Dragnet went color in 1967 and this had a weird softening effect on the series; it seemed grittier in the 50's and Webb's social conservatism was on a rampage against dope, hippies and unruly teens. Here we have a gang of oddly well-groomed teens running amock in L.A. stealing what Jack describes as "sports cars." The well heeled mom-in-denial is Mark VII's stock trooper, Peggy Webber (good looking dame, here about 43, stretching her acting chops with a Texas accent) whose son Harold (Michael Burns, then about 22) is the gang's instigator. He gets caught after boosting a car with a Phillips screwdriver (genius!) and is given a straight n' narrow lecture by Joe. It doesn't take and soon Harold & Co. are stealing a '68 Mustang (gasp in awe at the unscathed car crash scene--- hey, Webb knew those Mustang's cost $3200 a pop) and swipes an upland bird 12 gauge over & under. Let the rampage begin! Look for Heather Menzies as a wet, irate teen (father here is another Mark VII regular: Dee Carroll) and Mickey Sholdar as one of Harold's creepy minion. Along with "The Grenade" (also featuring Sholdar and Menzies) this is one of the more ambitious episodes of the '68-'69 season. Michael Burns certainly had feature film break out potential---he'd been acting since 1959--- but quit in '77 and chose academics and became a respected historian/author and college professor. I hear he's living in relaxed early retirement breeding horses in Kentucky. As color Dragnets go, this is close to the best of the bunch.
Review of The Joy Riders
