Today’s episode will take us back 74 years to one of the all time classics of old time radio. Dragnet is a show that needs no introduction. Its impact spanned from a 1949 radio premier, all the way to a 2003 TV remake, Dragnet found incredible success in the late 40s and 50s, becoming one of radio and TVs biggest shows.
Most episodes take place in LA, where creator Jack Webb spent a long time trying to convince the LAPD to give him his endorsement to receive original case files. Each episode starts with the classic line that all the stories are true but “only the names are changed – to protect the innocent.” Webb’s goal for the show was to “realistically depict police officers in a broadcast series, without the forced melodrama heard in the numerous private-detective serials then common in radio programming.” This perspective no doubt originated from his starring role on the short lived “Pat Novak for Hire” which we will get to in future episodes. Webb went on several night patrols, attended police academy courses, all to help bring as much realism to the show as possible.
The show started to cause controversies in the early ‘50s, when the LAPD tried to intervene into how they were portrayed on the show. No doubt due to Webb’s signature nature of sticking to the facts over everything else, issues such as racial segregation in the LAPD, and certain police brutality events are still covered to their chagrin.
This particular episode, we will join Jack Webb as the ever stoic Sergeant Joe Friday, as some “quick trigger gun men” have come into town. The name acts exactly as described, men committing robberies with a quick trigger finger and a body count to match. This episode is from the show's first month on air, as shown by the lack of sponsors, and tells a rather gruesome tale. So sit back, relax, and turn back the clock 74 years to June 24th, 1949, and Dragnet’s: Quick Trigger Gun Men.
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