With his staccato line delivery and flattop haircut, Jack Webb played no-nonsense Sgt. Joe Friday on Dragnet from 1951 to 1959, and for three more years when the series was revived in 1967. With "just the facts, ma'am," Sgt. Friday and Dragnet set the formula for television police dramas to come, focusing on a realistic portrayal of detective work in Los Angeles. (Webb wrote many of the scripts, often basing them on real-life police files.) And if that weren't enough to ensure its place in showbiz history, the show -- with its signature "dum de dum dum" -- also has one of the best-known TV theme songs ever.