# Dragnet (1967)

> Sergeant Joe Friday and his partners methodically solve Los Angeles crimes by the book.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/41051

## Facts

- Seasons: 4
- Episodes: 98
- Episode runtime: 30 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: crime, drama
- Created by: Jack Webb
- Network: NBC
- Cast: Jack Webb, Harry Morgan, Lorraine Gary, Merry Anders, Henry Corden, Frank Gerstle, Jan-Michael Vincent, Walter Brooke
- TMDB rating: 7.7/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061248/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: mild
- Complexity: simple
- Violence: mild
- Tone: clipped, matter of fact, sober, procedural, understated

## Synopsis

Dragnet (1967-1970) is an American police procedural series created by Jack Webb for NBC. Jack Webb stars as Police Detective Sgt. Joe Friday, a methodical Los Angeles investigator who works each case with patient, fact-driven focus, alongside his partner Harry Morgan as Gannon. Each half-hour episode follows a single crime from report to resolution, built from routine interviews, records checks, and quiet legwork across the city. The engine of the show is the steady grind of ordinary police work, where the detectives follow leads, question witnesses, and piece together evidence without melodrama. Across four seasons and 98 episodes, the series keeps a restrained, sober register, with a narrator's voiceover framing each case like an official record. Its tone is clipped, procedural, and matter-of-fact, giving the period a documentary feel. Set in 1960s Los Angeles, it offers a snapshot of big-city policing from the era. Fans of Adam-12, Hill Street Blues and Columbo will find resonance in its case-driven structure and cool, grounded police craft.

## Shows like Dragnet

- [77 Sunset Strip (1958)](https://ember.film/tv/872)
- [The Streets of San Francisco (1972)](https://ember.film/tv/2342)
- [Adam-12 (1968)](https://ember.film/tv/4436)
- [Hawaii Five-O (1969)](https://ember.film/tv/2184)
- [21 Jump Street (1987)](https://ember.film/tv/1402)
- [The Blue Knight (1973)](https://ember.film/tv/1105139)
- [The Rockford Files (1974)](https://ember.film/tv/899)
- [Barnaby Jones (1973)](https://ember.film/tv/554)
- [Hunter (1984)](https://ember.film/tv/4350)
- [Mannix (1967)](https://ember.film/tv/2672)

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