Police dramas took a big change in direction when Dragnet hit the airwaves in 1949. In 1950 the Tales of the Texas Rangers came on the scene to take advantage of this new popularity. It also based its stories on real cases, with names changed to protect the innocent. The lead character traveled with a horse trailer, just in case the pursuit of a bad guy took them to places where there were no roads.
One thing I appreciate about the gritty, realistic police dramas of the era of old time radio is that it shows that some things haven't changed much. The so called good old days were still filled with a disreputable criminal element. Murder, drugs, theft, not the glossed over mastermind criminals of such radio serials as Superman or the Green Hornet.
Not long ago I read a newspaper editorial where someone wrote in to complain about the sorry state of crime in the city. To include such things as gangs, drugs and the poor choices of clothing styles that our young people dress themselves in these days. You know, skimpy and revealing clothes, droopy drawers, under pants exposed, that kind of thing. Well, they may have a point with the clothes, but the crime scene wasn't really any better back then, as these old police dramas point out. If anything the law was more strict then, people routinely recieved the death penalty and the delivery of that justice was swift.
Enjoy today's show and our drift from our usual comedy routine,
Keith H.
