Baretta - Overview

Overview

Detective Anthony Vincenzo "Tony" Baretta is an unorthodox plainclothes cop (badge #609) with the 53rd precinct, who lives with Fred, his Triton Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, in apartment 2C at the run-down King Edward Hotel in an unnamed Eastern city (presumably Newark, New Jersey).

Supporting characters include:

Billy Truman (Tom Ewell), the elderly hotel manager/house detective, who used to work with Tony’s father Louie at the 53rd Precinct.
Rooster (Michael D. Roberts), a streetwise pimp and Tony's favorite informant.
Tony's supervisors Inspector Shiller (Dana Elcar) and Lieutenant Hal Brubaker (Edward Grover).
Detective Foley (John Ward), an irritating stick-in-the-mud.
"Fats" (Chino 'Fats' Williams), a gravelly-voiced black detective who goes on stakeouts with Tony.
Detective Nopke (Ron Thompson), a rookie who admires Baretta‘s street smarts.
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.

Like his model David Toma, Tony Baretta wore many disguises on the job. When not in disguise, Baretta wore a T-shirt, jeans and a soft cap. He often carried an unlit cigarette in his lips or behind his ear. His catchphrases included "You can take dat to da bank" and "And dat‘s the name of dat tune." When exasperated he would occasionally speak in asides to his late father, Louie Baretta.

Tony drove a rusted-out 1966 Chevy Impala four-door sedan nicknamed "The Blue Ghost" (license plate 532 BEN). He hung out at Ross’s Billiard Academy and referred to his numerous girlfriends as his "cousins".

The theme song, "Keep Your Eye on the Sparrow", was written by Dave Grusin and Morgan Ames; initially an instrumental, lyrics were added in later seasons that were sung by Sammy Davis, Jr. Every episode of Baretta began with the song, which contained the motto, "Don't do the crime if you can't do the time." The song was released as a single in Europe in 1976, reaching number one in the Dutch Top 40 as "Baretta's Theme".

After its initial run in syndication beginning in 1979, the series later re-appeared on TV Land in 1999 as part of a package of series licensed from Universal. The show has not aired in over a decade.