{"product_id":"only-the-names-have-been-changed-dragnet-the-police-procedural-and-postwar-culture","title":"Only the Names Have Been Changed","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e2022 Peter C. Rollins Book Award, Northeast Texas Popular Culture and American Culture Associations (NEPCA)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e In the postwar era, the police procedural series \u003ci\u003eDragnet\u003c\/i\u003e informed Americans on the workings of the criminal justice system and instructed them in their responsibilities as citizens.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Among shifting politics, tastes, and technology in television history, one genre has been remarkably persistent: the cop show. Claudia Calhoun returns to \u003ci\u003eDragnet,\u003c\/i\u003e the pioneering police procedural and an early transmedia franchise, appearing on radio in 1949, on TV and in film in the 1950s, and in later revivals. More than a popular entertainment, \u003ci\u003eDragnet\u003c\/i\u003e was a signifier of America’s postwar confidence in government institutions-and a publicity vehicle for the Los Angeles Police Department. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eOnly the Names Have Been Changed\u003c\/i\u003e shows how \u003ci\u003eDragnet\u003c\/i\u003e’s “realistic” storytelling resonated across postwar culture. Calhoun traces \u003ci\u003eDragnet\u003c\/i\u003e’s “semi-documentary” predecessors, and shows how Jack Webb, \u003ci\u003eDragnet\u003c\/i\u003e’s creator, worked directly with the LAPD as he produced a series that would likewise inspire public trust by presenting day-to-day procedural justice, rather than shootouts and wild capers. Yet this realism also set aside the seething racial tensions of Los Angeles as it was. \u003ci\u003eDragnet\u003c\/i\u003e emerges as a foundational text, one that taught audiences to see police as everyday heroes not only on TV but also in daily life, a lesson that has come under scrutiny as Americans increasingly seek to redefine the relationship between policing and public safety. \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"University of Texas Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54021424906584,"sku":null,"price":49.99,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0278\/1295\/4195\/files\/9781477325384_2c46822c-682d-4637-aa00-f3467f743f1a.jpg?v=1780113675","url":"https:\/\/agendabookshop.com\/products\/only-the-names-have-been-changed-dragnet-the-police-procedural-and-postwar-culture","provider":"Agenda Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}