Baretta (other)
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''Baretta'' is an American
detective A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. They often collect information to solve crimes by talking to witnesses and informants, collecting physical evidence, or searching records in databases. This leads the ...
television series which ran on
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...
from 1975 to 1978. The show was a revised and milder version of a 1973–1974 ABC series, ''
Toma Toma or TOMA may refer to: Places *Toma, Burkina Faso, a town in Nayala province * Toma Department, a department in Nayala province *Toma, Banwa, Burkina Faso, a town * Tōma, Hokkaidō, Japan, a town **Tōma Station, its railway station *Toma, a ...
'', starring
Tony Musante Anthony Peter Musante Jr. (June 30, 1936 – November 26, 2013) was an American actor, best known for the TV series '' Toma'' as Detective David Toma, Nino Schibetta in '' Oz'' (1997), and Joe D'Angelo in ''As the World Turns'' (2000–2003). I ...
as chameleon-like, real-life
New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...
police officer A police officer (also called policeman or policewoman, cop, officer or constable) is a Warrant (law), warranted law employee of a police, police force. In most countries, ''police officer'' is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. ...
David Toma. When Musante left the series after a single season, the concept was retooled as ''Baretta'', with
Robert Blake Robert Blake (or variants) may refer to: Sports * Bob Blake (American football) (1885–1962), American football player * Robbie Blake (born 1976), English footballer * Bob Blake (ice hockey) (1914–2008), American ice hockey player * Rob Blake ...
in the title role. "
Keep Your Eye on the Sparrow "Keep Your Eye on the Sparrow", also known as "Baretta's Theme", is a song written by Morgan Ames and Dave Grusin, recorded by multiple artists during the summer of 1975. Merry Clayton's version was the first to chart, reaching #45 on the U.S. ...
," the show's theme music, was composed by
Dave Grusin Robert David Grusin (born June 26, 1934) is an American composer, arranger, producer, jazz pianist, and band leader. He has composed many scores for feature films and television and has won numerous awards for his soundtrack and record work, incl ...
and Morgan Ames and sung by
Sammy Davis Jr. Samuel George Davis Jr. (December 8, 1925 – May 16, 1990) was an American singer, actor, comedian, dancer, and musician. At age two, Davis began his career in Vaudeville with his father Sammy Davis Sr. and the Will Mastin Trio, which t ...
, in addition to being a chart hit for two other artists.


Overview

Anthony Vincenzo "Tony" Baretta is an unorthodox plainclothes
police detective A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. They often collect information to solve crimes by talking to witnesses and informants, collecting physical evidence, or searching records in databases. This leads the ...
(Badge #609) with the 53rd Precinct in an unnamed, fictional city. He resides in Apartment 2C of the run-down King Edward Hotel with Fred, his
Triton cockatoo Triton commonly refers to: * Triton (mythology), a Greek god * Triton (moon), a satellite of Neptune Triton may also refer to: Biology * Triton cockatoo, a parrot * Triton (gastropod), a group of sea snails * ''Triton'', a synonym of '' Tritur ...
. A master of disguise, Baretta wears many while performing his duties. When not working he usually wears a short-sleeve sweatshirt, casual slacks, a brown suede jacket and a
newsboy cap The newsboy cap, newsie cap, gatsby, jeff cap, or baker boy hat (British) is a casual-wear cap similar in style to the flat cap. It has a similar overall shape and stiff peak (visor) in front as a flat cap, but the body of the cap is rounder ...
. 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
Chevrolet Impala The Chevrolet Impala () is a full-size car that was built by Chevrolet for model years 1958 to 1985, 1994 to 1996, and 2000 to 2020. The Impala was Chevrolet's popular flagship passenger car and was among the better-selling American-made auto ...
four-door sport sedan nicknamed "The Blue Ghost" (
license plate A vehicle registration plate, also known as a number plate (British, Indian and Australian English), license plate (American English) or licence plate (Canadian English), is a metal or plastic plate attached to a motor vehicle or trailer for ...
532 BEM). He frequents Ross's Billiard Academy and refers to his numerous girlfriends as his "cousins".


