Dragnet S01E01 The Human Bomb

[@LorenIpsum75]

I was new to OTR on the 'net when I found the original "Dragnet" series. While the later color TV versions have their merits, the early Dragnet radio & television versions are favorites. Lest I forget: "Omg! That's Raymond Burr!"🍁

[@toddadams8420]

"Can't go home, wife wants me to paint the bathroom today." Hilarious

[@RussellFlowers]

"Well, you can hang around, and if things go bad, you'll be painting the walls here."

[@statesresearcher]

wow, the FIRST Televised, non-Radio Dragnet Episode!

[@LorenIpsum75]

This episode is available on Dragnet OTR sites.

[@Ace_Hunter_lives]

It was a re-used script from the radio version. Still, it's really cool to see the actor's who did the voices.

[@1968scottyd]

Friday was a litter bug. Always tossing smokes into the street.

[@Pihasanddunes1]

The tension is so real in this, and there's an edge that gives it a further tweak, as the crim keeps second guessing the cops. The acting is so deadpan too. Marvellous stuff.

[@jamesstuart3346]

Well scripted, well shot and quite realistic. A pleasure to watch 😊

[@pakedermsfavs9080]

Love Raymond, wish he had of stayed with the series. I listen to old time radio to go to sleep , I love his voice ! ❤️🥰

[@buzzsaw755]

Ray Burr is pure class

[@feralbluee]

OMG !!!! Raymond Burr - before Perry Mason - he had such presence. . . :) jeez! everybody's was in Dragnet!

[@frankdenardo8684]

He played a cop in a wheelchair on Ironside 1967-1975.

[@paulmentzer7658]

Raymond Burr was also in the American version of Godzilla. For the American audiance rather then do voice over for the Japanese reporter who was main actor in the Japanese Version they reshot the reporter role with Raymond Burr in English. This reduced how much dubbing was needed for the US Audiance. When they remade Godzilla the Japanese were shocked when told Raymond Burr was in the orginal (The Japanese had only seen the Japanese version, the version without "Perry Mason"). Anyway since the 1990s both versions are seen in Japan. They often compare the two for in many ways they are two different movies, but in many ways the same movie.

[@ronaldbrush]

Just like everybody was in Perry Mason!

[@macmcleod1188]

​@@paulmentzer7658and he loved his role in the Godzilla movie. It was one of his endearing favorites and he appeared in the sequel.

[@JohnReitz-ps2ct]

Already getting pudgy

[@burton48]

Stacy Harris. First of scores of Dragnet episodes in which he appeared. including Dragnet 1967. Great character actor.

[@JohnReitz-ps2ct]

Very good friend of Webb. Webb actually named his daughter after him

[@NealManig]

One of the best episodes!!

[@richardwhite2795]

Unlike most Dragnet episodes, be they radio or TV, this one unfolded in real time.

[@brooklynguy4331]

This episode was the sixth program of the radio series. Aired 7/21/49, thirteen days after I was born. The tv episode aired 12/14/51. Btw, the main police cast was the same in both versions. - BG

[@richardwhite2795]

@@brooklynguy4331 Webb’s co-star, Barton Yarbrough, died 12/19/51. He was fifty-one. The Human Bomb and The Big Actor were Yarborough’s only two TV episodes.

[@richardwhite2795]

I was amazed at how fast Webb and company worked. Eight days after Yarbrough’s death came the radio episode The Big Sorrow.

[@richardwhite2795]

Actually, the correct spelling is Yarborough.

[@JJJBRICE]

Dragnet was a BIG hit for NBC in the 1950s usually in the top ten . In fact during its early years the show was right behind I Love Lucy in the ratings . Another fact that Desi Arnaz had a Desilu produced police procedural that took place in San Francisco called The Lineup from 1954 to 1960 with fatherly Warner Anderson and muscle Tom Tully doing their thing .

[@jajamaju]

Trivia?

[@joeyshofner639]

50s TV, love this, Highway Patrol & Sea Hunt.

[@GoldandAppel]

Yeah shows that teach you stuff.

