Ever wonder where the buddy-cop-comedy genre came from? It didn't begin with shows like Car 54, Where Are You?. It dates all the way back to 1932, when Los Angeles radio station KHJ first aired Adventures of Detectives Black and Blue.

The syndicated show followed the exploits of Jim Black and his partner, Frank Blue. Black and Blue began as shipping clerks from Duluth with daydreams of bringing down bad guys. Of course, neither had any law enforcement knowledge. But all that was remedied when they decided to take a correspondence course to earn their "Detectives degree."

As you may imagine, hilarity ensued.

Even with their official degrees, born sleuths these two weren't. The radio schtick focused on their bumbling and botching, but each episode ended happily, as they captured criminals in comical capers.

The show lasted for two years, thanks to sponsors Iodent toothpaste and Folger's coffee. Each sponsor released brass Detectives Black and Blue badges in the show's inaugural year. Iodent also released a fabric double-billed detective's cap (checkered and printed with Iodent and the radio show title on the front bill).