L.A. Dragnet

my thoughts exactly...esp w Southland!!

First of all, you are both right. For Daniel, Police work has never been for the weak hearted, the reason you remember the Original Dragnet for what it was, was mainly due to the censors and the time it was produced, though Webb tried pushing limits, the fines back then were much, much, much more severe vs. today.
Back then his career could have been placed in jeporady as would his projects.
Today he would have gotten a warning and a light fine.
Dragnet has been around a long time, going back to when it was on the radio in the late forties, to it's first venture on tv in the fifties, to the color relaunch in 68. As much as I hate to say it, Dick Wolf did add a good credible chapter to the Dragnet history book, in terms of taking it closer to actual police work then it's predecessors {Once again like I stated above was due to both federal and network censors.}.. But that is the only praise I have for it. Casting Ed O' Neil for the role of Friday is a gray area considering the fact he has been typecasted as Al Bundy. But he did do a good job. The bad thing was watching the end before the credits where it says "the preceding show was fiction" as all Law and Order shows do. This turned some fans off who remember the statement at the ending of the radio and both original tv versions were "The program you have just listened to {Or watched} was based on true events, only the names have been changed to protect the innocent." The First Season of this show kept up the spirit of the original versions and would have done Jack Webb proud despite the fictious episodes.
Season 2 was when Dick Wolf and the network ruined it by going the typical Law and Order or crime show route by bringing in a team of diverse detectives. This show was actually good in it's first season, and if it was to be brought back it should be done with the following,1. Get rid of the 'grab bag' group of detectives and go back to two detectives trying to solve a crime.2. For the love of god, remake it WITHOUT Dick Wolf and go back to solving a TRUE crime. if the LAPD doesn't want to grant access {Due to a case still being open}, then rework some of the classic dragnet episodes to today's standards.3. Give it to a cable network like TNT, let the cable networks that aren't bogged down with craptacular reality shows. have a crack at it and if they were to do that, pair it with the rescued 'Southland' {If it was to be brought back and if TNT was to take it} and run it as a duo with Southland, like networks did with the old tv versions of Dragnet and Adam-12.

I respectfully disagree. I grew up with syndicated runs of the Jack Webb version of Dragnet (first began watching it as a teenager in the 1980's) and while I acquiesce that there will never be another show quite like it, this version more than captured the tone and pitch that made the series such a lasting part of Americana. Ed O' Neill and Ethan Embry were spot on in the first season . I also appreciate that the show was more concerned with the process of actual detective work-ie pursuing leads, following hunches and using their wits- rather than placing overt emphasis on shootouts and hardcore action. Indeed several episodes end at the moment of arrest, leading the audience to discover the eventual fate of the suspects in the famous "mug shot" postscript. In deference to the violence- well, I appreciate the sense of realism. The show really does give one a sense of what it's like to work Robbery Homicide in LA. . If you work homicide, you'll see some damaged corpses. By showing those images we are given a greater sense of how grim the circumstances under investigation are. In the second season, the absence of Embry and the addition of several younger cast members did cause the show to lose some of the flavor (though O'Neill was still excellent and his narration kept it in the family), so I can understand why some viewers might have been disappointed with it (though I personally a still enjoyed it). In any event, LA Dragnet deserved a better shot than what it was given and the two seasons we were fortunate enough to receive remain among my all-time favorite crime procedural dramas..Law & Order and Homicide never quite caught my attention the way this series did.