[@jamesstuart3346]

Sky King, Flying Doctor too 😊

[@2274brian]

Sam Edwards, who played Elwood Carney, played on several Dragnet episodes and other shows also, but I remember him most as Sam Muggins from the Christmas episode of The Andy Griffith Show.

[@Ace_Hunter_lives]

I think he also appeared in several radio episodes of Gunsmoke. Dragnet tended to re-use the same voice actors for a lot of episodes, same with Gunsmoke.

[@olive6405]

Anybody noticed Burr looks just like he did in REAR WINDOW.

[@marcosmith2501]

Fatass cop

[@feralbluee]

knew that look was familiar. . . he acts completely different though. totally different character! he was so good.

[@frankdenardo8684]

A lawyer on Perry Mason and a cop on Ironside.

[@robertpeters4161]

Joe Friday was a skinny guy back then compared to the color ones he was in back in the 60's judging by the police car he was driving which was a 49 Ford costom, I'd say this episode came out about 1950. In those days the radio shows and the TV shows ran parallel to each other. I remember early television. When I was born, I love Lucy was running primetime. Middle television started in 1962!

[@KasperKali]

Suspense and vertigo all in one episode. Amazing 😮

[@02chevyguy]

The actor who was the Fire Chief (or whatever his position was) became Friday's new partner

[@jeremyhodge6216]

Raymond Burr should have been a cast member of the show 😌

[@brucemoose9587]

if Burr was on Dragnet, he wouldnt be Perry Mason later

[@jeremyhodge6216]

@@brucemoose9587 yes he could. They could have cast him for the first 3 or 4 seasons Dragnet ran from 1951 to 1959 Perry Mason from 1957 to 1966 so it was possible 😌

[@fromthesidelines]

Adapted from a July 21, 1949 radio episode.

[@bibleredpill]

“Got to keep you alive to decommission the bomb” cute line.

[@danjones732]

Raymond Burr. Very good.

[@franknichols652]

That voice gives it away I didn't even have to see him

[@dennismason3740]

Raymond Burr - "I just nabbed the lead in Perry Mason? That's it - I'm going on a diet".

[@scolley0616]

Is that Raymond Burr? Love him!

[@AndrewVelonis]

I cannot understand why so many people have to ask that question when the answer is right there in the credits. Sheesh!

[@supposedly1-2]

raymond burr wow!

[@AndrewVelonis]

That's what I said

[@dariowiter3078]

He was Chief of Detectives Ed Backstrand for two-three years on the radio version of Dragnet(1949-51/52). 👮📻☺️

[@fromthesidelines]

Previously, he was "Lt. Hellman" on Webb's radio show "PAT NOVAK FOR HIRE".

[@Michael1966W]

I was thinking the same thing

[@frankdenardo8684]

Perry Mason & Ironside.

[@ernestclements7398]

Raymond Burr? On Dragnet? Who would of thunk!

[@feralbluee]

so was Lee Marvin! they had everybody - even Leonard Nimoy had a 1 minute part

[@frankdenardo8684]

The first episode of the Dragnet TV show. Raymond Burr played Thad F. Brown, Barney Phillips as Battalion Chief Ericson, Stacy Harris Vern Carney.

[@GOOSEYGOOSE9]

Jack Webb RIP.

[@pakedermsfavs9080]

Raymond Burr too.

[@pressureworks]

All the rest don't get a RIP ???

[@supposedly1-2]

@@pressureworks yeah i'd' bet all of them are gone by now its been 83 yrs since this aired and most were in their 30's or older so yeah all most likely need an RIP.

[@janyceparks8326]

This is the tensest one I've watched

[@djdon60]

As many of the series' incarnation's episodes I've viewed(a lot), a)I hadn't seen this one, until to-day and, b)I, almost, fell off my chair, when the guys checked in. I didn't know, about this credit, on Mr. Burr's acting record!(instantly, recognisable, of course.)

[@michaelmcchesney6645]

Actually, I didn't instantly recognize Burr by his appearance. But the moment he spoke, I instantly recognized his voice.

[@misskim2058]

He got younger looking with age...

