Lighted wedding gowns and dresses

They Lit Up the Room

The new Mr. and Mrs. Hugo Horton
Vicar of Dibley (Fanpop)

We might want to incorporate that princess sparkle into our parties and weddings. Is the epitome of sparkle the flickering of lights?

These clothes are unique in their design and their construction. They are often as playful and clever as those who wear them. 

Headpieces, bridal belts and bouquet jewelry added to your bouquet may consist of cut glass, rhinestones or actual actual Swarovski crystal, pearls, etc. How about a fiber optic touch? 

There are so many light features that can accessorize a wedding or any party. After receiving a wedding invitation not long ago we got a phone call. They were calling each guest because they wanted to warn people since they were planning to use so many lighting effects at the reception!

Alice Tinker and Hugo Horton married on the classic British Comedy, The Vicar of Dibley. Not only did Alice have among her attendants some children dressed as Teletubbies, but she had features on her dress and veil that lit up.

Included are a classic daytime drama Calliope & Eugene Days of Our Lives 1985 and My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding Dresses.


Carrie Underwood's 2013 Grammy Dress


The Bride wore flickering lights

Women's Light Up Blue Fairy Costume

TLC's Incredible Weddings





When do you think such elaborate outfits are most requested? Weddings and holidays. If you have a winter wonderland, Christmas wedding, these some of the most sparkly weddings and may be a great chance for a light feature on a wedding dress. 

A Christmas or winter party. Then there are the fancy dress occasions and Halloween parties. If you're in a contest lights could make you a winner. Play dates, for both the dress up chest and performance. Pretend play and dramatic play are essential for all kids to play and explore possibilities.

Gypsy Wedding Dresses, everyone has her own budget and taste...

For all ages, boys or girls, find Light Up Dresses, Costumes & Accessories
Wide variety, just one example above is the Disney Frozen Elsa Musical Light up dress.  Fun accessories, too.

Classic film stars born under the sign of Aries

April is the Lucky Movie Month

Mary Pickford
The Little Princess

"Is it any wonder that the same sign of the Zodiac should produce Mary Pickford the screen's best known star and Charlie Chaplin, the screen's greatest artist? 

"Is it to be wondered that Harold Lloyd and Lon Chaney and Thomas Meighan and George Arliss and Wallace Reid and Mary Brian and Constance Talmadge and Warner Baxter and Joan Crawford and Gloria Swanson are all Aries children? Aries in astrological language is symbolized by the Ram -- and you can't keep a good ram down! ...

"Aries is a cardinal sign - a fiery spectacular publicity sign. Mars is the ruling planet of Aries. Mars is electric, forceful, active and aggressive. It gives courage, initiative, punch. It governs sex. It gives IT. It is the planet of personal appeal."
-- New Movie Magazine 1931

Gloria Swanson, Janis Joplin Janis Joplin, Margot Kidder and Dave Meggyesy appeared together on The Dick Cavett Show August 1970. Meggyesy was a linebacker St. Louis Cardinals in the 1960s and he wrote a bestselling memoir, Out of Their League.




We have a bunch of March birthdays around here to celebrate. I read that it's particularly lucky for those born under this sign in the Year of the Ram (Sheep) so Happy Birthday to all! 

Lon Chaney Sr.

Elizabeth Montgomery 4/15/1933 and
Dick Sargent 4/19/1930 with their
Bewitched children

 Other current and vintage stars who happen to be Aries March babies, or just on the cusp are Florenz Ziegfeld Jr, Elton John, Harry Houdini, Karl Malden (quite the quartet right there). Add to that Pearl Bailey, Rosie O'Donnell, Joseph Barbera, Chico Marx, Alan Arkin, Spencer Tracy and director WS Van Dyke.

The list of those born in April is very long, we'll limit it to 15 at random: Gregory Peck, Marlon Brando, Bette Davis, Maya Angelou, Loretta Lynn, Wallace Beery, Barbara Hale, Rick Moranis, Virginia Cherrill, Billie Holiday, Roger Corman, Walter Connolly, Bea Benaderet, Elizabeth Montgomery and one of her Bewitched Darrens, Dick Sargent. Add 1920s stunt woman and leopard trainer Olga Celeste for good luck.

