Arcas Square

Best Attractions and Places to See in Chur, Switzerland

Chur Travel Guide. MUST WATCH. Top things you have to do in Chur. We have sorted Tourist Attractions in Churfor You. Discover Churas per the Traveller Resources given by our Travel Specialists. You will not miss any fun thing to do in Chur.

This Video has covered Best Attractions and Things to do in Chur.


Don't forget to Subscribe our channel to view more travel videos. Click on Bell ICON to get the notification of updates Immediately.

List of Best Things to do in Chur, Switzerland

Bernina Express
Old Town Chur
Chur-Brambruesch
Bundner Kunstmuseum
St. Maria Himmelfahrt Cathedral
Obere Gasse
Rhyetian Railway (RhB) Administration Building
Arcas Square
St. Martinsplatz
St. Martin Church

Auf kultureller Entdeckungsreise in Chur - Die Alpenstadt

Gäste aus aller Welt entdecken die wichtigsten Churer Sehenswürdigkeiten während eines gemütlichen Bummels durch die autofreie Innenstadt. Neu ist dies auch mit Unterstützung des Audio Guides in 11 Sprachen möglich. Sehenswürdig sind besonders das bischöfliche Schloss, die dreischiffige Kathedrale Sankt Mariä Himmelfahrt und die bestens erhaltenen Gebäude aus der „Kollektion Churer Altstadt. Dank dem Prädikat „Hauptort Graubündens empfangen den Besucher gleich drei unermüdliche Sammler unserer alpenländischen Kultur: die kantonalen Museen. So darf man das Bündner Kunstmuseum, das in der Villa Planta am Postplatz logiert und bedeutende Werke von Angelika Kaufmann, Ferdinand Hodler, Alberto Giacometti und Ernst Ludwig Kirchner besitzt, auf keinen Fall verpassen! Alle drei sind übrigens von Dienstag bis Sonntag von 10 bis 17 Uhr geöffnet.
Unbedingt sehen muss man auch die Giger Bar in der Comercialstraße 23, die vom „Alien-Schöpfer und Oscar-Gewinner H.R. Giger entworfen wurde.

Capoeira in Schweiz

Capoeira street demo in Chur, Switzerland

Immobilien Chur, Privater Immobilienverkauf Chur

COPA do MUNDO 2010

STREET-CAFÉ und SCHICKERIA /Chur-CH

Ostertour Die Toten Ärzte nach Chur -CH- 11 04 2009 und Greifenburg -A- 12 04 2009 1wmv

Die Toten Ärzte rocken Chur in der Schweiz und Greifenburg in Österreich. Eine Mamuttour die an diesem Wochende 2800 km auf die Autobahn schickte. 2 wunderbare Konzerte sollten uns für die Strapazen belohnen....schaut auch gern unter Blogs bei dietotenaerzte.de rein. Da wird ein wenig dazu erzählt.....

Das blaue Wunder at work

Das blaue Wunder bei der Arbeit am ersten Überseecontainer. Was gross werden will, muss klein anfangen. Dieses Modell gilt als Visionalisierung für die grossen 20' Überseecontainer, die ab dem UNO-Weltwassertag am 22.3.2010 von Chur aus die Schweiz in blau tauchen werden.

Aufzug Schindler Friedenstrasse 2, 6004 Luzern

Dieser Lift ist was spezielles. Denn von aussen scheint es einen üblichen 70er Jahr R-Series Lift zu sein. In der Kabine hingegen sind 50er Jahr Black Buttons und der länglichen roten Leuchte Überlast vorhanden. Somit müsste dieses Gebäude aus den 50er Jahren stammen samt Lift. Dieser wurde dann anscheinend in den 70er Jahren sanft modernisiert mit neuen Schachttüren mit R-Series Ruftasten, Steuerung und ev. die Maschine welche oben hinter schrankähnlichen Türen steckt. Denn man kann den Stock vorwählen wenn die Tür noch offen ist. Leider sind die Zeiten dieses Liftes gezählt. StefV1985 informierte mich dass dieser Lift im August noch umgebaut wird. An dem Lift hängt ein Plakat, dass der Lift am 20. August durch einen neuen ersetzt wird.

