#but it was fun going to dyke nite

[hammer-heart]

Was explaining the FNAF lore to a girl tonight, and got her ig. Maybe this is rizz?

[lupismaris]

Also for the record I'm aware I'm about to show my entire old man ass in this post but I went out to the queer bar to attend a specific Dyke Nite event rather than just lurk upstairs playing pool and listening to oldies and while I enjoyed the sensory aspect of the music (please wear earplugs oh my god) and the lighting and the drinks were reasonable (I still think $6 for fake beer is a bit much but whatever) and I enjoyed being asked to dance by a v hot butch- how do you dance to music where the beats shift completely every minute or less like I know it's just that DJ but it's a lil hard to dance when the mixes are so sporadic I can't pick out what beat I'm meant to follow

It was fun I'll likely go again but getting home over stimmed at 2am with bodega food was not the worthwhile pay out it felt like at the time

[marvelgreyson]

Thoughts on WandaVision

I’ve watched the first three episodes of WandaVision and I really like it.  I wish the episodes were longer.  I used to watch Nick at Nite all the time as a kid and watched I Love Lucy, Bewitched, The Dick Van Dyke, The Partridge Family, and The Brady Bunch all the time.  I appreciate the attention to detail.  The next episode will be set in the 80′s.  Style wise it looks like Roseanne, and Family Ties.  There’s even a shot where Vision is wearing the same shirt as the dad from Family Ties.  I have a theory about what is going to happen.  Some spoilers, in the 70′s episode Geraldine (Monica Rambeau) breaks whatever trance Wanda is in for a second and gets her to talk about her brother.  Also, in the episode there are lots of unexplained magical mishaps either Wanda is doing this unconsciously or Billy is in utero.  Maybe this magic will result in the appearance of Uncle Pietro.  He surprises Wanda and Vision and says his catchphrase, “didn’t see that coming!” , like how uncle Jesse from Full House had his “have mercy!” However, Pietro is only there for the one episode and disappears. There’s an episode of Family Ties where Tom Hanks is the fun uncle with a drinking problem, he agrees to get help and is never seen on the show again. I’ve been watching 2 different theory/Easter egg channels on Youtube so that has been fueling my theories.  I didn’t think I’d like the show as much as I do.  It’s only 9 episodes total.  I don’t know what the commercials mean, but I think for the 90′s or 00′s it’s going to be some kind of extreme drink like Ultra cola something like Pibb Xtra, or Surge.

[quinnmorgendorffer]

So the oldest show I see you talk about is usually The Facts of Life but usually you don't go much further than 80s and 90s. I am very curious to know if you have favorites from the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s (not including TFOL obviously)? And explanations why! Hopefully something to keep your brain occupied during quarantine.

Ha, I was about to point out that TFOL was technically started in 1979 haha and thank you for the question

When I got this ask, the first thing that came to mind was The Twilight Zone. I’ll save my rant about that and some other shows under the cut.

Tbh, I haven’t gotten into a lot of classics pre-1980/1979-ish. I’ve had I Love Lucy in “My Stuff” on Hulu for, like, years now, but I haven’t sat down and watched the whole thing. I definitely watched multiple episodes back when it was on Nick at Nite. If it was on Nick and Nite in the 90s or in some other form of syndication, I’ve seen at least a few episodes. Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie, Gilligan’s Island, Andy Griffith, Mary Tyler Moore, Dick Van Dyke, etc. 

A lot of older shows that I want to watch just aren’t available anywhere, or they weren’t available when I last looked. One that springs to mind immediately is Maude. It isn’t available anywhere past paying about $20 for the first season on Amazon prime which…I’m not really able to do atm. I know that features a younger Bea Arthur and touches on some controversial issues including gay rights and abortion and so many progressive causes I’d love to see. I think I’m more interested in that than the show it spun off of, All in the Family. 

Other shows I’ve had difficulty finding but want to watch:

Diff’rent Strokes (at least for the backdoor pilot of TFOL lol but it’s only on Hulu with the Starz add-on, which I don’t have)

The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show

Kate & Allie (1980s but I have to complain about how it’s fucking nOWHERE AND I JUST WANNA WATCH JANE CURTIN)

Anyways, for shows that first came to mind at this ask:

The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle: Since I grew up with baby boomer parents, this was right up their alley back when they were kids, particularly my mom, since she was around 7 when the show started. We owned some episodes, if not the whole thing, on DVD when I was little and I loved it. My grandmother would tell us “Fractured Fairy Tales” a la one of the segments. I excitedly saw the movie back when it came out. I truly just enjoy the show, even if its “just” meant for kids. It’s fun and sweet and I obviously love good, dumb puns.

