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The show was created and produced by Jack Webb, who also starred as Sgt. Friday. It was advertised as a true-crime police show, told from the point of view of a hard-bitten detective on the Los Angeles police force. It's said that Webb hung out at police headquarters and attended classes at the police academy to help him bring authenticity to the show, a connection referenced by the fictional Badge of Honor show depicted in the movie L.A. Confidential.
The series has been credited for playing a major role in dramatically improving the public image of the police in the USA.
On every broadcast, the announcer stated that "The story you are about to hear is true. Only the names have been changed, to protect the innocent." "Hear" was changed to "see" for the television version.
Two other hallmarks of the TV show came at the end of each episode:
Dragnet first appeared on television in January of 1952. Friday's original partner in the TV episodes (as on the radio) was Sgt. Ben Romero, played by Barton Yarborough , who died after only three episodes were filmed. The Romero character was soon replaced by Officer Frank Smith, played by Ben Alexander. Alexander continued in the role through the show's original run, which ended in 1959Events January-February January 1 Cultivars of plants named after this date must be named in a modern language, not in Latin. January 1 Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when forces of Fidel Castro advance January 2 CBS Radio cuts four soap operas: Bac. While Dragnet was still on the air, reruns began to air in syndication as Badge 714. In 1954Events January events January 14 The Hudson Motor Car Company merges with Nash-Kelvinator forming the American Motors Corporation January 14 Marilyn Monroe weds Joe DiMaggio. January 15 Mau Mau leader Waruhiu Itote is captured in Kenya January 20 The Nati, a theatrical movie of the same name aired, with Webb, Alexander, and Richard BooneRichard Allen Boone ( June 18 1917 January 10 1981) was an American actor who starred in over fifty films. Boone was born in Los Angeles, California. He worked in several odd jobs, including boxing and painting, before serving in World War II in the US Na.
In 1966Events January January 1 In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bedel Bokassa ousts president David Dacko and takes over the Central African Republic. January 2 Strike of public transportation workers in New York City ends January 13 January 3 First Acid Test at the Fil, a TV movie, also called Dragnet, aired. Starring Jack Webb and Harry MorganHarry Morgan (born April 10, 1915, Detroit, Michigan) is an American television actor. He is best known as Colonel Sherman Potter on M A S H''. He was also Bill Gannon, Joe Friday's partner, on Dragnet Pete in "Pete and Gladys" and the judge in Inherit th as his partner Bill Gannon, it spawned a new series, Dragnet 1967, which aired until 1970Events January events January 1 Construction begins on Arcosanti, by Paolo Soleri, in Mayer, Arizona, located 65, miles north of Phoenix, Arizona. January 1 Unix epoch at 00:00:00 UTC. January 12 Biafra capitulates, ending the Nigerian civil war. January, the title year changing with each season.
In 1982Events January January 6 William Bonin is convicted of being the "freeway killer". January 8 AT&T agrees to divest itself of twenty-two subdivisions January 11 Mark Thatcher, son of the British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, disappears in the Sahara du, when Jack Webb died, the Chief of the Los Angeles Police DepartmentThe Los Angeles Police Department (usually known as the LAPD is the police department of the City of Los Angeles, California. It is one of the largest law enforcement agencies in the world with over 9,000 officers and 3,000 civilian staff, covering an are announced that badge number 714, the number used by Webb in the TV show, would be retired by the department and the number would never be used again.
In 1987, a comedy movie version of Dragnet appeared, starring Dan Aykroyd as the stiff Joe Friday (the original Detective Friday's nephew), and his partner Pep Streebeck, played by Tom Hanks. Harry Morgan would have a cameo role in the film, playing Bill Gannon, his character in the series.
In 1989, The New Dragnet appeared in first-run syndication, featuring all-new characters, and in 2003 yet another Dragnet series was produced by Dick Wolf, the producer of Law & Order, a series that was influenced by Dragnet. The most recent version starred Ed O'Neill as Joe Friday, and after a season that rather closely followed the traditional formula, the format of the series was changed to be more of an ensemble crime drama similar to . With this change came a new title, L.A. Dragnet and it focused less on Joe Friday. With most of the trappings that made Dragnet unique no longer in place, it became just another cops and robbers series and it was canceled in its second season.
Dragnet has been spoofed numerous times. In television, it has been parodied, for example, as a popular skit (featuring Webb and Johnny Carson) on The Tonight Show, and years later as "Mathnet," an ongoing film segment of the PBS series Square One TV. In music, Stan Freberg took a potshot at Dragnet in the spoken-word comedy take-off St. George and the Dragon-net , and Eric Burdon & The Animals spoofed the show's opening at the beginning of their hit single San Francisco Nights .