Arts
One of the most iconic theme songs to come from the Golden Age of Radio has to be the "ominous, four-note introduction" composed by Walter Schumann for the radio program Dragnet. This theme, derived from Miklós Rózsa's score for the 1946 film The Killers, is still instantly recognizable decades later, even to those who have never heard of the radio program it was created for. Dragnet was an American radio series, created in cooperation with the Los Angeles Police Department, that took listeners step by step through actual cases from official police files. The show took its name from the police term "dragnet", describing a system of coordinated measures for apprehending criminals or suspects. It was created by actor and producer Jack Webb who also played the lead character Joe Friday. His goal was to create a true to life show that would give audience members a feel for the boredom and drudgery, as well as the danger and heroism, of police work. The program ran from June 3rd, 1949 to July 26th, 1957 and is regarded by many as the most famous and influential police procedural drama in media history. The episode featured in today's podcast is the fourth episode of Dragnet that aired on June 24th, 1949. It is also the first episode still publicly available that features the theme song. Without further ado, please enjoy "Quick Trigger Gunman" from Dragnet. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/otr-behind-the-mic/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/otr-behind-the-mic/support