Baretta

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Baretta
Baretta title screen
Format	Police drama
Starring	Robert Blake Dana Elcar Tom Ewell Edward Grover Michael D. Roberts
Country of origin	United States
Language(s)	English
No. of seasons	4
No. of episodes	82
Broadcast
Original channel	ABC
Original run	17 January 1975 – 18 May 1978
Chronology
Preceded by	Toma
External links
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

Baretta is a American detective television series which ran on ABC from 1975 to 1978. The show was a milder version of a successful 1973–74 ABC series, Toma, starring Tony Musante as chameleon-like, real-life New Jersey police officer David Toma. While popular, Toma received intense criticism at the time for its realistic and frequent depiction of police and criminal violence. When Musante left the series after a single season, the concept was retooled as Baretta, with Robert Blake in the title role.

[edit] Synopsis

Detective Anthony Vincenzo "Tony” Baretta is a single, unorthodox plainclothes cop with the 53rd precinct [badge #609], who lives in a run-down hotel (c/o Apartment 2C King Edward Hotel Unnamed Eastern City (presumably Newark, NJ)) with his pet cockatoo Fred as an added comedic element. Other characters were Baretta's supervisors Inspector Shiller (Dana Elcar) and Lieutenant Hal Brubaker (Edward Grover).

Billy Truman (Tom Ewell), the elderly hotel manager/house detective is Tony’s close friend. Billy used to work with Tony’s father at the 53rd Precinct.; and Rooster (Michael D. Roberts), a streetwise pimp and Tony's favorite informant. Baretta’s coworkers are Detective Foley John Ward, an irritating, stick-in-the-mud; "Fats" Chino Williams, a gravelly-voiced black detective who goes on stakeouts with Tony; and Detective Nopke Ron Thompson, a rookie cop who admires Baretta‘s street smarts. Little Moe Angelo Rossitto, a midget shoeshine guy and informant; Mr. Nicholas Titos Vandis, a mob boss whom Baretta sometimes deals with; and Mr. Muncie Paul Lichtman, the owner of a liquor store at 52nd and Main. Off duty, Baretta lives in a dumpy hotel room with Fred, his pet yellow-crested cockatoo.

While on the job Tony often wore a variety of disguises to gather clues to solve a case. When not in disguise, Baretta wore a T-shirt, jeans and a cap pulled over his forehead. He often carried an unlit cigarette in his hand or stuffed one behind his ear. His catchphrases included "You can take dat to the bank" and “And that‘s the name of dat tune.”

Tony drove a dilapidated 1966 blue rusted out Chevy 4-door Impala sedan nicknamed “The Blue Ghost.“ [License Plate: 532 BEN]. He hung out at Ross’s Billiard Academy and referred to his numerous girlfriends as his “cousins.” Tony’s old world Italian-American father is Louis “Louie” Baretta.

The theme song, "Keep Your Eye on the Sparrow", was written by Dave Grusin and M. Ames; initially an instrumental, lyrics were added in later seasons that were sung by Sammy Davis Jr.. Every episode of Baretta began with the song, which contained the motto, "Don't do the crime if you can't do the time."

[edit] DVD Release

On October 29, 2002, Universal Studios Home Entertainment released the first season of Baretta on Region 1 DVD in the United States. It is unknown if the remaining 3 seasons will be released.

[edit] External links

• Baretta at the Internet Movie Database
• Baretta at TV.com
• [1]
• Roy Huggins' Archive of American Television Interview

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