He didn’t move his arms a whole lot. They mainly just clung to his body.
Bill Gannon aka Col Potter was the comedy relief, such as it was.
Sometimes at the beginning of the program, Officer Gannon was doing something something silly, like putting half a dozen sugar cubes in his coffee, or some weird facial exercize, always leading the quizzical Sgt Friday to ask just what he was doing now.
Sgt Friday and Officer Gannon exchange a lot of simultaneous nods.
The script was full of “set-ups” for Friday (mainly, although exclusively) to respond with a one-liner.
At least two or three times per episode, there’s an exchange where Friday (or someone else occasionally) says something like:
(Sgt Friday)
“Well there’s one thing we’ll have then that we won’t have now. . . .”
(Officer Gannon)
“What’s that?”
(Sgt Friday)
“Four more hours of sleep.”
This exchange actually happened in one episode, but there were usually several with the same formula.
with all due respect you forgot the obligatory social conscious rap he had to do to the perp “We live in a country called America son, and because we do, we have rights and responsibilities…” to which the perp never had a response. On tv that is.
oh, and the fact that unless the setting was “casual” (like the time he was a student in an evening class), it was the same shirt and suit. (less $$ on wardrobe) for the class seen, it was the same pants, shirt, but instead of the suit jacket, he wore a sweater (probably stolen from Mr. Rogers).
In re Sgt. Friday’s clothes:
In one episode he and Gannon called a suspected mobster in for questioning. He was arrogant all the way through until Friday produced some really incriminating evidence.
Before then, however, George Fox considered himself a higher form of life.
At one point he said, “You guys [Friday and Gannon] made a mistake!”
Friday agreed, “We make them.”
Fox shot back with “And you know something else? You make a lot more of 'em than I do. That’s why I’m wearing a $300 suit and you have baggy pants!”
In other words, according to Fox (John Sebastian), a life of crime is a sure road to financial success and cops are ignorant and poor.
To me this had an overtonew of Nietzsche–until Friday delivered the coup de grace and showed Fox a voice printout to prove Fox was the one making threats on the phone.
There was also the fact that Sgt. Friday was usually puffing like a choo-choo train. A cigarette was never far from his lips. Did Gannon smoke I don’t remember?
Also re ADAM-12 The show was a little more modern but the conversational formula was the same.
Favorite Dragnet espisodes.
Marijuana smoking hippies hiding in a secret compartment under the floor episode.
NAIL “tear up your tickets” scam.
Alternate your clothes hangers to make merchandise more difficult to steal show.
I only saw one or two of the black and white episodes but I think I remember Friday being angrier, louder and more violent in them.
Hey, Oldscratch: Did you see the very first one with Jack Webb and Harry Morgan? They dealt with a pusher named “Blueboy,” a character named Benjy Carver. At the end of the episode, they find him and another kid in an apartment. Friday questioned the other kid.
The kid said, “Look at Benjy…what’s the matter with him? Been like that [sitting on floor, with a glassy stare] for about an hour…threw some kind of fit!”
Friday and Gannon see a pile of pills on a table, apparently including LSD tablets.
Philip Jamieson–the other kid–said, “Those are Benjy’s…he’s been taking them all day. Kept saying he wanted to get further out…further out…kept saying he wanted to get further out…”
Friday looks closely at Benjy’s face and says:
“Well, he made it–he’s dead.”
ohmygod yea, I remember blue boy - you did fail to point out that he was the rich ass son of overindulgent parents, though… (and frankly looked about 28 at the time)
Yes!!! YES!!! YES!!! I remember. I also remember the guy who stuck his head in the ground and painted his face, was it purple (was that the same episode?)
I also vaguely remember the one with another LSD dealer (been to godamn long since I seen these episodes) he was older and lived in some psychadelic house near a school. I rember the great dialouge between him and Jack Webb.
You’re right about Blueboy’s parents, Wring. His mother was a complete airhead and his father smmed outraged at the mere thought of his son being arrested. (I wonder what they said when Friday and Gannon told the parents Benjy was dead.)
I remember the episode with the drug guru–Liam Sullivan as “Brother William.” In my audio recordings of the episodes–I can listen to them while I drive–I called this one “LSD ‘Priest.’” (I called the Benjy Carver episode, “The Bad Trip.”
All through the episode with Liam Sullivan, the speeches of Brother William claimed that while he advocated the use of drugs, ‘you would never catch him’ actually urging anyone to take them. The program windup was that other policemen had caught Brother William furnishing drugs to a minor–and they threw the book at him. (Friday told Gannon after they left Bentley’s psychedelic house, “We won’t lose his address.”
In another episode they rounded up some smart-aleck kids who burglarized several stores–and punched out an old man (and broke his glasses) for good measure. Friday wound it up with this quote:
“Show us how to stop people from believing that they’re somehow justified in hhurting someone–or stealing from someone–and you’ll just about put this place [the Police Department] out of business.”
I love stuff that’s surreal but didn’t intend to be. Batman tried to be camp while Jack was dead serious in his convictions. I recall an episode about kids forming a commune on catalina island, supporting it with stolen cans of food and hunting with stolen guns. Jack’s comeuppance speech about the hardships of the pilgrims is priceless. For classic psychotic Webb check out The D.I.
Anybody hear of a show called Dragnuts? It’s on the Comedy Network (in Canada). It’s hilarious. They took old episodes of Dragnet and re-dubbed them with new lines. [/silght hijack]
That’s the episode I meant, Padeye. I called it “Teenage Burglars.” Three teenagers were involved: Kevin Coughlin, an unknown player, and Lou Wagner (he later played the motorcycle mechanic on CHiPs.)
The kids were going to “hunt with stolen guns,” as you said; and none of them knew where the safety was on the gun!
When they searched the kids Friday found a packet of asparagus seeds, which Coughlin claimed he’d bought in a store.
During the interrogation Friday held the packet up.
"And you’re going to grow this!"
“Oh, yeah, I really dig fresh asparagus.”
“When do you think you’ll eat it?”
“This summer.”
“Asparagus takes two years.”
These kids substituted snottiness and thievery for intelligence! Talk about driving at 110 mph with your eyes closed and your hands off the wheel…
