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Crime · 1950s

The 1950s account for 5 of the 337 crime shows here, and 5 opening sequences.

CBS carries the most, with two.

5 shows5 sequences

Still from the opening titles of Perry Mason (1957)1 sequence

Perry Mason (1957)

1957–1966CBSCrime

'Park Avenue Beat' — a jazz chart with a walking bass, over a courtroom drama that ran for nine years on almost nothing else.

  • Season 1
Still from the opening titles of The Untouchables1 sequence

The Untouchables

1959–1963ABCCrime

Walter Winchell narrating over Prohibition Chicago at a clip that makes the whole thing sound like a news bulletin — which was the intention.

  • Season 1
Still from the opening titles of Highway Patrol1 sequence

Highway Patrol

1955–1959SyndicationCrime

Broderick Crawford saying "Ten-four" into a car radio, which entered the language from here.

  • Season 1
Still from the opening titles of Alfred Hitchcock Presents1 sequence

Alfred Hitchcock Presents

1955–1962CBSCrime

Nine strokes of a pen, and then the man himself walks in from the right and stands inside his own outline. A director who had spent thirty years staying behind the camera made his silhouette the most recognisable thing on American television.

  • Seasons 1–7
Still from the opening titles of Dragnet1 sequence

Dragnet

1951–1959, 1967–1970NBCCrime

Four notes, a badge, and "the story you are about to see is true" — the opening that set the shape of the American police procedural.

  • Season 1