Aufzug Schlieren @Maienfelderstrasse 2, 7310 Bad Ragaz, Schweiz

Dieser Aufzug wurde von Schlieren gebaut, jedoch zum Zeitpunkt als Schlieren schon durch Schindler übernommen wurde. Schlieren existierte zu diesem Zeitpunkt jedoch noch und durfte das Logo anbringen, während Schindler die Buttons baute. Darum ist es ein Schlieren Aufzug mit Schindler R-Series Knöpfe. Von diesen Aufzügen existieren nicht viele in der Schweiz!
Der Aufzug befindet sich in einem Wohnhaus, in welchem sich auch eine Arztpraxis befindet.
Modernisiert wurde am Aufzug noch nichts. (Das einzige, was ersetzt wurde ist der Nothalteknopf. Dieser stammt vom Aussehen her von Schäfer).
Unterhalten wird dieser Aufzug übrigens nicht von Schindler, sondern vom privaten Unternehmen Aufzüge Boltshauser.

Marke: Schlieren
Kapazität: 4 Personen / 320 KG
Aufzugtyp: Personenaufzug
Bediente Stockwerke: 5 (-1, 0, 1, 2, 3)
Fixtures: R-Series
Baujahr: 80er Jahre

Roswell Incident: Department of Defense Interviews - Jesse Marcel / Vern Maltais

Mac Brazel, who discovered the debris which sparked the Roswell UFO incident, died in 1963, well before researchers started to interview witnesses to the incident. More on Roswell:

However, he was interviewed in 1947 and his accounts of debris appeared in the Roswell Daily Record on July 9, 1947. In the interview he said he found bright wreckage made up of rubber strips, tinfoil, a rather tough paper and sticks.

Jesse Marcel was approached by researchers in 1978 and he recounted details suggesting the debris Brazel had led him to was exotic. He believed the true nature of the debris was being suppressed by the military. His accounts were featured in the 1979 documentary UFOs are Real, and in a February 1980 National Enquirer article, which are largely responsible for making the Roswell incident famous by sparking renewed interest.

There was all kinds of stuff—small beams about three eighths or a half inch square with some sort of hieroglyphics on them that nobody could decipher. These looked something like balsa wood, and were about the same weight, except that they were not wood at all. They were very hard, although flexible, and would not burn....One thing that impressed me about the debris was the fact that a lot of it looked like parchment. It had little numbers with symbols that we had to call hieroglyphics because I could not understand them. They could not be read, they were just like symbols, something that meant something, and they were not all the same, but the same general pattern, I would say. They were pink and purple. They looked like they were painted on. These little numbers could not be broken, could not be burned. I even took my cigarette lighter and tried to burn the material we found that resembled parchment and balsa, but it would not burn—wouldn't even smoke. But something that is even more astonishing is that the pieces of metal that we brought back were so thin, just like tinfoil in a pack of cigarettes. I didn't pay too much attention to that at first, until one of the boys came to me and said: You know that metal that was in there? I tried to bend the stuff and it won't bend. I even tried it with a sledgehammer. You can't make a dent on it, Marcel said.

Second-hand accounts from Alice Knight and Vern Maltais show descriptions which suggest dummies again, and an uncertainty about the date of occurrence. I don't recall the date, said Knight. Their heads were hairless, said Maltais, and their clothing was one-piece and gray in color.[19] (p. 58-9)

A first-hand account from Gerald Anderson similarly offered descriptions that seemingly matched dummies: thought they were plastic dolls, he said. He also described a blimp, further suggesting a misidentified military recovery operation.[19] (p. 61) A description of a jeep-like truck that had a bunch of radios in it sounds very much like a modified Dodge M-37 utility truck not used until 1953, further suggesting a confusion about dates.

