I never could figure this out...granted I haven't seen too many episodes, but of the ones I have, the police dragnets were rarely brought into action, mainly it was just Friday and his partner. So why was it called Dragnet?
shareWatch the 1948 film HE WALKED BY NIGHT and you'll see where Webb got a LOT of his ideas.
shareSome programs from that era (radio and early TV) took their titles from specific police-related terms, just to evoke the general idea of law enforcement. (In scholarly language, it's metonymy.) For example, I don't recall a police lineup on "The Lineup". Some episodes of "Gangbusters" were about solving crimes by individuals rather than busting up gangs.
shareThere are some actual dragnets, in the original radio series. Dragnet started on radio.
share