Baretta

Baretta has always been my favorite TV show. The character, Tony Baretta, created by Stephen J. Cannell and played so perfectly by Robert Blake, is one of the finest characters I've ever seen. The titles of the episodes are creative, the plots are very interesting, and the show provides a good balance of emotion. Baretta had a big influence on my early writing style. I still value the show today. >

One of the quirkiest cops in television series was Barreta played by Robert Blake who in real life got to see the other end of the criminal justice system. Loquacious and iconoclastic this was a guy who definitely followed his own beat.

Living with ex-cop Tom Ewell as a landlord and having a cockatoo named Fred as a companion, Baretta seemed completely dedicated to his job and didn't seem to have much of a social life. I'm betting that his friend Rooster the pimp who was his number one snitch supplied a little nookie for his pal. At least Rooster never called Baretta, an 'honorary soul brother' like Huggy Bear did with Starsky and Hutch.

Robert Blake who played some interesting roles like one of the GI rapists in Town Without Pity, one of the killers in In Cold Blood, serial killer John List was never traditional leading man material. As a kid he was best known for playing Little Beaver in the Red Ryder series and the Mexican kid who sold Humphrey Bogart the winning lottery ticket in The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre, Blake never was a teen heart throb. He was a born character actor and a character.

The quirky Baretta is hard to find on the nostalgia channels. That arrest for murdering his last gold digging wife even with an acquittal spelled finis for Robert Blake. A pity because Baretta took a unique approach to crime fighting.

And that's the name of that tune.

I agree with most of the other comments. That's a brilliant cop series, with a unusual character. But I must also say that the social worker cop side of this Baretta character annoyed me a lot, especially in the last episodes. It annoyed me at a scale you can't even imagine. I almost stopped seeing the show. If I want to see social line stories, I watch EAST SIDE WEST SIDE, which was an excellent, brilliant TV show. I have nothing against social stories, so close to reality, but a cop show must remain a cop show. It can speak of social background, settings, but it also must remain a cop, crime show. One of the highlight of the whole series is in the last season: STONE CONSPIRACY, where Baretta is falsely accused of bribery and has to face rogue cops, including his own friend. With a very unexpected ending. A story that leaves you a copper taste in the mouth. Excellent.

I have fond memories of Baretta, with one of the best TV themes ever. I watched this ages ago, and this was before a lot of water subsequenly passed under the bridge later on in Robert Blake's life. Still, this series had a lot of heart and humanity. Perhaps a reboot is necessary. I'd nominate British actor Danny Dyer to play Baretta. If Danny isn't available, then Luke Youngblood please.

When I was a little kid I would watch Baretta starring Robert Blake (known as child actor who played in "Our Gang") who later domineered his career as an adult actor. This cop has something that most cop series don't have humor, good times and bad times. Robert Blake was an excellent choice for street police detective Tony Baretta.