On March 17, 1914 Teddy, the Mack Sennett dog was born. Teddy the dog actor, an Aries, was born in the Year of the Tiger.
-- Picture Play Magazine 1921

The above list of Aries celebrities makes for one terrific answer when someone asks for your list of guests to the ultimate dinner party. Clara Bow was well known for having IT. In 1927, she made a movie with that title. Bow was born in late July, under the sign of Leo. If you're born in March or April you have some great company.

1950s Comic Strip Detective Joe Friday Dragnet

What you are about to read is true

1950s Dragnet Comic Strip

"Realizing the lack of a completely authentic comic strip story of a metropolitan

Dragnet newspaper comic strip
began October 1953

police force in action, the producers of the famous Dragnet program including creator Jack Webb, have arranged for the presentation of their stories in picture form. 

"The series will go behind the scenes with Detective Sgt. Joe Friday and his partner."

A reader of this blog reminded me of yet another aspect of the Dragnet show. 

There was a comic strip that ran in newspapers. As with the TV show, they advertised the comic strip after some of the radio shows. There was also a Mad Magazine parody.

They built interest and excitement with a series of illustrated ads such as the one above. They were published in a countdown type fashion. Each featured the comic likeness of the Joe Friday character. Finally we saw, "Starts Today!"

Running only on weekdays, I found it in one newspaper, The Miami Daily News 1953-1954. 

The Miami Daily News at least implied that they published the Dragnet comic exclusively though the ad that followed the radio show didn't suggest that. The comics would, in return, have ads for the times and local stations where people could see or listen to the show.

Announcement of the Dragnet comic October 19, 1953

The comic-strip is said to have run 1953-1955 and could be found in multiple newspapers. 

On a brief search of other available US papers, I couldn't find it during that time period.  That definitely doesn't mean it didn't run elsewhere.

The radio version of Dragnet began in 1949, the TV show started in 1951, with its color revival in 1967.

When movies or TV shows get this pervasive you start hearing the inevitable joke asking for a Dragnet on Ice version. 

"It was Thursday, July 16th. It was warm in the city. We were working General Assignment out of Hollywood Division. My partner is Frank Smith. The boss is Captain Bert Jones. My names' Friday. We'd gotten a call from a real estate agent that some property had been stolen from a bungalow in the Hollywood area. We had to check it out." 

"What you are about to read is true"
October 19, 1953 premiere of the
Dragnet Comic Strip

"Every relevant and interesting phase of police procedure will be shown in the Dragnet strip. The correct procedure for fingerprinting, ballistics and testing, as well as investigations, line-ups and interrogations will be covered. 

"The stories in Dragnet are true complete and authentic in every sense. Every incident in the comic strip is carefully checked and receives police approval for authenticity."

-- Miami Daily News, October 13, 1953

Other comic strips of the time period included Alley Oop, Joe Palooka, Major Hoople, Pogo, Myrtle, Mutt and Jeff, Dottie Dripple, Disney's Donald Duck, Dixie Dugan, Snuffy Smith, Mickey Finn, Captain Easy, Mary Worth, Kerry Drake, Marlin Keel, Roy Rogers, Secret Agent X9, Hopalong Cassidy, Orphan Annie and There Ought Be A Law.

Like George M. Cohan, Orson Welles and others, Jack Webb was intent on getting his name and his brand name out there wherever he could. Director William Castle learned this same lesson when he worked with Orson Welles. 

"Realizing the lack of a completely authentic comic strip story of a metropolitan police force in action," what a great line for marketers and creative types. There is something the world lacks that only you can provide.

Dragnet Comic Strip 1954, "All right Crawford, what have you got for us?"

I am no expert on the show, this comic or comics in general.  If you have interest in comic art, artists, illustrators, illustrated books, you should check out a publication ImageS created by Jim Vadeboncoeur, Jr. He is very knowledgeable on the subject, having written a book and been a consultant for others.

Most very reasonably priced these days, the show had its share of paperback tie-ins and included Dragnet "Case Histories from the Popular TV Series."

