PETROCELLI

USA / NBC / 45x60m-e / 1974-76

First Episode: Wednesday 11 September 1974 / 10.00pm
Last Episode: Wednesday 3 March 1976 / 10.00pm

Crime drama series that followed San Remo lawyer Anthony Petrocelli on his cases. Petrocelli had moved from the East to the Southwest with his wife Maggie and for most of the shows run lived in a trailer whilst they set about building their own house (brick by brick).

Petrocelli developed a habit of getting personally involved with his cases and he was never too worried about whether his clients could afford to pay for his services hence the fact that his house took rather a long time to build.

Petrocelli also usually found himself on opposite sides to Lt Ponce (who he was in fact on pretty good terms with) whilst conducting his investigations. Petrocelli was also helped by Pete Ritter who did a lot of Petrocelli’s legwork for him.

The episodes usually made ample use of flashbacks as various suspects recounted their (differing) accounts of the crime.

The character of Petrocelli had previously been played by Barry Newman in a 1970 film called The Lawyer.

cast
BARRY NEWMAN as Antony Petrocelli
SUSAN HOWARD as Maggie Petrocelli
ALBERT SALMI as Pete Ritter
DAVID HUDDLESTON as Lt John Ponce