Dragnet began as a radio program in 1949 before making it’s way over to television in 1951. Each episode starred (and the majority were directed by) Jack Webb, who played a no-nonsense cop named Joe Friday. Friday narrated every episode, dropping trivia about the history of Los Angeles while also showing viewers how the cops went about catching criminals. Despite what is commonly believed, Joe Friday never said, “Just the facts, ma’m,” but he did investigate each case with the cool determination of a professional who kept his emotions under control. The majority of Dragnet’s episodes were based on actual cases that were worked by the LAPD, hence the opening declaration of, “The story you are about to see is true.”

On television, Dragnet originally ran from 1951 to 1959, during which time Dragnet also became the first television series to be adapted into a feature film. Jack Webb decided to relaunch Dragnet in 1966 and he produced a made-for-television movie that followed Friday and his latest partner, the far more talkative Bill Gannon (Harry Morgan), as they worked multiple cases over the course of one long weekend.  That made-for-television movie led to a series that ran from 1967 to 1970.

The second television series is the best-remembered version of Dragnet, beloved for its scenes of Friday and Gannon debating the issues with a motely collection of hippies, campus radicals, and pipe-smoking academics.  Jack Webb viewed Friday as being the voice of the common American, who supported the troops, supported the president, and who wanted to spend the weekend grilling in peace.  Friday was the middle-aged suburbanite who wanted to the kids to stay off the grass, whether it was on his front lawn or being sold on a college campus.  These episodes were often campy.  It’s hard not to smile while listening to Friday and Gannon deadpan their way through conversations with flakey long-haired hippies.  It was often obvious that the writers of Dragnet had never actually had any experiences with the hippies, beyond what they saw on the evening news.  And yet, as silly as things often were, the show is an interesting time capsule of the era in which it was made.  If nothing else, it’s a chance to see the turbulent 60s through the eyes of the other side.

Last year, I shared my favorite episode of Dragnet.  For the new year, I’m sharing my second favorite, an episode that originally aired on March 19th, 1970.  In Night School, Joe Friday is attending a night class where he and his classmates sit in a circle and just “rap” about the issues of the day.  No one knows that Joe is a cop but Joe feels that he is still on duty and when he sees that the guy sitting across from him has a baggie of weed in his notebook, Friday makes an arrest.  The professor, who says “There’s nothing wrong with marijuana, I smoke it myself!,” attempts to kick Sgt. Friday out of his class.  “Would you rather be known as good ol’ friendly Joe, the class narc?” the professor asks.  Joe fights for his right to get an education and a man with an eyepatch emerges as an unlikely voice of reason.

Why do I like this episode?  There’s something undeniably entertaining about seeing straight-laced, deadpan Joe Friday attending a class with at least three hippies.  It always amuses me that, on this show, Joe Friday loosening up just means that Joe trades his suit for a sweater.  Also entertaining is Leonard Stone’s over-the-top performance as the villainous professor.  And how can you not smile at Bill Gannon’s weary claim of “I just knew there was no way you could get a B sitting around talking?”  Or Jack Webb’s delivery of the line, “That’s my thing, keeping the faith, baby?”  Or Jack Curtiss’s hyperactive performance as campus drug pusher Jerry Morgan?  “Hey, that’s just oregano!”  Whatever you say, Jerry.

Today’s blast from the past certainly does feel like a trip in a time machine.  Step on in and take a look at California in 1970!