The Phony Police Racket

The show begins with a loud and unreasonable woman calling the police department to complain and ask for a Captain Fremont. But there is no Captain Fremont and the officer taking the phone call cannot get the woman to stop yelling and demanding to speak to Fremont! So, Gannon and Friday visit the 'lady' at a bar in which she works. Again, the woman (Eddra Gale) yells and is very difficult to reason with...and insists that she has a card that essentially guarantees her police access and freedom from tickets! The only catch is that she had to take out an add in some magazine...which turned out to be a phony!

As the officers continue investigating, they find more victims...all of which still insist that Freemont is real and insisting that they don't need to pay for any tickets they've received! They also meet a guy who printed the phony magazines...and he insists the cops he met were real, though he admits that they never paid him for his work!

Every once in a while, "Dragnet" managed to make a few funny episodes, such as this one. Sure, there is a crime but the victims (particularly the one played by Gale) were a hoot. These make the episode very colorful and enjoyable. Well worth seeing.

This is a comical episode,I liked it. Over-the-top acting and neurotic characters make this a good one.