The 21st Precinct vs. Dragnet

I happen to enjoy both the 21st Precinct and Dragnet.  Both shows are in my top 10 favorites, for sure.  Dragnet lasted a lot longer than the 21st Precinct did and eventually wound up on television.  To my knowledge, the 21st Precinct never made it to the screen.

Both are police shows; Dragnet was the West Coast variety, the 21st Precinct was East Coast.  Dragnet was hard-hitting, (realistic but) monotone and somewhat violent.  The 21st Precinct was much more realistic because you always saw yourself at the same places when you listened.  The Dragnet detectives were in a different department every week.  At the 21st Precinct, you were in the muster room, the Captain's office or upstairs with the detectives.  Sure, you were on location too - and those locations are where Dragnet really gets beat.  The 21st Precinct had many foot traffic officers on the streets of New York City and much of the time while listening to the show, that's where you were.  Dragnet used no call boxes - but in almost every episode of the 21st Precinct, someone would use a call box.

Almost every crime (episode) in Dragnet is about something important.  I suppose the same can be said about the 21st Precinct.  However, take an episode where a little girl is missing in each.  The Dragnet episode is bloody and brutal while the 21st Precinct episode is much more suspenseful and the girl winds up being found, unharmed.  Yes, brutal murders do occur but in the case of the little girl, don't you "pull" for the girl to be found unharmed?

I really enjoyed the career of Jack Webb and there's something to be said about his matter-of-fact style, especially when it came to radio/TV police work.  But the actors on the 21st Precinct were not at all like their robot-like counterparts; they were realistic and human.  They showed emotions (other than anger) and they seemed to care for the welfare of the people involved.

This is truly a case of two very similar shows being very, very different.  If you listen to both shows, drop a comment and tell me how you feel.

21st Precinct Forever!

I haven't written here in a while.  This is mainly because I was finishing up the audio portion of the Vic and Sade website.  And just as soon as I had thought I was going to be finished there, I had the gift of another researcher dropping gobs of more research in my lap; but I couldn't be happier.

Anyway, in a matter of about two weeks' time, I relistened to 21st Precinct.  Yes, that meant listening for hours and hours a day.

It wasn't a chore by any stretch.  What a wonderful program that was.  It rivals - if not surpasses - Dragnet and is head and shoulder above every other cop show.

As I mentioned once before, the only drawback to the show is the "ringing" of the telephone.  I simply cannot stand that aspect.  But that aside, I give it props on acting, sound effects and especially the writing.  Some of those scenarios are very real.

My favorite remains Case of the Sailor's Family.  A sailor comes home on leave, unexpectedly, only to find his apartment has burned down and his wife and child are missing.  There's some real drama there.

Another favorite is The Murdered Twins.  It looks like a young woman has murdered her tiny twin boys.  All the facts seem to be against her.  That's some good radio.

I single those two out but the show has literally dozens of gems in it.  

There sound is bad in a few episodes but none are so bad that you can't understand what is going on.

If you haven't taken the time to download and listen to the series, you are missing something!

Rocky Fortune calls the 21st Precinct

Every now and then you will hear shows reference another show. In the clip below, Frank Sinatra as Rocky Fortune calls the 21st Precinct and mentions the brass ring. (First though, you'll hear the ending of a typical 21st Precinct show where the brass ring is mentioned.)

(((HEAR)))

Teeny tiny hodge-podge

Here's a tiny tidbit for you: While listening to multiple episodes of the 21st Precinct the past week or so, I realized that the last call to the Muster Room of each episode is actually about the next episode...

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Sandra Gould

I've probably said this before but as time goes on I really like the acting of Sandra Gould. Who's she, you ask? She played Miss Duffy on Duffy's Tavern from 1944-48; you may know her better as "the 2nd Gladys Kravitz" on the TV show, Bewitched. To me, she is perfect for the part of Miss Duffy.

And the more I listen to Duffy's Tavern, I realize the show had some good writing behind it, even though literally dozens of different writers were employed to work on the script week after week.

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I don't have a lot to say today - although I did until there were 5 people plus me over at the house today using up all the internet juice and I couldn't get anything done. After a while of trying, I gave up the ghost, so to speak.

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Working on finishing Billboard for 1950-51. There aren't that many of them. And though I haven't looked, I think there are very, very few in there after 1951, which means I could be finished with the Billboard site pretty soon.


©Jimbo 2010/2011

Hodge-podging again

Just letting you know, I am still working on the 'A' section of OTR People. OTR People is going to take a while to finish because there are so many people in radio and I'm adding every bit I can to make the site just the kind of site we all need.  It takes time to find photos (and I am finding a lot of never-heard-of-these-people photos daily.)

While not a beautiful nor crystal-clear shot, photos like this are proving to be invaluable to my OTR People project

I haven't started to work on the 1944 Billboard OTR Reviews yet but I can almost guarantee that will be up and done before the end of this week.

I heard a really good show last night.  It was The Case of the Sailor's Family, a 21st Precinct show.  One of the better shows I have ever heard on radio.  It's about a sailor who comes home on an unexpected leave to Brooklyn, only to find his apartment building is burned and his wife and kid are missing.

As you probably know, I have started the new year with March of Old Time.  If you can think of any way to spice it up, please send in a suggestion.

Speaking of which, any comments you have are welcomed.  There is no "captcha", you can post anonymously as well.  There's no excuse not to write in and tell me how bad this blog is.  :)  I also would love for you to vote in the polls.

One of the best: 21st Precinct

Everett Sloan as Captain Frank Kinnelly

One of my greatest joys in life is sitting down a cold afternoon in my warm abode, slipping on the headphones, sipping some hot cocoa and listening to The 21st Precinct.

The show is a lot like Jack Webb's Dragnet, but it has an east coast feel to it; it's smack in the middle of New York City. While Dragnet has a gritty, harsh, noir feel, The 21st Precinct seems more realistic - not some fictional tale.

The actors make mistakes and this lends to the realism. While most of the recordings we have are not in the best shape for this show, that somehow lends credence that we are dealing with history.

One of my favorite episodes was the one where this 14 or 15 year old boy had a "pet" copperhead snake and it had gotten loose somewhere. The kid, fearing for the safety of his snake refused to tell the coppers where he had hidden it.

Another episode that comes to mind instantly is the one where the kids stole some explosives and they had shot off several of them. While that doesn't sound like a horrible crime, you felt the sense of urgency the police had while you listened, as one kid had already been hurt by an explosion.

While the show is not Nightwatch (a reporter actually goes out with the police and records what really happens) this show is as close to real as it gets. It's definitely one of the better shows out there - and I suggest you download them now, if you don't already have them.

Find them here.