Jack Webb was the producer and star of the radio & then television cop show "Dragnet". As police detective Sgt. Joe Friday, his dead pan delivery of lines was so square it was hip. Here are some of my favorites:
Friday: Next time you want to make the news, step in front of a bus.
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Witness (refusing to testify because he doesn't want to get involved): "Mr. Friday, if you were me, would you want to get involved?
Friday: Can I wait a while?
Witness; "Huh?"
Friday: Before I'm you.
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Police Captain: Shotgun, extreme close range, double-O. Starkey was hit four times, first two cut him in half.
Friday: The second two turned him into a crowd.
The original television show aired from 1951 to 1959. Webb then brought it back in a new form 1967-1970. These "new" episodes are the shows that I remember from childhood. In it, all hippies said "groovy" and "far out" & were so blasted out of their minds that they committed heinous crimes! The moderately funny 1987 film "Dragnet" starring Dan Akroyd and Tom Hanks pays homage to it.
Still, nothing beats Jack Webb's campy, self-righteous, truly weird dialogue.
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