Desc | Dragnet | Crime | Old Time Radio Downloads

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"Ladies and gentlemen…the story you're about to hear is true…"

Dragnet, a term which actually refers to the systematic and coordinated way searching for a wanted person, was also used to pertain to a police drama series that aired from September 1949 to February 1957 in NBC Radio. For 30 minutes per episode, the show featured real police stories in a simple, investigatory style.

The show was said to be inspired by a film called "He Walked by Night," which was released in 1948. In that film, Jack Webb, who portrayed Dragnet's main character Sergeant Joe Friday, was given a small role. Through the help of the Los Angeles Police Department, Webb was able to present true cases, which became the trademark of Dragnet. It narrates every facet of police work—from paperworks and patrols, to crime scene investigations, laboratory works, and interrogation of suspects and witnesses.

As the most popular and influential police series in the history of American media, Dragnet was able to provide its audience the impression of what a real police life could be like. It was well-liked by most radio listeners, as well as police officers. Due to its success, the series also had its television adaptation.

"From beginning to end, from crime to punishment, Dragnet is the story of your police force in action."

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Please enjoy these 332 old time radio episodes:

Air Date	Title	Synopsis
12.06.1951	the big canaries	+ "The Big Canary". Sponsored by: Fatima. The mother of sixteen-year-old Roberta Dixon has been mur...
09.15.1953	the big cab	+ Dragnet. September 15, 1953. Program #213. "The Big Cab". Raymond Bailey has been beaten by a ma... INCLUDES RADIO SCRIPT
11.15.1951	the big bungalow	+ Dragnet. November 15, 1951. Program #127. "The Big Bungalow". Sponsored by: Fatima. A stool pigeo...
04.17.1952	the big bunco	+ Dragnet. April 17, 1952. Program #149. "The Big Bunco". Sponsored by: Fatima. Sgt. Friday gets a ...
09.14.1952	the big bull	+ Dragnet. September 14, 1952. Program #169. "The Big Bull". Sponsored by: Chesterfield. Leroy Bent...
06.14.1951	the big building	+ Dragnet. June 14, 1951. Program #105. "The Big Building". Sponsored by: Fatima. A dentist named D...
12.15.1953	the big brink	+ Dragnet. December 15, 1953. Program #226. , AFRS rebroadcast. "The Big Brink". A gang of heavily ... INCLUDES RADIO SCRIPT
12.14.1950	the big break	+ Dragnet. December 14, 1950. Program #79. "The Big Break". Sponsored by: Fatima, Chesterfield. Aft...
03.16.1950	the big boys	+ "The Big Boys". Sponsored by: Fatima. A gang of four robbers, and their puppy (!) have come to Lo...
09.01.1953	the big bop	+ Dragnet. September 1, 1953. Program #211. "The Big Bob". A robber has held up a check cashing se... INCLUDES RADIO SCRIPT
04.06.1950	the big book	+ "The Big Book". Sponsored by: Fatima. Obscene "comic" books are being sold in high schools. The t...
07.13.1950	the big bomb	+ "The Big Bomb". Sponsored by: Fatima. Vernon Carney is threatening to blow up the Los Angeles Cit...
08.23.1955	the big blonde	+ , AFRTS rebroadcast. "The Big Blonde". A blonde and two "cow-men" have swindled a man out of $40,...
05.17.1951	the big blast	+ Dragnet. May 17, 1951. Program #101. "The Big Blast". Sponsored by: Fatima. The program begins, "...
05.31.1951	the big bindle	+ Dragnet. May 31, 1951. Program #103. "The Big Bindle". Sponsored by: Fatima. Sergeant Friday pret...
05.04.1950	the big badge	+ "The Big Badge". Sponsored by: Fatima. "The Badge Bandit" has struck fifteen times, but is now tr...
01.31.1952	the big almost no show	+ Dragnet. January 31, 1952. Program #138. "The Big Almost No-Show". Sponsored by: Fatima Cigarette...
11.29.1951	the big affair	+ Dragnet. November 29, 1951. Program #129. "The Big Affair". Sponsored by: Fatima. A French woman ...
08.10.1950	the big actor	+ Dragnet. August 10, 1950. Program #61. "The Big Actor". Sponsored by: Fatima. $10,000 worth of na...
10.05.1950	the big 38	+ Detective Sergeant Friday has been assigned to robbery detail. A store clerk has been murdered; sh...
09.10.1949	sullivan kidnapping	+ "The Wolf" has kidnapped a girl and has demanded $30,000 ransom. An excellent, taut, police dram...
12.01.1949	spring street gang	+ Sponsored by: Fatima, Grainger Pipe Tobacco. A gang of juveniles is hanging out on Spring Street....
08.18.1949	sixteen jewel thieves	+ There have been sixteen jewel burglaries in the last sixteen days, a very active thief! The trai...
10.06.1949	second hand killer	+ Thomas Laval admits to being involved in a truck highjacking. While in custody, he jumps out of ...
12.20.1955	rifle for christmas	+ ".22 Rifle For Christmas". The fourth broadcast of this Christmas story about a nine-year-old bo...

