The Big Screen

Originally Aired: August 9, 1951 Dragnet #113, "The Big Screen," Sergeant Joe Friday and his partner Ben Romero are assigned to Bunko Detail to investigate a growing wave of complaints about dishonest television repairmen who are victimizing customers across Los Angeles. Working in cooperation with the Daily News, Friday and Romero meet with staff writer Jack Cannett, who has been collecting letters from readers detailing how they've been overcharged, billed for unnecessary repairs, and charged for parts never installed. Cannett introduces them to Hank Cotter, a former employee of Kilgore TV Specialists who quit because he couldn't stomach his employer's dishonest practices. Cotter reveals the inner workings of the repair racket: charging nearly five dollars for a nickel's worth of wire, refusing to let customers watch repairs being performed, claiming parts are scarce to justify inflated prices, and even swapping good tubes from customers' new sets with defective ones to fraudulently claim warranty replacements from manufacturers. As Friday and Romero gather evidence on this vicious swindle, they prepare to crack down on the operators who are exploiting customers of this new entertainment medium.