TV THEME SONG-ville -- Episode 11
09/02/10 08:13 AM
By ED BARK
Students of minimalist TV theme songs need not start with Law & Order.
Dragnet made the mold back in 1952 with its stark and enduring "Dum-de-dum-dum" open. The composer, a guy named Walter Schumann, also wrote the foreboding score for the original feature film version of The Night of the Hunter.
Sgt. Joe Friday, played by Jack Webb, underscored Dragnet's taut mood music with his terse opening narration: "This is the city. Los Angeles, California. I work here. I'm a cop."
The below clip, our penultimate pre-fall season trip to TV THEME SONG-ville, is from the original black-and-white Dragnet. We'll call it a wrap Friday with a look at the original open of a cop series that CBS is reviving this season.