Dragnet 1967 (TV Series) The Big Neighbor (1967) User Reviews

It sure sucks to be a cop...

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 18 November 2009]

This is an odd episode and I doubt if another police show ever did an episode quite like this one. It's actually supposed to have occurred during an off evening for Friday and Gannon. They plan on sitting back and enjoying the football game on TV at Gannon's house--but 1001 things come up that prevent them from getting any relaxation. Mostly it consists of neighbors interrupting because they seem to think that Gannon is their own personal policeman! You'll notice that Gannon is a bit "goofier" than normal--talking about inane things almost non-stop plus he never tells any of the neighbors 'no'. Throughout all this, Friday just sits back and takes it all in stride. So much for an evening of relaxation! While this is a particularly uneventful and somewhat dull episode, I am glad they did it because it humanized the police and shows a side of them you'll never see on other shows. So, it is a bit of a relief from the usual and not a bad change of pace.

By the way, you might notice that one of the many neighbors is Ann Morgan Guilbert--the woman who played Millie on "The Dick Van Dyke Show". Also note how Gannon takes out a criminal--tackling him like an action hero!

Cops Relax After a Hard Day's Work.

[rmax304823 · 6/10 · 14 July 2010]

Here's how they relax. Gannon invites Joe to dinner after work. An important football game will be on the telly. Eileen will prepare the meal while the men take it easy.

They take it easy by removing their jackets, their guns, sitting down on an uncomfortable-looking couch with no drinks and no nachos, and leaning forward with anticipation, their neckties still neatly tied and straight.

That's their idea of relaxation. All dressed up in starched shirts, nobody's slippered feet on the table, no beer.

The story, which I kind of enjoy, involves one interruption after another as visitors complain about this and that, mainly about the police being too strict about minor parking violations, like leaving the car too far from the curb. "Pay the two dollars," Gannon advises.

The final complaint is a serious one and the two cops grab their guns and capture a burglar across the street. They're not even out of breath after the scuffle. When they return, Gannon notices he has a parking ticket and whines with indignation -- "Joe, it's my own driveway!" "Pay the two dollars," replies Joe.

Dragnet 1968: The Neighbor

[Scarecrow-88 · 6/10 · 3 December 2011]

Atypical episode of Dragnet 1968 is definitely different than the norm following the difficulties of Sgt Joe Friday and partner Bill Gannon (Jack Webb and Harry Morgan) have when off of work after an exhausting week, trying to watch a football game between the LA Rams and the San Francisco 49ers but always interrupted by issues involving the neighbors. Gannon invites Friday to eat some supper and watch the "big game" at his nice suburban home, encountering neighbors who come to him with their various problems (traffic citation, domestic dispute). The only real crime that takes place during this supposed night of tranquility is a burglar trying to break into a home, reported to Gannon by a frightened neighbor. Again, "The Neighbor" is not the usual Dragnet style episode, with Gannon surprised that Friday doesn't notice the new paint job and wallpaper in/on his house. Gannon, as in times past, questions Friday's bachelorhood, complaining that his single partner needs to find a wife and home in some neighborhood, settle down, have some kids, etc. Friday just allows him to ramble, even though we all can tell he's not keen on such a life himself. I think this episode is merely a footnote during the Dragnet 60s series for it allows us to see Gannon's sweethearted, dutiful wife, Eileen (Randy Stuart), and Bill's home. Also, we see that even suburbia is not exempt from the possibility of crime. Kent McCord of "Adam 12" ought to have thanked Jack Webb a great deal because he continues (he was also in the previous episode as a "black and white") to pop up as a patrolling police officer on the show, this time his unit is the one who takes in the burglar trying to break into a house. Gannon must've been inspired by the football game because he literally tackles the burglar trying to escape from the premises once Friday tells him to freeze!

The Merits Of New Wallpaper

[ccthemovieman-1 · 6/10 · 1 November 2010]

Gee, what a goofy episode this one was. There was less than a minute devoted to an actual crime, the rest of the show being more "dry" comedy of "Bill Gannon" and his dinner guest "Joe Friday" unable to watch a football game because of constant interruptions by goofy neighbors.

We also get long lectures by Bill to poor Joe about getting married, the merits of wallpaper and other household interests, and other inane topics to a bachelor like Joe Friday. But Webb's character good-naturedly puts up with it all. He's amazing in the patience he demonstrates with his goofy partner.

Harry Morgan as "Gannon" is also excellent, of course. Who else could deliver such nonsense and still be so entertaining and likable?

