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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!

Police Detective Sgt. Joe Friday and his partners investigate crimes in Los Angeles.
Genres:CrimeDramaMystery
Network:NBC

Best Episodes Summary

"Homicide - DR-22" is the best rated episode of "Dragnet". It scored 8.6/10 based on 197 votes. Directed by Jack Webb and written by N/A, it aired on 1/9/1969. This episode scored 0.1 points higher than the second highest rated, "The Shooting Board".

  • Homicide - DR-22
    8.6/10197 votes
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    #1 - Homicide - DR-22

    Season 3 Episode 14 - Aired 1/9/1969

    Joe and Bill are called to an apartment where the building manager has found a young woman bound and dead. The extremely chatty 91 year old manager, who is obsessed with crime novels, is their prime suspect.

    Director: Jack Webb

    Writer: N/A

  • The Shooting Board
    8.5/10208 votes
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    #2 - The Shooting Board

    Season 2 Episode 2 - Aired 9/21/1967

    Joe tries to stop a burglary at an all night launderette and ends up exchanging fire with the suspect. When SID tries to find the bullet fired at Joe, they come up empty and Joe faces a shooting board with no proof the man ever fired at him.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • The Interrogation
    8.3/10237 votes
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    #3 - The Interrogation

    Season 1 Episode 4 - Aired 2/9/1967

    A new officer has been arrested for robbing a liquor store while on an undercover assignment.

    Director: Jack Webb

    Writer: N/A

  • D.H.Q. - Night School
    8.3/10164 votes
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    #4 - D.H.Q. - Night School

    Season 4 Episode 22 - Aired 3/19/1970

    Joe is enrolled in night school and busts a classmate for possession of marijuana. The professor threatens to give Joe an F for the bust. He puts removing Joe up for a vote by the class. An unexpected classmate comes to Joe's aid.

    Director: Jack Webb

    Writer: N/A

  • D.H.Q. - The Victims
    8.3/10121 votes
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    #5 - D.H.Q. - The Victims

    Season 4 Episode 26 - Aired 4/16/1970

    Joe and Bill investigate a series of victims. An elderly man has been stabbed to death in his hotel room. An elderly is assaulted and her purse stolen. A store is robbed and the owner is stabbed. Rights are given to the criminals, but there are no rights for the victims.

    Director: Jack Webb

    Writer: Michael Donovan

  • Personnel - The Shooting
    8.2/10154 votes
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    #6 - Personnel - The Shooting

    Season 4 Episode 1 - Aired 9/18/1969

    Joe and Bill are assigned to the Medical Services Division. Two policemen have been shot. Joe and Bill must notify the wives.

    Director: Jack Webb

    Writer: Michael Donovan

  • The LSD Story
    8.1/10357 votes
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    #7 - The LSD Story

    Season 1 Episode 1 - Aired 1/12/1967

    Sergeant Joe Friday and his partner Bill Gannon encounter a freaked-out young LSD user calling himself "Blue Boy"; before long, Blue Boy is "turning on" schoolchildren with the mysterious new drug.

    Director: Jack Webb

    Writer: Jack Webb

  • The Senior Citizen
    8.1/10181 votes
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    #8 - The Senior Citizen

    Season 2 Episode 7 - Aired 10/26/1967

    A series of daring daylight house burglaries are taking place. Friday and Gannon go undercover in a laundry truck to discover the perp.

    Director: Jack Webb

    Writer: N/A

  • The Joy Riders
    8.0/10131 votes
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    #9 - The Joy Riders

    Season 3 Episode 18 - Aired 2/13/1969

    A 15-year-old car thief is given a tour of the jail in an attempt to impress him of the consequences for choosing crime. Unfortunately, it doesn't work - the young man later kills someone with a shotgun.

    Director: Jack Webb

    Writer: N/A

  • Juvenile - The Little Pusher
    8.0/10152 votes
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    #10 - Juvenile - The Little Pusher

    Season 4 Episode 6 - Aired 10/23/1969

    Joe and Bill are working Juvenile Narcotics Division and find a 12 year old under the influence of narcotics. They go to the boy’s school and conduct a class for teachers on how to identify narcotics. They discover that a ninth grader is selling the narcotics in school and find that his father is the source of the drugs.

    Director: Jack Webb

    Writer: N/A

  • Homicide - Who Killed Who?
    8.0/10119 votes
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    #11 - Homicide - Who Killed Who?

    Season 4 Episode 15 - Aired 1/29/1970

    There is a multiple homicide at a rooming house. When Joe and Bill arrive, they find two dead in the lobby near a broken TV set and the manager has been shot and is near death. The manager mumbles the words "oft one" to Joe as he is taken away to the hospital. Bill and Joe start searching for clues and what the manager's words mean.

