January 28 movie: Dragnet. There was a time, a few years ago, when I watched reruns of the Dragnet tv show every night. It turns out there's a Dragnet movie from that same era, starring Jack Webb. And it turns out that two hours of Dragnet is much like a half hour of Dragnet, only four times more. Which is not necessarily a good thing. I probably would have enjoyed four episodes of the show more. The movie tended to drag, but the biggest problem was the absence of Harry Morgan. I didn't realize how important Bill Gannon was to the show. Like the way he and Friday would nod at each other after the witness said something dramatic.
dragnet
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I probably watched dozens of Dragnet episodes as a kid, but the only one I can remember had something to do with a dog who was smart enough to use an electronic doggie door that opened and shut when the dog pressed a button. (I seem to recall that the detectives were called to the house because the dog had gone missing, presumed stolen. The owner used the doggie door thing as a demonstration that the dog smart and wouldn't have just wandered off.)
My favorite were always the hippie episodes. I especially remember the one where Friday and Gannon confront Timothy Leary. No arrest, no "next, the results of the trial" at the end of the episode. Just Joe Friday and Tim Leary arguing for half an hour.
of course it wasn't really Leary on the show, I should add. Just an actor obvious supposed to be Leary.
I managed to catch the "crazy comic book guy" episode on tape, but never got my collection of "damn dirty hippies who let their kids drown in the bathtub" shows. Someone could put the most interesting episodes of the color Dragnet onto one DVD.
Archive.org has Dragnet radio episodes here: -- http://www.archive.org/search.php?sort=%2Fmetadata%2Ftitle&query=collection%3Aoldtimeradio%20AND%20firstTitle%3AD The radio shows were, of course, like the original black and white TV series, and either one was better than the color shows. (That page also has "Don Juan in Hell," an extended scene from Bernard Shaw's "Man and Superman." No credit is given, but I recognize the performance as being by a drama quartet [possibly named The First Drama Quartet], headed up by Charles Laughton, and directed by him. That makes this the only show he directed apart from NIGHT OF THE HUNTER. I have the LPs, but now I see I won't have to rip them myself.)
I thought this was going to be a review of the one with Dan Ackroyd and Tom Hanks!