"LOS ANGELES: Jack Webb (R) now producing, directing, and starring in Universal TV's 'Dragnet 1966' receives his old police revolver and badge 714 from Los Angeles Police Chief William H. Parker. In 1958 when Webb stopped production of his 'Dragnet' series, he turned his revolver and badge over to Parker. In the new show, to be released over NBC-TV this fall, Webb will portray Joe Friday, the same character he made famous in his old show." 2/28/66
Color Dragnet was one of my favorite TV shows growing up, ever! I could (and still can) watch reruns of it over and over again. For me there was just something mesmerizing about unwavering 1950s police detective Joe Friday fighting crime with a psychedelic 1960s L.A. as the backdrop. The Hippies and the Squares, the old vs. the new, a city at war with itself, and one dedicated cop caught in the middle of it all. It was epic.
Thanks for presenting 'just the facts'.
ReplyDeleteI love it, too!
gfa
I'm a big Dragnet fan too. You may have already seen it, but if you haven't, check out the 1954 big screen Dragnet movie. Webb plays Friday as a hard-boiled tough guy. The plot details the search for the perpetrators of a mob hit. It's not a mystery to the audience, we see the murder go down at the beginning of the movie. The fun is in watching Joe Friday and his partner Frank Smith play cat and mouse with these mobsters. It's kind of like LA Confidential, without the sex and profanity. Here's a great scene from the movie:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9CxT48jIgI
Glad to know I’m not the only one out here guys.
ReplyDeleteJohn D - Yes it is a great movie and much more violent than the TV show ever could be. It was veteran character actor Dub Taylor who was the recipient of the mob hit. He was the one that got shot in the face with a shotgun at the beginning of the film. Quite graphic for 1954!