The origins of Dragnet can be traced to a semidocumentary film noir. He Walked by Night (1948), in which Webb has a small role. Webb created a radio series for the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) that had many similarities with the film. Not only did both employ the same Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) technical advisor, but they also made use of actual police cases, narration that provided information about the workings of the police department, and a generally low-key, documentary style. In the radio drama, Webb starred as Sgt. Joe Frida, and Barton Yarborough played his partner. The success of the radio show led to a Dragnet television pilot that aired as an episode of Chesterfield Sound Off Time in 1951 and resulted in a permanent slot for the series on NBC Television’s Thursday night schedule in early 1952. Yarborough died suddenly after the pilot aired and was eventually replaced by Ben Alexander, who played Officer Frank Smith from 1953 to the end of the series in 1959. 

Dragnet was an instant hit on television, maintaining a top-ten position in the ratings through 1956. The series was applauded for its realism– actually a collection of highly stylized conventions that made the show an easy target for parodists and further increased its cultural cachet. Episodes began with a prologue promising that “the story you are about to see is true; the names have been changed to protect the innocent,” then faced in on a pan across the Los Angeles sprawl. Webb’s mellifluous voice intoned, “This is the city. Los Angeles, California,” and usually offered statistics about the city, its population, and its institutions. Among the show’s other “realistic” elements were constant references to dates, the time, and weather conditions. Producing the series on film permitted the use of stock shots of LAPD operations and located shooting in Los Angeles. This was a sharp contrast to the stage-bound “live” detective shows of the period. Dragnet emphasized authentic police jargon, the technical aspects of law enforcement, and the drudgery of such work. Rather than engaging in fistfights and gun-play, Friday and his partner spent much screen time making phone calls, questioning witnesses, or following up on dead-end leads. Scenes of the detectives simply waiting and engaging in mundane small talk were common. To save on costly rehearsal time, Webb had actors read their lines off a TelePrompTer. The result was a clipped, terse style that conveyed a documentary feel and became a trademark of subsequent series produced by Webb, including Adam-12 and Emergency. Dragnet’s stories, many written by James Moser, ran the gamut from traffic accidents to homicide. Other stories played on critical middle-class anxieties of the post-war period, including juvenile delinquency, teenage drug use, and the distribution of “dirty” pictures in schools. Moral complexity was eschewed for a crime-doesn’t-pay message sketched in stark, black-and-white tones. Friday put up with little from lawbreakers, negligent parents, or young troublemakers. Program segments often concluded with the sergeant directing a tight-lipped homily to miscreants coupled with a musical “stinger” and an appreciative nod from his partner. 

By 1954, Dragnet was watched by over half of U.S. television households. This success prompted Warner Brothers to finance and distribute a theatrical version of Dragnet (1954), signaling the rise of cross promotion between film and television. Further evidence of the show’s popularity was found in the number of TV series that imitated its style, notably The Lineup, M Squad, and Moser’s Medic, based on cases from the files of the Los Angeles County Medical Association. Conversely, other series such as 77 Sunset Strip and Hawaiian Eye, featured younger, hipper detectives, were developed to provide an antidote to Dragnet’s dour approach to crime fighting. As Dragnet neared completion of its initial run in 1959, Friday was promoted to lieutenant, and Smith passed his sergeant’s exam. Seven years later, the show was revived by NBC as Dragnet 1967. Until it was canceled in 1970, Dragnet was always followed by the year to distinguish the new series from its 1950s counterpart. In the new series, Friday was once again a sergeant, now paired with Officer Bill Gannon (Harry Morgan). Though the style and format of the show remained the same, the intervening years and the rise of the counterculture had changed Friday from a crusading cop to a dyspeptic civil servant, alternately disgusted by the behavior of the younger generation and peeved at his partner’s prattle about mundane topics. The program’s conservatism was all the more apparent in the late 1960s, as Friday’s terse warnings of the 1950s gave way to shrill lectures involving god and country for the benefit of hippies, drug users, and protectors. 

Webb’s death in 1982 did not prevent another revival of Dragnet  from appearing in syndication during the 1989-90 season. Two younger characters filled in for Friday and his partner, but the formula remained the same. The little-seen effort failed quickly in part because series such as Hill Street Blues and COPS had significantly altered the conventions of realistic police dramas. Those programs, and such others as NYPD Blue, must be considered the true generic successors to the original Dragnet. As the archetypal television police drama, Dragnet has remained a staple in reruns and continues to be an object of both parody and reverent homage.