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S8 E39 · The Big Red
Dragnet is a drama and crime TV series that premiered on NBC on December 16, 1951. It has 8 seasons and 276 episodes so far and has ended. The latest episode, Season 8 Episode 39 "The Big Red", aired on August 23, 1959.
Follows the cases of a dedicated Los Angeles police detective, Sergeant Joe Friday, and his partners. The show takes its name from the police term "dragnet", meaning a system of coordinated measures for apprehending criminals or suspects.
Last updated
276 episodes · 8 seasons
1951 · 14 episodes · Last episode: 74 years ago
Friday and Jacobs are out to catch a safe burglar who has been on the loose for seven months.
A man claims that his wife committed suicide right in front of him, but the evidence suggests otherwise.
Friday confronts a jeweler with tape recorded evidence that proves he hired someone to rob his own store.
A secretary is beaten to death and the search for the killer leads police to a religious fanatic.
Friday testifies at the trial of a man accused of a hit-and-run, but the main witness against him suddenly disappears.
A divorced mother is killed in bed by a shotgun while her young boy sleeps beside her.
A couple are robbed and murdered, along with their pet parrot. The killer uses a time bomb to start a fire and cover up his crime.
A doctor is beaten and robbed of prescription drugs.
The police interrogate a suspect whom they believe to have murdered more than a dozen men.
A new-born baby is stolen from a hospital nursery and the trail leads the police to a deranged mother.
Friday poses as a hired killer for a man who wants his wife dead.
Friday and Jacobs track down a drug ring through a small-time television actor who is hooked on heroin.
A man walks into City hall carrying a live bomb. He threatens to blow up the building if his brother isn't released from jail.
1952 · 33 episodes · Last episode: 73 years ago
Friday and Smith are looking for two thugs that seem to have disappeared from the city.
Friday and Smith search for the brutal killer of a 21-year-old woman.
Friday and Smith are torn between two suspects when a man reports that his wife has been strangled.
A bandit starts robbing people at local markets.
Several babies are stolen in the city.
Friday and Smith suspect a psycho killer when they find a woman with a broken neck in a hotel room.
An elderly widower is missing, so Friday and Smith retrace his actions before his disappearance. Things point to a long vacation until the story of Mrs. Banner, who rented the man's house, doesn't add up.
While investigating a routine robbery with Friday, Smith suffers a critical gunshot wound. Sergeant Friday is out for vengeance.
A man suddenly becomes ill and dies after eating his dinner at home.
A land lord begins threatening his tenants so he can force them to move out of his building.
A friend of Friday's asks him for help when he discovers that his son has been using drugs, and may be selling them as well.
A young man reports that he was robbed by bandits on horseback while he was down in Mexico.
An immigrant is brutally beaten to death and the trail may lead to the victim's abused wife.
Friday and Smith must decide between accident or murder when a crewman working on a movie set is killed by a falling light.
Friday and Smith track down an escaped convict who is armed and dangerous.
Two elderly women are struck down by a hit-and-run driver.
A prominent dentist denies that his wife is missing, but Friday and Smith can find no trace of her.
Friday and Smith are looking for a missing woman that left her three children with her sister.
Friday is looking for a crooked cop.
Gordon Miller, a young pianist, is found near an abandoned freight car holding the dead body of a woman in his arms. He claims he has killed her.
A woman receives threatening letters from an unknown stalker.
Friday and Smith are investigating a missing office safe.
A seven-week-old baby is found abandoned in a bus station.
A woman is murdered when she is given an overdose of chloroform.
An elderly woman is passing bad checks, but no one suspects her because she looks harmless.
Friday has to catch a bad cop who has been dealing with the mob.
Two small boys are missing, there are blood stains on the ground and a gun meant as a Christmas present is gone.
A missing young boy is found and returned to his grandfather, but the case gets complicated when the grandfather suspects that the boy is not his own grandson.
Friday and Smith investigate three traffic accidents in one night.
Friday and Smith investigate a group of teenagers who are using and selling drugs.
Friday and Smith search for the person who left a dead woman in a hospital elevator.
Friday must cope with the sudden death of his partner as he and his new partner track a pair of escaped convicts.
A man stands upon the ledge of a tall building and threatens to jump to his death below.
1953 · 39 episodes · Last episode: 72 years ago
Friday begins to question a local gardener, who has been arrested for holding up a grocery store. During the interrogation Friday begins to have strong doubts about the man's confession.
