by Hal Erickson
synopsis
The television saga of Jack Webb's Dragnet (the original, black and white version, that is) began on December 16, 1951, with a film adaptation of a radio episode first heard on July 21, 1949. Sgt. Joe Friday (Webb) and his partner Ben Romero (Barton Yarborough) are summoned to Los Angeles City Hall, where Vernon Carney (Stacy Harris) is threatening to destroy the building with a homemade bomb unless his brother Ellwood (Sam Edwards) is immediately released from jail. There's an especially thrilling climax as Friday races downstairs with the ticking bomb in his hands--and Romero's closing line is a gem!