"Dragnet 1968" goes into humorous territory with "The Big Neighbor"

[tonyvmonte-54973 · 7/10 · 6 June 2024]

In a change of pace, this ep of "Dragnet" mostly has Friday and Gannon trying to relax in the latter's home by watching a football game while waiting for Gannon's wife to prepare dinner. But neighbors keep pestering Bill about various goings-on hoping he'll do something about it, whatever it is! Eventually, something does happen for them to do their duty...I got bemused during the scene of Joe and Bill watching the football game as Bill goes on about various non-work-related topics while Joe just smiles and takes it all in stride. Among the guest cast is one Ann Morgan Guilbert, formerly Millie on "The Dick Van Dyke Show", as one of the neighbors and what a hoot she is, that's for sure! Also appearing is Kent McCord as a patrol officer about a year before starring in the Webb-produced "Adam-12". He'd be recurring throughout the season. In summary, "The Big Neighbor" was a nice change-of-pace for "Dragnet 1968".

"The Big Shaggy Dog"

[darryl-tahirali · 8/10 · 8 April 2023]

"Dragnet: The Sitcom"? As Sergeant Joe Friday and Officer Bill Gannon wind down a tough work week, relaxation is on both their minds, with family man Gannon inviting bachelor Friday over for dinner and a football game on television in "The Big Neighbor," but like any sitcom of the era, wackiness must ensue. For a police procedural whose humorlessness, excepting tight-lipped sardonicism, was itself almost a comic caricature, this consistently amusing, generally light-hearted episode, scripted with snappy delight by Robert Dennis, comes as a refreshing surprise amidst the series' unsmiling stock-in-trade.

The fun begins when, following Gannon's invitation, Friday has him check with his wife Eileen (Randy Stuart) if the sudden intrusion is all right with her. It is, but not without some sharp repartee that signals the most remarkable aspect to "The Big Neighbor": Harry Morgan plays the straight man to Jack Webb, who is consistently hilarious, all the more remarkable because Webb doesn't break character but rather, as Friday and Gannon shed their official personas and display something akin to friendship, Webb reveals a droll, quick-witted side to Friday that must remain suppressed in his professional capacity. (Webb demonstrated a facility for wry comedy early in his radio career with "Pat Novak for Hire," a crime drama that nevertheless sent up film noir convention and cliché with winking glee.)

Arriving at Gannon's home in the Eagle Rock neighborhood of Los Angeles, the two detectives try to settle down to dinner and the football game, but the Gannon household is soon beset by visiting neighbors who keep the pair from following the Los Angeles Rams-San Francisco 49ers game. (And, yes, NFL games are not played on Friday nights except on "Dragnet.") First up is Marnie Prout (Ann Morgan Guilbert), who wants Bill to arrest her husband for . . . Throwing an egg-timer at her that didn't even hit her. Then Art Bonham (John Nolan) tries to get Bill to fix the parking ticket his wife was issued on their very own street--and don't think that the two dollars it will cost to be resolved won't return to bite somebody later on.

Actual drama does occur when neighbor Ruth Walker (Rhoda Williams) calls to report a man breaking into her home, with Bill and Joe going over to investigate while uniformed backup is on its way--and Gannon, in the most football action either cop will see this evening, delivers a tackle worthy of at least a tryout with the Rams. Okay, maybe not.

But the best delivery has to be the paydirt Morgan and Webb strike by playing Bill and Joe as the LAPD's Bob and Ray, deadpan detectives riffing off each other in smooth, effortless, straight-faced hilarity although Webb cannot completely conceal the sheer delight he's having by getting to let his hair down for a change.

"The Big Neighbor" is indeed atypical "Dragnet" fare, but what amounts to a classic shaggy-dog tale also underscores a key point about "the story you are about to see is real" aspect to "Dragnet." While each of these vignettes most likely did occur, it is also most likely that they did not occur in the same night; "The Big Neighbor" is hardly likely to be verbatim, instead compositing various vignettes into "The Big Shaggy Dog," a thoroughly enjoyable departure from the norm.

REVIEWER'S NOTE: What makes a review "helpful"? Every reader of course decides that for themselves. For me, a review is helpful if it explains why the reviewer liked or disliked the work or why they thought it was good or not good. Whether I agree with the reviewer's conclusion is irrelevant. "Helpful" reviews tell me how and why the reviewer came to their conclusion, not what that conclusion may be. Differences of opinion are inevitable. I don't need "confirmation bias" for my own conclusions. Do you?