The The A tough cynical private eye tries to stay afloat and alive along the San Francisco waterfront. He's constantly hounded by a

thick-headed cop, and he's got one friend in the world who he can trust. And he's voiced

by Jack Webb. He's Pat Novak for hire, but he's also Johnny Madero,

Pier 23, one of Webb's hard-boiled stops along the road to Dragnet and Joe Friday.

With the debut of Pat Novak in 1946, Jack Webb and his friend and collaborator,

writer Richard Breen made names for themselves.

The show, with its ultra-hard-boiled style and Webb's characteristic low-key understated delivery, was a hit when it aired on ABC's West Coast Network.

Webb's Novak took on detective work to supplement his income from renting boats out of Pier 19. He was frequently antagonized by Inspector

Helman of the San Francisco police and in the course of his investigations

he turned to Jocko Madigan, an ex-doctor and now a professional booze hound who could

always be counted on to dispense advice from a saloon stool.

But what made the show pop with audiences was the writing, the likes of which hadn't been heard outside of Pulp novels, and which was memorably intoned by Jack Webb.

That's what the sign out in front of my office says at Novak for hire.

Down on the waterfront in San Francisco you always bite off more than you can chew.

It's tough on your windpipe, but you don't go hungry.

Down here, a lot of people figure it's better to be a fat guy in a graveyard than a thin guy in a stew.

That way you can be sure of a tight fit.

I rent boats and do anything else that makes a sound like money.

It works out all right if your mother doesn't mind you coming home for Christmas in a box.

For reasons that still remain unclear, Webb and Breen walked away from Pat Novak.

ABC continued the series with actor Ben Morris stepping into the detective shoes.

Across the dial, Webb and Breen set up shop at the Mutual Network with a proposal

...