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.

One Response to “My Favorite 1960s Dragnet #4: The Pyramid Swindle”

  1. Mark says:

    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.

Subscribe to RSS feed