The Air Force report concluded: The descriptions examined here, provided by UFO theorists themselves, were so remarkably -- and redundantly -- similar to these Air Force projects that the only reasonable conclusion can be that the witnesses described these activities.[19] (p. 68)

2 Aufzüge Schlieren @Spital Limmattal Urdorferstrasse 100, 8952 Schlieren, Schweiz

Diese zwei originalen Schlieren Aufzüge befinden sich im alten Spital Limmattal in Schlieren. Das Spital wird zur Zeit nebenan neugebaut und ab Mitte Oktober 2018 wird vom Altbau in den Neubau gezügelt, so dass ab etwa 22. Oktober 2018 das Krankenhaus im Neubau seinen Vollbetrieb aufnehmen kann. Ungefähr ab diesem Zeitpunkt wird der Altbau, und somit auch diese beiden Aufzüge, abgebrochen.
Diese Aufzüge hier sind jedoch nicht die Hauptaufzüge des Spitals, sondern verbinden nur die Kelleretagen mit dem Erdgeschoss und dem 1. Stock. Sie sind auch nicht einfach zu finden, da sie ziemlich versteckt sind.

Personenaufzug:
Marke: Schlieren
Kapazität: 6 Personen / 450 KG
Aufzugtyp: Personenaufzug
Bediente Stockwerke: 4 (U2, 1U, 0, 1*)
Fixtures: White Buttons
Baujahr: 70er Jahre
* = Dieses Stockwerk ist nur mit Schlüssel zu erreichen. (Locked-off)

Bettenaufzug:
Marke: Schlieren
Kapazität: ? Personen / 1500 KG
Aufzugtyp: Bettenaufzug / Frachtenaufzug
Bediente Stockwerke: 4 (U2, 1U, 0, 1*)
Fixtures: White Buttons
Baujahr: 70er Jahre
* = Dieses Stockwerk ist nur mit Schlüssel zu erreichen. (Locked-off)

Es gibt in diesem Krankenhaus noch zwei weitere identische Aufzüge.
Die Hauptaufzüge, unter anderem im Bettenhaus, wurden auch von Schlieren gebaut, mittlerweile aber von Schindler modernisiert mit M-Series Tableau.

You Bet Your Life: Secret Word - Tree / Milk / Spoon / Sky

Julius Henry Groucho Marx (October 2, 1890 -- August 19, 1977) was an American comedian and film and television star. He is known as a master of quick wit and widely considered one of the best comedians of the modern era. His rapid-fire, often impromptu delivery of innuendo-laden patter earned him many admirers and imitators. He made 13 feature films with his siblings the Marx Brothers, of whom he was the third-born. He also had a successful solo career, most notably as the host of the radio and television game show You Bet Your Life. His distinctive appearance, carried over from his days in vaudeville, included quirks such as an exaggerated stooped posture, glasses, cigar, and a thick greasepaint mustache and eyebrows. These exaggerated features resulted in the creation of one of the world's most ubiquitous and recognizable novelty disguises, known as Groucho glasses, a one-piece mask consisting of horn-rimmed glasses, large plastic nose, bushy eyebrows and mustache.

Groucho Marx was, and is, the most recognizable and well-known of the Marx Brothers. Groucho-like characters and references have appeared in popular culture both during and after his life, some aimed at audiences who may never have seen a Marx Brothers movie. Groucho's trademark eye glasses, nose, mustache, and cigar have become icons of comedy—glasses with fake noses and mustaches (referred to as Groucho glasses, nose-glasses, and other names) are sold by novelty and costume shops around the world.

Nat Perrin, close friend of Groucho Marx and writer of several Marx Brothers films, inspired John Astin's portrayal of Gomez Addams on the 1960s TV series The Addams Family with similarly thick mustache, eyebrows, sardonic remarks, backward logic, and ever-present cigar (pulled from his breast pocket already lit).