[@williamfleenor8574]

I have wondered about this episode for years. I was 3 yrs old watching Dragnet on TV after listening to it with my parents on radio. Some where in my mind I remembered Joe Friday, riding down on the elevator with the bomb, running outside and falling with the bomb in the bucket of water. Do you know how the little boy in me feels at 72yrs old to finally see this? I didn't know that it really existed, I was so young when I saw it. Joe Friday was the personification of a policeman to me then. order to me then. He was law and order to me. i

[@dariowiter3078]

Burr played the character Ed Backstrand, Chief of Detectives on the radio version of Dragnet for about two years or so(1949-51). 👮📻☺️

[@scottandrews9453]

This was one of two TV episodes with original radio partner Ben Romero, before Barton Yarborough died. Romero's death was later acknowledged in the Big Sorrow. Stacy Harris had been in the radio version as well. He had been in probably hundreds of episodes from radio and both TV incarnations of Dragnet.

[@jamesshort8660]

Raymond Burr as a police captain. Even if I hadn't seen his face I'd know that voice anywhere

[@GOOSEYGOOSE9]

The Pilot Premiered November 30,1951,It Debuted On December 18,1951.

[@blackmaxima]

So this is the first and Stacy Harris appears in it? Harris is probably the most recurring character in all the Dragnet series. I think his final appearance was the forest ranger episode.

[@chrysrhykyscalhoun9812]

Stacey Harris is no slouch, I can tell you that. A great actor, too. He even got a main role as the criminal in the 1954 movie version. Highly recommend it as it is all in color. My personal favorite with Stacey as the criminal is "The Big September Man," where he was a religious zealous using his stance to kill a very beautiful woman in a worst way. I watch that episode so many times. So damn good.

[@allenjones3130]

Raymond Burr played Thad Brown with dignity and grit.

[@heyoldman2003]

Boy , he got off easy .. five ? Doctors looked him over .. I bet he was laughing to him self. He does look crazy though 😲

[@jameshanlon5689]

Is that Raymond Burr as the Police Captain in this episode?

[@20thCenturyManTrad]

Yep. He played Ed Backstrand in the Radio Series.

[@AndrewVelonis]

Just look at the credits at the end

[@dariowiter3078]

@@20thCenturyManTrad That character was the Chief of Detectives on the radio version.

[@20thCenturyManTrad]

@@dariowiter3078 I know.

[@luisalfonsoalba9730]

What? A Dragnet episode that does not start with BIG?

[@chaplainmattsanders4884]

Lol. Right! 😂

[@SamuelKhan]

Raymond Burr as Thad Brown? But he was Ed Backstrand from the radio show! *brain explodes*

[@tcpratt1660]

Actually, they remade the original radio episode (original episode # 7, broadcast 07/21/49; remake, # 53, broadcast 07/13/50), and Lynn White, Deputy Chief of Police, was the boss in # 53 (Ed Backstrand, unlike Brown and White, was not a real LAPD officer). Trivia: One of the reasons why Webb remade this episode was that the early episodes were not quite what he wanted - you can easily tell the difference, because both Friday and Romero were far less excitable, as were their CO's. (The fact that in the remake Webb cast Stacey Harris as Vernon Carney (the guy with the bomb) didn't hurt a bit either, as you can see from Harris' performance as Carney in this TV episode.) More trivia: Webb also remade a kidnapping/homicide episode that he made early in Dragnet's run (original episode #15, Backstrand as chief of detectives, 9/10/49; remake episode # 131, Thad Brown as chief of detectives, 12/13/51). Episode # 131 was the last episode that Barton Yarborough (Sgt Ben Romero) appeared, as he died of a heart attack six days after # 131 was broadcast. Even more trivia: The only Dragnet episode (both radio and television) where Jack Webb did not narrate all of it was # 92, 3/15/51 - the title: "The Big Ben".

[@TheORIGINALBrentTheGent]

isn't that Barney Phillips(the 3-eyed Martian cook from "The Twilight Zone") at 12:25 (?!)

[@franktn001]

It is.

[@dodgeman4360]

Sure is!!!

