The BEST episodes of Dragnet

Every episode of Dragnet ever, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Dragnet!

Dragnet 1967-1970 was the second run of the Dragnet series. It began in January of 1967, and ran to September of 1970. The lead character, Sgt. Joe Friday, was played by Jack Webb, who also directed and produced the series. The show's focus is on two detectives, Sgt. Joe Friday, and Officer Bill Gannon, played by Harry Morgan. The two track down criminals all throughout the city of Los Angeles, California. The original "Dragnet" was the grandfather of ALL of today's police drama shows. This was the first time a cancelled network TV series was successfully revived. In late 1965, Universal and NBC hired Webb to revive "Dragnet" as a made-for-TV movie. This was filmed in early 1966, but didn't air until January 1969. Titled "World Premiere: Dragnet," the well-made film has Friday and Gannon linking the slayings of photographer's models to the disappearance of a war widow, while Gannon prepares to retire.

Last Updated: 8/12/2024Network: NBCStatus: Ended
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Narcotics - DR-21
star
8.33
9 votes

#1 - Narcotics - DR-21

Season 3 - Episode 16 - Aired 1/30/1969

The Captain ask Joe and Bill to investigate having dogs trained to sniff out narcotics. They contact a dog trainer to train dogs for the job. Joe and Bill do a demonstration for Judges to prove the effectiveness of using a dog to detect marijuana.

Directors: Jack Webb
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Homicide - Who Killed Who?
star
8.30
10 votes

#2 - Homicide - Who Killed Who?

Season 4 - Episode 15 - Aired 1/29/1970

There is a multiple homicide at a rooming house. When Joe and Bill arrive, they find two dead in the lobby near a broken TV set and the manager has been shot and is near death. The manager mumbles the words "oft one" to Joe as he is taken away to the hospital. Bill and Joe start searching for clues and what the managers word mean.

Directors: Jack Webb
Watch Now:Amazon
Administrative Vice - DR-29
star
8.00
9 votes

#3 - Administrative Vice - DR-29

Season 3 - Episode 17 - Aired 2/6/1969

Joe has a new partner, Lt. Chris Drucker while Bill recovers from the flu. Joe and Chris are trying to catch bookies. Drucker is really working for the bookies and has been tipping them off when a raid is planned. Drucker tries to bribe Joe to help him.

Directors: Jack Webb
Watch Now:Amazon
Homicide - DR-22
star
8.00
14 votes

#4 - Homicide - DR-22

Season 3 - Episode 14 - Aired 1/9/1969

Joe and Bill are called to an apartment where the manager has found a young woman bound and dead. The 91 year old manager of the apartment building is a suspect until joe find out that the old man was chief of detectives in Chicago. Finger prints lead Joe and Bill to a couple.

Directors: Jack Webb
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I.A.D. - The Receipt
star
8.00
8 votes

#5 - I.A.D. - The Receipt

Season 4 - Episode 23 - Aired 3/26/1970

Two of the department's veteran homicide detectives are accused of stealing $800 from a dead man. Joe and Bill investigate and try to find a missing receipt that would clear the detectives.

Directors: Jack Webb
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Vice - DR-30
star
7.90
10 votes

#6 - Vice - DR-30

Season 3 - Episode 22 - Aired 3/13/1969

The Captain assigns Joe and Bill to find the location of a high stakes poker operation that has been preying on visitors. Bill and Joe pose as farmers and check into a hotel where an agricultural convention is occurring.

Directors: Jack Webb
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The Big Dog
star
7.89
18 votes

#7 - The Big Dog

Season 2 - Episode 11 - Aired 11/23/1967

A purse-snatching dog? This is the case Friday and Gannon must solve. Making things more difficult, victims give different descriptions of the four-legged thief.

Directors: Jack Webb
Writer: Henry Irving
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Personnel - The Shooting
star
7.87
8 votes

#8 - Personnel - The Shooting

Season 4 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/18/1969

Joe and Bill are assigned to the Medical Services Division. Two policemen have been shot. Joe and Bill must notify the wives.

Directors: Jack Webb
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D.H.Q. - Night School
star
7.86
7 votes

#9 - D.H.Q. - Night School

Season 4 - Episode 22 - Aired 3/19/1970

Joe is enrolled in night school and is taking a sensitivity class. The class does not know Joe is a cop until Joe busts one of his classmates for possession of Marijuana. The professor threatens to give Joe an F for the bust. He puts removing Joe up for a vote by the class. An unexpected classmate comes to Joe's aid.

Directors: Jack Webb
Writer: Dick Morgan
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Burglary - Baseball
star
7.86
7 votes

#10 - Burglary - Baseball

Season 4 - Episode 25 - Aired 4/9/1970

A furniture store has been burglarized overnight and the thief took $1900 from a locked safe. The store's secretary find a lead and Joe uses it to track down a "baseball fan".

Directors: Jack Webb
Watch Now:Amazon
Forgery - The Ranger
star
7.83
6 votes

#11 - Forgery - The Ranger

Season 4 - Episode 21 - Aired 3/12/1970

Friday and Gannon question a Park Ranger about some stolen checks.

Directors: Jack Webb
Writer: Don Kilburn
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The Investigation
star
7.83
12 votes

#12 - The Investigation

Season 2 - Episode 26 - Aired 3/14/1968

Friday and Gannon are screening applicants for the Police Academy. One seems to have all the right qualifications, except that six months are missing from his application.

