Baretta
Baretta | |
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Genre | Detective fiction Police procedural |
Created by | Stephen J. Cannell |
Starring | |
Theme music composer |
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Opening theme |
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Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 4 |
No. of episodes | 82 (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Production companies |
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Original release | |
Network | ABC |
Release | January 17, 1975 May 18, 1978 | –
Related | |
Toma |
Baretta is an American
The show was a revised and milder version of a 1973–1974 ABC series, Toma, starring Tony Musante as chameleon-like, real-life New Jersey police officer David Toma. When Musante left the series after a single season, the concept was retooled as Baretta, with Robert Blake in the title role.[2][3]
"Keep Your Eye on the Sparrow," the show's theme music, was composed by Dave Grusin and Morgan Ames[4] and sung by Sammy Davis Jr.,[5] in addition to being a chart hit for two other artists.
Overview
Anthony Vincenzo "Tony" Baretta is an unorthodox
Baretta is often seen with an unlit cigarette in his lips or behind his ear. His catchphrases include "Don't do the crime if you can't do the time", "You can take dat to da bank" and "And dat's the name of dat tune." When exasperated, he occasionally speaks in asides to his late father, Louie Baretta. He drives a rusted-out Mist Blue 1966
Episodes
Season | Episodes | Originally aired | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
First aired | Last aired | |||
1 | 12 | January 17, 1975 | April 30, 1975 | |
2 | 22 | September 10, 1975 | April 28, 1976 | |
3 | 24 | September 22, 1976 | May 4, 1977 | |
4 | 24 | September 28, 1977 | May 18, 1978 |
Cast
- Anthony Vincenzo "Tony" Baretta (Robert Blake), a police detective.
- Billy Truman (Tom Ewell), retired cop who used to work with Baretta's father Louie at the 53rd Precinct.
- Rooster (pimp and Baretta's favorite informant.
- Inspector Shiller (Dana Elcar) and Lieutenant Hal Brubaker (Edward Grover), Baretta's supervisors.
- Detective Foley (John Ward), police detective.
- Fats (Chino 'Fats' Williams), a gravelly-voiced, older detective.
- Detective Nopke (Ron Thompson), a rookie detective.[6]
- Little Moe (Angelo Rossitto), a shoeshine man and informant.
- Mr. Nicholas (Titos Vandis), a mob boss.
- Mr. Muncie (Paul Lichtman), the owner of a liquor store at 52nd and Main.
Production
Upon watching Blake in the 1973 film Electra Glide in Blue, then ABC executive Michael Eisner contacted him about doing a police series, which culminated in Baretta. Blake was given creative control in most aspects of production.[7]
The series came about as a reboot of Toma when actor Tony Musante chose to move on after completing his single season commitment to the series.[8]
The theme song, "Keep Your Eye on the Sparrow", was written by
The song was released as a single in Europe in 1976, reaching number one in the Dutch Top 40 as "Baretta's Theme". The music for the theme song was performed by Los Angeles-based Latin influenced Rock band El Chicano. El Chicano also released the song as a 45 and also as a track on one of their albums. The Baretta theme song by El Chicano was a huge hit in many countries including Turkey, Malaysia, Singapore, France and The Philippines.
The song was released as a single in the US, but only charted as high as #42 on the Adult Contemporary Chart, while it "bubbled under the Hot 100" at #101.
Fred the cockatoo was portrayed by two Triton cockatoos named Lalah and Weird Harold, the latter used as a stunt double for flying sequences.[10]
Cancellation
On April 27, 1977, Blake announced that he would leave after completing his contractual run on the show for the season. "I proved everything I had to prove," he said. Through his efforts, he said, Baretta became the only midseason replacement to win an Emmy.
"I put Baretta in the top 10, I tried to make a human being out of a cop and I tried to do a cop show and make social comment," he added.[11]
In a 1996 TV interview with Tom Snyder, Blake stated that he hated being committed to the series and compared it to screwing a gorilla. "Baretta was a terrible experience," Blake stated, "you do a series so you can work with giants [in film]."[12]
Broadcast syndication
After its initial run in syndication beginning in 1979, the series later re-appeared on
Home media
On October 29, 2002, Universal Studios released the first season of Baretta on Region 1 DVD in the United States.[13]
DVD Name | Ep # | Release Date |
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Season 1 | 12 | October 29, 2002 |
Cultural references
Mad magazine spoofed the series as "Barfetta".
In Taskmaster Live, a 2016 show at the Edinburgh Festival contested by five television executives, Jeff Ford, the UK Managing Director of Fox Networks Group and SVP and Content Development Manager for Europe and Africa, described Baretta as a "lesser known 1960s vehicle".
In the
In the film Reservoir Dogs, protagonist Mr. Orange steels himself before meeting main antagonist Joe Cabot by saying "You're not gonna get hurt. You're fucking Baretta. They believe every fucking word 'cause you're super cool."[14]
In the sitcom That '70s Show, in the season one episode “Stolen Car”, Bob Pinciotti tells his wife Midge, "you can't tell me anything while I'm watching Baretta, it's complicated."
In the Party Down episode "Investors Dinner" (2009), the opening scene is an argument about why Tony Baretta is named so, with two characters arguing that it's because he carries a Beretta pistol.
References
- ^ "Baretta". The New York Times. Retrieved March 13, 2012.
- ^ McMurran, Kristin (July 7, 1980). "With Stunning Intensity, David Toma, Ex-Cop, Ex-Addict and Model for TV's 'Baretta', Harangues Kids Against Drugs". People.
- ^ Armstrong, Lois (April 28, 1975). "A Time Bomb Named Robert Blake Re-Explodes as 'Baretta'". People.
- ^ "Dave Grusin & Morgan Ames: Baretta ('Keep Your Eye on the Sparrow')". Dave Tomkins: Musica Database. University of British Columbia. Retrieved August 22, 2018 – via cs.ubc.ca.
- ^ "Sammy Davis Jr. added lyrics to so many instrumental TV theme songs". MeTV.com. October 29, 2016. Retrieved August 23, 2018.
- ^ Maçek III, J.C. (August 2, 2012). "'American Pop'... Matters: Ron Thompson, the Illustrated Man Unsung". PopMatters.
- YouTube
- ^ O'Connor, John (1974-07-24). "TV: Star of Dropped Toma Tells What Happened". The New York Times.
- YouTube
- ^ "Cockatoo". San Diego Zoo. Retrieved January 3, 2023.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 29, 2023.
- ^ "Tom Snyder: Robert Blake Feb 23 1996". YouTube.
- ^ "Announcements". hive4media.com. Archived from the original on October 17, 2002. Retrieved September 16, 2019.
- ^ "The mirror has two faces: 15 great movie scenes where characters meet their reflection". The A.V. Club. October 15, 2012. Retrieved March 10, 2023.