Also, two of my favorite Rocky Horror callbacks reference it. One of the most famous and classic callbacks is the Rocky Horror Roll Call: “Janet!” “Dr. Scott!” “JANET!” “BRAD!” “Rocky!” “BULLWINKLE!!!!”

One of them isn’t as common, I’m guessing because you have to know Rocky and Bullwinkle past the name to get it. “I grow veary of this vorld! When do we return to Transylvania, HUH?” “AFTER WE CAPTURE MOOSE AND SQUIRREL!” 

And a theater back in Kansas did a fringe festival production of Rocky Horror mixed with Rocky and Bullwinkle called, of course, The Rocky & Bullwinkle Picture Show. It was hilarious.

Laugh-In: Did anyone else have a bit of a TV schedule memorized for when you were sick, or was that just me? Lol back in elementary school, this would play on one channel and I’d normally watch an episode of it and then normally, like, Hamtaro after that lol I have specific memories of both of them ;alsdjk. It’s obviously best known for launching careers of many comedians, including Goldie Hawn and Lily Tomlin. And, of course, the time Nixon appeared on it to say “Sock it to me!” The 30 Rock parodies of it cracked me up.

I just found out that at least one season is on Amazon Prime which makes me very happy. 

The Twilight Zone: For someone who loves sitcoms and pretty much refuses to watch any prestige TV dramas, I really fucking love TWZ. One of my weirder life/pop culture goals is to see every episode in every incarnation, the first one having the most episodes and seasons (5 seasons, over 150 episodes) starting back in 1959. It’s particularly a weird one for me because I can be a bit easily spooked—like, I can’t do true crime whatsoever, it freaks me tf out and when I read through cases of things like that I have to watch something lighthearted or else I won’t be able to sleep lol. TWZ is easier for me, though. I also grew up with a lot of this on DVD due to, again, my baby boomer parents growing up with it.

I’ve seen an episode of the 2002/2003 reboot, the remake of one of the best (and most famous) episodes, “The Eye of the Beholder”, and I watched the first two episodes of Jordan Peele’s reboot, but haven’t finished the season. Ultimately, while I enjoyed his first episode, which I found very original, and his retake on the classic "there’s a gremlin on the wing of the plane!” episode, I find that doing an hour long show is just not a smart move when it comes to TWZ. For a bit of fun trivia, TWZ was originally cancelled after its third season, but CBS brought it back to replace two half hour shows mid-season, meaning the show had to be an hour long for s4, when it was originally only half an hour. S4, last I checked, isn’t even available on Netflix and seems to only be on Hulu. It was pretty much considered a failure to everyone and when you look at lists of the best twilight zone episodes, most people either ignore s4 or will throw one in while basically saying “well, we SHOULD include at least ONE…” 

TWZ really showed how much you can fit into half an hour, and a lot of the episodes feel so much longer—in a good way, of course. While back then there were less commercials so the shows could be slightly longer (25 minutes according to Wikipedia compared to 22-23 minutes nowadays), it still managed to pull you in and hold your attention and not overstay its welcome. I find that the hour long versions of the show make it harder to stay engaged and the pacing really has to slow down to fill in the space. 

However, I do enjoy how each incarnation has used sci-fi/fantasy to approach fears and prejudices of the time. I know the 2002 reboot redid “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street” which, back in the original ‘59 series, was about fear of communists and the like, and made it about fear of terrorists and Islamaphobia. Jordan Peele’s obviously tackled a lot of racism and I know the third episode, without having seen it, was about police brutality against black people. The show definitely has the potential to tackle heavy subjects in a great way, I just think its a show meant to be half an hour.

And another side rant, TWZ >>>> Black Mirror. I’ve read through the summaries of every Black Mirror episode and have seen a couple, including the perfection of “San Junipero”. Besides that episode, I really don’t like the show? TWZ managed to be original and have varying endings and had messages besides “technology bad”. It’s why I can like “San Junipero” for being so unlike the other episodes. I’ve enjoyed some of the twists I’ve read, but a lot of it just rings hollow compared to TWZ for me.

So, that’s about it for classic shows I could call favorites, though, tbh, TWZ is probably the first I’d say is a favorite of these or any pre-1980s show.

