{"product_id":"only-the-names-have-been-changed","title":"Only the Names Have Been Changed","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eWinner of the 2022 Peter C. Rollins Book Prize, Northeast Popular Culture Association (NEPCA)\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eIn the postwar era, the police procedural series \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eDragnet\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003e informed Americans on the workings of the criminal justice system and instructed them in their responsibilities as citizens.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAmong 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":57297678336344,"sku":"9781477325391","price":33.99,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0278\/1295\/4195\/files\/9781477325391.jpg?v=1781051424","url":"https:\/\/agendabookshop.com\/products\/only-the-names-have-been-changed","provider":"Agenda Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}