The program opened each week with these words from Det. Sgt. Joe Friday: "This is the city, Los Angeles, California. I work here, I carry a badge." Then that arresting theme music began to play ("Dum-de-dum-dum"). Probably the most successful police drama in television history. Dragnet's hallmark was its appearance of realism, from the documentary-style narration by Joe Friday, to the cases drawn from the files of the real L.A.P.D., to its attention to the details of police work ("It was 3:55. . .We were working the day watch out of homocide"). Viewers were reminded of the unglamorous dead ends and the constant interruptions of their private lives that plague real policemen, and this made the final shoot-out and capture of the criminal all the more exciting. At the end of each episode, after the criminal was apprehanded, an announcer would describe what happened at the subsequent trial and the severity of the sentence.

The series was created and directed by Jack Webb himself. It's catchphrases and devices became national bywords and were widely satirized. There was Webb's terse "My name is Friday--I'm a cop," and "Just the facts, ma'am" It was revived in 1967 as Dragnet 1967 and again in 1989 as "The New Dragnet". This was followed by a short-lived revival in 2002 with Ed O' Neill as Joe Friday. The series was renamed L.A. Dragnet in 2003 and canceled shortly thereafter. A theatrical film in 1987 with Dan Ackroyd and Tom Hanks also surfaced. Other spinoffs included Adam-12 (1968-75) and Emergency (1972-77).

Cast and Characters

• Jack Webb as Sergeant Joe Friday
• Herb Ellis as Officer Frank Smith (1952-1953)
• Ben Alexander as Officer Frank Smith (1953-1959)
• George Fenneman as Announcer
• Barton Yarborough as Sergeant Ben Romero (1952)
• Barney Phillips as Sergeant Ed Jacobs (1952)

Broadcast History, Episode Guide & TV Schedule

First Telecast: January 3, 1952
Last Telecast: September 10, 1970
Original Network: NBC
Number of Seasons: 8
Number of Episodes: 276
View the Dragnet Episode Guide
Original Primtime TV Schedule:

• January 1951- December 1955, NBC, Thursday 9:00-9:30pm
• January 1956- September 1958, NBC, Thursday 8:30-9:00pm
• September 1958- June 1959, NBC, Tuesday 7:30-8:00pm
• July 1959- September 1959, NBC, Sunday 8:30-9:00pm
• June 1967- September 1970, NBC, Thursday 9:30-10:00pm

Theme Song and Intro

"Dragnet March" by Walter Schumann

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