In general, since the 90s shows defined my childhood, I’ve been enjoying watching those during this pandemic for nostalgia and comfort. I’m cycling through two shows I’ve watched all of before (3rd Rock from the Sun and Cybill) as well as one I’ve possibly seen all the episodes of but only through syndication and never straight through (The Nanny). But depending on how long we’re here, maybe I’ll get a chance to watch some of these older classics on my list!

[weekendwarriorblog]

WHAT TO WATCH THIS WEEKEND June 21, 2019  - WILD ROSE, TOY STORY 4, CHILD’S PLAY, ANNA

Before I get to this week’s usual column, I want to draw some extra attention to a movie opening this weekend, NEON’s WILD ROSE, a terrific musical drama starring newcomer

Jessie Buckley as Rose-Lynn, a single mother from Glasgow, Scotland who has just got out of prison after spending a year there. She’s a talented singer who has big dreams of being a country star at Nashville’s Grand Ol’ Opry, but she constantly has to choose between this dream career and her two young children.

Directed by Tom Harper (“Peaky Blinders”), the film is pretty amazing, especially to watch Rose-Lynn’s story unfold and how much energy Buckley brings to the role. It’s almost impossible not to love Rose-Lynn’s feisty take-no-shit attitude, which really drives the film but it’s also nice to see Julie Walters as her mother, who is tired of her daughter neglecting her two kids.

This really has been amazing year for musical films between Rocketman, this and the upcoming Yesterday, and I hope that continues since I love inspirational music films. I really hope people seek this one, although I do worry that in some of the places where country music flourishes, audiences might have trouble with the difficult Glaswegian brogue, though I do hope that isn’t a hindrance, since the movie is quite wonderful.

Rating: 8.5/10

Now, let’s get to the other new movies in wide release, and I’m afraid to say that I don’t have a ton to say about any of them other than my actual reviews. Obviously, Disney and Pixar Animation’s TOY STORY 4 (Disney-Pixar) is going to be the big movie of the weekend, and I’ve already reviewed it and loved it. I won’t have a chance to see Orion Pictures and U.A. Releasing’s remake of CHILD’S PLAY until late Wednesday night, but I’m a little trepidatious of it other than the fact it stars the wonderful Aubrey Plaza. (MY REVIEW of Child’s Play is now live.)I guess we’ll see how it goes, but my review will be on The Beat on Thursday at noon.  Lastly, there’s Luc Besson’s new action movie ANNA (Lionsgate), starring Sasha Luss from Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, which I actually won’t be able to see before Thursday night but I hope to have a review of that over at The Beat, too.

I talk more about the upcoming wide releases over at The Beat, so do check that column out as well, but if you’re still here, than you know that there’s lots of other stuff to city, especially if you’re lucky enough to live in New York and L.A.

LIMITED RELEASES

Some really great docs opening this weekend, and I want to focus on those first. First up is Timothy Greenfield-Sanders’s TONI MORRISON: THE PIECES I AM (Magnolia), an amazing doc about the influential and inspirational author of books like “Beloved,” “The Bluest Eye” and “Sula,” none of which I’ve read, but I’m definitely more intrigued after reading about the influence she’s had on black culture as well as promoting black writers since her editing career began in the late ‘40s. The movie isn’t just about her history or her process, though, and in some ways it reminded me of Raoul Peck’s I Am Not Your Negro to show how important Morrison has been to literature and the Civil Rights movement. This movie opens Friday at the Film Forum and Film at Lincoln Center in New York and Pacific Arclight and Landmark 12 in L.A., and I highly recommend it.  I’m hoping Magnolia will be able to get this out there, and it looks like they have a fairly robust release plan, so definitely seek it out if it plays in your city.

Equally enticing is Oliver Murray’s doc THE QUIET ONE (Sundance Selects), which takes a look inside the amazing archival efforts made by Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman. I’m a pretty big Stones fan and have been for decades and the access Murray gets to his archive of pictures and films really helps painting a picture of his time with the Stones. While I think this will be more interest to Stones fans than anyone else, I do recommend it. It will open at the IFC CenterFriday, as well as in Boston, L.A. and San Francisco and then will be on VOD on June 28. Both of the opened played at the recent Tribeca Film Festival.

It’s kind of crazy that Jordan Roberts’ BURN YOUR MAPS (Vertical Entertainment) (based on the short story by Robyn Joy Leff) premiered at the Toronto Film Festival way back in 2016 and it’s finally being released now, but hey, it happens. It stars Jacob Tremblay as an 8-year-old boy -- Tremblay is now 12 – named Wes who has dreams of becoming a Mongolian goat herder, befriending an Indian immigrant (Suraj Sharma from Life of Pi) and they travel to Mongolia together. Also starring Vera Farmiga and Virginia Madsen, it will be in select cities and On Demand.