Alan Alda often vamped in the manner of Groucho on M*A*S*H. In one episode, Yankee Doodle Doctor, Hawkeye and Trapper put on a Marx Brothers act at the 4077, with Hawkeye playing Groucho and Trapper playing Harpo. In three other episodes, a character appeared who was named Captain Calvin Spalding (played by Loudon Wainwright III). Groucho's character in Animal Crackers was Captain Geoffrey T. Spaulding.

On many occasions, on the 1970s television sitcom All In The Family, Michael Stivic (Rob Reiner), would briefly imitate Groucho Marx and his mannerisms.

Two albums by British rock band Queen, A Night at the Opera (1975) and A Day at the Races (1976), are named after Marx Brothers films. In March 1977, Groucho invited Queen to visit him in his Los Angeles home; there they performed '39 a capella. A long-running ad campaign for Vlasic Pickles features an animated stork that imitates Groucho's mannerisms and voice. On the famous Hollywood Sign in California, one of the Os is dedicated to Groucho. Alice Cooper contributed over $27,000 to remodel the sign, in memory of his friend.

In 1982, Gabe Kaplan portrayed Marx in the film Groucho, in a one-man stage production. He also imitated Marx occasionally on his previous TV sitcom Welcome Back, Kotter.

Actor Frank Ferrante has performed as Groucho Marx on stage for more than two decades. He continues to tour under rights granted by the Marx family in a one-man show entitled An Evening With Groucho in theaters throughout the United States and Canada with piano accompanist Jim Furmston. In the late 1980s Ferrante starred as Groucho in the off-Broadway and London show Groucho: A Life in Revue penned by Groucho's son Arthur. Ferrante portrayed the comedian from age 15 to 85. The show was later filmed for PBS in 2001. Woody Allen's 1996 musical Everyone Says I Love You, in addition to being named for one of Groucho's signature songs, ends with a Groucho-themed New Year's Eve party in Paris, which some of the stars, including Allen and Goldie Hawn, attend in full Groucho costume. The highlight of the scene is an ensemble song-and-dance performance of Hooray for Captain Spaulding—done entirely in French.

In the last of the Tintin comics, Tintin and the Picaros, a balloon shaped like the face of Groucho could be seen in the Annual Carnival.

In the Italian horror comic Dylan Dog, the protagonist's sidekick is a Groucho impersonator whose character became his permanent personality.

The BBC remade the radio sitcom Flywheel, Shyster and Flywheel, with contemporary actors playing the parts of the original cast. The series was repeated on digital radio station BBC7. Scottish playwright Louise Oliver wrote a play named Waiting For Groucho about Chico and Harpo waiting for Groucho to turn up for the filming of their last project together. This was performed by Glasgow theatre company Rhymes with Purple Productions at the Edinburgh Fringe and in Glasgow and Hamilton in 2007-08. Groucho was played by Scottish actor Frodo McDaniel.

Roswell Incident: Department of Defense Interviews - Robert Shirkey / Walter Haut

1st Lt. Robert Shirkey: The base assistant operations officer. Shirkey also witnessed debris being loaded onto the B-29. ...Standing only three feet from the passing procession, we saw boxes full of aluminum-looking metal pieces being carried to the B-29. Major Marcel came along carrying an open box full of what seemed to be scrap metal. It obviously was not aluminum: it did not shine nor reflect like the aluminum on American military airplanes. And sticking up in one corner of the box being carried by Major Marcel was a small 'I-beam' with hieroglyphic-like markings on the inner flange, in some kind of weird color, not black, not purple, but a close approximation of the two. ...A man in civilian dress... was carrying a piece of metal under his left arm... This piece was about the size of a poster drawing board—very smooth, almost glass-like, with torn edges.

Lt. Robert Shirkey: Standing only three feet from the passing procession, we saw boxes full of aluminum-looking metal pieces being carried to the B-29. ...sticking up in one corner of the box carried by Major Marcel was a small 'I-beam' with hieroglyphic-like markings on the inner flange, in some kind of weird color, not black, not purple, but a close approximation of the two. I could see the hieroglyphs clearly, the signs were in relief and stood out.