Episodes


Cast

* Anthony Vincenzo "Tony" Baretta (
Robert Blake Robert Blake (or variants) may refer to: Sports * Bob Blake (American football) (1885–1962), American football player * Robbie Blake (born 1976), English footballer * Bob Blake (ice hockey) (1914–2008), American ice hockey player * Rob Blake ...
), a police detective. * Billy Truman (
Tom Ewell Tom Ewell (born Samuel Yewell Tompkins, April 29, 1909 – September 12, 1994) was an American film, stage and television actor, and producer. His most successful and most identifiable role was that of Richard Sherman in ''The Seven Year Itch'' ...
), retired cop who used to work with Baretta's father Louie at the 53rd Precinct. * Rooster ( Michael D. Roberts), a streetwise
pimp Procuring, pimping, or pandering is the facilitation or provision of a prostitute or other sex worker in the arrangement of a sex act with a customer. A procurer, colloquially called a pimp (if male) or a madam (if female, though the term "pimp" ...
and Baretta's favorite
informant An informant (also called an informer or, as a slang term, a "snitch", "rat", "canary", "stool pigeon", "stoolie", "tout" or "grass", among other terms) is a person who provides privileged information, or (usually damaging) information inten ...
. * Inspector Shiller (
Dana Elcar Ibsen Dana Elcar (October 10, 1927 – June 6, 2005) was an American television and film character actor. He appeared in about 40 films as well as in the 1960s television series ''Dark Shadows'' as Sheriff George Patterson and the 1980s and 1 ...
) and Lieutenant Hal Brubaker (
Edward Grover Edward D. Grover (October 23, 1932 – November 22, 2016) was an American film, stage and television actor. He was perhaps best known for playing Tony Baretta's supervisor Lieutenant Hal Brubaker in the American detective television series ''Bar ...
), Baretta's supervisors. * Detective Foley ( John Ward), police detective. * Fats (
Chino 'Fats' Williams Chino 'Fats' Williams (July 26, 1933 – April 5, 2000) was an American actor. page 75 Williams was best known for such films and television series as ''The Terminator'', '' Action Jackson'', '' Road House'', ''Rocky III'', ''Weird Science'' ...
), a gravelly-voiced, older detective. * Detective Nopke ( Ron Thompson), a rookie detective. * Little Moe (
Angelo Rossitto Angelo Salvatore Rossitto (February 18, 1908 – September 21, 1991) was an American actor and voice artist. He had dwarfism and was tall, and was often billed as Little Angie or Moe. Angelo first appeared in silent films opposite Lon Chaney a ...
), a shoeshine man and informant. * Mr. Nicholas (
Titos Vandis Titos Vandis (; 7 November 1917 – 23 February 2003) was a Greek actor. Biography Vandis began his career on the Greek stage in the late 1930s. In 1962, he won the Best Actor award for the film ''Poliorkia'' at the Thessaloniki Internation ...
), 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 Michael Dammann Eisner ( ; born March 7, 1942) is an American businessman and former chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of the Walt Disney Company from September 1984 to September 2005. Prior to Disney, Eisner was president of rival film ...
contacted him about doing a police series, which culminated in ''Baretta''. Blake was given creative control in most aspects of production. The series came about as a reboot of ''
Toma Toma or TOMA may refer to: Places *Toma, Burkina Faso, a town in Nayala province * Toma Department, a department in Nayala province *Toma, Banwa, Burkina Faso, a town * Tōma, Hokkaidō, Japan, a town **Tōma Station, its railway station *Toma, a ...
'' when actor
Tony Musante Anthony Peter Musante Jr. (June 30, 1936 – November 26, 2013) was an American actor, best known for the TV series '' Toma'' as Detective David Toma, Nino Schibetta in '' Oz'' (1997), and Joe D'Angelo in ''As the World Turns'' (2000–2003). I ...
chose to move on after completing his single season commitment to the series. The theme song, "Keep Your Eye on the Sparrow", was written by
Dave Grusin Robert David Grusin (born June 26, 1934) is an American composer, arranger, producer, jazz pianist, and band leader. He has composed many scores for feature films and television and has won numerous awards for his soundtrack and record work, incl ...
and Morgan Ames; initially an instrumental, lyrics were added in later seasons that were sung by
Sammy Davis, Jr. Samuel George Davis Jr. (December 8, 1925 – May 16, 1990) was an American singer, actor, comedian, dancer, and musician. At age two, Davis began his career in Vaudeville with his father Sammy Davis Sr. and the Will Mastin Trio, which t ...
Every episode of ''Baretta'' began with the song, which contained the motto, "Don't do the
crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definiti ...
if you can't do the time." According to Blake, studio executives did not want Davis's vocals for the theme song for fear that audiences would think ''Baretta'' was a black series. Blake threatened to leave production if Davis's recording was rejected. His bosses relented. 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 was an American brown-eyed soul group from Los Angeles, California, whose style incorporated various modern music genres including rock, funk, soul, blues, jazz, and salsa. The group's name came from the word Chicano, a term for Un ...
.
El Chicano El Chicano was an American brown-eyed soul group from Los Angeles, California, whose style incorporated various modern music genres including rock, funk, soul, blues, jazz, and salsa. The group's name came from the word Chicano, a term for Un ...
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 cockatoo Triton commonly refers to: * Triton (mythology), a Greek god * Triton (moon), a satellite of Neptune Triton may also refer to: Biology * Triton cockatoo, a parrot * Triton (gastropod), a group of sea snails * ''Triton'', a synonym of '' Tritur ...
s named Lalah and Weird Harold, the latter used as a stunt double for flying sequences.