Dragnet: The Case of the Courteous Killer even has a Kindle version In this book, Joe Friday has been promoted to Lieutenant. He had that rank briefly during the run of the show but had the character made a Sergeant again, deciding that sergeants saw more action.


Related pages of interest:

Dragnet Early Television Cop Series 1950s

Jack Webb's early radio shows, pre-Dragnet

Orson Welles, Citizen Kane and the Oscars

William Castle, Scream for Relief

James Cagney is George M. Cohan the Yankee Doodle Dandy, Where were you in '42?

Dragnet 1950s classic TV show

Dragnet Early Television Cop Series

Sgt. Joe Friday

It was Thursday, February 26th. It was sultry in Los Angeles.... A radio favorite since 1949 Dragnet hit America's television screens in 1951. Sergeant Joe Friday was a cop in Los Angeles, California. 

One of the first police procedurals, Webb was strict about doing things as he saw them done by the actual LAPD. He reportedly liked to have telephone prefixes and department numbers matched what he saw at the real Los Angeles Police Department. The show was responsible for recruiting new officers. 

Dragnet was one of the first media franchises, radio and television shows, spin-offs, paperback tie-ins and films. This article deals primarily with the early black-and-white episodes. A few of the first television shows displayed the title Badge 714 in the opening credits. You can even watch some episodes right here. Best known as an actor, Jack Webb was also a writer and preferred his roles as producer and director.

A huge fan of jazz music, Webb employed a number of jazz musicians as actors including well known jazz trumpeter Jack Sheldon.

1955 TV Guide Jul 23
Janet Leigh and Jack Webb
Pete Kelly's Blues

What's the definition of a Dragnet? We still hear the term used today.  It can be defined as a  system for finding or catching someone, particularly criminals. 

Oh, being an odd bird myself, I always liked it when Friday said it was "sultry in Los Angeles." Not sure what he meant by that, but whoa, what a way to start your shift. You just waited to hear if the suspect was "sullen and uncooperative."

"This is the city, Los Angeles, California"  

The show was also part travelogue. There was information about how the city was founded, the weather and agriculture, how the area had changed over the years. The statistics he, as narrator, quotes about the city, its population for instance, are factual for the time.

Episodes included visits to motion picture studios, taking viewers onto movie sets. We saw aerial and street views of 1950s LA, the cars. The current viewer is getting a time capsule of 1950s (or 1960s) Los Angeles.

The Dragnet TV show won four Emmy Awards (13 overall nominations). The Dragnet theme is instantly recognizable.  Also in 1955 Walter Schumann won the Emmy for Best Original Music Composed for TV for the Dragnet Theme. Jack Webb personally was nominated for five Emmy awards in the categories of directing and acting.






Meet Joe Friday, he's a cop

Cops, as Webb saw them were stoic, everything was by the book. They handled all that they saw, just getting on with business. Most of the show dealt with the work.

The unmarried Joe Friday lived with his mother. Later he had an apartment. Viewers/listeners knew little about his personal life. His partners tried to fix him up and at least once he had a relationship with a policewoman.

While Frank Smith checks something out on the phone,
suspect Carolyn Jones gives Friday the eye

We saw him occasionally flirt, usually when he was undercover. Women, suspects for instance, would flirt with him. There's a cute scene with a flirtatious young, blonde Carolyn Jones in The Big Girl (later Mortitia on The Addams Family). Buddy shows and cop shows that center around partners often make for good drama. Finding hints of any bromance on 1950s TV can take a microscope.

In one episode a woman's husband has been missing for days. She is scared and complains that maybe they're not trying hard enough to find him. At one point, she comes in and yells at them. 

We hear Friday's thoughts. It's something like, "You can't get mad at people. They're in trouble. And besides, it's against policy." 

Joe kept his emotions in check. He calmly explains to her what they're doing step by step and she feels better. 

You may think of Joe Friday as a homicide detective, but he moved from department to department in order to give us a view of a range of different types of police work. This may have been one of the few things a real LAPD officer wouldn't do, at least not as frequently as Sgt. Friday did it.  

In all incarnations of Dragnet, Friday's partners gave an idea of off-the-job relationships and provided brief bursts of humor. His partners were usually more rounded characters. They often had tales of problems with their wives, in-laws, kids, neighbors, pets and home repair. Their interactions with Friday can be some of the best bits on the shows.