[@fromthesidelines]

After Barton Yarborough's death, Barney became "Sgt. Friday's" partner, "Officer Ed Jacobs", for a few months. However, he sounded too much like Jack, so "Friday" got several new partners before Ben Alexander appeared as "Officer Frank Smith".

[@feralbluee]

yup!! :} he's in a bunch of Dragnet episodes! i love seeing all thee actors and actresses from the '50's on TV.

[@2274brian]

also famous for saying "I'LL GET YOU FOR THIS DEPUTY!!!" to Barney Fife.

[@GOOSEYGOOSE9]

Jack Webb Had Lot Of Partners,Ben Alexander Played Partner Frank Smith.Harry Morgan Later Played Bill Gannon,In Episodes From 1967 To 1970.

[@maudemathildeh335]

Frank Smith is my favourite.

[@feralbluee]

Alexander was the best one though - what a sense of humor :}

[@frankdenardo8684]

Barney Phillips was Inspector Ed Jacobs, Herb Ellis played Officer Frank Smith before Ben Alexander.

[@petermorhead4160]

The first partner was actor Barton Yarborough playing Friday's partner Ben Romero in this episode. He played Ben Romero on radio Dragnet since 1949. Yarborough died at age 51 in December 1951. Barton Yarborough is my favorite Webb partner.

[@MarshaCarrington-k6n]

Never thought Ben Alexander was right for the part.

[@randquadrozzi1280]

Took only 5 expert's to determine he was crazy.also plays nut in the big barrette and forgery the ranger in the newer dragnet.he's good at it.figure he has been in at least 10 episodes.jack Webb's real life buddy.

[@jamesbradley4548]

Episode with Perry Mason and Joe Friday...The bomber was in about 8, 10 Perry Mason episodes. Studio contracts.

[@billhuber2964]

That bomber is in a lot of Jack Webb flicks. He must of had a acting troupe.

[@jasonpp1973]

Stacy Harris

[@davidvincent6149]

So ARE Virginia Greg and Vic Perin.

[@MrLikecats]

@@davidvincent6149 also Harry Bartell.

[@feralbluee]

quite a number of actors appeared more than twice in little parts. i love that kind of ensemble work. . .

[@pressureworks]

3:02 Perry May-Stone !! / Chief IronStone

[@nleavenworth3064]

Ray burr in one of his early roles

[@dennismason3740]

I was born in this year. Perry Mason came later. He wore a hat for a while.

[@roberrplatt4214]

Instead of removing the bomb from the building by elevator, put the bomb on an open windowsill. Open all the windows, doors, and elevator doors on the floor. Then call a sapper team.

[@Greeley.d]

Is this not Raymond Burr in this episode? Perry Mason as a cop?

[@GOOSEYGOOSE9]

How Many Episodes Dragnet On Film,

[@GoldandAppel]

I always expected Tragg or Drake on here.

[@janyceparks8326]

Anyone else notice on several shows, the person taking on the phone puts the receiver down before they finish talking?

[@msvirginia1799]

fantastic!!

[@lifeisstr4nge]

This is the city... Los Angeles, California. I work here. I'm a cop.

[@gobbollino2688]

‘The Ranger’ one of the most infamous super-villains in comic book history. This show beats Marvel movies

[@ernestclements7398]

Never change the attitude of a bomb if it has a mercury switch, the slightest change of angle will detonate it.

[@ryancoulter4797]

Saw that episode of MacGyver. He froze the mercury.

[@chrismartindale2139]

@@ryancoulter4797 Wow... I wonder how it did that? melting point is about -38 deg.. in both C and F.

[@ryancoulter4797]

@@chrismartindale2139 *shrug* probably involved duct tape ;-)

[@luannekuelzer6333]

Barney Phillips (the fire chief) played Joe Friday's partner in other episodes.

[@alcoholic2412]

I think even in those days the LAPD had a bomb squad

[@susanfaulkner2304]

The movie "Speed"...

[@gobbollino2688]

The Ranger meets Ironside

[@dwaynethomas2612]

Thanks !!

[@McIntyreBible]

3:14, this is a young Raymond Burr before "Ironside."

