My Favorite 1960s Dragnet #4: The Pyramid Swindle
This is a great episode where Friday and Gannon go undercover to bust up a pyramid scheme operating in the guise of a business opportunity. Virginia Gregg delivers her best Dragnet performance as confidence woman Bonne Bates. It’s fascinating to see her working her marks into a quasi-religious fervor. Webb hit the bulls eye in his portrayal of the clever business opportunity con.
The episode has a definite element of humor to it. Gregg’s fantastic portrayal ensures that. At the same time, it also serves as a memorable proverb against get-rich quick schemes. Education, entertainment, and humor. It doesn’t get much better than that.
This would be my number one pick. I’ve always enjoyed any episode with Virginia Gregg, and the bunco stories were also favorites—so this one was a double-winner. This con comes around every 10 or so years, and I can’t help but think that if people had watched more Dragnet, they would save themselves a lot of money.