"I carry a badge," Number 714

LAPD Lieutenant Daniel Cooke was the real LAPD technical advisor. He reviewed scripts for films and television shows. Cooke worked with Webb and the two became friends. Lieutenant Cooke's badge number was 714. 

When Dragnet the television show premiered, Webb gave Sgt Friday badge number 714 and made it the logo of the program. It was also a significant prop. Webb presented the badge to Lt. Cooke as a token of thanks.

When Cooke died in 1999, his widow donated the Dragnet Sergeant's badge to
the Webb Museum at the Police Academy in Elysian Park.  I've read that the famous badge is in fact there with a plaque beside it.

Part of this information from a May 1999 LAPD News Release announcing the death of Retired Lieutenant Daniel Cooke


The Big Oskar
1958: Discovery of stolen silver turns out to be more than initially thought. Character actress Amzie Strickland is Mrs. Face.



Just the facts:
1949-1957 Dragnet began as a radio program, "The story you're about to hear is true..."

1951-1959 Its first run on television, concurrent with the radio show. Joe Friday's primary partners are Barton Yarborough (Ben Romero) and then Ben Alexander (Frank Smith).

1967-1970 A color revival of Dragnet with Harry Morgan as his new partner, Officer Bill Gannon.

1989 The New Dragnet starred Jeff Osterhage and Bernard White as the detectives. Don Stroud was their captain.

2003 L.A. Dragnet on ABC, starring Ed O'Neill as Joe Friday and Ethan Embry as Frank Smith. The show was produced by Dick Wolf. His successful Law &Order franchise said to have been influenced by Dragnet.

While he wanted the facts, Joe Friday never said, "Just the facts, ma'am." The phrase can be found in the Stan Freberg parody recording. What "You dirty rat" is to James Cagney or "Judy, Judy, Judy" is to Cary Grant, "Just the facts, Ma'am" is to Dragnet.

 

Workaholic Webb had a Dragnet themed wedding cake
when he married second wife, Dorothy Towne
Jack Webb Magazine Photo clipping 8x10 1page

Film versions
Dragnet 1954 film Alexander, and Richard Boone. Dennis Weaver and Ann Robinson. She said in an interview that she'd had a crush on Jack Webb. [In case you were wondering, this isn't the same Anne Robinson who hosted the 2000's quiz show The Weakest Link.]

Dragnet 1966 TV movie initiated the return of series onto TV. Actors included  Bobby Troup, Virginia Gregg, Vic Perrin, Gene Evans and of course the introduction of Harry Morgan as Joe's partner, Officer Bill Gannon. (Released 1969)

Dragnet 1987 A campy movie starring Dan Aykroyd and Tom Hanks. Harry Morgan is in the film, also Christopher Plummer, Elizabeth Ashley, Dabney Coleman, Alexandra Paul, Kathleen Freeman, Jack O'Halloran. -- *There's a video treat with Hanks and Aykroyd at the end of the article.

The Big Sorrow

In 1951, Dragnet couldn't help but get real. Actor Barton Yarborough who played Sergeant Ben Romero, died unexpectedly at 51 years old. He'd been Joe Friday's first partner on radio and then the television version, appearing in only the first two episodes.

While dealing with their colleague's death off-screen, the Dragnet team put together an episode, The Big Sorrow, showing how the the characters might handle the sudden death of their friend, Ben Romero.

There are radio and TV versions. This was 1951 not the 2000s or even the 1970s. Joe and Ben weren't Starsky and Hutch. The episode is respectful and well done. There would be a handful of references to Ben Romero throughout the original run of the show.

Full Police Honors:
When Jack Webb died in 1982, flags were flown at half-staff at police stations across the city. Police Chief Daryl Gates said the badge 174 issued to Webb for the Dragnet series was retired from service to honor the actor. He was given a police funeral with full honors. 

Police Commander William Booth said, "I am certain that it's the first time that we have had a memorial service like this for a non-officer. ... In our view he dedicated a great part of his profession to maintaining or giving this department a very positive image internationally. 