Matthias Schoenaerts, Léa Seydoux, Peter Simonischek, Max von Sydow and Colin Firth (woo, what a cast!) star in Thomas Winterberg’s THE COMMAND (Saban Films). It tells the story of the Russian flagship nuclear submarine K-1413 KURSK  that sank to the bottom of the Barents Sea in August 2000, and like Saban’s other films, it will get a nomination theatrical release but mainly be seen on VOD.

Let’s get to some fun genre stuff….

A new horror anthology worth checking out is NIGHTMARE CINEMA (Good Deed Entertainment), which premiered at last year’s Fantasia Fest. The premise that ties the five chapters together involves five strangers who come to an abandoned theater to face their greatest fears with Mickey Rourke playing a mysterious character called the Projectionist. The episodes of the anthology are directed by Juan of the Dead’s Alejandro Brugués; the legendary Joe Dante; David Slade, who has directed “Hannibal,” “American Gods” and “Black Mirror” (including Bandersnatch!); Japanese filmmaker Ryuhei Kitamura and the man who put it all together, Mick Garris. It will be in theaters and On Demand Friday.

A late addition to the weekend is Israeli director Guilhad Emilio Schenker’s Madam Yankelova’s Fine Literature Club (Rock Salt Releasing), which premiered at Fantastic Fest last year. It’s about a woman named Sophie who is getting older but who only has to seduce one more victim in order to achieve the rank of Lordess.

Lastly, there’s Carolina Hellsgård’s “post-apocalyptic feminist gothic fairy tale” Endzeit Ever After (Juno Films) follows two young women who develop a friendship while trying to survive after zombies overrun the Earth as they’re stranded in the Black Forest.  This opens at the IFC Center Friday and in L.A. at the Laemlle on June 28.

STREAMING AND CABLE

Streaming Weds on Netflix (and opening at the IFC Center in New York) is Petra Costa’s documentary THE EDGE OF DEMOCRACY, which I’m mainly interested since I have family in Brazil who are quite political and this looks at what happened that cause two Brazilian presidencies to unravel.

REPERTORY

METROGRAPH (NYC):

On Friday, Metrograph Pictures releases a 4k restoration of Jack Hazan’s 1974 film��A Bigger Splash, an intimate portrait of British artist David Hockney at a pivotal time in his life after he breaks up with his boyfriend and muse Peter Schlesinger and is trying to complete his painting “Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures)”, which sold last year at auction for $93 million (!!!) The Metrograph will have all sorts of guests and QnAs at the screenings of the movie over the weekend.

This week’s Late Nites at Metrograph  is the influential Japanese thriller Battle Royale (2000), while Playtime: Family Matinees  will screen Tim Burton’s 1995 family comedy Pee Wee’s Big Adventure. Over the weekend, the Metrograph will also screen two films by Juleen Compton, 1965’s Stranded and 1966’s The Plastic Dome of Norma Jean, neither which I’ve seen so I don’t have much to add.

THE NEW BEVERLY (L.A.):

Besides the Weds. matinee of Alfred Hitchcock’s Torn Curtain (1966), starring Paul Newman and Julie Andrews, the New Bev is doing a double feature of Lady in Cement (1968) and Pretty in Poison (1968) on Weds and Thursday, then Paul Mazursky’s Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969) with Cactus Flower  (1969) on Friday and Saturday. Friday’s Midnight movie is Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds, while Saturday’s Midnight is something called Candy (1968), co-written by Buck Henry.  The KIDDEE MATINEE this weekend is one of my personal childhood favorites Chitty Chitty Bang Bang  (1968), starring Dick Van Dyke. Sunday and Monday, the theater is showing the Shirley MacLaine/Bob Fosse film Sweet Charity (1969) and Monday is a matinee of Ocean’s 11. No, not the one from 1960 as that would screw up the Bev’s late ‘60s motif.. it’s Steven Soderbergh’s movie from 2001 starring George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts and Matt Damon. The Tuesday Grindhouse is off next week replaced by a double feature of Peter Sellers and Goldie Hawn’s There’s a Girl in My Soup (1970) and Don Knotts’ The Love God? (1969).

