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Post by mikef6 on Jul 30, 2017 3:38:25 GMT
“Racket Squad” Syndicated 1950 ; CBS June 7, 1951 – September 28, 1953. Reed Hadley stars as Captain Braddock, the head of the police division that investigates crimes involving fraud and con games. Its purpose was to educate the first generation of TV watchers about common scams.
One story concerned a shady used car dealer (John Doucette) and his fast talking salesman (Billy Halop, formally from the Dead End Kids). The episode went into quite a bit of technical detail about how junker cars can be jerry rigged to look and feel like a prize purchase long enough to get it off the lot. Another episode taught about the scam of going to the home of a recently deceased person and claiming that the dead person had ordered something that now needs paying for (this con is seen in “Paper Moon” about 20 years later). There is also a story about fake Irish Sweepstakes tickets.
Hadley ended every show making the most of his trans-Atlantic accent and deep speaking voice by addressing the audience directly and saying, “I’ll close this case now, or rather, the courts will. But there will be others because that’s the way the world is built. Remember, there are people who can slap you on the back with one hand and pick your pocket with the other. And it could happen to you.”
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Post by RiP, IMDb on Jul 30, 2017 6:06:42 GMT
“Racket Squad” Syndicated 1950 ; CBS June 7, 1951 – September 28, 1953. Reed Hadley stars as Captain Braddock, the head of the police division that investigates crimes involving fraud and con games. Its purpose was to educate the first generation of TV watchers about common scams. One story concerned a shady used car dealer (John Doucette) and his fast talking salesman (Billy Halop, formally from the Dead End Kids). The episode went into quite a bit of technical detail about how junker cars can be jerry rigged to look and feel like a prize purchase long enough to get it off the lot. Another episode taught about the scam of going to the home of a recently deceased person and claiming that the dead person had ordered something that now needs paying for (this con is seen in “Paper Moon” about 20 years later). There is also a story about fake Irish Sweepstakes tickets. Hadley ended every show making the most of his trans-Atlantic accent and deep speaking voice by addressing the audience directly and saying, “I’ll close this case now, or rather, the courts will. But there will be others because that’s the way the world is built. Remember, there are people who can slap you on the back with one hand and pick your pocket with the other. And it could happen to you.” During the 2015 Christmas season while visiting the Chicagoland area one of the stations was showing a (or the) Christmas episode.
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Post by Matthew the Swordsman on Jul 30, 2017 17:38:19 GMT
I'll check out the series eventually...it pops up a lot when I research vintage TV schedules.
I don't know if anyone cares, but "Racket Squad" was one of the very first American series to be shown on Australian television, back in 1956. Others included "The Frankie Laine Show", "Annie Oakley", "Liberace", "The Life of Riley", and "Range Rider".
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Post by taylorfirst1 on Aug 15, 2017 21:47:12 GMT
I'll check out the series eventually...it pops up a lot when I research vintage TV schedules. I don't know if anyone cares, but "Racket Squad" was one of the very first American series to be shown on Australian television, back in 1956. Others included "The Frankie Laine Show", "Annie Oakley", "Liberace", "The Life of Riley", and "Range Rider". Was that the Jackie Gleason "The Life of Riley" or the William Bendix "The Life of Riley"?
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Post by Matthew the Swordsman on Aug 15, 2017 22:53:12 GMT
I'll check out the series eventually...it pops up a lot when I research vintage TV schedules. I don't know if anyone cares, but "Racket Squad" was one of the very first American series to be shown on Australian television, back in 1956. Others included "The Frankie Laine Show", "Annie Oakley", "Liberace", "The Life of Riley", and "Range Rider". Was that the Jackie Gleason "The Life of Riley" or the William Bendix "The Life of Riley"? William Bendix.
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Post by novastar6 on Aug 15, 2017 22:58:39 GMT
I like that show, we got a few of the DVDs some years back, 4 episodes on each one I think.
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