Was Dragnet rightie?
I ask because I listen to the ye olde timme radio Dragnet shows on npr each weekend. There is one episode that gets replayed regularly that is, hands down, the most compassionate, thoughtful treatment of heroin addiction I've ever encountered in pop media.
I'll have to go do some Jack Webb wikipedia-ing.
eta: I love this Webb trivia from imdb:
At the height of "Dragnet's" popularity, people would actually call the LAPD wanting to speak to Webb's character, Sgt. Joe Friday.
The Department eventually came up with a stock answer to the large volume of calls: "Sorry, it's Joe's day off."
Well, I thought so, the few times I'd seen one, but I am from a different time and to the left of most Americans, even so. I should keep that in mind.
I didn't know that Perry Mason had such humble origins(the character, not the...brand, or whatever.)
Perry's been playing on local PBS in the evenings around here. Is it at all accurate that he'd do criminal law as well as consulting on contracts and all that?
And he strikes me as just a touch sleazy anymore. I do like Della, though, she had a lot more to do than I remember.
connie, depends on where he is. Big city, more likely to specialize.
The first Perry Mason novels came out during the '30s, Dragnet during the early '50s (or maybe slightly earlier?). Reflected their times.
I remember some of the Dragnet eps from the late '60s. Definitely rightie in the law-n-order, police are always right, damn those dirty hippies because they're all crooks anyway sense. Might have some sensitivity toward at least some of the drug addicted, as long as they weren't committing other crimes to support their addictions.
It's a subject that could bear interesting scrutiny, popular entertainment as commentary on current culture. As I'm sure someone probably has already done.
This lolcat is appropriate
[link]
Might have some sensitivity toward at least some of the drug addicted, as long as they weren't committing other crimes to support their addictions.
Of course, if you leave your toddler to drown in the bathtub while you smoke a joint, don't expect much sympathy from Sgt. Friday.
Dragnet in the 50's was much less obviously conservative than the sixties version, but then the sixties were a very different time.
Awww, those LOL cat twins remind me of my fluffy cat.
Is Women's Murder Club a procedural?
. Definitely rightie in the law-n-order, police are always right, damn those dirty hippies because they're all crooks anyway sense. Might have some sensitivity toward at least some of the drug addicted, as long as they weren't committing other crimes to support their addictions.
This is so interesting! I wonder when the shift occurred. The shows I know best are the early 50's radio...where the moralizing was strong, but there was always an attempt to understand where the criminal was coming from.