MUSEUM OF THE MOVING IMAGE (NYC):

Out in Astoria, they’re beginning the series Grit and Glitter: Before and After Stonewall in conjunction with the 50th anniversary with screenings of Jack Smith’s Flaming Creatures  (1962) with two George Kuchar shorts on Friday, Tony Richardson’s 1961 film A Taste of Honey and Kon Ichikawa’s 1963 An Actor’s Revenge on Saturday and Shirley Clarke’s Portrait of Jason  (1967) and Pier Paolo Pasolini’s 1968 film Taorema on Sunday. (All of these are screened separately with separate entrance fees.) On Saturday and Sunday, MOMI screens a special The Muppet Movie 40thAnniversary Celebration, as well as a screening of 1979’s The Muppets Go Hollywood on Saturday. As part of the See It Big! Action series on Saturday, they’re showing Shaft director Gordon Parks, Jr.’s 1974 film Three the Hard Way.

FILM FORUM (NYC):

A new restoration of Jennie Livingston’s 1991 film Paris is Burning continues to play as part of Pride Month and the 50thanniversary of Stonewall, and Alain Resnais’Last Year at Marienbad will continue to play through Thursday. This weekend’s Film Forum Jr. is Gurinder Chada’s 2002 film Bend It Like Beckham starring a very young Keira Knightley. Next Tuesday night, the Film Forum is screening a double feature of Dean Hargrove’s 2015 film Tap World along with his 2004 short Tap Heat.

EGYPTIAN THEATRE (LA):

On Thursday, the never-ending Scorsese/Cassavetes series continues with Faces  (1968) and Mean Streets (1973)  and maybe this is the end of that series. Friday night is a screening of Eric Rohmer’s La Collectionneuse (1967) and on Sunday, the Art Directors Guild Film Society screens Steven Spielberg’s 1977 film Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

AERO  (LA):

On Thursday, Cinematic Void is screening a double feature of Brian De Palma’s The Phantom of the Paradise (1974) and Dwight Little’s 1989 The Phantom of the Opera (with Little in person). Friday starts a Tying the Coen Brothers Together series in conjunction with Adam Layman’s fantastic Coen Brothers book with double features of No Country for Old Men and Blood Simple on Friday, The Big Lebowski and The Man Who Wasn’t There on Saturday and Fargo with A Serious Man on Sunday. Adam Nayman will be in person for the first two and actor Fred Melamed will be there for the latter.

QUAD CINEMA (NYC):

On Friday, the Quad premieres a new 2k restoration of Greta Schiller and Robert Rosenberg’s 1984 film Before Stonewall as well as a new series called Queer Kino playing through June 27, including Frank Ripploh’s German film Taxi zum Klo (1980), Wieland Speck’s Coming Out (1989) and more.

ROXY CINEMA (NYC)

This weekend, the Tribeca theaters is showing Toshio Matsumoto’s 1969 film Funeral Parade of Roses, the Wachowski’s Bound (1996), a 20thAnniversary screening of the thriller Jawbreaker with director Darren Stein and a few more recent movies including Booksmart. Not a bad line-up for this upstart arthouse theater.

IFC CENTER (NYC)

This week’s Waverly Midnights: Parental Guidance is David Lynch’s Eraserhead (again) and Jennifer Kent’s The Babadook,Weekend Classics: LoveMom and Dad screens Douglas Sirk’s Imitation of Life  (1959), while Late Night Favorites: Springscreens Pulp Fiction, Alien (again) and Jaws.

FILM OF LINCOLN CENTER (NYC):

The Ermanno Olmi series continues through June 26.

LANDMARK THEATRES NUART  (LA):

This week’s Friday midnight is Stanley Kubrick’s classic The Shining.

Next week, the month of June closes off with the threequel Annabelle Comes Homeand Danny Boyle/Richard Curtis’ musical rom-com Yesterday.

[meanstreetspodcasts]

Is there anybody who doesn’t know Dragnet?  Even if you don’t know the series or couldn’t pick Jack Webb out of a line-up, chances are you know the distinct “dum-da-dum-dum” opening.  Like the eerie sounds of the theme to The Twilight Zone, the opening notes of the Dragnet march have become shorthand for someone in trouble about to get busted, or the arrival of an authority figure on the scene.  This writer discovered the taut police series in between Get Smart and The Dick Van Dyke Show on Nick at Nite in the early nineties, and it wasn’t until years later that he discovered the radio series.  It’s hard for modern audiences to appreciate just how revolutionary Dragnet was when it hit radio.  The style it perfected and the approach to docudrama realism it produced can still be seen in TV procedural programs and films today, more than sixty years after it premiered.