"He did some things personally for the department. ... A lot of our training facilities at the academy are housed in buildings donated by Jack Webb through the building fund that he established for the department."
Spartanburg Herald-Journal Spartanburg SC and Gettysburg Times Gettysburg PA; December 1982

Actor Harry Morgan talks about Dragnet and working with Jack Webb

"Ladies and Gentlemen, this program is for you, not your children"
 
A memorable line, "What you're about to see is true," was real. Plots were taken from true cases and it was said that Webb offered to pay cops who submitted experiences that could be made into plots for the show.

The topics were quite daring for the time. Don't let anyone suggest that certain behavior or crime didn't exist way back when. In the past as a whole, films and television shows were not enlightened as we are today when it came to how they portrayed characters or cast actors.

On occasions, usually when the theme dealt with harm that came to children, the radio show may have been preceded by a warning about adult content.

On Dragnet they had
all the latest Police Technology
Original Lobby Card

Episodes dealt with gangs, drunk driving, drug addiction, spouse abuse/murder, child abandonment and neglect, child molestation and murder, teen girls lured into pornography/prostitution. A newborn baby was stolen from a hospital nursery. There were corrupt police officers and at least one serial killer. 

In The Big Girl a beautiful woman is robbing and beating motorists. Turns out it's a man dressed as a woman. Their suspect has been living in an apartment building for women.  

Both the 1950s and 1960s series dealt with racism and antiSemitism. 

A 1960s episode The Big Explosion deals with a white-supremacist planning to blow up a building but he won't say where the dynamite is. Friday has to figure it out before there's major loss of innocent life.  

The con men (and women) in these shows are using scams we still have to watch out for today. Burglars scoured newspapers for wedding or funeral ads. When would someone be away from home so they could rob the place? Now we think about bad guys' reading posts on social media.

A Gun for Christmas or The Big .22 Rifle for Christmas
Perhaps the most controversial in which parents are giving their nine-year-old a rifle as a present. Their son finds it before the holiday, opens it and a child is killed. 
 
It shows an aspect of gun violence, guns in the home that are found and used by children. Herb Ellis (as he does here) played Officer Frank Smith a handful of episodes. Ben Alexander was best known for playing Smith.


 

The Big Mother 1952:  
Something we see occasionally in the news, much less these days, is the kidnapping of a child from a hospital nursery. Barney Phillips plays Friday's partner, Sgt. Ed Jacobs. Peggy Webber, who appeared on many television and radio episodes, is featured in this episode as Roberta Salazar. While Webb did employ a variety of actors, as with films and TV shows of the time they were apt to have Caucasian actors portraying ethnic characters. *Some of these episodes may be louder than others.





The Big Crime 1954 
One of at least two episodes of the early Dragnet show that dealt with child molestation. The cast includes character actors Irene Tedrow and Jack Kruschen, who is better known for his comedic roles. 

On a recent, March 2015, episode of The Talk, the panel was discussing child safety and a couple's allowing their 10 and 6-year-old children to walk a mile home from a park unattended. Sharon Osbourne made a good point. Instead of focusing on their walk home, it's important to note that that predators could be at a park.  

And when there was the suggestion that these crimes didn't happen "when we were kids," Aisha Tyler made a very good observation that they probably did happen and we didn't hear about them. Things like this weren't talked about. Along with that, there weren't as many means to publicize incidents when they did happen. Does anyone even talk about latchkey kids anymore?

The more broad issue of child abuse was a theme in several episodes of Dragnet in the 1950s and 1960s.




In a 1960s episode, Friday and Officer Gannon search for a burglary suspect dressed in a bright green cape and Napoleon hat who only steals photos of an old comic-strip hero, Captain Lightning. The teen feels empowered when dressed as his favorite superhero. 

Actor Tim Donnelly appears. You can get a full season on DVD or stream just one episode on Amazon. This is referred to as Dragnet 1967 Burglary: DR-31: Dragnet 1969: Season Three.

Parody: Tonight Show Appearance 1968

Though Webb said he didn't like to make fun of his character, and thus in his view make fun of the police, he did occasionally break that rule. An appearance he made on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson is legendary. Webb and Johnny Carson performed what is sometimes called the Copper Clapper Caper sketch.  

