The Grenade

Decent episode (although the blaring music at the party in the conclusion is rather annoying). The main point of interest is a young (and really tanned) Jan-Michael Vincent shirtless (having been doused with sulfuric acid by a disturbed teenager) in one of his first acting roles.

Decades later Columbine and Sandy Hook have made this episode ring true. A disturbed teen starts out by throwing acid at a fellow student while at a movie theater; later a search of the boy's room turns up a 45 hand gun and a semi-automatic rifle and a live hand grenade. And when an additional grenade is missing, Friday and Gannon know they need to find the suspect. By today's standards, the acting is stilted and the action slow, but the story has become too familiar.

Just wondering why Natalie Masters was not credited as Jan-Michael Vincent's mother in this episode? I suspect her part wasn't big enough, but I'd appreciate a mention for her. But as long it allowed her to keep her SAG card, that's all that matters. Jack Webb was known for allowing a lot of former radio performers and character actors parts to keep their cards current. BTW, I loved her in the radio series, "Candy Matson." She was one of the few female leads as a private detective. And just as groundbreaking, her sidekick in the late '40s-early '50s West Coast NBC series (from San Francisco) was Rembrandt Watson, likely the first gay character in radio.

Joe Friday and Bill Gannon met their share of troubled teens during the run of Dragnet. Most of them were just little punks who thought the rules didn't apply to them and that they'd get off easy. This time, however, they run into one kid who's a budding psychopath.

Gerald Paulson (played by Mickey Sholdar, one of Webb's go-to actors for punk kids) is a real prize. They first encounter him after he pours sulfuric acid (!) on the back of one of the BMOC's at his high school at the movies.

When he's called on it by Friday and Gannon, he pulls the 'gee, I'm sorry' routine and offers to buy him a new jacket, but Friday hits him with a wham line..."Suppose some of that acid got in his eyes...would you buy him a new pair?"

That leads to a discussion between Joe and Bill, and Bill remarks that 'some kids are just born sour'. But when Paulson runs off from home with a live grenade, how 'sour' is he then? He's now a threat to the entire city, and he's crashed the cool kids' party and is out to make them pay for rejecting him! What ensues next is one of Joe Friday's best moments, a rare moment where he gets to be a real action hero, aided by some of the best film editing ever, not to mention a very loose electrical plug. Gerald will have to face a judge--without the grenade, as Friday points out--and eventually a long stay in a mental hospital.

And if you're looking for future stars in this run of Dragnet, look no further than this episode, which features '70's stalwarts John Rubinstein (as probably the one friend Gerald has), Jan-Michael Vincent (as the jock who's the victim of the acid attack) and Heather Menzies (as the jock's girlfriend).

This is one of Dragnet 1967's more ambitious episodes. It's notable for the casting of future 70's TV/movie stars John Rubinstein and (the "Jan" not yet credited) Michael Vincent. While Rubinstein shows more talent (I saw him do a dead-on Darryl F. Zanuck once: excellent actor!), Webb managed to save a few wardrobe bucks by keeping hunk Vincent shirtless. Mickey Sholdar plays misunderstood acid-wielding loner/psychopath Gerald Paulson. A bit on the melodramatic side here, Sholdar's acting career spanned primarily his teens & twenties, with his most notable gig being a series regular on real-life uber-disturbed Inger Stevens' The Farmer's Daughter (where he once appeared with this episode's Heather Menzies; Hollywood was a small planet in the 60's). "The Grenade" contains less right wing proselytizing than many of Webb's '67 entries but does sport the usual idiotic generic "rock" music heard when a 60's TV producer was either too cheap or oblivious to the real thing. I think Sherwood Schwartz shared his '45 collection with Jack Webb (I'm sure that same dance number was used in an episode where Gilligan dances with a monkey). This episode does have me wondering if it really was that easy for a disturbed, Brylcreamed 18-year old to get his mits on WW2-era explosive ordinance in 1967. I was only 10 then and don't remember these babies being sold in the Army-Navy stores I wandered into. Sidebar: What the hell ever happened to Jan-Michael Vincent?! He was a big deal in the 70's-early 80's but he's seemed to have blazed a trail for Mickey Rourke, without the late game comeback. Back on topic: For all my criticism about how chea.. errh ---economical--- Webb-the-Producer was, the series has a weird, undeniable appeal and this is one of the better installments. 9+/10 for the season, likely the Citizen Kane of Dragnet 1967.