Dragnet (1951)

Season 1

TV-PG

"The story you are about to see is true", "Just the facts, ma'am", "We were working the day watch" - phrases which became so popular as to inspire much parody - set the realistic tone of this early police drama. The show emphasized careful police work and the interweaving of policemen's professional and personal lives.

14 Episodes

The Human Bomb
E1
The Human BombAn ex-con bears a grudge against the city of Los Angeles. He wants to blow up city hall unless his demands are met. He has a powerful bomb. The police find 28 sticks of dynamite in his apartment. Only Sergeant Friday has the power to stop this 1950s terrorist attack.
The Big Actor
E2
The Big ActorFriday and Jacobs track down a drug ring through a small-time television actor who is hooked on heroin.
The Big Death
E3
The Big DeathDetective Sergeant Friday has been assigned to homicide detail. A socially prominent citizen is plotting to kill his wife. He tells a friend the plans of his murder and hires him to do the killing. It's Friday's job to stop him by going undercover and posing as a hired killer.
The Big Mother
E4
The Big MotherA new-born baby is stolen from a hospital nursery and the trail leads the police to a deranged mother.
The Big Cast
E5
The Big CastFriday begins to question Henry Ross, a suspect in a man's disappearance, which Friday believes is actually a murder. Ross coolly and calmly denies any involvement in the disappearance, but Friday's relentless interrogation soon begin to crack the man's facade.
The Big Speech
E6
The Big SpeechA doctor is beaten and robbed of prescription drugs.
The Big Parrot
E7
The Big ParrotA couple are robbed and murdered, along with their pet parrot. The killer uses a time bomb to start a fire and cover up his crime.
The Big Moody
E8
The Big MoodyA man claims he awoke to find his wife dead in bed beside him. Neoghbors convince the detectives to hold him for murder, but the victim's sister provides an unexpected defense.
The Big Blast
E9
The Big BlastA divorced mother is killed in bed by a shotgun while her young boy sleeps beside her.
The Big Trial
E10
The Big TrialFriday testifies at the trial of a man accused of a hit-and-run, but the main witness against him suddenly disappears.
The Big September Man
E11
The Big September ManSomeone murdered a secretary late at night in her office. She was beaten to death with a metal pipe wrapped in newspaper. Could it be the drunk found three blocks away beating his head against a wall?
The Big Phone Call
E12
The Big Phone CallFriday and Jacobs question a jeweler regarding the robbery of a colleague. The man takes offense at being questioned about the incident, but as the detectives begin to amass evidence, the jeweler's outrage quickly begins to lose credibility.
The Big Casing
E13
The Big CasingFriday and Jacobs are called to the apartment of a man who phoned in the fatal shooting of his wife. He claims it was suicide, but upon looking at the crime scene and talking to neighbors they begin to wonder if it was murder.
The Big Lamp
E14
The Big LampA safe cracker Friday and Jacobs arrest for burglary is acquitted at trial, even though they believed it was an open-and-shut case. The man leaves town but returns a few years later. Friday and Jacobs believe he will return to his old tricks, but this time the detectives have an ace up their sleeve.