In August 1953 Stan Freberg released the satire novelty recording, St. George and the Dragonet. Webb liked the idea so much that he lent Freberg his own orchestra for use on the recording. The song went to  #1 on both the Billboard and Cash Box record charts.

A variant on the theme was used in the video game Donkey Kong. arcade game released by Nintendo in 1981 Music In Video Games: Studying Play talks about how portions of the Dragnet Theme are altered as game play progresses. B-Flat, E-Flat, etc. "Should Mario grab a hammer, the time during which he wields it, it will be accompanied by a B-Flat Major fanfare." 
  




Technology and the Time:

"Between our frozen dinner
And our bedtime, nine-fifteen
We snuggle watchin' Lucy
On our big, enormous twelve-inch screen
I'm his December Bride
He's Father, he Knows Best
Our kids watch Howdy Doody
As the sun sets in the west
A picture out of Better Homes and Gardens magazine ...."
-- from Somewhere that's green, Little Shop of Horrors a show set in the 1950s/60s

* 1950s technology available to make and watch the first television shows    

Webb knew that most people had a small TV, watching on a 5" to 12" screen. Their reception probably wasn't the best.

"To overcome the small screen size of TV sets of the time, Webb pioneered using a series of quick close up shots between actors.

"'The ping pong dialogue that we used in Dragnet was [because] the small television sets of the time were only about about five inches wide and you couldn't see three people in a master, so he'd break up the sentences.'"

"The result was real life rapid fire dialogue and a production pace that matched it."
-- Quote above by Tom Williams production assistant on Dragnet, from TV Land Moguls 2004

He and everyone creating the show thought about who the audience was and how would they be viewing the final product. Webb's dedication to the police procedural genre and his technical methods of creating his shows made his programs stand apart. He had a distinct style and he stuck to it. Contemporary Rod Serling had positive things to say about Webb in a speech given post-Twilight Zone and Night Gallery. They were both considered icons of the industry.

How does the show look if viewed on our smart phones vs our computers, tablets or current larger television screens? Watching on your phone may give the closest idea of what Jack Webb actually had in mind when he was setting up camera angles for that first series of Dragnet.

* Their intended audience, when the show was made
With any 1950s show, try reading between the lines for the meaning (and sometimes humor). Looking for what they didn't or maybe couldn't say can make these shows even more fun to watch. It can help to catch what they're trying to get across.

Check out this glorious new Westinghouse TV
with electronic magnifier knob


When we were shopping for a 22" television we learned that an LG 22-Inch television is considered a small flat screen TV. It's one of the smallest that some manufacturers make nowadays.

* The stories: Plots, presentation were often influenced by concessions made for sponsors, censors, and/or the network. They also must have had something to do with the actual events, how the situation happened in real life. These shows are windows into the past. This is over 60 years ago.

* Quality of the video and/or audio We're lucky when we can watch full episodes of these black and white '50s shows. Rarely has anyone restored the audio or video. Still they're worth your time. The quality is usually good or at worst, watchable/understandable. 

Limiting ourselves to only free and/or higher-quality restored media really lets other people decide what we see. We miss a lot of history and ideas by only looking at reproductions and restorations.

Pete Kelly's Blues: Another love of Jack Webb's was jazz music.  This was one of his most successful films. Costars included Janet Leigh, Lee Marvin, Ella Fitzgerald and Peggy Lee.

This article is part of the Classic TV Detectives Blogathon

Exclusive Dragnet T-Shirt
There's a badge on the back
Image can be moved if you'd like it more centered
Also available a Dragnet frosted beer mug /coffee cup option






Books and Pages of Interest:

The Earliest Detective TV Shows

Selection of Jack Webb old time radio shows, MP3

Just the Facts, Ma'am: The Athorized Biograhy of Jack Webb: Stacy Webb was one of Jack Webb and Julie London's daughters. She authorized and collaborated on this book. Daniel Moyer and Eugene Alvarez were primary authors. Tragically, Miss Webb was killed in a car accident before the book was published.