Shirkey said there were other flights, another to Fort Worth, and a B-29 flight directly to Wright Field piloted by Henderson. He also said that he later learned that: a Sergeant and some airmen went to the crash site and swept up everything, including bodies. The bodies were laid out in Hangar 84. Henderson's flight contained all that material. All of those involved--the Sergeant of the Guards, all of the crewmen, and myself--were shipped out to different bases within two weeks.


Walter Haut, Roswell public information officer, who put out the base flying disc press release, mostly denied any other direct knowledge of the incident. However, in his first affidavit he did state, I am convinced that the material recovered was some type of craft from outer space. [26] Then a few years before his death (in Dec. 2005) he elaborated on that statement. The 2002 affidavit, to be released after his death he stated he had direct knowledge about a spacecraft and aliens. Col. Blanchard took me personally to Building 84, a B-29 hangar located on the east side of the tarmac. ...I observed that it was under heavy guard both outside and inside. Once inside I was permitted from a safe distance to first observe the object just recovered north of town. It was approx. 12 to 15 feet (4.6 m) in length, not quite as wide, about 6 feet (1.8 m) high, and more of an egg shape. ...Also from a distance, I was able to see a couple of bodies under a canvas tarpaulin. Only the heads extended beyond the covering, and I was not able to make out any features. The heads did appear larger than normal and the contour of the canvas over the bodies suggested the size of a 10-year old child. ...[Later Blanchard] would extend his arm about 4 feet (1.2 m) above the floor to indicate the height. I was informed of a temporary morgue set up to accommodate the recovered bodies. ...I am convinced that what I personally observed was some type of craft and its crew from outer space.

Lt. Walter Haut, Roswell public information officer, in his 2002 affidavit claimed an elaborate coverup was carried out: On Tuesday morning, July 8, I would attend the regularly scheduled staff meeting at 7:30 a.m. Besides Blanchard, Marcel, CIC Capt. Sheridan Cavitt [names other senior officers], and from Carswell AAF in Fort Worth, Texas, Blanchard's boss, Brig. Gen. Roger Ramey and his chief of staff, Col. Thomas J. Dubose were also in attendance. The main topic of discussion was reported by Marcel and Cavitt regarding an extensive debris field in Lincoln County... A preliminary briefing was provided by Blanchard about the second site approx. 40 miles (64 km) north of town. ...One of the main concerns discussed at the meeting was whether we should go public or not with the discovery. Gen. Ramey proposed a plan, which I believe originated with his bosses at the Pentagon. Attention needed to be diverted from the more important site north of town by acknowledging the other location. Too many civilians were already involved and the press already was informed. I was not completely informed how this would be accomplished. At approximately 9:30 a.m. Col. Blanchard phoned my office and dictated the press release of having in our possession a flying disc, coming from a ranch northwest of Roswell, and Marcel flying the material to higher headquarters... In addition, Haut stated that he was aware two separate teams would return to each site months later for periodic searches for any remaining evidence.

Our Miss Brooks: Deacon Jones / Bye Bye / Planning a Trip to Europe / Non-Fraternization Policy

Our Miss Brooks is an American situation comedy starring Eve Arden as a sardonic high school English teacher. It began as a radio show broadcast from 1948 to 1957. When the show was adapted to television (1952--56), it became one of the medium's earliest hits. In 1956, the sitcom was adapted for big screen in the film of the same name.

