Episode 633 - Back on the Beat (Dragnet, Broadway is My Beat, Tales of the Texas Rangers, & The Line-Up)

Down These Mean Streets (Old Time Radio Detectives)

Jack Mooney

Arts, Performing Arts, Mystery, Detectives, Old, Radio, Time, Tv & Film, Oldtimeradio

4.6 • 982 Ratings

🗓️ 10 August 2025

⏱️ 130 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

We’re riding along with some of old time radio’s hardest working cops as we kick off Season 13 of Down These Mean Streets! Sgt. Joe Friday hunts for a hold-up man who resorted to murder in “The Big Smart Guy” from Dragnet (originally aired on NBC on June 8, 1950). In Broadway is My Beat, Det. Danny Clover investigates when a piano player is killed at the keys in an episode known as “The Harry Brett Murder Case” (originally aired on CBS on July 31, 1950). Joel McCrea saddles up to find a murderer in “The Hatchet” from Tales of the Texas Rangers (originally aired on NBC on February 11, 1951). And Lt. Guthrie and Sgt. Grebb track a killer after an argument ends with a knifing in “The Jolted Justice Job Case” from The Line-Up (originally aired on CBS on November 1, 1951).

Transcript

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0:00.0	Get this and get it straight.
0:02.1	Crime is a sucker's road.
0:03.9	And those who travel
0:04.6	it wind up in the gut of the prison of the grave.
0:12.3	The story you were about to hear is true.
0:15.2	Only the names have been changed to protect the innocent.
0:18.6	The Adventures of Sam Spade, Detective.
0:21.7	The Adventures of the Saint,
0:23.4	starring Vincent Price.
0:25.5	Bob Bailey,
0:26.6	in the exciting adventures
0:27.7	of the man with the action-packed expense account.
0:30.6	America's fabulous freelance insurance investigator.
0:33.4	Yours truly, Johnny Dollar.
1:02.2	Thank you. Yours truly, Johnny Dollar. Hello, and welcome back to Down These Mean Streets, where it's been a minute since I talked to you.
1:05.0	Thank you, as always, for your patience.
1:14.6	Between summer camps, travel, and unfortunately, real-world job responsibilities, I had to take an unexpected hiatus.
1:21.3	But I hope you enjoyed the adventures of Superman in his battle against the Adam Man last month, and I hope you're ready for more old-time radio detectives and crime fighters.
1:26.6	And today, as we kick off the 13th season of this podcast,
1:32.0	I've pulled some adventures of my favorite old-time radio cops. We're giving the private
1:37.6	eyes and the amateur sleuths a break and focusing on the radio detectives who carried a badge.
1:44.4	First up is the big smart Guy, an episode of Dragnet, the grandfather of all police procedurals.
	...

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