A single mother is stabbed to death in her home. The list of suspects includes her teenage son and her many boyfriends.
A man is beaten and robbed, then the thieves intimidate him and his family so he'll refuse to testify against them.
A check forger is victimizing small businessmen in a particular neighborhood.
A woman disappears and her husband is the prime suspect, but Friday and Smith will have a hard time getting past his fierce guard dogs.
A man's body is found in the gutter and the only clue is a pair of skid marks found nearby.
An elderly woman is badly beaten and robbed while on her way to the bank. The trail leads to an ex prize fighter.
Friday and Smith investigate a corrupt cop.
Friday and Smith hunt down the bandit queen; a tall, gorgeous woman who is on a rampage of robberies and shootings.
A woman and her grandson are run down by a bakery truck, but the driver has an airtight alibi.
Friday and Smith are surprised to find a wealthy house wife is a shoplifter, until they discover that she is a kleptomaniac.
An elderly man appears to have killed himself with a rifle, but the cops soon learn that it was no accident.
A man posing as a doctor burgles the house of a woman who is mentally disturbed.
An elderly couple suddenly disappears from a fashionable neighborhood.
Three children are found abandoned, filthy and starving. Friday and Smith charge the mother with neglect.
Signs point to foul play when a highway patrolman disappears from his car along a deserted road.
Friday and Smith investigate the death of a young girl that is initially ruled a suicide but turns out to be murder.
The cops must stake out a hotel lobby and deal with a drunken desk clerk as they wait for four juvenile armed robbers to show up.
Friday and Smith catch a boy who has been vandalising private property, but they discover that the boy's problems begin at home.
Three men are taken into custody for the murder of a former vaudeville actress who owned a large steamer trunk. The three men maintain innocence.
Friday and Smith overhear a suspicious conversation while on a coffee break in a diner.
A statue of the Child Jesus is stolen from a church. Friday and Smith must find it before the paritioners miss it on Christmas morning.
Robbers phone doctors for house calls then assault them and steal their drugs.
Friday and Smith investigate a con man that marries rich women just for their money.
A cop is gunned down at home by a vengeful ex con. Friday must go under cover in prison to obtain a full confession.
Friday and Smith try to capture a ring of truck hijackers.
Friday and Smith investigate the murder of a rich man.
A man is found dead in an alley and it's up to Friday and Smith to find his killer and notify the man's wife.
Friday and Smith investigate the murder of a girl who came to Los Angeles with a dream of being an actress.
A police rookie is accused of assaulting a citizen and stealing his money.
Friday and Smith are on the trail of a gang that is robbing local drugstores.
A teenage boy steals food for his starving family.
Friday and Smith track down a confidence ring who are selling defective watches.
Smith takes a personal interest when a strong-arm bandit threatens his family if he doesn't back off the case.
A woman reports her husband missing and Friday and Smith are assigned to find him.
Friday and Smith respond to and investigate reports of a drug ring.
1954 · 39 episodes · Last episode: 71 years ago
Two hold-up men are robbing and beating pedestrians in the down town area.
Friday and Smith are looking into a report of a missing woman that turns into a murder investigation.
Bandits are offering rides to hitch-hiking soldiers, then robbing and beating them.
Friday and Smith are on the trail of a bunch of teenagers selling fake magazine subscriptions.
The owner of a flower shop kills a man who is trying to rob him, but the corpse mysteriously vanishes.
Friday and Smith use an unusual footprint to help solve a murder case.
Friday and Smith investigate the robbery of an appliance store.
A con artist is swindling jewelers using fake diamonds.
A masked bandit is holding up supermarkets and the police are not able to catch him.
Friday and Smith Investigate a Bank Robbery, but they don't have much to go on.
A bartender's wife is kidnapped, beaten and rolled in hot tar.
Friday and Smith go after a bandit who is robbing mailboxes and then trying to cash other people's checks.
A woman's badly mutilated body is found in a churchyard on Christmas eve. The only clue is a key lying under her.
Friday and Smith use a stolen check as a lead to a series of used car lot robberies.
An old man sits on his front porch with a shotgun, threatening to kill the man who poisoned his dog.
The detectives search for a missing mother and child at the behest of her mother-in-law, unaware that the girl's husband has died in action and is not overseas as the woman had claimed.