Connie (Constance) Brooks (Eve Arden), an English teacher at fictional Madison High School.
Osgood Conklin (Gale Gordon), blustery, gruff, crooked and unsympathetic Madison High principal, a near-constant pain to his faculty and students. (Conklin was played by Joseph Forte in the show's first episode; Gordon succeeded him for the rest of the series' run.) Occasionally Conklin would rig competitions at the school--such as that for prom queen--so that his daughter Harriet would win.
Walter Denton (Richard Crenna, billed at the time as Dick Crenna), a Madison High student, well-intentioned and clumsy, with a nasally high, cracking voice, often driving Miss Brooks (his self-professed favorite teacher) to school in a broken-down jalopy. Miss Brooks' references to her own usually-in-the-shop car became one of the show's running gags.
Philip Boynton (Jeff Chandler on radio, billed sometimes under his birth name Ira Grossel); Robert Rockwell on both radio and television), Madison High biology teacher, the shy and often clueless object of Miss Brooks' affections.
Margaret Davis (Jane Morgan), Miss Brooks' absentminded landlady, whose two trademarks are a cat named Minerva, and a penchant for whipping up exotic and often inedible breakfasts.
Harriet Conklin (Gloria McMillan), Madison High student and daughter of principal Conklin. A sometime love interest for Walter Denton, Harriet was honest and guileless with none of her father's malevolence and dishonesty.
Stretch (Fabian) Snodgrass (Leonard Smith), dull-witted Madison High athletic star and Walter's best friend.
Daisy Enright (Mary Jane Croft), Madison High English teacher, and a scheming professional and romantic rival to Miss Brooks.
Jacques Monet (Gerald Mohr), a French teacher.

Our Miss Brooks was a hit on radio from the outset; within eight months of its launch as a regular series, the show landed several honors, including four for Eve Arden, who won polls in four individual publications of the time. Arden had actually been the third choice to play the title role. Harry Ackerman, West Coast director of programming, wanted Shirley Booth for the part, but as he told historian Gerald Nachman many years later, he realized Booth was too focused on the underpaid downside of public school teaching at the time to have fun with the role.

Lucille Ball was believed to have been the next choice, but she was already committed to My Favorite Husband and didn't audition. Chairman Bill Paley, who was friendly with Arden, persuaded her to audition for the part. With a slightly rewritten audition script--Osgood Conklin, for example, was originally written as a school board president but was now written as the incoming new Madison principal--Arden agreed to give the newly-revamped show a try.

Produced by Larry Berns and written by director Al Lewis, Our Miss Brooks premiered on July 19, 1948. According to radio critic John Crosby, her lines were very feline in dialogue scenes with principal Conklin and would-be boyfriend Boynton, with sharp, witty comebacks. The interplay between the cast--blustery Conklin, nebbishy Denton, accommodating Harriet, absentminded Mrs. Davis, clueless Boynton, scheming Miss Enright--also received positive reviews.

Arden won a radio listeners' poll by Radio Mirror magazine as the top ranking comedienne of 1948-49, receiving her award at the end of an Our Miss Brooks broadcast that March. I'm certainly going to try in the coming months to merit the honor you've bestowed upon me, because I understand that if I win this two years in a row, I get to keep Mr. Boynton, she joked. But she was also a hit with the critics; a winter 1949 poll of newspaper and magazine radio editors taken by Motion Picture Daily named her the year's best radio comedienne.

For its entire radio life, the show was sponsored by Colgate-Palmolive-Peet, promoting Palmolive soap, Lustre Creme shampoo and Toni hair care products. The radio series continued until 1957, a year after its television life ended.

Suspense: Blue Eyes / You'll Never See Me Again / Hunting Trip

Thriller is a broad genre of literature, film, and television programming that uses suspense, tension and excitement as the main elements.[1] Thrillers heavily stimulate the viewer's moods giving them a high level of anticipation, ultra-heightened expectation, uncertainty, surprise, anxiety and/or terror. Good thriller films tend to be adrenaline-rushing, gritty, rousing and fast-paced. Literary devices such as red herrings, plot twists and cliffhangers are used extensively. A thriller is a villain-driven plot, whereby he or she presents obstacles that the protagonist must overcome.[2][3]

Common subgenres are psychological thrillers, crime thrillers and mystery thrillers.[4] Another common subgenre of thriller is the spy genre which deals with fictional espionage. Successful examples of thrillers are the films of Alfred Hitchcock. The horror and action genres often overlap with the thriller genre.[5]