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Air Date	Title	Synopsis
09.15.1953	the big cab	+ Dragnet. September 15, 1953. Program #213. "The Big Cab". Raymond Bailey has been beaten by a ma... INCLUDES RADIO SCRIPT
12.15.1953	the big brink	+ Dragnet. December 15, 1953. Program #226. , AFRS rebroadcast. "The Big Brink". A gang of heavily ... INCLUDES RADIO SCRIPT
09.01.1953	the big bop	+ Dragnet. September 1, 1953. Program #211. "The Big Bob". A robber has held up a check cashing se... INCLUDES RADIO SCRIPT

So enjoyed Dragnet on radio and of course watched every episode on TV. More than one HD channel here plays all of them.

Jeanette

Harry Bartell = always awesome.

John

Virginia Gregg was on everything! I love catching her in tv shows like "Dragnet."

Larisa

I wasn't expecting myself to enjoy Dragnet this much

Tyler

I love radio Dragnet!

Kristi

I like the radio version of "Dragnet" much more than the TV version.

Debra

The radio version is much edgier than the TV version.

Richard

they want you to make sure you get everything and make it much more exciting (say that fast)

Tyler

Harry Bartell, played many characters on Dragnet, both radio and TV as well as many other radio shows.

Walt

"This is the city. Los Angeles, California. I work here. I carry a badge. My name's Friday."

Rick

Excellent I love dragnet

John

My favorite show I love that and never tired to listen that again and again.

Andrew

I love that show

Michael

So enjoyed Dragnet on radio and of course watched every episode on TV. More than one HD channel here plays all of them.

Jeanette

"The story you about to hear is true, the names have been changed to protect the innocent"

Daniel

The Dragnets from the 1950's are very entertaining to me!

Mike

The Dragnet episodes "A .22 Rifle for Christmas" and "The Big Little Jesus" l recommend to here these episode in Christmas. my favorite.

John

I loved this old show, During the noon hour in our LA high school they would often play the Dragnet theme on a loud speaker. It was very popular!

Diana

Dragnet is really good. Good stories, acting and great sound effects.

Dan

Lately I have been listening to and enjoying the Dragnet radio shows. Dragnet had an almost seamless conversion to TV. I still enjoy both. At least some of the Dragnet episodes were the same script on both radio and television (with some narration added to radio to explain the action). The "Baby Jesus" story is one example that's easy to find in audio and video.

Ted

Recycling of scripts was more common among series in that era than it is now. Gunsmoke had many reused scripts both on the radio and also on TV. I prefer that to what latter came to be known on TV as the Montage Episodes .

Tom

Featuring all 309 existing programs as broadcast on NBC from 1949 to 1955 (excluding repeats). You will find this set has the best sound, as well the most complete set of programs available anywhere. Another feature in this set, is many of the programs are in high code to take advantage of the great sound. Dragnet is respected as the best crime drama on radio, later in movies and on TV. (Check out our OTV DVD Catalog for the black & white TV programs, as well the color 1967 to 1970 series).

DRAGNET