Friday - The Dragnet Podcast

Originally Aired: July 6, 1954

Dragnet #255, "The Big Search," Sergeant Joe Friday and Officer Frank Smith are working the night watch out of juvenile detail when they receive an urgent call just before midnight. Gilbert Moran reports that his 13-year-old daughter Bunny has vanished from their Hollywood home while he and his wife Gladys were at a movie. When the Morans returned around 11:40 p.m., they found Bunny's room in disarray, homework papers scattered everywhere, and both the girl and her golden cocker spaniel Skippy missing. The distraught father insists his daughter was taken against her will.

Friday and Smith carefully examine the scene, noting the unlocked door leading to an outside walk and signs of what appears to be a struggle. As they gather details about the missing girl—dark blonde hair, honey-colored eyes, wearing blue clam diggers and a white blouse—the case takes on an increasingly urgent tone. With Mrs. Moran sedated by a doctor and Mr. Moran adamant that something terrible has happened, Friday begins his methodical investigation into whether this is a runaway, an abduction, or something else entirely.

Originally Aired: June 29, 1954

Dragnet #254, "The Big Chick," opens with a grim discovery: the body of a man found floating in MacArthur Park Lake. When Sergeant Joe Friday and Officer Frank Smith are called in by Homicide Detective Jack McCready, they learn the victim is Walter Gilmer, a career criminal with a lengthy arrest record. The coroner's report reveals Gilmer died of narcotics poisoning, possibly from the inferior grade of heroin that has been flooding Los Angeles from Mexico. With no solid leads on the drug operation, Gilmer's death provides Friday and Smith with a potential breakthrough.

Working alongside McCready and Detective Danny Galindo, Friday and Smith track down Gilmer's known associates. Their investigation leads them to David Flack, a heroin user who was the last person seen with Gilmer alive. Under interrogation, Flack admits he was with Gilmer when he died after taking a fix from a mysterious new connection. Facing a potential murder charge, Flack reveals that Gilmer had found a new heroin source but refused to share the details, insisting it was the best deal he'd ever made. Now Friday and Smith must determine whether this new connection is linked to the deadly drug ring terrorizing the city.

Originally Aired: June 22, 1954

Dragnet #253, "The Big Customer," finds Sergeants Joe Friday and Frank Smith investigating a violent robbery that has left a special officer shot and a store owner stabbed. At Georgia Street Receiving Hospital, they interview Mrs. Montgomery, whose husband Keith was attacked during the holdup of their store. She recounts how two men entered around 9:30 while she and Keith were playing cribbage in the back room. When Keith refused to hand over the cash and told the young criminals to leave, the shorter man pressed a switchblade to his chest while demanding money from the register.

The situation escalates dangerously when Mrs. Montgomery tries to call the police and Keith fights back to protect her. After forcing the couple to hand over both the register money and their hidden cash—only about $30 to $35 total—the robbers encounter Keith and the Montgomerys on the sidewalk where a special officer intervenes. The taller suspect grabs the officer's gun and shoots him in the stomach, while his partner, possibly named Hank, stabs Keith before both flee in a waiting car. Friday methodically gathers descriptions while Mrs. Montgomery waits anxiously for word about her husband's condition.

Originally Aired: June 15, 1954

Dragnet #252, "The Big Cat," Sergeant Joe Friday and Officer Frank Smith face an unusual case for the auto theft detail when Clarence Havill reports a bizarre theft. While his carnival truck was broken down at the corner of Fountain and De Longpre, someone broke into the animal cages. Missing are two monkeys, two raccoons, and most alarmingly, a seven-foot black panther named Dandy. Havill managed to recover the shivering monkeys from atop a telephone pole using lettuce as bait, but the panther remains at large somewhere in Los Angeles.

Friday and Smith begin their investigation, aware that a dangerous wild animal is loose in the city. Havill explains the panther has a temper and could be dangerous if it encounters someone. While the raccoons can easily be replaced from the Hollywood Hills, Dandy poses a serious threat to public safety. The detectives must act quickly to locate the escaped panther before someone gets hurt, turning what started as a routine theft report into a race against time.

Originally Aired: June 8, 1954

Dragnet #251, "The Big Student," finds Sergeant Joe Friday and Officer Frank Smith pursuing a dangerous bank robber who has been systematically hitting financial institutions across Los Angeles. After two months of investigation, they finally get a positive identification on their suspect: Louie Rhode, a former San Quentin inmate with a history of burglary who has returned to crime. The detectives track down Rhode's half-sister, Viola Clark, hoping she can lead them to her brother's whereabouts. During their interview, she reveals that Louie was always looking for the easy way out, even as a child running a library racket in their garage, charging neighborhood kids to read dime-store novels he'd collected.

As Friday and Smith continue their search through Rhode's known associates and hangouts, the suspect strikes again, robbing a Hollywood Boulevard bank for eighteen hundred dollars. Working methodically, the detectives track down cab drivers who transported the fugitive from the crime scenes, piecing together his movements. With each robbery, the stakes grow higher, and Friday and Smith must use every resource at their disposal to corner this elusive criminal before he can strike again.

