Dragnet was a long-running radio and television police procedural drama about the cases of a dedicated Los Angeles police detective, Sergeant Joe Friday, and his partners. The show takes its name from an actual police term, a "dragnet", meaning a system of coordinated measures for apprehending criminals or suspects. Dragnet debuted inauspiciously. The first several months were bumpy, as Webb and company worked out the program’s format and eventually became comfortable with their characters (Friday was originally portrayed as more brash and forceful than his later usually relaxed demeanor). Gradually, Friday’s deadpan, fast-talking persona emerged, described by John Dunning as "a cop's cop, tough but not hard, conservative but caring." (Dunning, 210) Friday’s first partner was Sgt. Ben Romero, portrayed by Barton Yarborough, a longtime radio actor. When Dragnet hit its stride, it became one of radio’s top-rated shows. While most radio shows used one or two sound effects experts, Dragnet needed five; a script clocking in at just under 30 minutes could require up to 300 separate effects. Accuracy was underlined: The exact number of footsteps from one room to another at Los Angeles police headquarters were imitated, and when a telephone rang at Friday’s desk, the listener heard the same ring as the telephones in Los Angeles police headquarters. A single minute of "A Gun For Christmas" is a representative example of the evocative sound effects featured on "Dragnet". While Friday and others investigate bloodstains in a suburban backyard, the listener hears a series of overlapping effects: a squeaking gate hinge, footsteps, a technician scraping blood into a paper envelope, the glassy chime of chemical vials, bird calls and a dog barking in the distance. Scripts tackled a number of topics, ranging from the thrilling (murders, missing persons and armed robbery) to the mundane (check fraud and shoplifting), yet "Dragnet" made them all interesting due to fast-moving plots and behind-the-scenes realism. In "The Garbage Chute" (15 December 1949), they even had a locked room mystery.
TODAY'S SHOW: "Helen Corday Murdered With Pipe" (7-07-49) and "The Big Fraud" (10-27-53)
July 7, 1949. Program #5. NBC network. Sustaining. A well liked waitress named Helen Corday has been murdered with a steel pipe. The suspect's name is Larson. Jack Webb, Barton Yarborough, Raymond Burr. 29:25.
October 27, 1953. Program #219. NBC network. "The Big Fraud". Sponsored by: Chesterfield, Fatima. Sergeant Friday goes undercover to trap a gang posing as narcotic cops to con out-of-towners. Jack Webb, Ben Alexander, George Fenneman (announcer), Hal Gibney (announcer), John Robinson (writer), Walter Schumann (music), Ben Hogan (Chesterfield testimonial), Vic Perrin, Paul Richards, Herb Ellis. 29:32.