[@GOOSEYGOOSE9]

Raymond burr played later perry mason.in TV Series.

[@AndrewVelonis]

That's common knowledge. How about this, smartypants: what was the name of the character he played in the first Godzilla movie? I bet you'll have to look it up, but once you do, you won't forget.

[@feralbluee]

you've GOT to be kidding! there's wind and even if there weren't, unless you're a circus performero or rock climber, balancing on that ledge is impossible!!!

[@bibleredpill]

Anybody know the make of Joe’s watch?

[@josephposavac3767]

Pre-Perry Mason/Ironside Raymond Burr as the Captain, and Stacy Harris as the bomber. Harris often played bad guys in TV shows, but for eight years he played intrepid FBI Special Agent Jim Taylor on ABC Radio's "This Is Your F.B.I.", still in production when this episode aired, and endorsed by J.Edgar Hoover.

[@patriciahayes7315]

Stacy Harris was a favorite of Jack Webb's. I remember seeing him on numerous episodes of the later "Dragnet", with Harry Morgan as Sgt. Friday's partner Bill Gannon.

[@Ace_Hunter_lives]

Ha! Holy shit, you're right! I haven't heard "This Is Your FBI" in years.

[@Richard-me2pq]

There is an annoying crackling static noise that is in the background competing with the dialogue!?

[@teresas8173]

It’s old film with old audio.

[@nnamdianyanwu8269]

Who is that actor who's trying to blow the Los Angeles City Hall?

[@SrVP100]

+Nnamdi Anyanwu His name was Stacy Harris (1918-1973). He was one of Jack Webb's best friends and debut in "Appointment with Danger" in 1951, co-starring with Webb. He also appeared in many of the Dragnet episodes from both Dragnet series. He was a highly respected actor.

[@nnamdianyanwu8269]

I see. Thanks!

[@heyoldman2003]

And his little brother has been in many a show . These are the best Dragnet shows 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

[@exploringmind7648]

why is the 'package' bubbling?

[@CousinJennie]

The air inside the box is escaping as the water replaces it.

[@JenniMeer]

Jack Webb looks like a kid!! 🤣🤣🤣

[@michaelgahan2968]

I think the best course of action would have been to get his brother out of jail and diffuse the situation first. Then they could always arrest them later when the bomb threat is gone. By the way, isnt that a job for a swat team? Maybbe they didnt have such a thing back then.

[@AndrewVelonis]

Swat teams came along after the Texas tower shootings, I think that was about 10 years later.

[@chrismc410]

Closest thing to SWAT back then would be an Infantry platoon of the state national guard

[@teresas8173]

That’s what I thought. Romero would have fallen off the edge of that building

[@briankoshefsky5916]

Like the guy's not going to hear a fire truck pulling up and putting a ladder up to the window lol

[@dennismason3740]

A year after this appearance Mister Burr appeared in a little film called Godzilla: King of the Monsters (American cut).

[@chrismartindale2139]

I am wondering how "true" this episode actually was. I cant find any historical reference to some guy trying to blow up the Los Angelus City Hall. It would have had to have happened before 1949... This plot first appeared in a Dragnet radio show in 1949.

[@feralbluee]

sweetie, it's Los Angeles LOL Keep safe. . .

[@chrismartindale2139]

@@feralbluee First of all, I am not your “sweety”. That term is degrading and used simply to build up your self-assumed superiority. The spelling was based on the pronunciation of the city in the little neighborhood of metro LA I grew up in. A bad joke that no one got, as it turned out. Secondly, in your self-appointed role as spelling / grammar Nazi, you totally ignored the question at hand. You obviously don’t have the research skills to answer the question. I do. As it turned out it was a very interesting story. I hope your response to my question made you feel smart and well educated for a least a short time. Unfortunately, reality eventually does set back in.

[@teresas8173]

Based on a true story 🤔… I doubt this one was true. I’ve researched a number of episodes and can usually find info on the actual crime online but this one I’ve had no luck. And it certainly would have been in newspapers and different articles.

