The Radio Planet
Dragnet
Dragnet
Dragnet cover art
Radio

Dragnet

NBC

NBC · 1949–1956

Broadcasts

673

Cadence

Twice weekly

Rated

PG

Since

1949

The run

Network
NBC
Years active
1949–1956
Surviving broadcasts
673
Genre
detective

Dragnet , the brainchild of Jack Webb, may very well be the most well-remembered, and the best, radio police drama series. From September, 1949 through February 1957, Dragnet 's 30 minute shows, broadcast on NBC, brought to radio true police stories in a low-key, documentary style.

1952 · 31951 · 31950 · 41949 · 2

Restoration quality — measured from the surviving files

Clean transfer · 38 of 90Listenable · 15 of 90Rough but complete · 37 of 90

Source collection

Old Time Radio Researchers Group

Rights

Public domain — no renewed US copyright

Cataloguing

Air dates and notes from the Archive item record

Every broadcast below carries its own provenance sheet — transfer quality, file source and rights.Archive record: OTRR_Dragnet_Singles

The shape of the run

What survives, year by year

12 dated broadcasts across 8 years on the air, with 4 years where nothing is known to survive. Brightness is transfer quality; empty cells are months lost to time.

JFMAMJJASOND
1949
1950
1951
1952
1953
1954
1955
1956
Clean transferListenableRough but complete No surviving recording

Episodes

Start here

Listen to the run in order

Restored broadcasts from 1949, in original transmission order.

  1. 1. Production 2 aka Homicide aka The Nickel Plated Gun · 10 Jun 1949
  2. 2. Eric Kelby - Body Buried In Nursery · 3 Sep 1949
  3. 3. The Big Man Part 1 (Narcotics) · 12 Jan 1950
  • 01

    Production 2 aka Homicide aka The Nickel Plated Gun

    10 Jun 1949 · 29 min

  • 02

    Eric Kelby - Body Buried In Nursery

    3 Sep 1949 · 29 min

  • 03

    The Big Man Part 1 (Narcotics)

    12 Jan 1950 · 29 min

  • 04

    The Big Knife

    11 May 1950 · 29 min

  • 05

    Dragnet 50-08-17 ep062 Big Youngster

    17 Aug 1950 · 29 min

  • 06

    Dragnet 50-12-07 ep078 Big Picture

    7 Dec 1950 · 29 min

  • 07

    The Big Saint

    26 Apr 1951 · 29 min

  • 08

    Dragnet 51-08-23 ep115 Big In-Laws

    23 Aug 1951 · 28 min

Also on NBC

NBC in 1949–1956

Other series the network carried while Dragnet was on the air.

Same seasons

detective on the air then

Series in the same genre whose runs overlapped this one.

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