Directors: Jack Webb
Watch Now:Amazon
Robbery - The Harassing Wife
star
7.83
6 votes

#13 - Robbery - The Harassing Wife

Season 4 - Episode 24 - Aired 4/2/1970

Joe and Bill investigate a holdup at a small neighborhood grocery store. Joe gets a tip from a woman that the robber was her husband. The husband is cleared. Another supermarket robbery occurs and the wife again accuses her husband. He is cleared again. The wife continues to insist after every robbery that her husband did it.

Directors: Jack Webb
Writer: Alf Harris
Watch Now:Amazon
The Big High
star
7.81
16 votes

#14 - The Big High

Season 2 - Episode 8 - Aired 11/2/1967

An elderly businessman, concerned about the welfare of his grandchild, informs Friday and Gannon that his daughter and son-in-law are using marijuana regularly. The young couple make no apologies for their lifestyle, which inevitably leads to disaster.

Directors: Jack Webb
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Juvenile - DR-35
star
7.78
9 votes

#15 - Juvenile - DR-35

Season 3 - Episode 25 - Aired 4/3/1969

An infant girl is found in a garbage can; Joe and Bill use the child's blanket to track down the mother.

Directors: Jack Webb
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Management Services - DR-11
star
7.78
9 votes

#16 - Management Services - DR-11

Season 3 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/10/1968

Joe and Bill are called back to work because of an emergency. It's April 4, 1968, and Dr Martin Luther King has been assassinated less than an hour ago. They are assigned to the police emergency control center to monitor potential unrest in the LA area

Directors: Jack Webb
Watch Now:Amazon
The Candy Store Robberies
star
7.77
22 votes

#17 - The Candy Store Robberies

Season 1 - Episode 8 - Aired 3/9/1967

Friday and Gannon try to figure out a pattern to a series of candy store hold-ups. The solution comes when they discover that there are two suspects.

Directors: Jack Webb
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Forgery - DR-33
star
7.75
8 votes

#18 - Forgery - DR-33

Season 3 - Episode 23 - Aired 3/20/1969

An actress' pay checks have being stolen and someone have cashed them. Joe and Bill visit the actress' apartment and find her roommate the prime suspect. They try to track the roommate down, but are unsuccessful until her husband contacts them.

Directors: Jack Webb
Watch Now:Amazon
Frauds - DR-36
star
7.75
8 votes

#19 - Frauds - DR-36

Season 3 - Episode 26 - Aired 4/10/1969

Someone is embezzling from Summers Department Store by opening up false credit card accounts at the store. Joe and Bill figure it is an inside job and question employees in the credit department.

Directors: Jack Webb
Watch Now:Amazon
D.H.Q. - Missing Person
star
7.75
8 votes

#20 - D.H.Q. - Missing Person

Season 4 - Episode 8 - Aired 11/13/1969

Joe and Bill investigate a missing high school student. They find that both the student and her older sister are missing. However, the apartment manager and neighbor say that there is no younger sister. Joe and Bill must find the truth.

Directors: Jack Webb
Writer: Alf Harris
Watch Now:Amazon
D.H.Q. - Medical
star
7.71
7 votes

#21 - D.H.Q. - Medical

Season 4 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/9/1969

Joe and Bill are working a medial detail at a hospital. They handle an old man who's hobby is sitting in hotel lobbies, question a man who brings in a dead woman, investigates a man who had writing a letter threatening to blow up a radio station and try to get a dieing declaration from a shooting victim.

Directors: Jack Webb
Watch Now:Amazon
Burglary Auto - Courtroom
star
7.71
7 votes

#22 - Burglary Auto - Courtroom

Season 4 - Episode 9 - Aired 11/20/1969

Joe and Bill are in court as arresting officers of three burglars. One of the prosecution witnesses is out of town and has developed car trouble and can’t return in time. Can a case still be made against the three burglars without the witness’ testimony?

Directors: Jack Webb
Writer: Jack Barrett
Watch Now:Amazon
Burglary - DR-31
star
7.70
10 votes

#23 - Burglary - DR-31

Season 3 - Episode 21 - Aired 3/6/1969

A costumed thief calling himself "The Crimson Crusader" has been stealing comic books, movie posters and publicity photos of various superheroes.

Directors: Jack Webb
Watch Now:Amazon
Public Affairs - DR-12
star
7.69
13 votes

#24 - Public Affairs - DR-12

Season 3 - Episode 8 - Aired 11/14/1968

Joe and Bill are assigned to help arrange a press conference for the President of the United States at LAX

Directors: Jack Webb
Watch Now:Amazon
The Shooting Board
star
7.68
19 votes

#25 - The Shooting Board

Season 2 - Episode 2 - Aired 9/21/1967

Joe stops at an all night launderette to buy cigarettes and interrupts a burglar working the coin changer. When he shouts "Freeze," the criminal comes up shooting. Joe returns fire, hitting the man, who flees with the help of his girlfriend. He's later found dead. When SID tries to find the bullet fired at Joe, they come up empty and Joe faces a shooting board with no proof the man ever fired at him. A great surprise ending.

Directors: Jack Webb
Watch Now:Amazon