http://www.otrdetectives.com/dragnet/my-favorite-1960s-dragnet-1-the-big-departure/
And don’t forget his sidekick, Henry Morgan - he was great in MASH, too.
http://www.otrdetectives.com/dragnet/my-favorite-1960s-dragnet-1-the-big-departure/
I second your suggestion. I have listened every single one of the radio shows and still go back and listen again. Great radio plays and in my opinion better than either TV version Especially the second.
Damn, but we sure need a Joe Friday today.
The 1950s tv version of “Dragnet” really needs to circulate and be seen again (it has a harder edge to it than the late-60s version). Two dozen or so episodes are easily available, due to their public-domain status, but the prints tend to be pretty ratty. The whole 1950s run should be re-mastered and syndicated. It’s an important piece of americana. Yet it sits in film vaults, the vast majority of the run remaining unseen for generations.
Always loved Dragnet, and the semi-spinoff Adam 12.
Webb was also great in a neat little movie called “The D.I.” This is one of my favorite clips from it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=riYfFQMPIP0
“Just the facts ma’am” was first spoken in a Stan Freberg parody of “Dragnet”.
“During World War II, Webb enlisted in the United States Army Air Forces, but he “washed out” of flight training. After that happened, he applied for and received a hardship discharge, being the primary financial support for his mother and grandmother.[6]” Some “Hero”. I believe the word is “Chickenhawk”. Like Gingrich, Cheney, Bushie(43) and the like.
You can still listen to ‘crime time’, on Live 365 dot com.
Jack Webb was a man out of time, yet today, more of us seem to claim that niche, and never expected to, in our lives.
Jack Webb wrote a book titled “The Badge”. I have a print copy of it. It is Jack Webb reading it to you in your ‘reader’s ears’.
He was Persona Americanus.
From the article, the response to Occupy wahatever:
“Don’t think you have a corner on all the virtue, vision in the country, or that everybody else is fat and selfish and you’re the first generation to come along that’s felt dissatisfied. They all have, you know, about different things. Most of them didn’t have the same opportunity and freedoms that you do. Let’s talk poverty. Most places in the world that’s not a problem. That’s a way of life. And rights? They’re liable to give you a blank stare because they may not know what you’re talking about. The fact is more people are living better right here than anywhere else ever before in history. So don’t expect us to roll over and play dead when you say you’re dissatisfied.”
To add, one of the things I find appealing about “Dragnet” as well as most other old shows is their matter-of-fact, unpretentious dialogue. Reminds me of my parents and grandparents generations, which was just always brimming with straight-arrow conversations and plaintive common sense. Unlike the culture nowadays, which every line and every visual exudes a sort of cynical, naval-gazing self-consciousness. Sarcastic sub-texts to everything said or done. It wears so thin, to put it mildly.
Here is the 50s series in all its glory i have watched them all pretty good video quality.
Dragnet : The Big Oskar
The Big Oskar from the 1950’s series Dragnet
Keywords: Dragnet; Classic TV
Downloads: 10,325
Average rating: 5.0 stars (1 review)
http://archive.org/search.php?query=dragnet%20AND%20collection%3Amoviesandfilms
During his divorce, Jack Webb had the LAPD wiretape Julie London’s phone. So much for the myth.