MovieChat Forums > Dragnet 1967 (1967) Discussion > HOW can anyone like this show ?!?!?!

HOW can anyone like this show ?!?!?!

posted 12 years ago by tuffigirl1
133 replies | jump to latest

Not only does Dragnet have the worst actors they could get (with the exception of the wonderful Harry Morgan) but the stories are so phony and unrealistic it makes me cringe! The Blue Boy dude freaking out on acid was a joke as was all the other people who used and their reactions. Oh and the people who were high on pot and their kid drowned in the tub? Give me a break !! But the worst was the guy Wally who was beating up his kid and his wife's reaction to it. I sure hope she didn't leave her day job! Sorry but the show just sucks.

[–] mdudnikov 12 years ago

Everybody has the right to an opinion, no matter how dumb. This was a wonderful show and very well written. Often the show was humorous and they used some of the best writers in the business. One reason you may not like it is because you have no taste, or perhaps you only saw a few episodes and obviously not every episode was great.

Another reason may be the very low key acting style which Jack Webb insisted upon. Webb was determined that the story be preeminent. Two of the episodes I remember best are the one with the phony Forest Ranger in which the accused gave a riveting and moving performance as a very pathetic man. My favorite was one called Burglary Mister, in which the accused insisted upon being called Mr. Daniel Lumis. Here the writer was given some leeway and the episode was exceedingly funny.

Great show, some less than stellar episodes, but far more that were outstanding.

[–] mactach 12 years ago

I don't personally have a problem with somebody not liking a show or even expressing it. The problem is I have the feeling the people who are complaining about these classic shows are young people with no intelligence and expect them to be like the modern day shows, which are probably for the most part no good.

I'm sure the new Hawaii-5-O is nothing compared to the original and many who've become familiar with the new version have similar feeling against the old 5-O. The way I see it, in the case of cop shows, they're supposed to be serious and not goofy, there's no need to have romance or sex or go too much into which I've heard said. One said that's the case with the new H-5-O as well along with other things that I wouldn't understand and even care to notice.

Worst thing about the whole situation is the boards for these older shows tend to be less busy then newer ones and the activity for the old shows are perhaps the younger crowd who can't post without making some either smart ass comment and just enjoy them for what they are. Makes me wonder where are those who did watch Dragnet and other classic shows when they originally aired.

[–] 12 years ago

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[–] Little Caesar 12 years ago

It's a simpler show than what's on today but I totally enjoy it. I can pop in a 30 min episode & just relax. It's not brain surgery. Often I find find episodes that do hit hard. It may seem corny at times but I get a sense of what issues were important to Webb. I listen to the 50's radio show a lot & this show is a natural progression. Friday is weary with all he's seen but continues to do what's right. Great show to me!!!

[–] mcnarie 12 years ago

The show did completely suck. IT is high comedy, with holier-than-thou BS and gung-ho brainless patriotism. And, if you believe these are actual case files, your IQ test results have been changed to protect your self-esteem.

[–] mactach 12 years ago

Shut up stupid!

[–] 12 years ago

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[–] kenburke0627 12 years ago

I will freely admit the anti-drug episodes gave the phrase “over the top” new meaning but I still like the show. It was a classic sign of its times.

[–] 12 years ago

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[–] powersroc 12 years ago

I love Jack Webb's various tv shows.Yeah,Dragnet can be dated now but that's true of any tv show made years(decades)ago.You cannot really fault him on that score.Sure,sometimes Dragnet could be corny,preachy & suffer from poor performances.Webb was a stickler for detail,that's what set his shows apart from other series.Making episodes both factual & entertaining,& doing it in 30-minutes is a tremendous achievement.I always felt that his Dragnet gave a sincere & realistic portrait into police work that no other shows could match.He does not portray police officers on Dragnet & Adam-12 as perfect automatons.They are shown as imperfect,frustrated at times with the job,even corrupt or brutal.He gives a true insight into what it takes to serve in law enforcement & dealing with an,at times,unreasonable & unappreciative public.No,its not a perfect show but then what is? I wish he was here with us today & producing tv shows for us.

[–] ZoneFighter 11 years ago

I love Dragnet (and Adam-12). I'm rematching them both for second time.

Dragnet is much more realistic than cop show today. Most real police officers don't go around shooting suspects every day like they do on modern cop show. Most real police officers are like Friday, who fired his gun at suspects twice in his entire life, or Gannon who never fired his gun outside the firing range. Has any of the CSI or Law and Orders ever showed a police officer who fired his gun being investigated to make sure it was justified? As a matter of routine, not because it was a white cop and black suspect. If real police officers shot as many suspects as the TV cops their superiors would think they we're trigger happy.

[–] ck1-5 11 years ago

Sort of like most westerns.....in reality, if that many people got shot, there'd be no one left to shoot at by the end of the month.

[–] will7370 11 years ago

The story you are about to see is TRUE. The names have been changed to protect the innocent.

[–] scribe1270 11 years ago

Dragnet started out on the radio with many of the same actors later making the transition to the TV show version. No doubt some of the apparent wooden performance comes from that fact. In a lot of cases stories that were 1st aired on the radio show (which started in 1949) were later re-made into episodes for television.

[–] holbrookp 11 years ago

As the these or any show's episodes being based on actual cases, no one knows how much of those cases are used. If a guy robs banks dressed as an old lady and later gave himself up, the show might just use the guy dressed as an old lady but end it with him being cornered for a shootout in a theme park or something. So the writers are usually free to pick and choose what details they want to use and embellish the rest. I bet even the persons who were in the actual events the episode is based on might not recognize that the episode is based on their story after all the embellishing. And, of course, the writers never seemed to keep information about the actual cases that can be cited today to determine how much of the story they used. And if some episodes are dumb, maybe it's because the writers should have stuck with the original stories!

"Truth is its own evidence." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

[–] vawlkee_2000 11 years ago

I agree, it was sooooo formulaic and wooden that it was laughable.
I watched it when the second series was new and thought even then that Webb's acting and delivery were as wooden as a proverbial cigar store Indian!
Thank God Webb eased up on the likes of Adam 12 and Emergency and gave his people room enough to be human!
No action, just bal bla bla.
Hell, I remember an episode of the original 50's incarnation where there was actually a gunfight!
I made a comment about Webb's "wooden" acting and delivery on a Facebook page and had an individual chide me with: "Well you can't blame him, he wore a back-brace".
Ain't reality a kick in the butt!

[–] 11 years ago

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