[@johng1758]

They are intermittently using Barton Yarborough voice from the radio version over the actor here. There are subtle differences from the radio. Big one is Boss was Ed Backstrand in radio version. I loved him, he always bitched poor Joe and Ben out when it was taking them too long to solve a case. They would say, "suspect is smart and so is smart skipper, he would say "well be smarter, there's no law against it" ha ha

[@Ace_Hunter_lives]

I was wondering about that! It's really poor dubbing. I wonder why they didn't just start the series with Friday and Smith? Yarborough was dead by this point and the Romero character was killed off (death by heart attack) in the radio version.

[@MrNpkellogg]

Burr must have gained weight before he started with the Perry Mason series

[@pressureworks]

You would've thought Elwood would get a reduced sentence for trying to help.

[@teresas8173]

He didn’t help … he should have had time added to his sentence and his brother in prison for life.

[@pressureworks]

@@teresas8173yes ma'am m, the fact. i did say Tried.

[@guynorth3277]

What, this isn't The 'Big' Human Bomb?

[@morganmeagan8577]

These episodes are always the 'big' something... almost seems wrong without it 😆

[@matthewlivermanne4441]

The guy with the bomb also was busted later in the series for selling guns

[@ernestclements7398]

If a cop today got caught with a sap he'd get fired!

[@MartinSage]

In the 1950’s 2,000,000 people…Now, 2021 70yrs later 4,000,000 people !!! A rookie cop makes$60,000/yr Fours years in the force he’ll make Sargent (like Joe Friday) and his pay goes to $80,000/yr

[@jacquelinemilton6387]

Is that Raymond burr

[@matthewwoelfle5533]

Twenty six minutes? Golly that's only enough time to smoke 5 or 6 Fatima cigarettes...best of all long cigarettes!

[@benniebarrow348]

Call Paul Drake !

[@JohnReitz-ps2ct]

In real life Hopper had been involved in underwater demolition for the Navy during WW II.

[@benniebarrow348]

@@JohnReitz-ps2ct I had read that Hopper was part of a frogman team (the precursor to the navy seals) ……very cool .

[@Joeblow-ms3cv]

What do you say to a man with a bomb? Got a light?

[@Greeley.d]

I didn’t know who played the bomber but he did play in a lot of Dragnet episodes seems like always the bad guy.

[@Ace_Hunter_lives]

Yeah, he played the criminal a lot, but he also played the victim a lot as well. He was one of their main supporting actors in the OTR versions.

[@matthewlivermanne4441]

Jack Webb sure was thin and young.

[@waynesworld7804]

Another clever crook with a clever idea.

[@7jack7]

Is that Perry Mason?

[@SrVP100]

+Jack Smith Yes, that was Raymond Burr 1917-1983) who played Perry Mason later on. Here he was Detective Thad Brown. He appeared 3 years later in "Rear Window". I would really liked to have seen him stay on as Detective Thad Brown., even though At Gilmore, and Walter Sande were outstanding as captains, too

[@TheORIGINALBrentTheGent]

I thought that it was (Chief) Robert T Ironside!

[@calmheart1782]

He played both, Perry Mason and Robert Ironside.

[@chrismc410]

@@SrVP100 he was later chief of the LAPD. Succeeded by a Thomas Reddin I believe

[@jimkelley1000]

perry mason

[@MIKECNW]

Can we reupload this to where their lips aren't moving when they're not speaking?

[@jameshanlon5689]

MIKECNW: I think that it may be difficult to resync the audio with the video. I’m not saying that’s impossible but difficult unless you have a media software to remaster the film.

