User Reviews

"The Big Jump" is among the best of the old "Dragnet" shows that are available today. I phrase it this way because although the series ran for almost a decade, only about 40 of these original shows survive--unlike the 1960s "Dragnet"--of which all of them are available to view today.

The show is unusual in that it's made in real time. Friday is called to respond to a man who is standing on a ledge and who promises to jump. And, when folks try to reason with the disturbed man, he gets anxious and threatens to jump sooner than later. But it turns out the man is not simply a depressed man but a real nut-case. When Friday tries to lure the guy back in the building, he pulls out a knife and slashes the Sergeant! Clearly they are going to have to think fast to save this guy--and the finale is amazingly tense and well done.

There's really nothing not to love and appreciate about this one...except the epilogue. Despite Friday and the rest doing a fantastic job and saving the man, it's revealed that the guy actually DID kill himself a few months later!! A great episode that shows how under-appreciated and brave cops can be...but also a bit of a downer as well.

Review - The Big Jump Aired 9-12-52 The second season opener is similar to the opener for season one, with references to the clock, frequently checking the time, attempting to meet a deadline given by the obvious suspect or perpetrator. The episode is a winner to open the second season with a story that is unfortunately all to familiar to any cop, a suicide threat from a tall building, i.e. someone out on the ledge.

Friday is called back to work that evening from the Captain wanting his presence, with partner Lockwood, and Sgt. Bechtel they enter a doctor's office on the ninth floor, where the subject threat is out on the ledge, ready to jump. The nurse in the doctor's office says the man is a mental patient, ten years of paranoia after his wife and daughter triggered his behavior. Attempts by Friday and Bechtel from the ledge fail to talk the man inside. An attempt by fire rescue to rope the man from the floor above fails, too.

Friday makes one more attempt on the ledge, to aggravate the guy, simultaneously coaxing him toward the open window, while it is raining. This can be added as a must-watch for the tension among the police trying to do their job, voluntarily venturing out to lure the patient back inside. The show was well played by all officers, suffering only minor damage during the rescue. The man could not be saved from himself after all, but the efforts put forth by the police are noted as in the line of duty.