Friday and Smith team up with a newspaper reporter so they can investigate television repairmen who may be overcharging their customers.
Friday and Smith go after a burglar who plans to break into a bank through an underground tunnel.
Local businessman John Keith Jarrett disappears and evidence of suicide is discovered. Friday and Smith check on the surviving members of his family and find them not the least concerned about their father's death, with his son a tennis bum, his daughter promiscuous, and his wife drunken. The case gets even murkier when a report comes in of a traffic incident upstate involving a camper in which the driver was using Jarrett's license.
A group of bandits arm themselves and break their comrades out of jail.
An expectant mother is run down and killed by two teenagers in a hot rod.
Friday and Smith are assigned to the business office, where they must deal with the paperwork on a busy weekend.
Friday goes under cover to bust a drug ring that is operating out of a high-class hotel.
A man locks himself in his study and threatens suicide if his wife leaves him.
Friday and Smith discover that the key to finding a hold-up artist lies in his married girlfriend.
Friday and Smith investigate a man who is conning people by using the want ads.
On New Year's Eve, Friday and Smith are working out of Central Receiving Hospital.
Friday and Smith must find the men who murdered a gang boss before an open gang war starts.
An attempt is made on the life of a gang leader. Friday and Smith must find the shooters before his followers seek revenge.
Friday and Smith are looking for a burglar who leaves a milk bottle at the scene of the crime. They suspect a juvenile might be involved.
A holdup man is sticking up bars. After he takes the money he kills many of his victims. Sergeant Friday has few leads other than that the holdup man likes a certain song on the jukebox.
Friday and Smith are looking for a missing businessman.
When Friday and Smith learn that a showdown between two teenage gangs is about to take place within 48 hours, they do their utmost to prevent it.
A case hits too close to home for Friday when his old army buddy robs a liquor store and shoots his partner. Friday believes his friend wants to go straight after doing time, but things get worse when his friend breaks jail.
An old man and his granddaughter are burglarized, leaving them broke and starving.
Four-year-old twin girls are abducted from the local park.
A group of con artists are posing as cops and victimizing out-of-town businessmen in fashionable hotels.
A man claims to be a big Hollywood producer, but Friday and Smith discover that he's merely the leader of a pornography ring.
1955 · 39 episodes · Last episode: 70 years ago
A young man is found hiding in an empty train car with the strangled body of an older woman next to him.
A teenage boy turns himself in and confesses to being an addict, but he refuses to give up the names of his friends who supplied him.
Friday and Smith are investigating a rash of car thefts. The stolen cars are being sold with forged pink slips.
An informant tips off police to a shipment of heroin coming into the country. Friday goes under cover to bust open the ring.
Two bandits turn cop killer when they gun down an off-duty policeman during a tavern hold-up.
A police officer is suspended from duty when he is accused of taking a bribe in exchange for a prisoner's release.
Friday goes undercover to catch brothers who steal people's money by posing as real-estate agents.
Friday and Smith hit a blank wall when a burglary suspect refuses to admit where he hid his stash.
Police find themselves in a stand-off when an armed bank robber takes a woman hostage in her home.
Friday gets a call from a former mental patient who is threatening to kill himself and his family.
Friday and Smith investigate a missing persons report.
A liquor store owner is shot and killed during a botched robbery, but police can find no trace of the fatal bullet.
A two-year-old child after drinking bleach from under the sink. Friday and Smith are unable to locate the mother for questioning.
A city councilman is beaten and robbed by two men outside a bar. When he dies from his injuries, Friday and Smith feel pressure to find the killers.
Friday and Smith are on the trail of a robbery suspect that has robbed two stores.
An elderly woman fakes a burglary report so she can get attention from the police and the media.
During a quiet New Year's shift, Friday and Smith remember some of their past cases and why it is they became cops.
Friday and Smith investigate what seems to be the perfect crime.
An anonymous note leads Friday and Smith to a group of teenage drug users and their neglectful parents.
Friday and Smith happen to catch a man trying to sell a stolen ring at a pawn shop.
A night club owner is shot down and there are no witnesses to the crime.
Joe Friday searches for a check forger who has been using the name of the old-time movie villain Parker Allington... who died three years ago.
An elderly couple is brutally beaten and the trail leads police to a former handy man.
A con man makes lonely women fall for his charms, then steals their money and disappears.
