Dragnet: '51 to '59 series or '67 to '70?

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by Ophelia, Jan 10, 2017.

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  1. Jason Pumphrey

    Jason Pumphrey Forum Resident

    A lot of the 50s shows are most likely lost.
    Around 50 or so episodes are available on various public domain compilation DVDs.
     
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  2. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    50s
     
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  3. R. Totale

    R. Totale The Voice of Reason

    Then there's the modern version (NSFW, language)

     
  4. PaulKTF

    PaulKTF Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    :laugh: That is outstanding!
     
  5. ChadHahn

    ChadHahn Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tucson, AZ, USA
  6. Jason Pumphrey

    Jason Pumphrey Forum Resident

    Jan Michael Vincent in one of his very first acting jobs
     
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  7. Jason Pumphrey

    Jason Pumphrey Forum Resident

    Harry Morgan gets whacked by Jack Webb!
     
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  8. PaulKTF

    PaulKTF Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    Wow! That's pretty cool!
     
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  9. Jason Pumphrey

    Jason Pumphrey Forum Resident

    His name was also Joe!
    That film is where he and Harry Morgan became great friends, also another friend of Jack Webb, Stacy Harris was also in the film.
     
  10. JozefK

    JozefK Forum Resident

    Location:
    Dixie
    They'd already been at odds the year before as bookies in Dark City. Harry thought they shouldn't have clipped naive Don Defore in a crooked poker game. Of course Jack had no such compunctions.

    [​IMG]
     
  11. Jason Pumphrey

    Jason Pumphrey Forum Resident

    An episode of Dragnet that was definitely ahead of its time
     
  12. Dude111

    Dude111 An Awesome Dude

    Location:
    US
    I would also say BOTH as well as the original radio show!!
     
  13. PaulKTF

    PaulKTF Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
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  14. ky658

    ky658 Senior Member

    Location:
    Ft Myers, Florida
    Gotta go with the later version ('67-'70), it was a perfect reflection of Los Angeles at the time:

     
  15. PaulKTF

    PaulKTF Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    Thank god the episodes' picture quality is better than that promo! :)
     
  16. dance_hall_keeper

    dance_hall_keeper Forum Resident

    I can't even estimate how long it's been since I saw one of the original episodes with Ben Alexander.
     
  17. Jason Pumphrey

    Jason Pumphrey Forum Resident

    Shout did a fine job with the transfers.
     
  18. PaulKTF

    PaulKTF Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    They did to be sure, but I also remember it looking pretty good in syndication in the late 80's and early 90's.
     
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  19. Jason Pumphrey

    Jason Pumphrey Forum Resident

    Shout Factory what Anchor Bay used to be, a killer reissue company.
     
  20. PaulKTF

    PaulKTF Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    I just wish there were some extras on the Dragnet DVDs. I don't think there are any on any of the season sets. Oh well, it's still nice to have the episodes in really good quality.
     
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  21. Jason Pumphrey

    Jason Pumphrey Forum Resident

    Actually season 2 has some pretty nice interviews with some of the surviving members, plus there's a few small extras on the other two seasons, Universal did the first series and it had an extra radio episode
     
  22. PaulKTF

    PaulKTF Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    Oops, I guess I should pull out the DVDs more often. :)
     
  23. Jason Pumphrey

    Jason Pumphrey Forum Resident

    yup, I need to get all the Adam 12 and Emergency! sets as well.
     
  24. Dr. Pepper

    Dr. Pepper What, me worry?

    Last edited: Jan 13, 2017
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  25. R. Cat Conrad

    R. Cat Conrad Almost Famous

    Location:
    D/FW Metroplex
    From my perspective ...taken for whatever you think it's worth... the 1950's Dragnet was cutting edge for it's time and a fairly accurate reflection of contemporary police procedures. It was artfully done. Even if police actions were consistently depicted as more trustworthy than a reflection of real life, those portrayals demonstrated the honorable ideal of protect and serve. We always felt that Joe Friday was just an average guy doing a hard job for too little pay.

    The 60's version is a different animal altogether. The addition of color did nothing to make the show more realistic. Instead, it looked more stagey. The storylines may have appeared real to a middle American demographic, but the characters often came across as painfully doctrinaire and cliché. Dragnet had become camp ...often laughably so... in the eyes of younger viewers seeking entertainment more honest and reflective of the changing 60's culture.

    There were programs that broke ground in approaching changing cultural realities honestly, but rarely law enforcement. The Defenders comes to mind as a courtroom series that pushed the envelope in addressing current events such as racism, drugs, delinquency, civil rights, abuse, the death penalty and many other social gray areas in an open and honest fashion. Alas, Dragnet did not make similar strides. The 60's reincarnation turned into a kinda feel good law and order show that either avoided or played it safe with controversy to the point of being preachy.

    In the 50's, Jack Webb's character was a dedicated hard working cop with a good moral compass. By the 60's Joe Friday had become a slightly grumpier Dutch Uncle, the compass was still there, but now he dealt out fortune cookie philosophy to cardboard stereotypes who were seen as irredeemable to many of the middle American viewers tuning in.

    My hope is that someone with deep enough pockets and connections will locate, acquire and make the effort to restore all of the available 50's era Dragnet episodes in a series package. This show holds up well in spite of most episodes being B&W. Law enforcement was different in the 50's, but the shows hold up well as a retrospective on police work from that era, and they're entertaining without being camp.

    :cheers:
    Cat
     
    Last edited: Jan 13, 2017
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