[Commlist] New book: Only the Names Have Been Changed

Announcing a new publication from the University of Texas Press :

*Only the Names Have Been Changed*

Dragnet, the Police Procedural, and Postwar Culture

*Claudia Calhoun*

https://mngbookshop.co.uk/9781477325391/only-the-names-have-been-changed/ 
<https://mngbookshop.co.uk/9781477325391/only-the-names-have-been-changed/>

*_
_*

*20% Discount code*: LSFMNGUP*

*Valid until 11:59 GMT, 30^th  June 2027. Discount only applies to the 
MNG website.

*Winner of the 2022 Peter C. Rollins Book Prize, Northeast Popular 
Culture Association (NEPCA).*

In the postwar era, the police procedural series Dragnet informed 
Americans on the workings of the criminal justice system and instructed 
them in their responsibilities as citizens.

Among shifting politics, tastes, and technology in television history, 
one genre has been remarkably persistent: the cop show. Claudia Calhoun 
returns to /Dragnet/, 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, 
/Dragnet/ was a signifier of America's postwar confidence in government 
institutions—and a publicity vehicle for the Los Angeles Police Department.

/Only the Names Have Been Changed/ shows how Dragnet's "realistic" 
storytelling resonated across postwar culture. Calhoun traces Dragnet's 
"semi-documentary" predecessors, and shows how Jack Webb,/Dragnet/'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. 
/Dragnet/ 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.

*Claudia Calhoun* is an associate professor of film and media studies at 
Hunter College, City University of New York.

*University of Texas Press | 01 September 2026 | 186pp | 
9781477325391 | PB | £26.99**

*Price subject to change.


---------------
The COMMLIST
---------------
This mailing list is a free service offered by Nico Carpentier. Please use it responsibly and wisely. The commlist has no responsibility for any damage caused by its postings. Subscription to the list automatically implies agreement with this rule.
--
To subscribe or unsubscribe, please visit http://commlist.org/
--
Before sending a posting request, please always read the guidelines at http://commlist.org/
--
To contact the mailing list manager:
Email: (nico.carpentier /at/ commlist.org)
URL: http://nicocarpentier.net
---------------