DRAGNET {2003 SERIES}: THE BIG RUCKUS (TV)
Summary
One in another update of this popular radio and television drama based on logs from the Los Angeles Police Department, narrated by the laconic Joe Friday. This episode begins on another overcast Thursday morning in Los Angeles as Friday and detective Frank Smith learn about a white male beaten to death in MacArthur Park. Coroner's investigator Terry discusses the trauma that killed the man during the night. Porsche keys are also found on him. A nearby wallet reveals the corpse to be that of a former USC student, Jason Biehl, from Hollywood Hills. The site is also marked with a gang sign, though one poorly rendered. By the early afternoon, the dead man's family have come to the morgue to see the body. The father reveals that his son had "some problems" and he isn't surprised that his son may have been purchasing drugs in the park. His mother discusses her son's unsavory friends, pointing the detectives toward film student Eddie Polian. Friday and Smith speak with Polian, wondering why Biehl would buy his drugs at such a high-risk park. Next, Friday and Smith try to figure out how Biehl -- whose father had cut him off monetarily -- could afford to live in a pricey bungalow in Hollywood Hills. Looking through his house, Friday and Smith find some bizarre Polaroid pictures. Searching through Biehl's e-mail, they find that he had been dialoguing with an alluring pen pal, Keri Toft. Friday and Smith track down Toft, whose babbling allows Smith to figure out that she has a boyfriend named Lee Calof. Water polo player Calof reveals where Jason would have probably bought drugs, giving them the name of Farhad Payami. Later, Biehl's sister comes by the station, telling Smith that her father isn't the "most honorable man" and no doubt pushed his son into trying to earn lots of money. That night, Friday and Smith track down drug dealer Payami, questioning him about Biehl. Farhad reveals that Biehl might have made a "ghetto" purchase from him on the night he died. The next day, the coroner says that Biehl may have been dragged to MacArthur Park after being killed and was probably drowned in a well-maintained swimming pool. Friday and Smith again track down Calof, calling him out for lying about his earlier alibi. He admits that he knew his girlfriend was sleeping with Biehl. Visiting a convenience store near MacArthur Park, they find video of a homeless man named Kermit who was using Biehl's credit card. Interrogating Kermit at a homeless shelter, they wonder how he possessed all of Biehl's credit cards. Kermit claims to be schizophrenic and soon Friday is telling Smith that someone was trying to make a murder look like a robbery. Friday thinks that Biehl must have been using Kermit for some purpose, being that he appeared in one of his Polaroids. Looking through Biehl's laptop, they find that he owned a company called "Bum Wars," a video outfit that filmed the homeless fighting each other. Watching a "Bum Wars" tape they see Kermit appearing in a fight. Kermit reveals that Biehl gave him PCP in order to get him to fight. Kermit reveals that Biehl deserved to be "punished." Friday and Smith go to visit the "Bum Wars" offices, finding Polian and another friend, Greg Novic, working there. Friday asks Novic if he ever provided bums with PCP. Friday and Smith go back to the streets to learn if any bums might have a vendetta against Biehl over "Bum Wars." They learn about a bum named "Senator," who died during a fight. They meet with his former wife, Sadie Andrews, who reveals that her husband was a sick man. They learn that Howard Sykes, who runs the homeless shelter, paid for Senator's funeral. Sykes claims he saw Polian and Novak at the park on the day Biehl died. Friday and Smith bring the pair in for questioning, asking them about Senator's death. Taking Polian's prints off a photo, they link it to one on the spraypaint can at Biehl's death scene. The next morning, Friday and Smith arrest Polian and Novak at their home, noticing a chlorinated hottub on the premises along with illegal prescription drugs. However, the police are unable to match the hottub water to the chlorinated water in Biehl's stomach. Friday and Smith check out a nearby public toilet, now thinking Biehl died in the standing water of the bathroom. Later, Smith again interrogates Novic, learning that he was raised in near poverty, unlike Biehl and Polian. Meanwhile, Haskell tests the soles of Novak's shoes, finding residue from the bathroom on one of them. Setting up a ruse for Polian, Friday and Smith interrogate him privately, causing him to snitch on Novic and bring about his own undoing. Includes commercials.
(This series was renamed "L.A. Dragnet" for its second season.)
