One of the most realistic and popular radio programs of all time was Dragnet, starring and produced by Jack Webb as Sergeant Joe Friday. He played it by the book and understood the seriousness of his duties. Webb was a stickler for accurate details, and the series used authentic touches, such as the LAPD's actual radio call sign and the names of actual department officials. The crime stories were taken from actual case files of the Los Angeles Police Department. Later episodes were entitled "The Big (whatever)" where the key word denoted a person or object in the plot. The ominous, four-note "dum-de-dum-dum" theme with brass and timpani entitled Danger Ahead was composed by Walter Schumann. It is derived from Miklós Rózsa's score for the 1946 film The Killers. The notes are the same for both, but the film’s faster, steady tempo disguises it from Dragnet's halted rhythmic version. The program’s debut in 1949 was bumpy as Webb and company worked out the format and grew more comfortable with their characters. But Webb's deadpan, fast-talking persona emerged, often parodied since, attesting to the popularity of the character. Joe Friday has been described as a cop's cop, conservative but tough.
The show's opening narration by announcer George Fenneman is one of its trademarks: "Ladies and gentlemen, the story you are about to hear is true. Only the names have been changed to protect the innocent." Later versions dropped the words "only" and "ladies and gentlemen." Friday's oft-parodied catchphrase, "Just the facts, ma'am," was never actually uttered. The closest were "All we want are the facts, ma'am" and "All we know are the facts, ma'am/sir."
Though tame by modern standards, Dragnet on radio handled controversial subjects such as sex crimes and drug addiction with unprecedented and even startling realism. The radio show was also adapted into a comic strip by Mel Keefer.
