Tequila and Bonetti

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Tequila and Bonetti
Title card for the 1992 series
Genre	Dramedy
Creator(s)	Donald P. Bellisario
Starring	Jack Scalia
Country of origin	United States
Language(s)	English, Italian
No. of episodes	12 (1992 series), 14 (2000 series)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Donald P. Bellisario
Running time	60 minutes with commercials
Broadcast
Original channel	CBS
Original run	January 17, 1992 –
Links
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

Tequila and Bonetti was an American TV series starring Jack Scalia. It was later adapted into another series for Italian television.

[edit] 1992 series

The lead character of the series, Nico ("Nick") Bonetti (Jack Scalia), is a policeman from New York City who is proud of his Italian heritage and very fond of his vintage rose-colored Cadillac convertible, which he inherited from his father. After he erroneously shoots a young girl during a gunfight, he relocates to a beachfront Los Angeles precinct on temporary assignment. Here he meets his new partners, Tequila (a large, burrito-eating dog), and Officer Angela Garcia (Mariska Hargitay), who joined the police after her policeman husband's death. Their boss is Captain Midian Knight (Charles Rocket), who is almost as interested in selling a screenplay as he is in police work. The series shows their investigations about crimes and the relations between the characters. This show has the peculiarity that television viewers are able to hear Tequila's thoughts.

Life is not easy for Bonetti, due to his remorse about the girl he shot and the strange habits of Californian people, whom he does not understand. His neighbors include a Puerto Rican psychic (Liz Torres), who hears Tequila's thoughts but initially believes she is hearing spirits. Bonetti develops a grudging respect for the people around him as well as for Tequila, who despite his faults is an excellent police dog. The dog is portrayed as having human-level intelligence and a street-wise, sassy attitude.

The show was developed by producer Donald P. Bellisario. His daughter, Troian Bellisario, had a recurring role as Garcia's daughter, who for a time is unaware that her mother has joined the police department rather than continue a career as an art dealer.

Each episode has a montage during which Bonetti plays piano and viewers see odd, sometimes disturbing scenes featuring Bonetti's neighbors and co-workers. Some of these scenes are from later episodes, while others remain unexplained. Each montage ends with Bonetti's memory of the shooting of the girl in New York.

[edit] 2000 series

Years later, a new Tequila & Bonetti ("Tequila e Bonetti") series was filmed and aired in Italy.

Bonetti (Scalia) goes to Rome to team up with a new "Tequila" dog and the policewoman Fabiana Sasso (Alessia Marcuzzi). Again, spectators can hear the dog's thoughts, but this time Bonetti is the one with strange American habits, as seen by his new Italian friends.