TV Guide (July 23, 1955)

Jack Webb toots a cornet, left, as Prohibition era jazz¬ man in 'Pete Kelly's Blues.' Above, Webb and singer Peggy Lee, in make-up for roles, relax between 'takes.' the viewing public) accepts Webb in the new role, he will be at least artistically free to go ahead with a TV film series based on the picture. There are other stumbling blocks, however. He must resume production on Dragnet in October, with 55 more episodes to shoot under his present contract. For several months now he has been trying to convince his spon¬ sor that enough of a good thing is too much and that Sgt. Friday should be eased out of the picture. He wants » desperately to promote Friday to ^ lieutenant and bring in a new actor I to take over the sergeant’s stripes. That would leave him with only the production-direction chores and could conceivably give him enough time at least to start planning the new series for 1956-57. Webb has been criticized lately for sloughing off Dragnet, a charge he vehemently denies. “If we spent less time on the last batch,” he says, “it was only because the crew has shaken down to the point of having one of the smoothest filming organizations in the business. They used to criticize me for being a perfectionist. In this kind of competitive business, you’ve got to be or you don’t survive. But just ask any of the actors continued i 5