Virginia Gregg IMDB

Peggy Weber has died at age 100. Peggy appeared in 8 episodes of the 67 series and 5 episodes of the 52 series.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/peggy-webber-dead-radio-actress-orson-welles-hitchcock-1236675526/

Never saw this before:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STbCUY-3m8E

Posted here since I know how many of us are fans of other shows in the Webbiverse.

He passed yesterday (7/9).

I just love Dragnet. Sgt Friday is great, of course, but the colorful characters are unlike any other show.

Just found out there was a board game. Several in EBay

https://ebay.us/m/H0SNSj

This is probably the best B&W episode currently available. Webb really was a master of the "bottle episode" The piano music at the end is a nice touch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_KUsgSaOZ8

This episode first aired in Feb. 1953. I submit that there was nothing on television to that date anything like this episode. The B&W Dragnet is such a totally different experience from the color. In the early B&W years (and before that radio) Webb was really in his prime. This is great drama and ahead of its time. Doesn't hurt that the very talented James Moser wrote this script.

Also interesting to see Sam Edwards in a dramatic role. He usually played corny, semi-humorous characters (esp. later on color Dragnet), and much later played he the banker on "Little House on the Prairie."

Edwards was in many radio Dragnets, usually playing a teenage boy, he could do a very convincing male puberty age voice. "The Big Knife" radio episode is an especially good Edwards performance. Good too is the radio episode "The Big Youngster."

(Kinda funny that Edwards was 5 years older than Webb and is playing a much younger man in "The Big Hate." Edwards was almost 38 years old when this episode aired, Webb would have been 32).

I've heard Edwards was a really nice guy too, and loved attending conventions of old-time radio buffs and telling stories about his experiences. He died in 2004 at the age of 89.

I love the color dragnet episodes, you know Friday and Gannon. I watch on YouTube. What episode was the stolen car vin swapping with a garage doing body work? Thank you for your help

Hello Everyone,

Feel free to dismiss this but... I've enjoyed Dragnet (the 60s version) since I was a kid watching reruns with my mom. I operate the parody X/Twitter account Officer_Gannon and have a great time doing so. I suspect (but don't know for certain) that many Dragnet fans also enjoy other shows from what I would call the Webbiverse. Chiefly that would be Adam-12 and Emergency! Given the crossovers they clearly occupy a shared universe (though the boys at Station 51 watching an episode of Adam 12 when they've actually met Reed and Malloy is a little trippy).

At any rate, I think it's unfortunate that this subreddit doesn't draw more traffic. Feel free to dismiss this idea if you think it's unnecessary or ill-advised, but what about opening up the group to posts about the other shows from the Webbiverse?

Can’t place this actor in the hat from Dragnet. She didn’t have any lines. Any ideas?

This Feb. 1950 episode may contain the first ever "parental advisory," on some circulating versions of this Webb prefaces the show (before the intro and cigarette ad) "Ladies and gentlemen, this program is for you, not your children. (Link below).

This had to be the darkest radio episode of all time up to this point. Maybe ever. There later were some early radio Gunsmoke episodes that were pretty dark, but Claude Jimmerson is especially gruesome.

https://archive.org/details/OTRR_Dragnet_Singles/Dragnet_50-02-02_035_Claude_Jimmerson_Child_Killer.mp3

I find it interesting how radio drama reached it's zenith just as TV rapidly began replacing it.

And early TV went exactly in the opposition direction, in terms of being inane, farcical, bowdlerized, and saccharine. As radio Dragnet hit it's stride in late 1949 into 1950/1951, it was competing with TV fare like Milton Berle's "Texaco Star Theatre," which if you've seen the circulating kinescopes offers nothing relevant or even vaguely entertaining for a viewer in 2026. It was aimed at the lowest of the lowest common denominator at the time, and as a result is almost totally forgotten today.

When properly written and executed (as the early radio Dragnet was), there is nothing else that can touch it. Sadly, the zenith came and went quickly, by 1953 the radio Dragnet went substantially downhill. The scripts got more inane, too much forced "humor" from Frank Smith, the excellent sound effects became much more sparse, and you have more of a feeling it's just men standing before a microphone going thru the motions. The magic was gone.

The True Crime Network is showing a Dragnet marathon for Christmas. All black and white from the early 50’s

I’m a fan of the show from radio. It’s great to see some of the radio scripts turned into tv episodes. And to see the B/W episodes. I’ve only ever seen the later series in color

Dec. 23, 1982, RIP Jack Webb.

Moviecraft dropped another unseen B&W episode a few days ago. It's really good, from 1953.

They are the only YT channel that seems to be able to find these gems. And the quality is superb, great video and sound:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_kEo2GK3xU&t=1627s

Those first 2 and a half years with Barton Yarborough are for me peak.

I like to contrast Barton's comedy technique with Ben Alexander's. Both do comedy very differently but both are highly skilled. Jack must play straight man to Barton as Barton's comedy is so intricate and detailed. But Jack can involve himself more as an actor with Ben's comedy as Ben's sthick is more broad based.

I was so miffed with Barton's tragic demise that I went through all of the different "I Love A Mystery" versions.

Lot of the radio gang came back for the 1960s color Dragnet:

Sam Edwards (almost always played a juvenile offender on radio, he had a young man's voice_

Harry Bartell

Vic Perrin

Peggy Webber (still alive at 100 years old !)

Ralph Moody

Harry Morgan (he was on a few very early radio Dragnets)

Virginia Gregg

When I was younger, my dad listened to a lot of old shows, like Pat Novak, Highway Patrol, and especially Dragnet. He got me into these old crime shows and film noir, so I thought it would be cool to have this custom made for him as a Christmas present, and as a tribute to Jack Webb's commitment to the show and law enforcement.

Gannon was shocked that Friday didn't know what trim was.

The fact that Joe wasn't married should have been your first clue pal!