The Interrogation

Infobox Television episode
Title=The Interrogation
Series=Dragnet
Season=1
Episode=4
Airdate=February 3, 1967
Production=
Writer=Preston Wood
Director=Jack Webb
Guests=Kent McCord
Episode list =List of Dragnet episodes
Prev=The Kidnapping
Next=The Masked Bandits

The Interrogation was an episode of the television series Dragnet that was originally broadcast on February 3,1967. It was produced and directed by Jack Webb who also starred as Joe Friday and co-starred Harry Morgan and Kent McCord.

Plot synopsis

Joe Friday and his partner Bill Gannon are working on the Los Angeles Police Department's Internal Affairs Department, investigating an undercover Officer Paul Culver (played by McCord). Culver is accused of a series of robberies in the area he was patrolling.

Though Culver maintains his innocence, he is also clearly troubled by something, which Friday picks up on. Culver admits he's thinking of leaving the force because his girlfriend wants him to leave. At this point, Friday responds with what came to be known on the show as one of "Joe Friday's Jesus Speeches." Friday admits there is a lot about police work that is difficult, including the many dangerous things, the heartbreaking things and pay no better than adequate, but all in all, Friday thinks it's worth the effort, as he says:

"There are over 5,000 men in this city, who know that being a policeman is an endless, unglamorous, thankless job that's gotta be done. I know it, too, and I'm damn glad to be one of them."

In the end, Culver is exonerated when the real robber, who turns out to closely resemble Culver, is caught and confesses. The epilogue states that Culver was later decorated by the LAPD after being wounded in the line of duty.

Trivia

*This is believed to be the first time that a scripted "damn" was used on American network television.

*There was a musician's strike when the episode was being scored, so a single kettle drum was used not only for incidental music, but for the theme as well.