Details
- NETWORK: ABC
- DATE: February 9, 2003 10:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:59:03
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:77637
- GENRE: Drama, police/private detective
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, police/private detective
- SERIES RUN: ABC - TV series, 2003-2004
- COMMERCIALS:
- TV - Commercials - "X-Men" home video
- TV - Commercials - 10-10-220 long-distance calling
- TV - Commercials - AT&T cellular phones
- TV - Commercials - AdoptUSKids.org
- TV - Commercials - Alzheimer's Disease Research
- TV - Commercials - Dentyne gum
- TV - Commercials - Electrasol dishwasher gel pack
- TV - Commercials - Ford automobiles
- TV - Commercials - GE medical systems technology
- TV - Commercials - Gain fabric softener
- TV - Commercials - Mazda automobiles
- TV - Commercials - Mazda automobiles
- TV - Commercials - Neutrogena moisturizer
- TV - Commercials - Olive Garden restaurants
- TV - Commercials - Oral-B toothbrushes
- TV - Commercials - Oreo cookies
- TV - Commercials - Pizza Hut restaurants
- TV - Commercials - Post Grape Nuts cereal
- TV - Commercials - Radio Shack stores
- TV - Commercials - Reach toothbrushes
- TV - Commercials - Saturn automobiles
- TV - Commercials - The Home Depot stores
- TV - Commercials - Toyota automobiles
- TV - Commercials - U.S. Air Force
- TV - Commercials - Verizon wireless
- TV - Commercials - Volunteers of America
- TV - Commercials - Zales jewelers
- TV - Promos - "20/20"
- TV - Promos - "Are You Hot? The Search for America's Sexiest People"
- TV - Promos - "Good Morning America"
- TV - Promos - "I'm A Celebrity -- Get Me Out of Here!"
- TV - Promos - "Miracles"
- TV - Promos - "NYPD Blue"
- TV - Promos - "The Practice"
- TV - Promos - "The Wonderful World of Disney: The Music Man"
- TV - Promos - "Veritas: The Quest"
CREDITS
- Dick Wolf … Executive Producer
- Peter Jankowski … Executive Producer
- Walon Green … Executive Producer
- Arthur W. Forney … Co-Executive Producer
- Robert Nathan … Co-Executive Producer
- Kevin Hooks … Co-Executive Producer, Director
- Roz Weinman … Supervising Producer
- Billy Fox … Supervising Producer
- Barry Berg … Producer
- Gary M. Strangis … Producer
- Tyler Bensinger … Co-Producer
- Dan Dworkin … Writer
- Jay Beattie … Writer
- Marc Guggenheim … Writer
- Mike Post … Music by
- Walter Schumann … Theme Music by
- Miklos Rozsa … Theme Music by
- Ed O'Neill … Cast, Lt. Joe Friday
- Ethan Embry … Cast, Det. Frank Smith
- Malakai Davidson … Cast, Kermit
- Robert Gossett … Cast, Howard Sykes
- Chad E. Donella … Cast, Eddie Polian
- Matt Newton … Cast, Greg Novic
- Robert Hooks … Cast, Captain
- Geoff Stults … Cast, Lee Calof
- Page Leong … Cast, Page
- Marilyn McIntyre … Cast, Leslie Scammons
- Elizabeth Ann Bennett … Cast, Keri Toft
- Tim Choate … Cast, Albert Katz
- Peter Navy Tuiasosopo … Cast, Dr. Albert Hinola
- Patrick T. O'Brien … Cast, Janitor
- Daston Kalili … Cast, Farhad Payami
- Lisa Simms … Cast, Brenda
- Peggy Dunne … Cast, Coronor's Investigator
- Harold Surratt … Cast, Shoeless
- Raymond Ma … Cast, Convenience Store Manager
- David Kagan … Cast, Turner
- Lawrence LeJohn … Cast, Uniformed Cop #3
- Stephanie Nash … Cast, Georgina Biehl
- John Jabaley … Cast, Haskell
- Michael Edwin … Cast, Crime Lab Tech
- Anthony Jones … Cast, Print Lab Tech
- Frieda Jane … Cast, Girl #1
- Michael Bofshever … Cast, Gerald Biehl
- Bonita Friedericy … Cast
- April Pressel … Cast
- Carlos Alvarado … Cast