Today's classic Christmas episode is one of my all-time favorites. It's from the 1960s revival of Dragnet. Titled The Christmas Story, this 1967 episode is a remake from the original Dragnet series from the 50s. Not to mention, it was also a radio broadcast too! Other than the changing of the 1953's episodes title of The Big Little Jesus, the '67 episode used not only the exact same script but recycled some of the original actors from that first production as well.
There's only a couple of days until Christmas and a church calls in Detective Friday (Jack Webb) and his partner Bill Gannon (Henry Morgan) to investigate a burglary. The church's nativity has been vandalized as the baby Jesus has been stolen. With Christmas Eve services hours away, it is vital that the statute be returned as soon as possible.
Over the course of Friday and Gannon's investigation, they interview a number of suspects including a choir boy and a vagrant. The choir boy was played by Barry Williams. Williams would in just a few short months be shot to international stardom as the eldest son Greg on The Brady Bunch. As for the vagrant, he was played by Bobby Troup. Troup may not be a very familiar name to you. But he's a household term here in the Madman household as Bobby Troup played Doctor Early on my wife's all-time favorite TV series, Emergency!
By the end of the episode it turns out that none of the usual suspects did it. Instead it was a little boy who took the baby Jesus. The little fella seems to have promised the Jesus statue that if he got a red wagon for Christmas, he would take Jesus out for the first ride. Apparently Christmas came early as the kid got his wagon and the baby Savior saw the City of Angels in a cherry red Radio Flyer. With the Jesus returned safely, no harm, no foul...
Other than the cool guest stars, one may wonder why this is one of my favorite Christmas episodes. It's because this actually happened. All of Dragnet's scripts were based on real stories taken from the LAPD police blotter. So sometime in a pre-1953 L.A. some kid asked a baby Jesus for a wagon and took the porcelain Christ for a victory lap when he got one! I just love the sweet oddness of this story!
Unfortunately, I can't find the 1967 episode for me to share. But I was able to find the full original episode. So, for my Advent present for you today, I present The Big Little Jesus from December 24, 1953.
Enjoy and until next time- Merry Christmas!
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