Article about Jack Webb Radio Shows, Pre-Dragnet

My Name's Friday: The Unauthorized But True Story of Dragnet and the Films of Jack Webb

List Old Hollywood Stars Married Holidaytime; Vintage Celebrity Holiday Weddings, New Years, Is your anniversary the same as theirs?

Dan Aykroyd and Tom Hanks made a Dragnet music video, City of Crime 
to promote the 1987 film


Merry Christmas (early) from Stan Freberg and the Dragnet team

Early Detective TV Shows

The very first television detectives

In the late 1940s, TV was still new technology but many of the types of shows

Ralph Bellamy points at Fred Astaire

we see now, you could see then.

Children's programs, Westerns, news, soap operas, comedies, game shows, variety shows, anthology dramas and a good amount of amateur hour/you can be a star programs.

By the early 1950s only a tiny percentage of the television line-up consisted of programs devoted to mystery, police, law or crime drama. Until 1949, nationally, what TV police existed were characters on other shows.

Excerpt from Dragnet, The Big Screen radio show, August 1951
Friday and Romero are assigned to stop a TV Repair Racket:

Captain: "It's a pretty vicious racket. It ought to be stopped now. Television's a wonderful medium of entertainment.  A lot of the country doesn't have it yet but when the cable goes through and it finally opens up people should know about the swindlers and the crooks who'll try to gyp them."

Romero: "It was the same way when radio first came in. Always seems like when something new comes along and it's a little complicated a little too involved for the average guy, a few smart punks victimize them, rob the consumer blind."
-- Episode also done for TV 1955

1949-1954 Martin Kane, Private Eye. William Gargan, Mark Stevens, Lee Tracy and Lloyd Nolan played the title role.

Diahann Carroll, Lloyd Nolan
Nolan would later appear in Julia

1949-1954 Man Against Crime (also known as Follow That Man) Ralph Bellamy starred in the private eye series. Robert Preston would co-star.





1950-1952 The Adventures of Ellery Queen. Richard Hart and Lee Bowman

Lee Bowman shown with Joan Blondell

starred.  After actor Richard Hart died, Lee Bowman took over the role.  
Following the radio show, there have been different incarnations of this program that included actors Donald Cook, David Wayne and Jim Hutton. 

Helene Hanff, later famous for writing the biographical 84 Charing Cross Road also wrote for this series. Ann Bancroft played Hanff in the film version of 84 Charing Cross Road. 



The Adventures of Ellery Queen, Murder To Music.
Live Kinescope 1951 TV Episode. DuMont Television Network


1950–1952 Dick Tracy. Ralph Byrd played the detective. When Byrd died this  series ended.

1952-1953 Biff Baker, U.S.A. Alan Hale, Jr. as the Cold War spy.

And to a lesser extent...
1946 You Be the Judge a game show that re-enacted real-life court cases. (Local NYC broadcast)

1948-1951 Court of Current Issues (aka Court of Public Opinion) [Not to be confused with Erle Stanley Gardner's The Court of Last Resort 1957-1958.]


The Court of Last Resort


Grand-Daddy of Reality TV?

Unit-99 was a radio show (1957-58) where a real Sacramento police sergeant carried a tape recorder along with him. Some of the episodes can be hard to listen to. These may be the grandparents of Reality TV or at least predecessors of shows like the Cops TV series. You can find the show on MP3 and some free old time radio to stream.

Sergeant Dan Meredith, Unit 99 from the Sacramento Police Department "carries the [tape] recorder with him to the police station as well as the scenes of the crime as he interviews victims, bystanders, and narrates the action as it happens. While collecting the facts about petty thefts, hold-ups and first-degree murders, radio listeners get a taste of what it was like to be a cop in the 1950s."
-- OTR Cat [link above]

If you like the Cops TV show, listening to the police scanner, Unit 99 has you riding along with a real cop in the 1950s. Not an opportunity anyone expected to get.  Unit 99 may be found in a genres True Police or Real-Action Police Stories.

