About this season
Follows the cases of a dedicated Los Angeles police detective, Sergeant Joe Friday, and his partners. The show takes its name from the police term "dragnet", meaning a system of coordinated measures for apprehending criminals or suspects.
Episodes (33)
1. The Big Jump
10.0Aired 11 September 1952 • 30 min
A man stands upon the ledge of a tall building and threatens to jump to his death below.
2. The Big Sorrow
8.0Aired 25 September 1952 • 30 min
Friday must cope with the sudden death of his partner as he and his new partner track a pair of escaped convicts.
3. The Big Elevator
Aired 9 October 1952 • 30 min
Friday and Smith search for the person who left a dead woman in a hospital elevator.
4. The Big Seventeen
Aired 6 November 1952 • 30 min
Friday and Smith investigate a group of teenagers who are using and selling drugs.
5. The Big Trio
Aired 20 November 1952 • 30 min
Friday and Smith investigate three traffic accidents in one night.
6. The Big Imposter
Aired 4 December 1952 • 30 min
A missing young boy is found and returned to his grandfather, but the case gets complicated when the grandfather suspects that the boy is not his own grandson.
7. The Big .22 Rifle for Christmas
6.7Aired 18 December 1952 • 30 min
Two small boys are missing, there are blood stains on the ground and a gun meant as a Christmas present is gone.
8. The Big Cop
Aired 2 January 1953 • 30 min
Friday has to catch a bad cop who has been dealing with the mob.
9. The Big Grandma
7.0Aired 8 January 1953 • 30 min
An elderly woman is passing bad checks, but no one suspects her because she looks harmless.
10. The Big Whiff
Aired 15 January 1953 • 30 min
A woman is murdered when she is given an overdose of chloroform.
11. The Big Show
5.0Aired 22 January 1953 • 30 min
A seven-week-old baby is found abandoned in a bus station.
12. The Big Safe
Aired 29 January 1953 • 30 min
Friday and Smith are investigating a missing office safe.
13. The Big Church
Aired 5 February 1953 • 30 min
A woman receives threatening letters from an unknown stalker.
14. The Big Hate
7.0Aired 12 February 1953 • 30 min
Gordon Miller, a young pianist, is found near an abandoned freight car holding the dead body of a woman in his arms. He claims he has killed her.
15. The Big Shakedown
Aired 20 February 1953 • 30 min
Friday is looking for a crooked cop.
16. The Big Rose
Aired 26 February 1953 • 30 min
Friday and Smith are looking for a missing woman that left her three children with her sister.
17. The Big Building
Aired 5 March 1953 • 30 min
A prominent dentist denies that his wife is missing, but Friday and Smith can find no trace of her.
18. The Big Run
Aired 12 March 1953 • 30 min
Two elderly women are struck down by a hit-and-run driver.
19. The Big Break
10.0Aired 19 March 1953 • 30 min
Friday and Smith track down an escaped convict who is armed and dangerous.
20. The Big Light
8.0Aired 26 March 1953 • 30 min
Friday and Smith must decide between accident or murder when a crewman working on a movie set is killed by a falling light.
21. The Big Waiter
Aired 2 April 1953 • 30 min
An immigrant is brutally beaten to death and the trail may lead to the victim's abused wife.
22. The Big Test
Aired 9 April 1953 • 30 min
A young man reports that he was robbed by bandits on horseback while he was down in Mexico.
23. The Big Lay-Out
Aired 16 April 1953 • 30 min
A friend of Friday's asks him for help when he discovers that his son has been using drugs, and may be selling them as well.
24. The Big Fire
Aired 23 April 1953 • 30 min
A land lord begins threatening his tenants so he can force them to move out of his building.
25. The Big Ray
Aired 30 April 1953 • 30 min
A man suddenly becomes ill and dies after eating his dinner at home.
26. The Big Frank
10.0Aired 7 May 1953 • 30 min
While investigating a routine robbery with Friday, Smith suffers a critical gunshot wound. Sergeant Friday is out for vengeance.
27. The Big Lease
Aired 14 May 1953 • 30 min
An elderly widower is missing, so Friday and Smith retrace his actions before his disappearance. Things point to a long vacation until the story of Mrs. Banner, who rented the man's house, doesn't add up.
28. The Big Hands
Aired 21 May 1953 • 30 min
Friday and Smith suspect a psycho killer when they find a woman with a broken neck in a hotel room.
29. The Big Fourth
Aired 28 May 1953 • 30 min
Several babies are stolen in the city.
30. The Big Market
Aired 4 June 1953 • 30 min
A bandit starts robbing people at local markets.
31. The Big Friend
Aired 11 June 1953 • 30 min
Friday and Smith are torn between two suspects when a man reports that his wife has been strangled.
32. The Big Barrette
Aired 18 June 1953 • 30 min
Friday and Smith search for the brutal killer of a 21-year-old woman.
33. The Big Dance
Aired 25 June 1953 • 30 min
Friday and Smith are looking for two thugs that seem to have disappeared from the city.