Petrocelli (NBC 1974-1976, Barry Newman, Susan Howard)

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 final 3 episodes went unaired at the time.

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

production details
USA / NBC / 45×60 minute episodes / Broadcast Wednesday 11 September 1974 – Wednesday 3 March 1976

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

THE EPISODES
SEASON ONE 11 September 1974 – 2 April 1975
1. THE GOLDEN CAGE (11 Sep 74)
2. MUSIC TO DIE BY (18 Sep 74)
3. BY REASON OF MADNESS (25 Sep 74)
4. EDGE OF EVIL (2 Oct 74)
5. A LIFE FOR A LIFE (9 Oct 74)
6. DEATH IN HIGH PLACES (23 Oct 74)
7. THE DOUBLE NEGATIVE (30 Oct 74)
8. MIRROR, MIRROR ON THE WALL… (6 Nov 74)
9. AN ACT OF LOVE (13 Nov 74)
10. A VERY LONELY LADY (27 Nov 74)
11. COUNTERPLOY (4 Dec 74)
12. A COVENANT WITH EVIL (18 Dec 74)
13. THE SLEEP OF REASON (15 Jan 75)
14. A FALLEN IDOL (22 Jan 75)
15. ONCE UPON A VICTIM (29 Jan 75)
16. THE KIDNAPPING (5 Feb 75)
17. A LONELY VICTIM (19 Feb 75)
18. THE OUTSIDERS (26 Feb 75)
19. VENGEANCE IN WHITE (5 Mar 75)
20. FOUR THE HARD WAY (13 Mar 75)
21. DEATH IN SMALL DOSES (27 Mar 75)
22. A NIGHT OF TERROR (2 Apr 75)

SEASON TWO 10 September 1975 – 3 March 1976
1. DEATH RIDE (10 Sep 75)
2. MARK OF CAIN (17 Sep 75)
3. FIVE YARDS OF TROUBLE (24 Sep 75)
4. SHADOW OF FEAR (1 Oct 75)
5. CHAIN OF COMMAND (8 Oct 75)
6. TO SEE NO EVIL (29 Oct 75)
7. TERROR ON WHEELS (5 Nov 75)
8. THE GAMBLERS (12 Nov 75)
9. TERROR BY THE BOOK (10 Dec 75)
10. FACE OF EVIL (17 Dec 75)
11. TOO MANY ALIBIS (24 Dec 75)
12. A DEADLY VOW (31 Dec 75)
13. THE FALLING STAR (21 Jan 76)
14. SURVIVAL (28 Jan 76)
15. THE NIGHT VISITOR (4 Feb 76)
16. BLOOD MONEY (11 Feb 76)
17. ANY NUMBER CAN DIE (18 Feb 76)
18. SIX STRINGS OF GUILT (25 Feb 76)
19. DEADLY JOURNEY (3 Mar 76)
20. THE PAY OFF
21. SHADOW OF A DOUBT
22. JUBILEE JONES