterpiece, and his legacy.
Digressing a bit, Jack Webb created several other very good TV shows and at least two great and unique movies (aside from DRAGNET): PETE KELLY'S BLUES and THE D. I. Sadly, Mr. Webb died of lung cancer on December 20, 1982 at age 62, a victim of his longtime sponsor, Liggett & Myers.
So, if you're looking for a pan, don't hold your breath. Jack Webb was a genius, pure and simple; DRAGNET in its early years was a work of art nearly every week, with all the classic pieces firmly in place. Others have mentioned favorite episodes; I agree on each, but would like to especially note "The Big Little Jesus", the famous Christmas episode first telecast in 1953. Ever the innovator, Jack filmed that show in Color, at a time when Color TV was in its infancy. By the next year (1954) we had an RCA 18 inch TV.
This made it possible to see Betty Hutton in Max Liebman's "Satins and Spurs", the Army- Navy game, and Frank and Joe's search for the stolen statue. Richard Breen's brilliant script was perfect, with lines that still bring an emotional response: "Particularly thieves, Sergeant." "Paco's family, they're very poor." "Are they, Father?"
Another episode I always liked, "The Big White Rat", showed the daily grind of police work as usual, but forced the cops to shoot the last of several toxic lab rats, one of which had become a kid's pet before the bubonic plague infected rats had been diagnosed. Joe and Frank end up in the crawlspace of Ann Doran's home, finally killing Sammy Ogg's pet rat. Doran, concerned over her son's grief, and unaware of the cops' mission, lays into Friday and Smith: "We pay taxes, which help pay your salary, right?.....Tell me, what have you done today to earn it??"
But all this isn't going to be very useful. Let me say then, DRAGNET is a true classic; one that has aged well, inspired any number of copycats, none close to as good; and has a direct descendant, LAW AND ORDER: SVU, still drawing decent ratings on NBC in its tenth season. Jack Webb was a pioneer and a genius. DRAGNET is his masterpiece, and his legacy.
Digressing a bit, Jack Webb created several other very good TV shows and at least two great and unique movies (aside from DRAGNET): PETE KELLY'S BLUES and THE D. I. Sadly, Mr. Webb died of lung cancer on December 20, 1982 at age 62, a victim of his longtime sponsor, Liggett & Myers.