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. In a 1996 TV interview with
Tom Snyder Thomas James Snyder (May 12, 1936 – July 29, 2007) was an American television personality, news anchor, and radio personality best known for his late night talk shows '' Tomorrow'', on NBC in the 1970s and 1980s, and '' The Late Late Show'' ...
, 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 n film"


Broadcast syndication

After its initial run in syndication beginning in 1979, the series later re-appeared on
TV Land TV Land is an American pay television channel owned by Paramount Global through its networks division's MTV Entertainment Group. It was originally launched as Nick at Nite’s TV Land as a spinoff of Nick at Nite programing block consisting e ...
in 1999 as part of a package of series licensed from
Universal Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company that is a subsidiary of Comcast ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of N ...
.
MeTV MeTV, an acronym for Memorable Entertainment Television, is an American broadcast television network owned by Weigel Broadcasting. Marketed as "The Definitive Destination for Classic TV", the network airs a variety of classic television progra ...
aired reruns of ''Baretta'' on Saturday afternoons in 2007. It was also aired on
WKAQ-TV WKAQ-TV (channel 2) is a television station in San Juan, Puerto Rico, serving as the U.S. territory's dual Telemundo and NBC outlet. It is owned and operated by the Telemundo Station Group subsidiary of NBCUniversal. WKAQ-TV's studios are loc ...
.


Home media

On October 29, 2002,
Universal Studios Universal Studios may refer to: * Universal Studios, Inc., an American media and entertainment conglomerate ** Universal Pictures, an American film studio ** Universal Studios Lot, a film and television studio complex * Various theme parks operat ...
released the first season of ''Baretta'' on Region 1 DVD in the United States. On July 26th, 2017, The Complete 2nd Season was released in the UK with French audio as the only audio option. The series has been rarely televised or even streamed since the late 2000s. Many have asserted that this is due to Blake's alleged involvement in the 2001 murder of his second wife
Bonnie Lee Bakley Bonny Lee Bakley (June 7, 1956 – May 4, 2001) was the second wife of actor Robert Blake, who was her tenth husband. Bakley was fatally shot while sitting in Blake's parked car near a restaurant in Studio City in May 2001. In 2002, Blake was ...
.


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 ''Barney Miller'' episode "Copycat", Detective Arthur Dietrich tells a copycat criminal that cops and committing a crime are not like they are depicted on television, and ends by saying, "And dat's the name of dat tune." In the film ''
Reservoir Dogs ''Reservoir Dogs'' is a 1992 American crime film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino in his feature-length directorial debut. It stars Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Chris Penn, Steve Buscemi, Lawrence Tierney, Michael Madsen, Tarant ...
'', 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." In the sitcom ''
That '70s Show ''That '70s Show'' is an American television teen sitcom that aired on Fox from August 23, 1998, to May 18, 2006. The series focuses on the lives of a group of six teenage friends living in the fictional town of Point Place, Wisconsin, from 197 ...
'', 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 ''Party Down'' is an American sitcom created and primarily written by John Enbom, Rob Thomas, Dan Etheridge, and Paul Rudd that premiered on the Starz network in the United States on March 20, 2009. The series follows a group of caterers in ...
'' 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 Fabbrica d'Armi Pietro Beretta (; "Pietro Beretta Weapons Factory") is a privately held Italian firearms manufacturing company operating in several countries. Its firearms are used worldwide for various civilian, law enforcement, and military p ...
pistol.


References


External links

*
TV Character Bio: Tony Baretta
at
TV Acres TV Acres was a website collecting information about characters, places, and things that have appeared on American television programs broadcast from the 1940s through today.Charles Bowen"TV Acres Covers the Cultural Landscape Of Our Time" ''Edit ...

Roy Huggins discusses the creation of ''Baretta'' in an Archive of American Television Interview
{{Stephen J. Cannell 1975 American television series debuts 1978 American television series endings 1970s American crime drama television series American detective television series American English-language television shows Television series by Stephen J. Cannell Productions Television series by Universal Television Television shows set in New Jersey Television series created by Stephen J. Cannell American Broadcasting Company television dramas