Dragnet

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<i>Dragnet</i> (franchise) Radio, television, and film series, mostly about LAPD detective Joe Friday

Dragnet is an American radio, television and film series, following the exploits of dedicated Los Angeles Police Department Detective Joe Friday and his partners, created by actor and producer Jack Webb. The show took its name from the police term "dragnet", a term for a system of coordinated measures for apprehending criminals or suspects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack Webb</span> American actor, producer, director, and writer (1920–1982)

John Randolph Webb was an American actor, television producer, director, and screenwriter, who is most famous for his role as Sgt. Joe Friday in the Dragnet franchise, which he created. He was also the founder of his own production company, Mark VII Limited.

The police show, or police crime drama, is a subgenre of procedural drama and detective fiction that emphasizes the investigative procedure of a police officer or department as the protagonist(s), as contrasted with other genres that focus on either a private detective, an amateur investigator or the characters who are the targets of investigations. While many police procedurals conceal the criminal's identity until the crime is solved in the narrative climax, others reveal the perpetrator's identity to the audience early in the narrative, making it an inverted detective story. Whatever the plot style, the defining element of a police procedural is the attempt to accurately depict the profession of law enforcement, including such police-related topics as forensic science, autopsies, gathering evidence, search warrants, interrogation and adherence to legal restrictions and procedure.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harry Morgan</span> American actor (1915–2011)

Harry Morgan was an American actor and director whose television and film career spanned six decades. Morgan's major roles included Pete Porter in both December Bride (1954–1959) and Pete and Gladys (1960–1962); Officer Bill Gannon on Dragnet (1967–1970); Amos Coogan on Hec Ramsey (1972–1974); and his starring role as Colonel Sherman T. Potter in M*A*S*H (1975–1983) and AfterMASH (1983–1985). Morgan also appeared in more than 100 films.

<i>Adam-12</i> American police procedural television series, 1968–1975

Adam-12 is an American television police procedural crime drama television series created by Robert A. Cinader and Jack Webb. The series follows Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officers Pete Malloy and Jim Reed as they patrol the streets of Los Angeles in their police cruiser, designated "1-Adam-12". Like Webb's other series, Dragnet and Emergency!, Adam-12 was produced in cooperation with the real department it was based on. Adam-12 aimed to be realistic in its depiction of police, and helped to introduce police procedures and jargon to the general public in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martin Milner</span> American actor (1931–2015)

Martin Sam Milner was an American actor and radio host. He is best known for his performances on two television series: Route 66, which aired on CBS from 1960 to 1964, and Adam-12, which aired on NBC from 1968 to 1975.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Fenneman</span> American radio and television announcer (1919–1997)

George Watt Fenneman was an American radio and television announcer. Fenneman is best remembered as the show announcer and straight man on Groucho Marx's You Bet Your Life. Marx, said of Fenneman in 1976, "There never was a comedian who was any good unless he had a good straight man, and George was straight on all four sides". Fenneman, born in Peking (Beijing), China, died from respiratory failure in Los Angeles, California, on May 29, 1997, at the age of 77.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joe Friday</span> Fictional police detective

Joe Friday is a fictional character created and portrayed by Jack Webb as the lead for his series Dragnet. Friday is a detective in the Los Angeles Police Department. The character first appeared on June 3, 1949 in the premiere of the NBC radio drama that launched the series. Webb played the character on radio and later television from 1949–1959 and again from 1967–1970, also appearing as Friday in a 1954 theatrical release and a 1966 made-for-TV film.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kent McCord</span> American actor

Kent Franklin McWhirter, known by his stage name Kent McCord, is a retired American actor, best known for his role as Officer Jim Reed on the television series Adam-12.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark VII Limited</span> Production company of actor and filmmaker Jack Webb

Mark VII Limited was the production company of actor and filmmaker Jack Webb, and was active from 1951 to his death in 1982. Many of its series were produced in association with Universal Television; most of them aired on the NBC television network in the U.S. Coincidentally, NBC and Universal are today part of the same company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ann Robinson</span> American actress and stunt horse rider

Ann Robinson is a former American actress and stunt horse rider, perhaps best known for her work in the science-fiction classic The War of the Worlds (1953) and in the 1954 film Dragnet, in which she starred as a Los Angeles police officer opposite Jack Webb and Ben Alexander.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Virginia Gregg</span> American actress (1916–1986)

Virginia Lee Gregg was an American actress known for her many roles in radio dramas and television series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anthology series</span> Broadcast entertainment with self-contained stories and different characters in each episode

An anthology series is a radio, television, video game or film series that spans different genres and presents a different story and a different set of characters in each different episode, season, segment, or short. These usually have a different cast in each episode, but several series in the past, such as Four Star Playhouse, employed a permanent troupe of character actors who would appear in a different drama each week. Some anthology series, such as Studio One, began on radio and then expanded to television.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Olan Soule</span> American actor and voiceover performer (1909–1994)

Olan Evart Soule was an American actor, who had professional credits in nearly 7,000 radio shows and commercials, appearances in 200 television series and television films, and in over 60 films. Soule's voice work on television included his 15-year role (1968–1983) as Batman on several animated series that were either devoted to or involving the fictional "Dark Knight" superhero.

Dragnet was an American radio series, enacting the cases of a dedicated Los Angeles police detective, Sergeant Joe Friday, and his partners. The show took its name from the police term "dragnet", meaning a system of coordinated measures for apprehending criminals or suspects.

<i>Dragnet</i> (1967 TV series) American television series

Dragnet is an American television series. It ran for four seasons, from January 12, 1967, to April 16, 1970. To differentiate it from the earlier 1950s Dragnet television series, the year in which each season ended was made part of the on-screen title—the series started as Dragnet 1967 and ended as Dragnet 1970. The entire series aired Thursdays at 9:30–10:00 pm (EST) and was directed by Jack Webb.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Herb Ellis (actor)</span> American actor

Herbert Ellis was an American character actor and writer. He was best known for his collaborations with Jack Webb, and he frequently portrayed law enforcement officers in film and television.

Dragnet—later syndicated as Badge 714—is an American television series, based on the radio series of the same name, both created by their star, Jack Webb. The shows take their name from the police term dragnet, a system of coordinated measures for apprehending criminals or suspects. Webb reprised his radio role of Los Angeles police detective Sergeant Joe Friday. Ben Alexander co-starred as Friday's partner, Officer Frank Smith.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Sawaya</span> American actor and stuntman

George Frances Carey Sawaya was an American actor and stuntman. He was best known for playing the role of Detective Lopez on Jack Webb's Dragnet.