Baretta: Season One

It is a sordid fact of life that were it not for Robert Blake's newfound infamy as an accused wife murderer, Baretta, which lasted three seasons, might be relegated to late nights in TV Land. But as they say in Hollywood: there's no such thing as bad publicity. Ergo, this three-disc set containing all 12 episodes of this offbeat cop series' first season. Created by Stephen J. Cannell, whose eclectic credits range from The A-Team to The Rockford Files, the popular Baretta was a tailor-made star vehicle for the pugnacious Blake. In light of his present situation, however, lines such as "Don't do the crime if you can't do the time" and "Husbands have been known to sometimes kill their wives for money" take on a grimly prophetic resonance. But for '70s TV buffs, Baretta is more than a newly minted sick joke. An undercover cop in the Serpico-mode, Tony Baretta lives in the funky, rundown King Edwards Motel with his scene-stealing pet cockatoo. Adopting a variety of guises to help catch his quarry, Baretta regularly butts heads with his excitable superior (Dana Elcar, replaced in season two by Edward Grover, after real clashes with star Blake), much like your standard issue rule-bending loner cop. But he is also much wilder than your average Joe Friday; in one episode, he tries to convince his date to go back to his apartment so she can give him his "birthday present." She tells him "that will take until four in the morning" (way to go, Baretta!). With its memorably offbeat score, Baretta is time capsule television. And as he was fond of saying, "you can take that to the bank." An optional purchase. [Note: also available, the single-disc Best of Baretta, featuring three episodes, for $19.98.] (K. Lee Benson)