#75 Dragnet

Dick Wolf's police shows, particularly Law & Order, always reminded me of the orignal Dragnet. Both programs focus on a pair of hard-working detectives and dwell in the procedural nature of crime solving. It makes sense that Wolf and company are giving new life to Joe Friday and his partner Frank Smith. I particularly like the new show's realistic approach to shooting Los Angeles. In the last episode, "The Cutting of the Swath" a hit and run took place on the corner of Griffith Park and St. George in Silverlake.They shot the scene at that very corner. Still, the show isn't completely authentic; the writers take Law & Order's patented "ripped from the headlines" formula and apply it with a healthy dose of television dramatization. Recent episodes imagine a copycat killer's recreation of the infamous hillside stranglings and what would happen if an episode of Bumfights went bad. Because of this approach, the show's intro had to be changed. Now when the program begins, the voice lets us know that the story we are about to see isn't true, but "based on real events." Ed O'Neill's cool, yet wearied portayal of Joe Friday makes up for the show's modern, titilating approach. That guy can really act.

Dragnet airs Sunday evenings on ABC, then repeats on USA. Unfortunately, the orignal Dragnet is not currently on the TV Land schedule.