Sergeant Joe Friday is a fictional detective that appeared in the crime drama series named Dragnet. The show was created by Jack Webb and is about a fictional detective starring Jack Webb, Ben Alexander and Harry Morgan. Dragnet was considered as one of the most influential procedural dramas that were cherished by millions of audiences from all over the world. T
he real life police work shown in this series helped to change the opinion of the people regarding the police officers and so it was considered as quite influential. Not just influential, but this series proved to have a cultural impact, as well. One thing that made it a trademark was its opening line that went like “Ladies and gentlemen: the story you are about to hear is true. Only the names have been changed to protect the innocent”.
The character of Sergeant Joe Friday was played by Jack himself and received a lot of appreciation from the viewers. Jack appeared in several radio programs, but his actual media presence enhanced with the release of Dragnet. Dragnet series became so popular that it initially came as a radio program in the year 1949 to 1956, then a television series from 1951 to 1970 and lastly a movie named Dragnet was released in the year 1969.
Introduction to Sergeant Joe Friday
Sergeant Joe Friday is a detective that investigates several cases so as to prove the innocence of the suspect which is generally arrested by the police. Joe is accompanied by several partners like Officer Bill Gannon, Sgt. Ben Romero, Sgt. Ed Jacobs and Officer Frank Smith to name a few. All these partners help Joe while investigating and solving the cases so as to find the actual criminal.
Joe was in a habit of repeating some phrases like “just the facts, ma’am” which became quite popular among the viewers and were recognized as a trademark for the character of the series Dragnet. The movie that was released in the year 1987 starring Dan Aykroyd who was actually the nephew of real Joe Friday and became a big hit on the television.
Dragnet – The Series
In the year 1948, a semi-documentary style film was released in which an actual LAPD sergeant worked as the technical advisor in the series, namely Marty Wynn. While doing this movie, Webb and Wynn became friends and Webb also played a small role of a police forensic scientist in this movie.
Every single detail was reflected upon by both of them so that people can get on familiar terms with the reality of cops and the responsibilities they carried upon their shoulders. The radio series was also appreciated a lot by the people and helped Webb to achieve higher ranking for the minute details that he portrayed clearly on the show.
Sergeant Joe Friday gained a lot of popularity from the listeners and the audiences, as well. His unique way of carrying out investigations and reflecting upon each and every detail make him quite admired. His fast talking persona, brashness and vigour in the radio series as well as the television series became quite accepted by the people.
