This is the first show from the 283 episodes of the first run of DRAGNET. This series ran from 1951 to 1959.
Detective Joe Friday (Jack Webb) gets a call to report to the 11th floor of the new L.A. city hall. He is met there by fellow Detective (Barton Yarborough) and Police Captain (Raymond Burr).
Burr explains that there is a man (Stacy Harris) in the next room with what he says is a bomb. He is giving the Police 30 minutes to release his brother (Sam Edwards) from jail. He will set off the bomb otherwise.
Webb and Yarborough enter the room and try to talk Harris out of this action. It soon becomes obvious that Harris means what he says. The pair back out of the room, then have another talk with Burr. They brainstorm for a minute, then call the fire department.
They ask the firemen to swing Yarborough down on a rope from the floor above. He is to enter the room by a window and clobber Harris. At the same time, Webb will grab the bomb. Webb and Burr now re-enter the room in-order to keep Harris busy. This plan does not work though as Harris sees Yarborough's feet as he comes down. Harris laughs and says he will now set off the device.
Burr stops him by saying that Harris's brother is being brought up the elevator as they talk. The brotheris soon delivered to the room; he is not at all pleased with what is happening. He knows the place is lousy with Law enforcement types. "We will never get away!" he tells Harris.
After the failed attempt by rope, Yarborough has worked his way around the outside ledge of the building. He enters and gives Harris a bit of the sap behind the ear. At the same time, Burr tackles Edwards and Webb makes a dive for the bomb. He then takes the device out and places it in a large bucket of water. Webb roars into the elevator, down to the lobby, and out the main door. He carries the bucket down the stairs to a cleared area in front of City Hall. Just as he reaches the bottom of the stairs, he trips, sending the bucket and contents for an unplanned flight. The contents start to fizzle, but do not explode.
Another day at the office! This is a fairly intense episode of one of the biggest hits of the 50's.
The episode was directed by Webb and is based on a radio play from the DRAGNET radio series. The d of p was Fred Gately, whose claim to fame was the low-rent I BURY THE LIVING.
Also in the cast were Jack Kruschen, Herb Butterfield and Barney Phillips. Barton Yarborough would only last a few episodes before dropping dead of a heart attack. Barney Phillips would later join the cast as a Detective.
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