Originally broadcast on NBC, 28 December 1954. Restored from the Old Time Radio archives.
The run
- Network
- NBC
- Years active
- 1949–1956
- Surviving broadcasts
- 312
- Genre
- detective
Dragnet , the brainchild of Jack Webb, may very well be the most well-remembered, and the best, radio police drama series. From September, 1949 through February 1957, Dragnet 's 30 minute shows, broadcast on NBC, brought to radio true police stories in a low-key, documentary style.
1955 · 351954 · 471953 · 8
Restoration quality — measured from the surviving files
Clean transfer · 38 of 90Listenable · 15 of 90Rough but complete · 37 of 90
Source collection
Old Time Radio Researchers Group
Rights
Public domain — no renewed US copyright
Cataloguing
Air dates and notes from the Archive item record
Every broadcast below carries its own provenance sheet — transfer quality, file source and rights.Archive record: OTRR_Dragnet_Singles
The shape of the run
What survives, year by year
23 dated broadcasts across 8 years on the air, with 5 years where nothing is known to survive. Brightness is transfer quality; empty cells are months lost to time.
JFMAMJJASOND
1949
1950
1951
1952
1953
1954
1955
1956
Clean transferListenableRough but complete No surviving recording
Episodes
Start here
Listen to the run in order
Restored broadcasts from 1953, in original transmission order.
- 1. The Big Kid · 10 Nov 1953
- 2. The Big Flight · 17 Nov 1953
- 3. The Big Present · 24 Nov 1953
The Big Close
20 Sep 1955 · 25 min
Originally broadcast on NBC, 20 September 1955. Restored from the Old Time Radio archives.
The Big Daughter
13 Sep 1955 · 25 min
Originally broadcast on NBC, 13 September 1955. Restored from the Old Time Radio archives.
The Big Ruling
6 Sep 1955 · 29 min
Originally broadcast on NBC, 6 September 1955. Restored from the Old Time Radio archives.
The Big Fellow
30 Aug 1955 · 24 min
Originally broadcast on NBC, 30 August 1955. Restored from the Old Time Radio archives.
The Big Blonde
23 Aug 1955 · 24 min
Originally broadcast on NBC, 23 August 1955. Restored from the Old Time Radio archives.
The Big Beer
16 Aug 1955 · 26 min
Originally broadcast on NBC, 16 August 1955. Restored from the Old Time Radio archives.
The Big Missus
9 Aug 1955 · 29 min
Originally broadcast on NBC, 9 August 1955. Restored from the Old Time Radio archives.
The Big Sheet
2 Aug 1955 · 24 min
Originally broadcast on NBC, 2 August 1955. Restored from the Old Time Radio archives.
Same night on the air
28 Dec 1954
Everything else the archive still holds from the night of 28 Dec 1954.
Originally broadcast on CBS, 28 December 1954. Restored from the Old Time Radio archives.
Also on NBC
NBC in 1949–1956
Other series the network carried while Dragnet was on the air.
Same seasons
detective on the air then
Series in the same genre whose runs overlapped this one.
What it became
The private eye at the microphone
First-person narration, a case that walks in the door, and a city that talks back. Marlowe, Sam Spade and Johnny Dollar turned detection into a listening form.
Lineage is written by our editors, not inferred from listening data.
Descendants
Working in the tradition of Dragnet
Modern series carrying this form forward.
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