[@cheeptrick5464]

Just pretend it's a Japanese sci-fi flick

[@keithammleter3824]

"This story is true" - but it doesn't make any sense: The phone rings but turns out to be disconnected. The offsider got spotted coming down on a rope, so he climbs out on the ledge - nobody is going to do that. And why? Why not make another go on the rope? Somehow it took about 2 minutes to get the brother out of jail and in the room - how did they do that? Jails are usually miles from any city centre. The episode starts off with 3 of them talking quietly because the perp is in the next room. Later, there is a multitude of people all talking loudly. Why was the perp in a room on the 11th floor anyway? In real life, a nutter walks into Police HQ with a bomb on his arm - no way is any police officer going to let him get any further than the ground floor - unless they use the South African police method - rush the guy and throw him out the window. They left the perp alone in the room, which doesn't seem a good idea. Better to keep him distracted and not have time to think. But seeing as he is left alone, get the window closed on some pretext, and flood the room with CO2 via the door gap - he'll go unconscious without knowing it. Poor perp must be getting thirsty with all the stress - offer him a glass of water (which has some drug in it) - he might not drink it, but it's worth a try. Another idea - wall clocks in these sorts of public utility buildings were generally slave clocks, receiving electric pulses each minute from a central master clock, so all the clocks in a building keep the same time without a whole lot of people having to ever do anything - so get a clock technician in and gradually slow down the master. The perp will not realise it because he's running on adrenaline, but it gives them more time. But I guess the script writer didn't know about municipal electric clocks - you didn't think it was really a true story did you? Incidentally - Australian police shoot home-made bombs with a shotgun if there is some reason why they can't just disassemble it. It pretty reliably doesn't set off the sticks of gelignite but does disintegrate the fusing and any timing mechanism, rendering it safe. If I remember right, they got the idea a long time ago from British police. I saw it demonstrated at a police academy open day. So they would have masserated the perp's hand - too bad. Who cares? These sorts of situations don't ever get sorted out by just leaving it to 2 ordinary detectives. They put teams together with different sorts of experts and have a brain-storming session. I guess the scrip writer didn't know that either.

[@bibleredpill]

I think a lot of us saw many of these inconsistencies. While the story is in fact true, the screenplays always took some liberties for entertainment and time constraint purposes. But this one was of course a bit over the top. The show was in its infancy and no doubt very low budget. This is probably the worst episode of the entire dragnet franchise IMO. But it’s still cool. Mistakes and all it’s still cool

[@michaelhewitt258]

Early 1950's That stuff didn't exist

[@keithammleter3824]

@@michaelhewitt258 : Which stuff? Perps with bombs? Carbon dioxide? Stepping slave clocks - they've been around since the 1920's (eg Larrabee patent US1821100).

[@michaelhewitt258]

@@keithammleter3824 What I meant L.A.P.D Didn't have a special weapons team til the later 1960's And comment listed some technology That didn't exist in 1949 Back then things like hostage situations. Were handled by Street Officers and Detectives And any crime Investigation's had Had some technology And what they had was very rudimentary

[@bibleredpill]

I think a lot of us saw many of the story inconsistencies. While the story is in fact true, the screenplays always took some liberties for entertainment and time constraint purposes. But this one was of course a bit over the top. The show was in its infancy and no doubt very low budget. This is probably the worst episode of the entire dragnet franchise IMO. But it’s still cool. “Artistic liberties”, mistakes and all it’s still cool

[@RogerRoddComedian]

"Let's get him help". The battle cry of bleeding hearts.

[@TheORIGINALBrentTheGent]

Is that Stacy Harris( at 5:14) (?!)

[@jasonpp1973]

Yup

[@Baribrotzer]

"The Human Bomb." What? This is not the right title for an episode of Dragnet. Really? Just a plain old ordinary-sized Human Bomb? It needs to be called "The Big Bomb". Or maybe "The Big Human Bomb."

[@macmcleod1188]

This wasn't a Big episode.

[@sheldonhchambliss1385]

No bomb squad i guess

[@dariowiter3078]

LAPD didn't have a bomb squad in era and neither did the other major police departments across Team USA, for that matter; police bomb squads didn't come into existence until the '70s or so. 💣🚨🚔👮😐

[@chrismc410]

@@dariowiter3078 only the military had things resembling SWAT and bomb squads back then

[@hertzair1186]

Machine gun dialogue

[@avatarlilacwolf]

12:31

[@drewpeacock6823]

Slowest minutes ever!!!

[@mickaelwilliams6129]

and today l.a. is a shithole

[@davidperi]

So Joe Friday throws his cigarettes on the street.--- street littering.