The series was the brainchild of actor, writer, and producer Jack Webb. Born April 2, 1920, there was more to the man than Joe Friday’s no-nonsense demeanor.  Webb was a talented writer, director, and producer, a music aficionado, and - perhaps least well known - a man with a wicked sense of humor.  Along with Rod Serling and Quinn Martin, Webb was arguably one of the biggest creative forces in the Golden Age of Television, and he is undeniably a legend of the Golden Age of Radio.

Webb grew up in Los Angeles.  His father left before Webb was born, and Webb was raised by his mother and grandmother.  As a boy, Webb grew up with a love of movies and jazz music, the latter cultivated by a jazzman tenant in his mother’s rooming house.

He enlisted in the Air Force in World War II, but he did not make it through flight training (in his words, he “washed out”).  After his discharge, Webb moved to San Francisco where he got into radio.  The lack of announcers due to the war left vacancies on the schedule of ABC’s San Francisco affiliate KGO, and Webb served as an announcer, DJ, and as host of his own comedy show, The Jack Webb Show, a sketch comedy series that poked fun at current events and featured a house band playing Dixieland jazz numbers.  His comedy career on the air would be short-lived, as he turned his attention to the crime genre that would come to define his output for the rest of his career.

During his time at KGO, Webb struck up a friendship with writer Richard Breen and the two collaborated on The Jack Webb Show.  The two were approached to fill some holes in KGO’s programming schedule, and they created a character who was perfectly suited for Webb’s downbeat, naturalistic style.  He would be a detective of the hard-boiled school, operating out of an office on the San Francisco waterfront, and he would deliver some of the purplest dialogue this side of a pulp novel. Pat Novak For Hire premiered on KGO in 1946 and was a hit almost immediately.  The combination of Webb’s voice and Breen’s words were unlike anything radio listeners had heard up until that point.  Novak was cynical and world-weary, and he had great reason to be both.  He was often double-crossed by his clients; he rarely got the girl; and he was always on the outs with the law, particularly with the block-headed Inspector Hellman.  His only friend (if you could call him that) was Jocko Madigan, an ex-doctor and full-time boozer who could come to Novak’s aid, but not without dropping a ton of unwanted tipsy advice on Novak.

Despite the success, Webb and Breen jumped ship for reasons that have never fully been explained.  ABC soldiered on with Ben Morris stepping in as the new Pat Novak, while Breen and Webb set up shop on Mutual with the very similar program Johnny Madero, Pier 23.  Listeners didn’t take to Morris in the role, and the series signed off in early 1948.  Webb continued in the detective business, and he starred for a season as Jeff Regan, Investigator for CBS before returning to Pat Novak for a national run on ABC in 1949.  It was during this period where Webb was beginning to get the ideas for what would become his signature series and role.

In 1948, Webb played the role of a crime scene technician in He Walked By Night.  During breaks in the filming, he struck up a friendship with the movie’s technical advisor, Sgt. Marty Wynn.  Webb believed there was an opportunity to dramatically depict police work in an authentic manner; most radio shows (including Webb’s own Pat Novak and Jeff Regan usually played cops as incompetent at best and corrupt at worst).  Working with Wynn and other police officers, along with writer James Moser, Webb pitched the concept to NBC.  That series would become Dragnet, and its combination of authentic cases and a “ripped from the headlines” style with Webb’s signature realistic approach made for a series that - once again - was unlike anything radio audiences had heard.

Webb starred as Sgt. Joe Friday, the epitome of a professional policeman, who rotated in and out of different divisions of the LAPD (Homicide, Narcotics, Traffic, etc.).  This allowed Webb and his team to tell a full range of stories, all taken from LAPD files.  Sometimes there was a corpse and the thrill of the hunt of a killer; in other episodes, there were stake-outs and spent shoe leather running down leads.  Through it all, Webb pushed for authenticity: “We try to make cops human beings.  We try to combine the best qualities of the men I’ve seen downtown, incorporate their way of speaking, make a composite.”

Dragnet exploded in popularity not long after it premiered in 1949.  A TV version followed in 1951 and a film version hit the big screen in 1954.  Even during this time, when he was on Dragnet twice a week on radio and TV, Webb continued to work elsewhere.  He starred in the short-lived 1951 radio crime drama Pete Kelly’s Blues, which incorporated his love of jazz into the mystery stories.