Sgt. Friday investigates a robber who only targets pet stores and homes that have pet birds.
A housewife, Ella Ryburn, reports to Friday and Smith that she cannot contact her mother, who is married to Alfred Rudolph Shroder. When he is questioned, Shroder claims his wife left him and that, out of shame, he sold their house and put her items in storage.
A woman is dragged from her home and badly beaten by an unknown attacker.
A pawn shop owner alerts Friday and Smith when a man claimed to have purchased an expensive ring that turns out to be junk and then asked the pawn shop owner to sell him a gun.
A man walks into the station and tells Friday that he wants to confess to a murder, but the cops have a hard time varifying his story.
An organized gang of shoplifters is looting large department stores in the city.
A young woman is beaten to death with a led pipe and left in an empty office.
1956 · 34 episodes · Last episode: 69 years ago
A bakery owner and his daughter are shot down during a robbery.
Friday and Smith are on the trail of three masked men responsible for over thirty robberies.
Friday and Smith are on the trail of a thief whose victims are attending weddings and funerals.
An auction house is held up and the only clue to the bandits lies in a dropped matchbook.
Friday and Smith try to prove that a salvage yard operator is using his business to fix up stolen cars.
Friday and Smith investigate the hit and run of a little girl.
A howling dog leads to the unearthing of the battered body of an old woman in her garden.
Friday and Smith investigate the former employee of a tie manufacturing company.
Friday and Smith reopen a closed case because a tip leads them to believe they have the wrong person.
Friday and Smith are on the trail of a robber/arsonist that takes nothing of value and then sets the house on fire.
A tourist leaves her purse in the back of a cab and it's up to Friday and Smith to track it down.
A man is reported missing, by two different women, the description matches, but the names are different. He is married to these two and has apparently skipped out on both. Friday searches for him at various places.
A bandit carrying a sawed-off shotgun is robbing hotels in the down town area.
A woman reports that her husband has failed to come home after going out with is business partner.
Friday and Smith investigate a rash of burglaries.
A father works as a day burglar so he can buy presents for his kids, now living with his ex wife.
A watch salesman reports that he was robbed by two men whom he drank with the night before.
A distraught father reports that his teenage daughter is missing, and things look more bleak when her murdered pet is discovered in her room.
Friday and Smith investigate reports of counterfeit money appearing all over the city.
Friday and Smith investigate a gambling racket.
Friday and Smith are looking for a robber with an unusual tattoo.
A teenage boy under arrest admits to police that his brother is planning to rob a loan company.
A man forges checks to keep himself and his wife in an expensive lifestyle, but he goes too far when he buys a slick convertable.
A group of police women act as decoys to draw a stick-up man out into the open.
A frightened wife tells Friday and Smith that she's worried her husband is planning to pull a hold-up.
A circus man reports that a tiger escaped from his truck and is now on the loose in Los Angeles.
1957 · 39 episodes · Last episode: 68 years ago
Friday and Smith investigate a murder-suicide of a husband and wife.
A con artist operating in the gentle swindle steals money from grieving relatives after their loved ones die.
A disgruntled ex-con helps Friday and Smith take down a forgery ring that has cashed thousands of dollars in forged payroll checks.
A unique and costly perfume bottle is taken from an upscale home and it's up to Friday and Smith to get it back.
Friday and Smith investigate a rash of supermarket robberies, and the burglar's calling card is leaving crackers scattered all over the floor of the store.
Friday and Smith are looking for a man who sells fake honeymoon trips to unsuspecting couples.
A man reports that a police officer blackmailed him for money and then beat him up, and he has the bruises to prove his story.
Friday and Smith investigate a report of a teen gang war in the middle of Los Angeles.
Friday and Smith track a man who writes bad checks for expensive clothes and then sells the clothes for a profit.
An ex con called The Gentleman Bandit begins working again when he holds up a bank with two helpers.
Friday and Smith are trying to bring down a street gang but are having a hard time getting to the top man known as The Organizer.
A man accuses his son of stabbing him, but Friday and Smith find out that his son has an airtight alibi.
Friday and Smith investigate a home invasion and their only clue is a boot print in the mud by a window.
Friday and Smith are on the trail of a hit-and-run driver.
Friday and Smith investigate a series of jade robberies.
Mrs. Eileen Multon picks up the wrong prescription. Now it's up to Friday and Smith to find her before it's too late.