Dragnet Early Television Cop Series

84 Charing Cross Road; Helene Hanff; Anne Bancroft and Anthony Hopkins

Actor Lee Tracy: What happened in Mexico didn't stay in Mexico 1933

Julia Baker: 10 Famous TV Moms: Nurse Costume Ideas

A great variety of Detective shows and some free old time radio 

Ralph Bellamy My Girl Friday :: FDR Sunrise at Campobello 

Jack Webb Radio Shows

Early Jack Webb on the radio 
Introduction to radio's World of Webb

Jack Webb was a force in radio police drama. Dragnet (one of the earliest radio and tv cop shows) hadn't been Jack Webb's only old time radio show. His first was when Webb was in his twenties. A comedy sprinkled with some jazz music, The Jack Webb Show aired in in 1946. I've only heard a couple of episodes and it's Webb like you've never heard him. There's a Webb treat at the end of this article.

He played private eyes, Johnny Modero, Pat Novak for Hire and Jeff Regan, Investigator. There was a noir touch to the shows. Famous actors such as William Conrad, Raymond Burr and Gale Gordon who would also go on to find success on television worked with Webb on radio.


Pat Novak for Hire
"His mouth was open, flung to one side like a loose change purse full of old teeth..."

He provided all of the voices on the 1946 One Out of Seven, a show that  attacked racial prejudice. On it he used names and quotes from real people sometimes including text of speeches. 

Exposed is some vitriolic ranting from U.S. Senator Theodore Bilbo of Mississippi a known racist and anti-Semitic congressman of the time. This was before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. It gives a small idea of the conditions that brought about the Civil Rights Movement.

Jack Webb has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one for his work in Radio, located at 7040 Hollywood Blvd. The other is for his work in television, 6278 Hollywood Blvd.

You can find a collection of Jack Webb's radio show's available on MP3.

His most famous show, Dragnet premiered on radio in 1949 and would continue there, running concurrently with the television show, through 1957. 

The name of every episode of Dragnet began, The Big....  In 1958 Webb wrote the book, The Badge: True and Terrifying Crime Stories That Could Not Be Presented on TV.

Just to make it confusing, there's a mystery writer of the 1950s also named Jack Webb. This man's full name was John Alfred Webb. And to make him even more often confused with the Dragnet Jack Webb, one of his most famous books is called The Big Sin. It's a story about crooked politicians, a murdered showgirl, a priest and rabbi who team up to solve the murder. 

John Randolph Webb is the full name of Webb of Dragnet fame. If John Randolph and John Alfred ever met I have no idea. There could've been a whole wily World Wide Webb group.

Similar Shows
The sincerest form of flattery? I wouldn't say that any show dealing with real crime stories copied any other show. True events serve as the basis for fiction all the time. Authors and filmmakers sometimes incorporate real people into fictional stories rewriting or reimagining history.

A good radio show set in New York City police station is 21st Precinct aka Twenty-first Precinct. A show out of the UK, show, titled Whitehall 1212 is the number of Scotland Yard. They also make a point of telling listeners that stories are based on actual events.



Twenty-first Precinct aired 1953-1956. Everett Sloan played Captain Frank Kennelly. You may recognize him. He was in Citizen Kane and The Lady from Shanghai. He was also in Patterns, which was written by Rod Serling and some episodes of The Twilight Zone, notably The Fever set in Las Vegas. "Franklin!"

"You have the right to remain lovely"

Sort of in the style of William Shatner, Jack Webb produced some talk-singing albums that were popular with his female fans. 

Just The Tracks Ma'am: The Warner Brothers Recordings Available on MP3 or audio CD. You'll find a swell collection of love song standards. But there's also a series of colorful instrumental tracks credited, "by Jack Webb and Pete Kelly:" Peacock, Turquoise, Perwinkle, Midnight, Dresden, Sapphire, Flame, Magenta, Rouge, Lobster and Fire Engine. The album is from the early 1950s.

Reminds me of the 1957 album, Yvonne De Carlo Sings which includes Am I Blue, In the Blue of the Evening, Little Girl Blue, My Blue Heaven, Mood Indigo and Blue Moon.

Since you're probably still in that Valentine's Day mood,
Jack Webb presents Do I Love You?





A great variety of various Detective OTR shows including some you can listen to free some free : old time radio 

Dragnet Early Television Cop Series 

Early Detective TV Shows The very first television detectives Ellery Queen, Man Against Crime, You be the Judge