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The Best Episodes of Dragnet

Every episode of Dragnet ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of Dragnet!

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...
Genres:DramaCrime
Network:NBC

Best Episodes Summary

"The Big Starlet" is the best rated episode of "Dragnet". It scored 9.6/10 based on 28 votes. Directed by Jack Webb and written by N/A, it aired on 3/17/1959. This episode scored 0.4 points higher than the second highest rated, "The Big Imposter".

  • The Big Starlet
    9.6/1028 votes
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    #1 - The Big Starlet

    Season 8 Episode 25 - Aired 3/17/1959

    Friday investigates a young starlet under suspicion of check forgery.

    Director: Jack Webb

    Writer: N/A

  • The Big Imposter
    9.2/1030 votes
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    #2 - The Big Imposter

    Season 2 Episode 6 - Aired 12/4/1952

    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.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • The Big Pipe
    9.2/1026 votes
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    #3 - The Big Pipe

    Season 5 Episode 1 - Aired 9/2/1955

    A young woman is beaten to death with a led pipe and left in an empty office.

    Director: Jack Webb

    Writer: N/A

  • The Big Locker
    9.2/1025 votes
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    #4 - The Big Locker

    Season 5 Episode 14 - Aired 12/2/1955

    Friday and Smith happen to catch a man trying to sell a stolen ring at a pawn shop.

    Director: Jack Webb

    Writer: N/A

  • The Big Red
    9.2/1025 votes
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    #5 - The Big Red

    Season 8 Episode 39 - Aired 8/23/1959

    An informant's tip puts Friday on the trail of a narcotics ring.

    Director: Jack Webb

    Writer: N/A

  • The Big Chance
    9.0/1026 votes
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    #6 - The Big Chance

    Season 3 Episode 23 - Aired 2/4/1954

    Signs point to foul play when a highway patrolman disappears from his car along a deserted road.

    Director: Jack Webb

    Writer: N/A

  • The Big Market
    8.8/1027 votes
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    #7 - The Big Market

    Season 2 Episode 30 - Aired 6/4/1953

    A bandit starts robbing people at local markets.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • The Big Little Boy
    8.8/1024 votes
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    #8 - The Big Little Boy

    Season 8 Episode 5 - Aired 10/21/1958

    The detectives are trying to solve the case of the milk bottle bandit when they catch a break and apprehend a diminutive fifteen year old.

    Director: Jack Webb

    Writer: N/A

  • The Big Run
    8.6/1036 votes
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    #9 - The Big Run

    Season 2 Episode 18 - Aired 3/12/1953

    Two elderly women are struck down by a hit-and-run driver.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • The Big Note
    8.6/1024 votes
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    #10 - The Big Note

    Season 5 Episode 15 - Aired 12/9/1955

    An anonymous note leads Friday and Smith to a group of teenage drug users and their neglectful parents.

    Director: Jack Webb

    Writer: N/A

  • The Big Bed
    8.6/1029 votes
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    #11 - The Big Bed

    Season 7 Episode 36 - Aired 6/5/1958

    No description available

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • The Big Bindle
    8.4/1029 votes
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    #12 - The Big Bindle

    Season 4 Episode 16 - Aired 12/9/1954

    Friday goes under cover to bust a drug ring that is operating out of a high-class hotel.

    Director: Jack Webb

    Writer: N/A

  • The Big Dog
    8.4/1024 votes
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    #13 - The Big Dog

    Season 4 Episode 24 - Aired 2/10/1955

    An old man sits on his front porch with a shotgun, threatening to kill the man who poisoned his dog.

    Director: Jack Webb

    Writer: N/A

  • The Big Laugh
    8.4/1023 votes
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    #14 - The Big Laugh

    Season 5 Episode 10 - Aired 11/4/1955

    A con man makes lonely women fall for his charms, then steals their money and disappears.

    Director: Jack Webb

    Writer: N/A

  • The Big Bounce
    8.4/1034 votes
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    #15 - The Big Bounce

    Season 5 Episode 12 - Aired 11/18/1955

    Joe Friday searches for a check forger who has been using the name of the old-time movie villain Parker Allington... who died three years ago.

    Director: Jack Webb

    Writer: N/A

  • The Big Family
    8.3/1051 votes
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    #16 - The Big Family

    Season 4 Episode 20 - Aired 1/13/1955

    Local businessman John Keith Jarrett disappears and evidence of suicide is discovered. Friday and Smith check on the surviving members of his family and find them not the least concerned about their father's death, with his son a tennis bum, his daughter promiscuous, and his wife drunken. The case gets even murkier when a report comes in of a traffic incident upstate involving a camper in which the driver was using Jarrett's license.

    Director: Jack Webb

    Writer: N/A

  • The Big Glasses
    8.3/1039 votes
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    #17 - The Big Glasses

    Season 5 Episode 8 - Aired 10/21/1955

    A housewife, Ella Ryburn, reports to Friday and Smith that she cannot contact her mother, who is married to Alfred Rudolph Shroder. When he is questioned, Shroder claims his wife left him and that, out of shame, he sold their house and put her items in storage.

    Director: Jack Webb

    Writer: N/A

  • The Big Switch
    8.3/1028 votes
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    #18 - The Big Switch

    Season 6 Episode 15 - Aired 1/10/1957

    No description available

    Director: Jack Webb

    Writer: N/A

  • The Big Blast
    8.2/1028 votes
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    #19 - The Big Blast

    Season 1 Episode 9 - Aired 4/10/1952

    A divorced mother is killed in bed by a shotgun while her young boy sleeps beside her.

    Director: Jack Webb

    Writer: N/A

  • The Big Trial
    8.2/1028 votes
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    #20 - The Big Trial

    Season 1 Episode 10 - Aired 4/24/1952

    Friday testifies at the trial of a man accused of a hit-and-run, but the main witness against him suddenly disappears.

    Director: Jack Webb

    Writer: N/A

  • The Big Children
    8.2/1043 votes
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    #21 - The Big Children

    Season 3 Episode 24 - Aired 2/11/1954

    Three children are found abandoned, filthy and starving. Friday and Smith charge the mother with neglect.

    Director: Jack Webb

    Writer: N/A

  • The Big Chet
    8.2/1025 votes
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    #22 - The Big Chet

    Season 5 Episode 2 - Aired 9/9/1955

    No description available

    Director: Jack Webb

    Writer: N/A

  • The Big Net
    8.2/1036 votes
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    #23 - The Big Net

    Season 6 Episode 4 - Aired 10/25/1956

    A group of police women act as decoys to draw a stick-up man out into the open.

    Director: Jack Webb

    Writer: N/A

  • The Big Lease
    8.1/1052 votes
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    #24 - The Big Lease

    Season 2 Episode 27 - Aired 5/14/1953

    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.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • The Big Thief
    8.1/1087 votes
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    #25 - The Big Thief

    Season 3 Episode 16 - Aired 12/17/1953

    Robbers phone doctors for house calls then assault them and steal their drugs.

    Director: Jack Webb

    Writer: N/A