A man reports that his wife ran off with his little girl and the man she was having an affair with. The trail leads Friday and Smith to a suicide pact.
A bunch of forged checks are popping up all over the city and it's up to Friday and Smith to catch the forger.
Friday and Smith investigate money being taken from a department store's registers with the help of store security.
1958 · 39 episodes · Last episode: 67 years ago
An informant's tip puts Friday on the trail of a narcotics ring.
A man impersonating a police officer is going to local businesses and asking for donations for the widows and orphans fund. Smith and Friday set out to stop the con man.
A man reports that his fiance's former boyfriend has taken shots at him.
Cab drivers are being held up, but the descriptions given by the victims don't match.
Friday and Smith track a burglar who breaks into homes and businesses to steal gourmet food items.
Friday and Smith's investigation of a stolen car - containing a sleeping baby - leads them to two juvenile suspects.
Friday and Smith investigate a series of food market robberies, where the bandit has been posing as a salesman.
Friday and Smith investigate a the death of a woman found beaten in her car, and suspect that her husband is somehow involved.
Friday and Smith hunt "The Carnation Kid," a suspect in a series of hotel burglaries.
A young girl commits suicide after she is tricked by a pair of movie talent scouts who are really operating a prostitution ring.
Friday investigates a robbery that is caused by a blackmail victim's refusal to pay.
Friday and Smith investigate a husband and wife con team that have a long criminal record.
The only clue to a murder investigated by Friday is the tape on a knife handle.
A robber called "The Rattlesnake Bandit" takes pleasure in beating and shooting his victims after he takes their money.
Friday investigates a young starlet under suspicion of check forgery.
An elderly couple are beaten and robbed. The key to finding the bandits lies in a paper boy and an alert bartender.
An elderly man reports a loss of money to the LAPD, then subsequently denies making the report. Friday and Smith must investigate.
Friday works with a postal inspector to catch a gang using the mail to scam money from people.
An insurance adjuster files a report with Friday about possible fraudulent insurance claims.
Friday and Smith have to find a man selling forged passports and paperwork.
Friday goes undercover to investigate a bookie operation.
Friday and Smith investigate a series of robberies in fashionable homes.
Friday and Smith investigate a criminal gang that preys on all-night restaurants.
Two con artists are selling phony magazines subscriptions to unsuspecting suckers.
Friday and Smith investigate the death of a woman found murdered in a churchyard on Christmas Eve.
Friday attempts to track down a heroin pusher.
Friday and Smith investigate a robbery, and their only clue to the suspect's identity is a green jade monkey.
Friday is on the hunt for a group of teens that are stealing sports cars.
While investigating reports of teenagers involved in a gunfight, Friday and Smith are shocked to find one of the teens involved wearing a Nazi uniform.
Friday and Smith must track a pair of escaped convicts across the Mexican border.
As Friday and Smith investigate a woman's death, they are disturbed to find that her daughter is more interested in discussing her collection of dolls.
Friday goes undercover as a bar owner in order to break up an illegal jukebox operation.
A mysterious telephone caller offers a man $1000 for a contract killing, and Friday must identify the caller before it's too late.
The detectives are trying to solve the case of the milk bottle bandit when they catch a break and apprehend a diminutive fifteen year old.
The detectives take a report of valuables stolen from the home of a somewhat eccentric old lady. They begin to suspect something is amiss when she starts talking about how she gets the "scoop" on crimes by being the first to report them to the local newspaper.
Friday and Smith investigate anonymous threats to disfigure a a famous actress.
Friday investigates a woman's disappearance after a convicted murderer is paroled into her custody.
Friday and Smith investigate a woman's claim that her neighbors are abusing their child.
Created by Jack Webb
Barney Phillips
Sgt. Ed Jacobs
Mort Marshall
Joey Forman
Florence Marly
Pierre Watkin
Jeanette Nolan
Barbara Nichols
William Hudson
Tol Avery
John Qualen
Bobby Driscoll
Ellen Corby
Pamela Duncan
Dal McKennon
Gil Stratton
Dayton Lummis
Dragnet has ended, so no new episodes are scheduled. The final episode aired on August 23, 1959.
The most recent episode of Dragnet, Season 8 Episode 39 "The Big Red", aired on August 23, 1959.
Dragnet has 8 seasons with 276 episodes in total.
Dragnet first aired on NBC on December 16, 1951.
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