Sergeant Joseph Friday is a fictional character created and portrayed by Jack Webb as the lead for his series Dragnet. Friday is a detective in the Los Angeles Police Department. The character first appeared on June 3, 1949, in the premiere of the NBC radio drama that launched the series. Webb played the character on radio and later television from 1949 to 1959 and again from 1967 to 1970, also appearing as Friday in a 1954 theatrical release and a 1966 made-for-TV film. The character has also been played by different actors including Dan Aykroyd in the 1987 comedy adaptation (as nephew of the original Sergent Friday, played by Webb) and Ed O'Neill in the brief 2003 revival series.