    Director: Jack Webb

    Writer: Michael Donovan

  • The Christmas Story
    7.9/10194 votes
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    #12 - The Christmas Story

    Season 2 Episode 15 - Aired 12/21/1967

    A statue of the child Jesus was stolen from a church. Joe and Bill have to get it back by Christmas. They have less than 48 hours.

    Director: Jack Webb

    Writer: N/A

  • The Little Victim
    7.9/10167 votes
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    #13 - The Little Victim

    Season 2 Episode 22 - Aired 2/15/1968

    When a nine-month old child is beaten, Friday and Gannon investigate the parents, who are more concerned about their failing relationship than their baby son.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Vice - DR-30
    7.9/10135 votes
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    #14 - Vice - DR-30

    Season 3 Episode 22 - Aired 3/13/1969

    The Captain assigns Joe and Bill to find the location of a high stakes poke operation that has been preying on visitors. Bill and Joe pose as farmers and check into a hotel where an agricultural convention is occurring.

    Director: Jack Webb

    Writer: N/A

  • Burglary Auto - Juvenile Genius
    7.9/10123 votes
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    #15 - Burglary Auto - Juvenile Genius

    Season 4 Episode 11 - Aired 12/4/1969

    Burglaries are happening and the thieves are leaving a red cloth at each crime scene. Joe and Bill respond to another break in at a chemical company and a safe company. Joe and Bill stake out the chemical company and catch an unexpected pair of thieves.

    Director: Jack Webb

    Writer: Michael Donovan

  • The Shooting
    7.8/10163 votes
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    #16 - The Shooting

    Season 1 Episode 11 - Aired 3/30/1967

    A police officer is shot while making a routine check on a pair of paroled convicts that are parked near a liquor store.

    Director: Jack Webb

    Writer: N/A

  • The Gun
    7.8/10190 votes
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    #17 - The Gun

    Season 1 Episode 15 - Aired 4/27/1967

    A Japanese widow is senselessly murdered, leaving her small daughter an orphan. Friday has a hard time controlling his emotions while seeking the killer.

    Director: Jack Webb

    Writer: N/A

  • The Big High
    7.8/10231 votes
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    #18 - The Big High

    Season 2 Episode 8 - Aired 11/2/1967

    An elderly businessman, concerned about the welfare of his grandchild, informs Friday and Gannon that his daughter and son-in-law are using marijuana regularly. The young couple make no apologies for their lifestyle, which inevitably leads to disaster.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • The Big Dog
    7.8/10163 votes
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    #19 - The Big Dog

    Season 2 Episode 11 - Aired 11/23/1967

    Friday and Gannon are on the case to find ... a purse-snatching dog? Making things more difficult, victims give different descriptions of the four-legged thief.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • The Big Search
    7.8/10152 votes
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    #20 - The Big Search

    Season 2 Episode 17 - Aired 1/4/1968

    Two small girls, ages three and five, are missing. Their mother is certain that her ex-husband, an alcoholic, has kidnapped them. However, he is now in recovery and has no knowledge of the girls' whereabouts. The search seems hopeless until Friday and Gannon, acting on information from a former neighbor, follow a hunch.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Narcotics - DR-21
    7.8/10141 votes
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    #21 - Narcotics - DR-21

    Season 3 Episode 16 - Aired 1/30/1969

    The Captain ask Joe and Bill to investigate having dogs trained to sniff out narcotics. They contact a dog trainer to train dogs for the job. Joe and Bill do a demonstration for Judges to prove the effectiveness of using a dog to detect marijuana.

    Director: Jack Webb

    Writer: Burt Prelutsky

  • Frauds - DR-28
    7.8/10122 votes
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    #22 - Frauds - DR-28

    Season 3 Episode 19 - Aired 2/20/1969

    Joe and Bill investigate someone who has fraudulently obtained disability checks. This person has been renting apartments and only using them as a mail drop. Joe and Bill meet with a group of apartment owners to ask for their help.

    Director: Jack Webb

    Writer: Burt Prelutsky

  • Burglary - DR-31
    7.8/10120 votes
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    #23 - Burglary - DR-31

    Season 3 Episode 21 - Aired 3/6/1969

    A costumed thief calling himself "The Crimson Crusader" has been stealing comic books, movie posters and publicity photos of various superheroes.

    Director: Jack Webb

    Writer: Burt Prelutsky

  • Burglary - Mister
    7.8/10132 votes
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    #24 - Burglary - Mister

    Season 4 Episode 5 - Aired 10/16/1969

    An old woman has all her possessions including her cane stolen by her grandson, "Mister Daniel Lumis". Joe and Bill try to locate Lumis and find a trail of bigamy and thievery.

    Director: Jack Webb

    Writer: Burt Prelutsky

  • The Big Explosion
    7.7/10240 votes
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    #25 - The Big Explosion

    Season 1 Episode 2 - Aired 1/19/1967

    A neo-Nazi psycho has planted a bomb somewhere in L.A. Friday and Gannon have to find it.

    Director: Jack Webb

    Writer: Robert C. Dennis