Dragnet

[Roadhawg]

Was watching an old episode, they are all old, on Netflix and they had the old L&M cigarette commercial in it... was pretty funny to see the old cig commercials.

[RadicalModerate]

Trivia Question: (no googlin' =)
What does L&M stand for (besides Law and (m)Order on Dragnet)?

And--for bonus points--what were the original and alternative meanings of LSMFT? =)

[Roadhawg]

wasn't the MFT Mighty Fine Tasting? Can't remember the L&M but think it was the tobacco company

[Jim Kyle]

Ligett and Myers, Lucky Strike Means Fine Tobacco

[RadicalModerate]

We have a winner!!! =)

I love the way that Det. Cho--on The Mentalist--plays his part just like Jack Webb.

(Hilarity for an 8 year old, back around 1960: "lsmft": "loose strap means floppy tit" . . .)

[Thunder]

the tobacco company

Correct!

I've used that brand a few times from Walmart. It was once competitive cheap rivaling Carnival, but Walmart quickly raised the prices. However, the competitive prices can be found inside the gas station at select Walmart stores.

[RadicalModerate]

Trivia Question #2 (no Googling):
What was the number on the badge that filled the screen each week on Dragnet?

Trivia Question #3 (ditto):
At the end of the show, a couple of hands always appeared. One of them held a hammer and one of them held some sort of giant stamp. After a couple of blows with the hammer what impression did the stamp leave?

[Roadhawg]

714

vii

I've watched a lot of Dragnet

[RadicalModerate]

I guess so . . . =)

Think of all the subliminal advertising that 711 missed out on . . .

Trivia Question:
Aside from the fact that the program wasn't about fishing, what is "ironic" about the title "Dragnet"?

[Roadhawg]

Joe Friday wore a dress?

[RadicalModerate]

That beats my answer . . . (lol)

A "dragnet" is a large, coordinated, police effort designed to round up all of "the usual suspects" and bring them to justice--or at least in for questioning. On the show, I seem to recall that it was always just Sgt. Joe Friday (Jack Webb) and his sidekicks (Ben Alexander and, later, Harry Morgan) going around knocking on doors and asking confused old ladies in print dresses and various semi-baffled citizens about one relatively minor crime or another. Certainly not a "dragnet" . . . at least not "technically".

Perhaps a graph by HWTJ would clarify and prove this point. =)

[Roadhawg]

I was watching the 1st season and I thought I heard Fridays partner call him lieutenant. I'll have to watch it again because I always thought he was a Sarge.

I was right

During the 1958–1959 season Friday was promoted to lieutenant. However, when the show returned in 1967 he was back to the sergeant rank without any on-screen explanation. (Webb later explained that in reality the lieutenant rank was more of a supervisory position and involved less investigatory time in the field, which would change the structure of the show.)

[RadicalModerate]

He was a lieutenant, but got busted down to sergeant for showing up at roll call in that dress you mentioned.
They were a lot less tolerant of diversity back in those days.

Two of my favorite films are set around that era:
Mullholland Falls
L.A. Confidential

One of the films in my Top Ten--Chinatown--was set just a a few years before Dragnet.
I think Sgt. Friday was just a patrolman at the time.

[Roadhawg]

I need to get off my Netflix habit... watched a Dragnet episode during lunch and it was one where kids go straight from pot to heroine... Joe Friday should have been in Reefer Madness *lol*

[RadicalModerate]

I think it would have been really cool if Joe Friday could have made a cameo appearance in Season 1 of "The Wire" . . . "This is The City . . . Baltimore, Maryland . . . and I'm here to make sure that the line dividing black and white remains intact . . . The right and wrong line . . . not the other line . . ."

[BB37]

Here's another Dragnet trivia question: The '67 series spawned two spinoff series.

Can anyone guess the titles?

[RadicalModerate]

Was one of them Adam-12?

(i would really like to say that the other
was "Railroad Crossing Guards--Instead of Train Horns"
but i would probably be wrong about that too.)

[Roadhawg]

Adam 12 is what I was going to say too. Adams Family? LOL

[BB37]

Adam 12 is one. Any clues for the other?

[MikeOKC]

Webb's two biggest hit shows after 'Dragnet' were 'Adam-12' and 'Emergency'. Though, my favorite was 'Hec Ramsey' (which I have all 11 episodes!).

[BB37]

Webb's two biggest hit shows after 'Dragnet' were 'Adam-12' and 'Emergency'.

DING DING DING DING DING!!! We have a winner!! Emergency! was actually a spinoff of Adam-12, which was a spinoff of the 67-70 version of Dragnet.

There was also a Saturday morning animated version of Emergency!, called "Emergency + 4"

[MikeOKC]

Jack Webb's greatest achivement, in my opinion, was the vastly underrated 'Pete Kelly's Blues' movie from 1955. The signature Mark VII Limited hammer ending was used in that movie as well. There was a sort-lived TV series of PKB as well, but I've never seen an episode available to watch, though I'd love to see them.

Here's the original long-trailer for Pete Kelly's Blues...really a great movie...

[Roadhawg]

Jack Webb's greatest achivement, in my opinion, was the vastly underrated 'Pete Kelly's Blues' movie from 1955. The signature Mark VII Limited hammer ending was used in that movie as well. There was a sort-lived TV series of PKB as well, but I've never seen an episode available to watch, though I'd love to see them.

Here's the original long-trailer for Pete Kelly's Blues...really a great movie...

I think Jack Webbs best movie was 'The DI'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=riYfFQMPIP0

But I did add Pete Kelly's Blues to my Netflix.. looks good

[kevinpate]

I think Jack Webbs best movie was 'The DI' ...

and it's Roadhawg for the win!

[MikeOKC]

I think Jack Webbs best movie was 'The DI'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=riYfFQMPIP0

But I did add Pete Kelly's Blues to my Netflix.. looks good

Glad you'll get to see it. Let me know what you think.

Yes! I like 'The D.I.' as well. In fact, after I saw your post, it made me think about it not being available on DVD. It had been a while since I checked and lo and behold, Warner Brothers has released it through their "Archive" program. (Manufacture DVD-R on Demand)...Amazon now carries many of the WB Archive MOD titles and I just ordered it. It's got lots of fans - 76 reviews and 4 1/2 stars at Amazon. I haven't seen it in years. That will be fun.

Good to find Jack Webb fans here. I have the entire run of Dragnet radio shows as mp3 files, a bunch of the 50's Dragnet TV show, and all the Dragnet 1967-1970 on DVD. It's amazing how well those old radio shows hold up. I listen to them quite a bit - over 300 episodes at 30 minutes each.

On edit: I had to go find this on YouTube and put it in the post. This is from a 1974 Jack Benny retirement special. It's the last time Webb and Harry Morgan played their roles as Friday and Gannon. It's truly funny!