History Radio / Dragnet

* AcceptableBreaksFromReality: Detective Friday and his partner wouldn't work so many difference desks in the LAPD. However having to explain why that is would take away from the story, and having a rotating bunch of detectives would only complicate thins.
* BasedOnATrueStory: One of Dragnet's claims to fame. Jack Webb was given actual police reports, if anonmylized, to turn into stories. This combined with actual training and lectures on then LAPD police procedures mean that the show is one of the most accurate Police Procedures ever.

** ''Missing Persons - Juanita Lasky'' winds up as this. A woman calls in from Utah that her daughter hasn't talked to her for a while. As the episode goes on it becomes closer and closer to Christmas, which motiaves the detectives to find her. [[spoiler: They managed to find her and get her on the phone with her mother on Christmas Day. The ending narration says that it turns out she had an Amnesia disorder and was the cause of everything.]]

* DeadpanSnarker: Done but not to the level that later shows would.

* DunkingTheBomb: Done in ''Attempted City Hall Bombing'' but not for the usual reasons. They knew that the bomb was dynamite so the water would give it more of a buffer from shock. It would also hopefully short out or jam the unknown mechanism.

* EverybodySmokes: It's the 50's. To the point where the only sponsor for the early Radio show was a brand of cigarette, Fatima.

* IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming: Most episodes of the series were titled "The Big (something)". The ones that don't are either early episodes, or a repeat of an earlier episode.

* OhCrap: Friday when he trips literally holding a bomb. He curls up and waits for it to explode as it hits the pavement.... Thankfully the bomb maker did not want it to explode unless he wanted it to.
** The prep in ''The Big Grifter'' when he tries to bribe Friday and his partner with the 1,200 dollars he just scammed. And realzies that he's scammed himself.
--> "I have money. I have..There's a dollar bill. And some newspaper. I've been had.""

* SocietyMarchesOn: ''The Big Book'' is all about Joe Friday and the LAPD trying to bust an Erotic Literature ring in a high school. Nowadays with TheInternetIsForPorn, people would be surprised that the kids have an actual physical copy.

* UnbuiltTrope: As the first real PoliceProcedural, it's not like most of them. Mainly due to how realistic it is. There aren't too many Police Procedurals that are willing to show the Detectives having to spend over a week going from hotel to hotel trying to find the one their suspect was staying at to find the stolen jewelry.
* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: The radio show was written in the 50's and it shows. For starters the main sponsor of the show is a Cigarette brand. This was written years before DNA was even discovered and decades before DNA tests became a thing. The interrogations usually happen without a lawyer as Miranda rights weren't codified. A plot point hinges on the fact that a Bar actually had a TV in it in one episode. An elevator operator has to tell Friday how to work the elevator as they have to evacuate the building due to a bomb, and he needs to leave.

* AcceptableBreaksFromReality: Detective Friday and his partner wouldn't work so many difference desk in the LAPD. However having to explain why that is would take away from the story, and having a rotating bunch of detectives would only complicate thins.

* DunkingTheBomb: Done in ''Attempted City Hall Bombing'' but not for the usual reasons. It was for a handful of reasons. They knew that the bomb was dynamite so the water would give it more of a buffer from shock. It would also hopefully short out or jam the unknown mechanism.

* IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming: Most episodes of the series were titled "The Big (something)".

* LateArrivalSpoiler: Many radio episodes in the archives are titled with the name of the person ultimately proven guilty. The most egregious example is "Claude Jimmerson: Child Killer", since when it first aired, it wasn't clear at first that the two missing girls were dead.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: The radio show was written in the 50's and it shows. This was written years before DNA was even discovered and decades before DNA tests became a thing. The interrogation happen without a lawyer as Miranda rights weren't codified. A plot point hinges on the fact that a Bar actually had a TV in it in one episode. An elevator operator has to tell Friday how to work the elevator as they have to evacuate the building due to a bomb, and he needs to leave.

* InfantImmortality: Averted hard on with the February 2nd, 1950 episode "Claude Jimmerson: Child Killer" which featured a double homicide (and implied rape) of a 7 year old and an 11 year old.

