full police honors, a rarity for a non-policeman. Dragnet and spinoff Adam-12 were the only television shows to use actual LAPD badges. In the show's heyday, people would regularly visit the LAPD asking to speak to Sgt. Friday. The official response given by the front desk was, "Sorry, it's Joe's day off." In the FX show The Shield, about an LAPD anti-gang unit, one of the officers, Shane, lost his badge in season 2 and it was revealed to be badge number 714. 1955 Three Stooges parody The Three Stooges, (Moe Howard, Larry Fine, and Shemp Howard) performed an 18 minute parody of Dragnet entitled the "Blunder Boys". After graduating with the lowest honors at criminology school, the stooges join the police force, and they track down a wanted criminal known as the Eel. 1987 film Dan Aykroyd starred as Joe Friday, namesake and nephew of the original, in the 1987 comedy adaptation film Dragnet. Harry Morgan reprised his television role as Bill Gannon, now Captain, and Tom Hanks appeared as Friday's partner Pep Streebek. 2003 series Ed O'Neill starred as Joe Friday in Wolf Films' 2003 revival of Dragnet. Since LAPD had discontinued the rank of Detective Sergeant, replacing it with the rank of Detective Three, or D-3, the rank banner on Friday's badge now said "Detective" instead of "Sergeant," and Friday was referred to as "Detective Friday" instead of "Sergeant Friday." During the first season of the series, Friday's partner was named "Frank Smith," but unlike the character played by Alexander and Ellis on the original series, this Frank Smith, as played by Ethan Embry, was not an experienced, veteran officer, but a young detective being mentored by Friday. On one episode of this show, Friday actually spoke the phrase, "Just the facts." Friday's partners Sgt. Ben Romero (Barton Yarborough) (Radio & Television)Sgt. Ed Jacobs (Barney Phillips) (Radio & Television)Off. Bill Lockwood (Martin Milner/Ken Peters) (Radio) Off. Frank Smith (Ben Alexander, Ethan Embry, Harry Bartell, Herb Ellis, Vic Perrin) (Radio, Television & Film)Off. Bill Gannon (Harry Morgan) (Television & Film) ''' Reception In 2006, TV Land included the line "This is the city..." on its "The 100 Greatest TV Quotes and Catch Phrases" special. References American male characters in television Dragnet (franchise) Drama television characters Fictional characters from Los Angeles Fictional Los Angeles Police Department detectives Fictional police lieutenants Fictional police sergeants Male characters in radio Radio characters