Originally Aired: June 1, 1954

Dragnet #250, "The Big Cowboy," Sergeants Joe Friday and Frank Smith respond to a Code 3 call for unknown trouble at an apartment court on La Miranda Street. When they arrive, they find nothing apparently wrong until a gunshot rings out from one of the units. The manager, Marshal Rice, nervously explains that tenant Dudley Gray has barricaded himself inside his apartment and started shooting. Rice reveals that Gray, who lost his job two months ago and is six weeks behind on rent, has become increasingly unstable and paranoid, convinced that Rice is having an affair with Gray's wife Charlotte.

According to Rice, the situation erupted that morning during a discussion about remodeling work. Gray flew into a rage, threw his coffee cup against the wall, and ordered Rice out of the house with threats of violence. Charlotte and the children fled the apartment shortly after without taking any luggage, suggesting she plans to return once her husband calms down. Now Friday and Smith must figure out how to safely extract the armed and emotionally volatile man from his apartment, while Rice pessimistically insists the only solution is deadly force.

Originally Aired: May 25, 1954

Dragnet #249, "The Big Watch," Sergeants Joe Friday and Frank Smith catch their first break in a three-week-old supermarket robbery when an informant calls with a lead. A bartender named Dan at the Balinese Room reports that a regular customer called Nick has suddenly come into money, flashing expensive watches, designer clothes, and buying drinks for everyone after years of being broke. The suspect matches the description of the thief who made off with over seven thousand dollars, right down to his age and build. When asked about his sudden wealth, Nick jokes that he "met the locksmith to Fort Knox" and claims he's found "the easy way to live."

Friday and Smith begin their methodical investigation, interviewing witnesses and canvassing neighborhood shops. They talk to Madge, a cocktail waitress Nick has dated, but she provides little useful information. As they work their way through clothing stores and jewelry shops, they slowly piece together a pattern of expensive cash purchases. When they locate a jeweler who remembers selling gold cufflinks, a tie bar, and a high-end wristwatch to someone matching Nick's description, the case begins to take shape.

Originally Aired: May 18, 1954

Dragnet #248, "The Big Help," Sergeant Joe Friday and Officer Frank Smith are working the forgery detail, pursuing a sophisticated gang of check passers who have hit over 50 businesses across Los Angeles, stealing approximately $60,000. The detectives interview Tom Dawson, a grocery store clerk at York Canyon Market who cashed a fraudulent check for $89.60—a significant sum he'll have to pay back from his own salary. While nervously assembling a promotional cereal display, Dawson describes the well-prepared suspect who presented convincing identification including a driver's license, social security card, and credit cards, all of which later prove to be fake.

Despite five months of investigation, comprehensive descriptions from victims, MO bulletins distributed citywide, and collaboration with state agencies, the gang continues to operate with impunity. Each forged check follows the same pattern—drawn on real companies but nonexistent bank accounts—yet the suspects vary their methods enough to evade detection. Friday and Smith face mounting pressure from their captain as the case drags on with no breaks, while victims like Dawson worry about making their tight family budgets stretch to cover the losses.

Originally Aired: May 11, 1954

Dragnet #247, "The Big Look," Sergeant Joe Friday and Officer Frank Smith respond to a brutal beating at 7982 Oakwood Avenue. The victim, Mrs. Irene Kieran, lies severely injured in her bedroom, unable or unwilling to describe her assailant despite being with him for half an hour. The neighbor who discovered her, Ms. Griffin, reports hearing screams while watching television and encountering a man fleeing the scene, though she can provide no useful description of him.

As Friday and Smith investigate, troubling inconsistencies emerge. The crime scene appears staged—$120 sits untouched in a dresser drawer, and there's no sign of forced entry, suggesting Mrs. Kieran knew her attacker. Ms. Griffin mentions the Kierans' troubled marriage, revealing that Tom Kieran suspected his wife of infidelity and had threatened to kill her. With the husband nowhere to be found and the victim's strange silence about her assailant's identity, Friday and Smith begin piecing together a case that looks increasingly like it involves someone much closer to home than a random intruder.

Originally Aired: May 4, 1954

Dragnet #246, "The Big Stop," begins with a routine morning at Los Angeles Police Department's Homicide Division, where Sergeant Joe Friday and his partner Frank Smith are wrapping up a suicide case. Their day takes a violent turn when they receive an urgent call about a shooting at the corner of Broadway and San Julian: a traffic officer has been gunned down in broad daylight.

When Friday and Smith arrive at the scene, they find the wounded officer lying in a pedestrian crosswalk with a gunshot wound to the chest, his service revolver still holstered. Witness Roy Hickock provides a chilling account of what happened. A young man in a dark blue sedan stopped for a red light in the middle of the crosswalk. When the traffic officer approached, apparently to ask him to back up, the driver suddenly opened fire without warning, shooting the officer multiple times before speeding away through the panicked crowd. With only a partial description of the suspect and his vehicle, Friday and Smith face the daunting task of tracking down a cold-blooded cop killer somewhere in the sprawling city of Los Angeles.