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Dragnet

Season 1

14 listed hours · 1951–1959 · NBC

← All seasons · Show package

From the desk

How this season is filed

Filed by Rex Fontaine · Golden Age Dispatch

Jack Webb’s 1950s machine: clipped narration, dum-da-dum-dum authority, and a Los Angeles that sounded like a report until the report became American slang.

TV Flash files Season 1 of Dragnet (1951–1959) on NBC as the first listed season of 8 — 14 listed hours, 1951-12-16–1952-06-19 from “The Human Bomb” (S01E01) to “The Big Lamp” (S01E14). Titles, dates, and synopses on file — no invented recaps.

Desk essentials in this season

  1. S01E01 The Human Bomb

    Crisis as procedure — the thesis in a crew cut.

  1. S01E01

    The Human Bomb

    The Human Bomb — Season 1, Episode 1 of Dragnet. Aired 1951-12-16. Full plot synopsis not yet on file; see the show package for context.

    Pilot note — From the desk: Dragnet opens its catalog run with “The Human Bomb” (1951-12-16). Police procedural grammar starts here; every badge drama owes the cadence. Jack Webb's control-freak production legend is half the show's mystique.

  2. S01E02

    The Big Actor

    The Big Actor — Season 1, Episode 2 of Dragnet. Aired 1952-01-03. Full plot synopsis not yet on file; see the show package for context.

  3. S01E03

    The Big Death

    The Big Death — Season 1, Episode 3 of Dragnet. Aired 1952-01-17. Full plot synopsis not yet on file; see the show package for context.

  4. S01E04

    The Big Mother

    The Big Mother — Season 1, Episode 4 of Dragnet. Aired 1952-01-31. Full plot synopsis not yet on file; see the show package for context.

  5. S01E05

    The Big Cast

    The Big Cast — Season 1, Episode 5 of Dragnet. Aired 1952-02-14. Full plot synopsis not yet on file; see the show package for context.

  6. S01E06

    The Big Speech

    The Big Speech — Season 1, Episode 6 of Dragnet. Aired 1952-02-28. Full plot synopsis not yet on file; see the show package for context.

  7. S01E07

    The Big Parrot

    The Big Parrot — Season 1, Episode 7 of Dragnet. Aired 1952-03-13. Full plot synopsis not yet on file; see the show package for context.

  8. S01E08

    The Big Moody

    The Big Moody — Season 1, Episode 8 of Dragnet. Aired 1952-03-27. Full plot synopsis not yet on file; see the show package for context.

  9. S01E09

    The Big Blast

    The Big Blast — Season 1, Episode 9 of Dragnet. Aired 1952-04-10. Full plot synopsis not yet on file; see the show package for context.

  10. S01E10

    The Big Trial

    The Big Trial — Season 1, Episode 10 of Dragnet. Aired 1952-04-24. Full plot synopsis not yet on file; see the show package for context.

  11. S01E11

    The Big September Man

    The Big September Man — Season 1, Episode 11 of Dragnet. Aired 1952-05-08. Full plot synopsis not yet on file; see the show package for context.

  12. S01E12

    The Big Phone Call

    The Big Phone Call — Season 1, Episode 12 of Dragnet. Aired 1952-05-22. Full plot synopsis not yet on file; see the show package for context.

  13. S01E13

    The Big Casing

    The Big Casing — Season 1, Episode 13 of Dragnet. Aired 1952-06-05. Full plot synopsis not yet on file; see the show package for context.

  14. S01E14

    The Big Lamp

    The Big Lamp — Season 1, Episode 14 of Dragnet. Aired 1952-06-19. Full plot synopsis not yet on file; see the show package for context.

More from the 1950s.