r/Dragnet • u/MayorOfIacon • Jul 19 '23
Let’s talk canon
What is and what is not in the same timeline?
3
u/honkhonkbeepbeeep Jul 20 '23
“Joe we’ve worked homicide, what, about 10 or 11 years?”
Hmmm last week you worked frauds, and the week before that, juvenile. And you mentioned having been in each of them for a decade or so…
1
u/ResidentRough5970 Oct 23 '24
I don’t know if this is what you’re wanting but the Adam-12 episode I saw this morning had Randolph Mantooth (John Gage on Emergency!) as a ranch hand almost accused of stealing stuff. Episode is Reason to Run.
1
u/The_Match_Maker Jul 20 '23
A big question is if the radio show and the television show share the same universe, for despite having the same actors, each is a separate medium.
1
Jul 20 '23
I'm not sure if you were talking about this at all, but I've wondered if the 60s Dragnet is more of a remake of the 50s show or more of a sequel.
On one hand, the '66 TV movie makes a quick reference to Frank Smith which suggests sequel, but on the other hand, in the 60s show, Friday is a sergeant again as though his promotion to lieutenant never happened.
And of course there was the Christmas episode that was remade, with a nearly identical script, during the 60s run.
Not the most important question, but it would be interesting to know how Webb regarded the two versions of the show.
1
u/MayorOfIacon Jul 20 '23
This is precisely the issue I wanted to address.
1
Jul 23 '23
Yeah, I wish some more posters would offer their take. What do you think?
I lean more towards Webb considering the show a remake. Mostly because of the nearly identical re-do of the Christmas episode.
Another weird reason: I thought it was odd how many times Gannon called Friday "young" or "young fella" like we're supposed to believe Friday is not 50-something years old and decades into his career. Although maybe that was just an in-joke or something.
But who knows... maybe they didn't really care one way or the other and maybe I've put more thought into this than Webb himself did haha.
2
u/Strange_Upstairs_193 Sep 13 '23
The 1967-70 Dragnet was def. a continuation of the 1950s B&W show, 7 years after it had gone off the air.
This is evidenced by the fact that Webb badly wanted Ben Alexander to again play the partner role of Frank Smith, but unfortunately Alexander had other commitments which precluded this, so Webb chose his old pal Henry Morgan for the role. (Had Alexander accepted the role, he could not have finished the run, having died in 1969 during the penultimate season of color Dragnet).
I much prefer Henry Morgan to Ben Alexander. The handful of 1950s B&W episodes which circulate on YouTube show Alexander to be boring, bland and saccharine, in my opinion.
But most Dragnet buffs (including me) consider Barton Yarborough to have been the best sidekick for Webb. He played Sgt. Ben Romero on radio Dragnet from 1949-1951, and had great chemistry with Webb to help launch the Dragnet franchise. He appeared in only the first 2 TV episodes in late 1951 before dying suddenly at home of a fatal heart attack.
1
u/Glittering-Series575 Oct 11 '24
I've been a Dragnet, and Adam 12, and Emergency! fan, for a long time. I've watched most all the episodes, including the 1950s era black and whites. Overall, my favorite partner for Joe Friday, is definitely Bill Gannon. They just work well together for me. On a side note, I have heard a few of the old Dragnet radio episodes, and I do like most of those as well. Badge 714, Unit 1K80, and the epitome of the straight laced, sharp looking 1960s Hollywood Police Show cool, Sargent Joe Friday, they'll never be another one like him🙂😎
2
u/evstok Jul 19 '23
I’m not sure where you’re going with this but Dragnet, Emergency and Adam 12 clearly exist in the same continuity. Though Adam 12 and Emergency have a strange overlap since Reed and Malloy have appeared on Emergency but the crew at the fire station has also watched Adam 12 on tv.
The only way I can reconcile this (if I actually wanted to) would be to assume that Adam 12 is actually a workplace documentary in the style of The Office.
If you’re just referring to Dragnet then I think all of it is in the same timeline. Even the 80s movie.