Baretta

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 also learned not to go to bed with a price on my head. That I should also always keep my eye on the sparrow when the going gets narrow. That I shouldn't roll the dice if I can't pay the price, and that I should never run my feet down a dead-end street. Solid lessons. The way TV used to be.

Thursday nights just wouldn't have been the same growing up without Baretta. The show was tough and dirty and gritty and all the things my middle class suburban family upbringing wasn't. It was a view of the outside world, and Tony Baretta was the tour guide to all of the foul things that were waiting out there in "The City." He was the protector. The show was effectively lightened, though, by comedic parts by Rooster, the pimp/informant, and by Baretta himself, who could don some pretty outrageous costumes when he went "undercover." TV in the '70's didn't allow any profanity, of course - but even at age 12, I knew Baretta would have cursed like a sailor. Baretta was real - he lost people he cared about to crime, and he went on drinking binges and lashed out at people he cared about when he got emotional.

The first season on DVD is a must-have if you like crime drama. Along with "Hill Street Blues" and "CSI," Baretta defines the genre and set the stage for the others by giving us substantive supporting characters and an ensemble cast that only got better with successive seasons. Hopefully, with the recent acquittal of Robert Blake, season 2 will be released on DVD soon.

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.

I'm just now getting around to watching all of these episodes since I got them. They are hard hitting, tearful, funny, and amazing. Especially the episode, "The Coppelli Oath."

You owe it to yourself to check in to this detective series and add it to your library, not just for yourself, but for your friends to see as well.

Very nicely done for such an old show. A lot can be learned about humanity and handling difficult life situations in this. Especially if it involves crime.