Though I might add the forthcoming update of this show which is set to debut in January of 2003, THIS area is for discussion of the Jack Webb original.
Check out the Old Time Radio board, too... it's discussed there as well.
There were three versions of Dragnet (Radio/ B&W 50's TV/ and Late 60's in color) with Jack Webb. There was also a remake (1989-1990) released as the first half of a "theme" hour. (A remake of Adam 12 was the other half.) [Plus the Dan Akroyd/Tom Hanks movie, but that was a comedy.]
Some episodes from the 50's version can be downloaded here.
Sax-
I forgot that the site I linked to is a pay site. If you think it's inappropriate, delete my last sentence.
Why? The way I figure it no one is being misled. You told them (now) that it's a pay-to-download site, and now they can choose to forgo it if they wish. And besides, it's not as fi the moment they login someone is going to empty their bank accounts. As long as it's not ad hominem, you can post pretty much whatever you want. I'm a pretty loose moderator.
I only mentioned it because some communities are very strict on people who post what they consider commercial plugs on the discussion boards. Ive seen people banned from some sites for just this thing
No worries here man. You just provided information. What if there was someone here who wanted to download classic Dragnet episodes but didn't know where?
In the color version, Friday and Gannon wore the same clothes in every episode. Was it the same way in the black and white ones, too?
Also, Jack Webb alays seemed to use the same actors (Virginia Gregg, Len Wayland, William Boyett et al) in episode after episode. The man was very magnanimous, as he gave roles to Bobby Troup in both Dragnet and as a regular on Emergency. (Bobby Troup was married to Webb's ex-wife, Julie London, who was also a regular on Emergency.)
I don't think I've ever seen the original Dragnet before. I always thought the 1960's version had the effect of being as campy as Batman even though it tried to be serious.
Here's the two main problems I see with the 1960's version of the show.
1) It was basically a radio show being aired in the television format,
2) It had hour-long stories which were being crammed into a half-hour format (which is why the dialogue always seemed to be rushed).
A lot of Dragnet 1969 seemed to be half-hour PSA announcements. Only a few arrests were made during the entire season...and most of them were at the end of the season.