In 2001, the American Film Institute in Los Angeles made its definitive selection of the top 100 greatest American heart-pounding and adrenaline-inducing films of all time. To be eligible, the 400 nominated films had to be American-made films, whose thrills have enlivened and enriched America's film heritage. AFI also asked jurors to consider the total adrenaline-inducing impact of a film's artistry and craft.[6][7]

Homer's Odyssey is one of the oldest stories in the Western world and is regarded as an early prototype of the thriller. One of the earliest thriller movies was Harold Lloyd's comic Safety Last! (1923), with a character performing a daredevil stunt on the side of a skyscraper. Alfred Hitchcock and Fritz Lang helped to shape the modern-day thriller genre beginning with The Lodger (1926) and M (1931), respectively.[2]

Dragnet: Claude Jimmerson, Child Killer / Big Girl / Big Grifter

Dragnet is a radio and television crime drama about the cases of a dedicated Los Angeles police detective, Sergeant Joe Friday, and his partners. The show takes its name from an actual police term, a dragnet, meaning a system of coordinated measures for apprehending criminals or suspects.

Dragnet debuted inauspiciously. The first several months were bumpy, as Webb and company worked out the program's format and eventually became comfortable with their characters (Friday was originally portrayed as more brash and forceful than his later usually relaxed demeanor). Gradually, Friday's deadpan, fast-talking persona emerged, described by John Dunning as a cop's cop, tough but not hard, conservative but caring. (Dunning, 210) Friday's first partner was Sergeant Ben Romero, portrayed by Barton Yarborough, a longtime radio actor. After Yarborough's death in 1951 (and therefore Romero's, who also died of a heart attack, as acknowledged on the December 27, 1951 episode The Big Sorrow), Friday was partnered with Sergeant Ed Jacobs (December 27, 1951 - April 10, 1952, subsequently transferred to the Police Academy as an instructor), played by Barney Phillips; Officer Bill Lockwood (Ben Romero's nephew, April 17, 1952 - May 8, 1952), played by Martin Milner (with Ken Peters taking the role for the June 12, 1952 episode The Big Donation); and finally Frank Smith, played first by Herb Ellis (1952), then Ben Alexander (September 21, 1952-1959). Raymond Burr was on board to play the Chief of Detectives. When Dragnet hit its stride, it became one of radio's top-rated shows.
Webb insisted on realism in every aspect of the show. The dialogue was clipped, understated and sparse, influenced by the hardboiled school of crime fiction. Scripts were fast moving but didn't seem rushed. Every aspect of police work was chronicled, step by step: From patrols and paperwork, to crime scene investigation, lab work and questioning witnesses or suspects. The detectives' personal lives were mentioned but rarely took center stage. (Friday was a bachelor who lived with his mother; Romero, a Mexican-American from Texas, was an ever fretful husband and father.) Underplaying is still acting, Webb told Time. We try to make it as real as a guy pouring a cup of coffee. (Dunning, 209) Los Angeles police chiefs C.B. Horrall, William A. Worton, and (later) William H. Parker were credited as consultants, and many police officers were fans.

Most of the later episodes were entitled The Big _____, where the key word denoted a person or thing in the plot. In numerous episodes, this would the principal suspect, victim, or physical target of the crime, but in others was often a seemingly inconsequential detail eventually revealed to be key evidence in solving the crime. For example, in The Big Streetcar the background noise of a passing streetcar helps to establish the location of a phone booth used by the suspect.

Throughout the series' radio years, one can find interesting glimpses of pre-renewal Downtown L.A., still full of working class residents and the cheap bars, cafes, hotels and boarding houses which served them. At the climax of the early episode James Vickers, the chase leads to the Subway Terminal Building, where the robber flees into one of the tunnels only to be killed by an oncoming train. Meanwhile, by contrast, in other episodes set in outlying areas, it is clear that the locations in question are far less built up than they are today. Today, the Imperial Highway, extending 40 miles east from El Segundo to Anaheim, is a heavily used boulevard lined almost entirely with low-rise commercial development. In an early Dragnet episode scenes along the Highway, at the road to San Pedro, clearly indicate that it still retained much the character of a country highway at that time.