''Gangbusters'' is an American crime anthology television series that was broadcast on NBC from March 20, 1952, until December 25, 1952. It was cancelled even though it had the eighth-highest rating of that season's TV shows.

Format

Like the radio program ''

Gang Busters ''Gang Busters'' is an American dramatic radio program heralded as "the only national program that brings you authentic police case histories." It premiered on January 15, 1936, and was broadcast over 21 years through November 27, 1957. Histo ...

'', the TV ''Gangbusters'' was created by

Phillips Lord Phillips Haynes Lord (July 13, 1902 – October 19, 1975) was an American radio program writer, creator, producer and narrator as well as a motion picture actor, best known for the ''Gang Busters'' radio program that was broadcast from 1935 to ...

. Content of episodes was factually based and included interviews with professionals in law enforcement. Lord narrated the episodes, which used a "semi-documentary style" to dramatize actual cases taken from files of law-enforcement agencies. Viewers saw "the criminal in action, his problems, his psychology, his fears." At the beginning of each episode, viewers saw a gun pointing at the camera and prisoners in a prison yard, and they heard police sirens and machine guns firing. Each episode ended with the display of a photograph of one of the most-wanted criminals in the United States at that time. Viewers who could provide information about that criminal were asked to contact the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...

, local police, or ''Gangbusters''. Episodes of ''Gangbusters'' included a three-part series about bank robber

Willie Sutton William Francis Sutton Jr. (June 30, 1901 – November 2, 1980) was an American bank robber. During his forty-year robbery career he stole an estimated $2 million, and he eventually spent more than half of his adult life in prison and escape ...

Production

''Gangbusters'' was filmed and was broadcast on Thursdays from 9 to 9:30 p.m. Eastern Time, alternating weekly with '' Dragnet''. William Clothier and William Faris were the producers. Lord worked closely with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, as the organization provided photographs and data about the criminals that they most wanted to apprehend. Contents of episodes were gathered from sources that included friends and relatives of criminals, members of their gangs, and the perpetrators themselves. Two feature films were made by re-editing episodes of the series.

Myron Healey Myron Daniel Healey (June 8, 1923 – December 21, 2005) was an American actor. He began his career in Hollywood, California during the early 1940s and eventually made hundreds of appearances in movies and on television during a career sp ...

starred in both: ''Gang Busters'' (1955), and ''

Guns Don't Argue ''Guns Don't Argue'' is a 1957 low-budget feature film about the early achievements of the FBI in defeating the most notorious criminals of the 1930s. The film involves dramatizations of the crimes and eventual demise of various gangsters, along w ...

'' (1957).

Syndication

For

syndication Syndication may refer to: * Broadcast syndication, where individual stations buy programs outside the network system * Print syndication, where individual newspapers or magazines license news articles, columns, or comic strips * Web syndication, ...

, in 1954 reruns of ''Gangbusters'' were released with the title ''Captured''. Hosted by

Chester Morris John Chester Brooks Morris (February 16, 1901 – September 11, 1970) was an American stage, film, television, and radio actor. He had some prestigious film roles early in his career, and received an Academy Award nomination for ''Alibi'' ( ...

, that series included 17 episodes from the broadcast series and nine episodes filmed after ''Gangbusters'' was taken off the network. The NBC Film Division handled the syndication. General Teleradio's Film Division bought the "Gangbusters" trademark from Lord, and in the summer of 1954 it began promoting a new first-run series to potential national advertisers. The trade publication ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' reported in July 1954 that that eight episodes had apparently been made and that General Teleradio had acquired four additional unaired episodes from Lord. Lord continued to "handle the production reins" on the new series.

Cancellation

''Gangbusters'' was cancelled to clear the way for ''Dragnet'' to be shown every week. Brooks and Marsh wrote in their book ''The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946-Present'', "The reason for the cancellation appears to be that ''Gangbusters'' was never intended to be a full-time TV series, but merely a stopgap provided by the sponsor to fill in the weeks when ''Dragnet'' wasn't on." The alternate-week schedule provided time to make enough episodes of ''Dragnet'' to go weekly. Although ''Gangbusters'' had a rating of 42 in the fall of 1952, ''Dragnet'' was even more popular. ''Gangbusters'' became "probably the highest-rated program ever to be canceled in the history of television."

Critical response

Merrill Panitt wrote in the ''

The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Pennsy ...

'', "''Gangbusters'' is nothing more than an effort to attract an audience by dramatizing murder, robbery, brutality, and other less than commendable acts." He related his view of the show to an editorial in ''

The Journal of the American Medical Association ''The Journal of the American Medical Association'' (''JAMA'') is a peer-reviewed medical journal published 48 times a year by the American Medical Association. It publishes original research, reviews, and editorials covering all aspects of biom ...

'' that addressed "the adverse medical and psychological implications" contained in many TV crime dramas." To illustrate his point, Panitt cited one episode of ''Gangbusters'' that he felt contained excessive emphasis on violence, while the work of the police "was an extremely minor element in the story."

References

{{Authority control 1952 American television series debuts 1952 American television series endings 1950s American anthology television series 1950s American crime drama television series NBC original programming