Webb, Jack

Emergency - Season One

Created and produced by TV legend Jack Webb, Emergency! delivered a double dose of medical drama and real-life action into its stories, which made it a major favorite among viewers during its '72-77 network run. The season 1 set compiles the first 11 episodes of the program, in which paramedics Gage (Randolph Mantooth) and DeSoto (Kevin Tighe) tackle crises both big and small, from plane accidents ("Crash," "Dealer's Wild") and baby deliveries ("Brushfire") to the rescue of a horse in a ditch ("Publicity Hound"). Ably assisting the men in the field are the emergency room hospital staff, led by Dr. Joe Early (Bobby Troup, the composer of "Route 66"), Dr. Kelly Brackett (Robert Fuller of Laramie), and Nurse Dixie McCall (singer Julie London); Deirdre Hall of Days of Our Lives fame also appeared (in this season only) as Nurse Sally Lewis. An energetic and entertaining series, the success of Emergency not only spawned a host of promotional tie-ins (and a Saturday morning cartoon), but also helped spark attention for and interest in paramedic work during its network run, which is a considerable legacy for any television program.

Though no extras are included in the season 1 double-disc set, the 1972 two-part pilot, "The Wedsworth-Townsend Affair," is included; directed by Jack Webb, the pilot also features guest appearances by Martin Milner and Kent McCord in their roles from another of his then-current series, Adam-12. --Paul Gaita

Adam-12 - Season One

Dragnet creator-star Jack Webb's imprimatur is all over this first full season (1968) of Adam-12, a consistently entertaining look at the on-the-job lives of a couple of Los Angeles patrol officers. No surprise there: Webb co-created and produced Adam-12 as well (he also directed the first episode) and his sensibility--square, old-fashioned, low on frills-- imbues the 26 episodes included in this set.

Martin Milner stars as Pete Malloy, a veteran cop whose new partner (following the death of the previous one) is Jim Reed (Kent McCord), a rookie who's more than a little wet behind the ears. The show follows them as they make the rounds in their police black & white, dealing with all manner of circumstances, from the mundane (traffic violations, petty domestic disputes, noise complaints) to the monstrous (murder, drugs, child abuse, suicide). Each about 25 minutes long, the episodes chronicle the quotidian vicissitudes of these men in uniform, as opposed to the detectives, forensic experts, lawyers, and such who populate today's cop shows. Whatever the storyline, the tone is fairly tame, with none of the graphic violence common to later cop shows. And while the '65 Watts riots had already taken place, Rodney King, the Rampart scandal, and numerous other ugly events were far in the future. Thus Adam-12 evinces little or none of the now-vast divide (most of it racially based) that exists between the LAPD and much of the community; on this show, the cops are the good guys, without much nuance (which helps explain its popularity with real police officers). That's certainly not all bad; Adam-12's realism (for its time) and lack of pretension are refreshing, and the show is looser and not nearly as humorless as Dragnet. The packaging is as basic as the show itself--there are no extras whatsoever, with two double-sided discs containing all 26 episodes. --Sam Graham

Pete Kelly's Blues

A Kansas City singer and his jazz band bow down to pressure from a local gangster and take on the thug's alcoholic girlfriend as a singer.Running Time: 92 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA/CLASSICS UPC: 883929003280 Manufacturer No: 1000035849

Dragnet Volume One

DRAGNET - THE CLASSIC TV SERIES: Dragnet was the most popular detective series of the 1950's. It aired weekly on NBC from 1952 to 1959 in it's first run and influenced countless police shows to come, including today's real life crime show - "Cops". It also spawned a movie version in 1987 with Dan Ackroyd and Tom Hanks. DRAMA -- CLASSIC BLACK & WHITE -- 95 MINUTES

AMC TV - Dragnet

Dragnet starring Jack Webb.
14 thirty-minutes episodes on 2 DVDs.

"The story you are about to see is true, only the names have been changed to protect the innocent." So began the familiar opening to TV's long-running police drama, Dragnet. TV's favorite copy, Sgt. Joe Friday, solved crimes in this popular series from 1951-1959. The show's realistic portrayal of true cases drawn from the files of an actual police department make it all the more exciting when justice is served in the end.

Disc 1
1. The Big Seventeen (11-16-52)
2. The Big Betty (9-24-53)
3. The Big Boys (1-21-54)
4. The Big Shoplift (3-11-54)
5. The Big Hit and Run (3-18-54)
6. The Big Girl (4-01-54)
7. The Big Counterfeit (8-16-59)

Disc 2
1. The Big September Man (5-08-52)
2. The Big Break (3-19-53)
3. The Big Little Jesus (12-24-53)
4. The Big Crime (9-09-54)
5. The Big Frame (4-22-54)
6. The Big Producer (8-24-54)
7. The Big Pair (9-16-54)

World's Famous Detectives V.2, The

The popular TV series, Dragnet, was a forerunner of near-authentic police dramas, and for this reason, it was one of the most triumphant television series in its class. Featuring seven episodes.