Big screen success eluded Webb, and after a few misfires at the box office in the late 1950s, he was back in television.  In 1963, he was given the reins of the private eye drama 77 Sunset Strip, which he rebranded in his own style.  The series, which had been one of the more “hip” mystery shows on TV, suffered a ratings hit as a result of the shift and was cancelled.  Fortunately for Webb, there was still a demand for his style - and his signature series.  He was approached by Universal in 1966 to develop a new Dragnet TV movie.  The product was so well received that NBC put a new Dragnet series on the air, with Webb back as Sgt. Joe Friday.  It’s this color run of Dragnet (which aired often on Nick at Nite in the early 1990s) with which Webb is most closely associated.  It also kicked off the next phase of his career, as a producer of TV content through his Mark VII production company.  In addition to Dragnet, Webb produced the squad car-based police drama Adam-12 and the EMT/paramedic series Emergency!, both of which enjoyed long runs in the late 1960s and early 1970s.  (His Adam-12 star Martin Milner got one of his first jobs on the radio version of Dragnet, playing one of Joe Friday’s young partners.) In the early 1980s, Webb was prepping for yet another Dragnet revival, and he tapped Kent McCord of Adam-12 to play Joe Friday’s new partner.  Before the series could go into production, Webb passed away at the age of 62 from a heart attack on December 23, 1982.  In recognition of his long partnership with the Los Angeles Police Department, the LAPD retired 714, Joe Friday’s badge number.  All flags in Los Angeles flew at half-staff in his honor.

One doesn’t need to look far to see Jack Webb’s legacy alive and well today.  Reality-based police procedurals cover the prime-time landscape, and the realistic style of acting he helped introduce to the mainstream has influenced generations of writers and actors.  He was a tireless professional who worked right up until the end of an unfortunately short life, but his body of work will continue to outlive him and entertain new generations of fans.

[meanstreetspodcasts]

Happy Birthday, Jack Webb

Is there anybody who doesn’t know Dragnet?  Even if you don’t know the series or couldn’t pick Jack Webb out of a line-up, chances are you know the distinct “dum-da-dum-dum” opening.  Like the eerie sounds of the theme to The Twilight Zone, the opening notes of the Dragnet march have become shorthand for someone in trouble about to get busted, or the arrival of an authority figure on the scene.  This writer discovered the taut police series in between Get Smart and The Dick Van Dyke Show on Nick at Nite in the early nineties, and it wasn’t until years later that he discovered the radio series.  It’s hard for modern audiences to appreciate just how revolutionary Dragnet was when it hit radio.  The style it perfected and the approach to docudrama realism it produced can still be seen in TV procedural programs and films today, more than sixty years after it premiered.

The series was the brainchild of actor, writer, and producer Jack Webb. Born April 2, 1920, there was more to the man than Joe Friday’s no-nonsense demeanor.  Webb was a talented writer, director, and producer, a music aficionado, and - perhaps least well known - a man with a wicked sense of humor.  Along with Rod Serling and Quinn Martin, Webb was arguably one of the biggest creative forces in the Golden Age of Television, and he is undeniably a legend of the Golden Age of Radio.

Webb grew up in Los Angeles.  His father left before Webb was born, and Webb was raised by his mother and grandmother.  As a boy, Webb grew up with a love of movies and jazz music, the latter cultivated by a jazzman tenant in his mother’s rooming house.

He enlisted in the Air Force in World War II, but he did not make it through flight training (in his words, he “washed out”).  After his discharge, Webb moved to San Francisco where he got into radio.  The lack of announcers due to the war left vacancies on the schedule of ABC’s San Francisco affiliate KGO, and Webb served as an announcer, DJ, and as host of his own comedy show, The Jack Webb Show, a sketch comedy series that poked fun at current events and featured a house band playing Dixieland jazz numbers.  His comedy career on the air would be short-lived, as he turned his attention to the crime genre that would come to define his output for the rest of his career.

During his time at KGO, Webb struck up a friendship with writer Richard Breen and the two collaborated on The Jack Webb Show.  The two were approached to fill some holes in KGO’s programming schedule, and they created a character who was perfectly suited for Webb’s downbeat, naturalistic style.  He would be a detective of the hard-boiled school, operating out of an office on the San Francisco waterfront, and he would deliver some of the purplest dialogue this side of a pulp novel. Pat Novak For Hire premiered on KGO in 1946 and was a hit almost immediately.  The combination of Webb’s voice and Breen’s words were unlike anything radio listeners had heard up until that point.  Novak was cynical and world-weary, and he had great reason to be both.  He was often double-crossed by his clients; he rarely got the girl; and he was always on the outs with the law, particularly with the block-headed Inspector Hellman.  His only friend (if you could call him that) was Jocko Madigan, an ex-doctor and full-time boozer who could come to Novak’s aid, but not without dropping a ton of unwanted tipsy advice on Novak.