* CutLextLuthorACheck: In "The Big Check", Friday's mother observes that check forgers could easily earn more for their work at an honest nine-to-five job.

* LateArrivalSpoiler: Many radio episodes in the archives are titled with the name of the person ultimately proven guilty.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: ''Homicide: Quick-Trigger Gunmen'' uses different theme music, and Friday himself gives the WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue. ''George Slocum: Thief'' probably did it the same way, only [[MissingEpisode we cannot know for sure]].

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: ''Homicide: The Nickel-Plated Revolver'' uses different theme music, and Friday himself gives the WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue. ''George Slocum: Thief'' probably did it the same way, only [[MissingEpisode we cannot know for sure]].

* [[YouLookFamiliar You Sound Familiar]]: There were many of these. Jack Webb maintained a cadre of actors that he liked working with, and cast them often as he needed them, provided they were available. Many of these actors got their start working with Webb on the radio series, and continued working with him to the end of the '60s revival series. Of particular note are:
** Virginia Gregg, probably the most recognizable actress, a fixture on the radio series.
** Peggy Webber, who many may remember from her appearances on the ''[[Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000 MST3k]]'' episodes "The Screaming Skull" and "The Space Children."
** "Marty" Milner, who played a role in several radio episodes, including a short stint as Joe's partner.
** Harry Morgan, who would later play Bill Gannon in the '60s series, voiced a number of witnesses.

Friday and his partners rotated through the various departments from week to week, allowing them to solve not only murders, but also fraud, arson, and drug-smuggling. Each episode ended with an announcer giving [[WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue the results of the perp's trial]]. The show spawned a number of {{CatchPhrase}}s and featured an iconic four note {{Sting}} used as a ThemeTune.

** Peggy Webber, who many may remember from her appearances on the MST3K episodes "The Screaming Skull" and "The Space Children."

* ContractualImmortality: Even if one didn't know the series would continue, one would expect ''Joe Friday'' to survive being shot (as he was in "[[spoiler:The Big Ben]]".)

* Expy: In the 1960s TV revival, Friday's partner is Officer Bill Gannon, whose personality and banter with Friday are very similar to Officer Frank Smith, Friday's final partner in the radio and 1950s TV series.

* {{Dedication}}: Jack Webb dedicated each of the first several episodes of the radio version to a police officer killed in the line of duty.
-->'''Webb''': "This episode is dedicated to [insert name], who on the [insert general time ('morning of', 'evening of') and date] gave his life so that yours might be more secure".

* {{Dedication}}: Jack Webb dedicated each episode of the radio version to a police officer killed in the line of duty.

-->'''Webb''': "This episode is dedicated to [insert name], who on the [insert general time ('morning of', 'evening of') and date] gave his life so that yours might be a little safer".

-->'''Webb''': "This episode is dedicated to [insert name], who on the [insert general time ('morning of','evening of')and date] gave his life so that yours might be a little safer".

* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: Friday's various partners.

Archetype of the PoliceProcedural, this first installment in the ''Franchise/{{Dragnet}}'' franchise followed the exploits of Sgt. Joe Friday and his various partners as they investigated crime in Los Angeles. The series ran on Creator/{{NBC}} from 1949-1957. Barton Yarborough portrayed Friday's original partner, Sgt. Ben Romero, from the start of the radio show until his death in December 1951. He was briefly succeeded by a few different partners, most prominently Barney Phillips as Detective Sgt. Ed Jacobs, before Ben Alexander took over as Officer Frank Smith from late 1952 to the end of the radio run.

Archetype of the PoliceProcedural, this first installment in the ''Franchise/{{Dragnet}}'' franchise followed the exploits of Sgt. Joe Friday and his various partners as they investigated crime in Los Angeles. The series ran from 1949-1957. Barton Yarborough portrayed Friday's original partner, Sgt. Ben Romero, from the start of the radio show until his death in December 1951. He was briefly succeeded by a few different partners, most prominently Barney Phillips as Detective Sgt. Ed Jacobs, before Ben Alexander took over as Officer Frank Smith from late 1952 to the end of the radio run.