Dragnet (1951 TV series)

Dragnet is an American television series, enacting the cases of a dedicated Los Angeles police Detective, Sergeant Joe Friday, and his partners. The series is a spin off from the radio play of the same name. Both shows take their names from the police term "dragnet", meaning a system of coordinated measures for apprehending criminals or suspects.

The ominous, four-note introduction to the brass and tympani theme music (titled "Danger Ahead") is instantly recognizable (though its origins date to Miklós Rózsa's score for the 1946 film version of The Killers).

History

After its success on radio Dragnet was popular enough to move to Television. More important was that it brought continuity between the television and radio series.

Just before the show took its final commercial break, the show's announcer would inform the audience of something related to the case, usually the opening date on which the perpetrator's trial would take place in the Los Angeles County Superior Court (this would be accompanied by an onscreen card so the viewer could read along). After the break the camera faded in for what was presumably the perpetrator's mug shot, consisting of him/her standing uncomfortably against the wall, while the results of the trial were announced. The perpetrator's name and fate were then superimposed over the screen, specifically regarding what prison he/she was incarcerated in (or, in the case of perpetrators deemed unfit to stand trial, what state facility he/she was committed to).

Episodes

Broadcast history

• January 3, 1952—December 29, 1955: Thursday at 9:00 pm on NBC
• January 5, 1956—June 26, 1958: Thursday at 8:30 pm on NBC
• September 23, 1958—April 28, 1959: Tuesday at 7:30 pm on NBC
• July 7, 1959—August 23, 1959: Sunday at 8:30 pm on NBC

Ratings

• October 1951—April 1952: #20/36.3 (tied with All Star Revue)
• October 1952—April 1953: #4/46.8
• October 1953—April 1954: #2/53.2
• October 1954—April 1955: #3/42.1
• October 1955—April 1956: #8/35.0
• October 1956—April 1957: #11/32.1
• October 1957—April 1958: Not in the Top 30
• October 1958—April 1959: Not in the Top 30

DVD releases

Most, if not all, episodes of this series are in the public domain, and fifty-two episodes were released by many DVD labels.These collections feature a variety of the same fifty-two 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", "A .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 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 there are no onscreen titles.

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.

Sources

• Jason Mittell, Genre and Television: From Cop Shows to Cartoons in American Culture. Routledge, 2004, ISBN 0-415-96903-4.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dragnet (series).

• Dragnet (1951–59) at the Internet Movie Database
• Dragnet (1951) at TV.com