Despite the success, Webb and Breen jumped ship for reasons that have never fully been explained.  ABC soldiered on with Ben Morris stepping in as the new Pat Novak, while Breen and Webb set up shop on Mutual with the very similar program Johnny Madero, Pier 23.  Listeners didn’t take to Morris in the role, and the series signed off in early 1948.  Webb continued in the detective business, and he starred for a season as Jeff Regan, Investigator for CBS before returning to Pat Novak for a national run on ABC in 1949.  It was during this period where Webb was beginning to get the ideas for what would become his signature series and role.

In 1948, Webb played the role of a crime scene technician in He Walked By Night.  During breaks in the filming, he struck up a friendship with the movie’s technical advisor, Sgt. Marty Wynn.  Webb believed there was an opportunity to dramatically depict police work in an authentic manner; most radio shows (including Webb’s own Pat Novak and Jeff Regan usually played cops as incompetent at best and corrupt at worst).  Working with Wynn and other police officers, along with writer James Moser, Webb pitched the concept to NBC.  That series would become Dragnet, and its combination of authentic cases and a “ripped from the headlines” style with Webb’s signature realistic approach made for a series that - once again - was unlike anything radio audiences had heard.

Webb starred as Sgt. Joe Friday, the epitome of a professional policeman, who rotated in and out of different divisions of the LAPD (Homicide, Narcotics, Traffic, etc.).  This allowed Webb and his team to tell a full range of stories, all taken from LAPD files.  Sometimes there was a corpse and the thrill of the hunt of a killer; in other episodes, there were stake-outs and spent shoe leather running down leads.  Through it all, Webb pushed for authenticity: “We try to make cops human beings.  We try to combine the best qualities of the men I’ve seen downtown, incorporate their way of speaking, make a composite.”

Dragnet exploded in popularity not long after it premiered in 1949.  A TV version followed in 1951 and a film version hit the big screen in 1954.  Even during this time, when he was on Dragnet twice a week on radio and TV, Webb continued to work elsewhere.  He starred in the short-lived 1951 radio crime drama Pete Kelly’s Blues, which incorporated his love of jazz into the mystery stories.

Big screen success eluded Webb, and after a few misfires at the box office in the late 1950s, he was back in television.  In 1963, he was given the reins of the private eye drama 77 Sunset Strip, which he rebranded in his own style.  The series, which had been one of the more “hip” mystery shows on TV, suffered a ratings hit as a result of the shift and was cancelled.  Fortunately for Webb, there was still a demand for his style - and his signature series.  He was approached by Universal in 1966 to develop a new Dragnet TV movie.  The product was so well received that NBC put a new Dragnet series on the air, with Webb back as Sgt. Joe Friday.  It’s this color run of Dragnet (which aired often on Nick at Nite in the early 1990s) with which Webb is most closely associated.  It also kicked off the next phase of his career, as a producer of TV content through his Mark VII production company.  In addition to Dragnet, Webb produced the squad car-based police drama Adam-12 and the EMT/paramedic series Emergency!, both of which enjoyed long runs in the late 1960s and early 1970s.  (His Adam-12 star Martin Milner got one of his first jobs on the radio version of Dragnet, playing one of Joe Friday’s young partners.) In the early 1980s, Webb was prepping for yet another Dragnet revival, and he tapped Kent McCord of Adam-12 to play Joe Friday’s new partner.  Before the series could go into production, Webb passed away at the age of 62 from a heart attack on December 23, 1982.  In recognition of his long partnership with the Los Angeles Police Department, the LAPD retired 714, Joe Friday’s badge number.  All flags in Los Angeles flew at half-staff in his honor.

One doesn’t need to look far to see Jack Webb’s legacy alive and well today.  Reality-based police procedurals cover the prime-time landscape, and the realistic style of acting he helped introduce to the mainstream has influenced generations of writers and actors.  He was a tireless professional who worked right up until the end of an unfortunately short life, but his body of work will continue to outlive him and entertain new generations of fans.

Jack Webb has made a number of appearances on Down These Mean Streets, including in this week's new episode, which spotlights the actor in his signature role of Joe Friday. Click here to check out some of his other visits to the podcast as Sgt. Friday, Pat Novak, Jeff Regan, and Pete Kelly.

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