Wanting to do a quick review of Dragnet (ABC, 10 p.m., Sundays) I was thinking about what to write [Thinking about it is dangerous, yes I know]. I suddenly thought of perhaps the show's greatest accomplishment. During the entire show I didn't think of Married With Children once.

For those who haven't realized the connection, yet, this is significant, because the actor who plays Sergeant Joe Friday is Ed O' Neill, who played Al Bundy.

When I first heard about the show, I thought it was a cool idea: "Just the Facts, Ma'am." Voiceovers, a la Magnum PI and, um, the original Dragnet.

Then I read a scathing review by the new Seattle Post-Intelligencer TV critic and I thought, "Oh, well, I'll see for myself anyway."

Still, usually when it's scathing there's a reason. The Anna Nicole Smith Show comes to mind. And more often than not I agree with that reason and don't watch it. I'm not a TV junkie but I wanted to watch Dragnet.

And I enjoyed it. It isn't breaking any originality barriers. Well except one.

Dick Wolf is the ExPro of the show - as well as the Law and Order franchise.

In Law and Order all the characters are larger than life - wisecracking, bustling, crazy and solving the crimes will illogical flashes of brilliance.

Joe Friday is, well, a regular Joe. He isn't scintillating because police officers aren't, as a rule, scintillating. That's not their job. He doesn't crack a lot of one-liners because police officers aren't comedians. It's not their job.

This Joe asks questions, at times sounds insincere and at times doesn't know how to express the right emotion.

Some might call that a result of bad acting. I call it realistic.

I may have seen one re-run of the original 1952-1959 Dragnet series and I saw the 1987 Tom Hanks film version later on when I was 16. In other words, I'm not comparing the old and the new.

I believe that's a plus.

The real test is not how it compares but how it stands alone today.
Today, crime series are all the rage. From the X-Files to Law and Order, Law and Order (and its spin-offs, LAO Special Victims Unit, LAO Criminal Intent), CSI, Without A Trace, The Agency, The District, are all pretty much the same. But they are all good - well written and well acted.

Even with all the others in the genre this Dragnet stands out. That's a good thing.

As the tagline goes, "Now the best thing about Sunday night is Friday."

POSTSCRIPT: Now, of course, Dragnet will get pre-empted for the new "Celebrity Mole; Behind the Scenes." Well, it would if the show existed. Wherefore art thou 24?

Seattle PI review

Official new Dragnet series site