Petrocelli
Template:Short description Script error: No such module "about". Template:DMCA Template:Infobox television/Short description
Page Module:Infobox/styles.css has no content.Page Template:Infobox television/styles.css has no content.
| Script error: No such module "Infobox television". | |
|---|---|
| Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:InfoboxImage/data' not found. Barry Newman as Tony Petrocelli | |
| Created by | Harold Buchman Sidney J. Furie |
| Developed by | E. Jack Neuman |
| Directed by | Irving J. Moore |
| Starring | Barry Newman Susan Howard Albert Salmi David Huddleston |
| ComposerTemplate:Pluralize from text | Lalo Schifrin (pilot, 2.2) |
| Template:Pluralize from text of origin | United States |
| Original languageTemplate:Pluralize from text | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 45 (4 unaired) (and one pilot movie) |
| Production | |
| Executive producerTemplate:Pluralize from text | Edward K. Milkis Thomas L. Miller |
| ProducerTemplate:Pluralize from text | Leonard Katzman |
| Camera setup | Single-camera |
| Running time | 48 minutes |
| Production Template:Pluralize from text | Miller-Milkis Productions Paramount Network Television |
| Original release | |
| Network | NBC |
| Release | Script error: No such module "Infobox/dates". |
| Release | Script error: No such module "Infobox/dates". |
| Release | Script error: No such module "Infobox/dates". |
| Release | Script error: No such module "Infobox/dates". |
| Release | Script error: No such module "Infobox/dates". |
| Release | Script error: No such module "Infobox/dates". |
| Release | Script error: No such module "Infobox/dates". |
| Release | Script error: No such module "Infobox/dates". |
| Template:If preview | |
Script error: No such module "Infobox television".Script error: No such module "Infobox television disambiguation check".Script error: No such module "Check for conflicting parameters".Script error: No such module "Check for deprecated parameters".
Petrocelli is an American legal drama that ran for two seasons on NBC from September 11, 1974, to March 3, 1976.[1]
Plot
Tony Petrocelli is an Italian-American, Harvard-educated lawyer, who grew up in South Boston and gave up the big money and frenetic pace of major-metropolitan life to practice in a sleepy city in Arizona named San Remo (filmed in Tucson, Arizona). His wife Maggie and he live in a house trailer in the country while waiting for their new home to be built (it never was completed over the course of the series). Tony drives an old pickup truck, always a little too fast. Petrocelli hired Pete Ritter, a local cowboy and ex-cop, as his investigator.
Format
Petrocelli works as a defense lawyer, and each episode follows a similar format, with the clients apparently certain to be convicted of a crime of which they were innocent until a late-emerging piece of evidence allows the protagonist to suggest to the jury an alternative possibility. These alternatives never were established as absolute fact, and the trial of the persons onto whom Petrocelli turned the accusation never occurred, but the doubt raised was sufficient to secure the release of his clients.
A technique used in the TV series was showing the actual crime in flashbacks from the perspective of various people involved. The flashbacks differed depending on whose recollections were being shown. To maximize the drama, the prosecution's version was always the first flashback shown (i.e. what supposedly happened), then the client's version was presented (what the client remembered happening), then, finally, after finishing his investigation, Petrocelli presented his version (generally meant to be what, in fact, occurred). This final flashback always contained elements of the prosecution's and his client's versions, but with his newfound evidence; it showed both the client's innocence and an explanation as to how and why the prosecution and client's versions differed. In other words, neither side was meant to be corrupt or lying, rather, without Petrocelli's information, both previous versions appeared to be accurate from their respective points of view.
Adaptation
Newman created the role of Petrocelli in the 1970 movie The Lawyer, loosely based on the Sam Sheppard murder case. Petrocelli was produced by Leonard Katzman.
Cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Barry Newman | Anthony J. Petrocelli |
| Susan Howard | Maggie Petrocelli |
| Albert Salmi | Pete Ritter |
| David Huddleston | Lt. John Ponce |
Episodes
Pilot (1974)
A 90-minute TV movie aired as a pilot on March 16, 1974.[2][3]
Script error: No such module "Episode table".
Season 1 (1974–75)
Script error: No such module "Episode table".
Season 2 (1975–76)
Script error: No such module "Episode table".
Guest stars
- Anne Archer
- Ned Beatty
- Stefanie Powers
- Lucille Benson
- Lynn Borden
- Nancy Criss
- Kim Darby
- Susan Dey
- Bobby Eilbacher[4]
- Harrison Ford
- Ron Foster
- Alan Fudge
- Lynda Day George
- Louis Gossett Jr.
- Harold Gould
- Mark Hamill
- Robert Hooks
- Julie Kavner
- Sally Kirkland
- Kay Lenz
- Strother Martin
- Debbie McGee
- Gerald McRaney
- Belinda Montgomery
- Lee Montgomery
- James Naughton
- Annette O'Toole
- Della Reese
- Peter Mark Richman
- Robbie Rist
- John Ritter
- Marion Ross
- John Saxon
- Simon Scott
- William Shatner
- Loretta Swit
- Joan Van Ark
- Mitch Vogel
- Cindy Williams
- Noble Willingham
- William Windom
Home media
Visual Entertainment released the complete series on DVD in Region 1 on December 16, 2016.[5]
Books about the series
- Petrocelli: San Remo Justice: An Episode Guide and Much More by Sandra Grabman, published 2018 by BearManor Media. Template:ISBN
References
Page Template:Reflist/styles.css has no content.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Petrocelli". The New York Times.
- ^ Night Games at IMDbTemplate:Edit at Wikidata
- ^ Petrocelli at epguides.comTemplate:Edit at Wikidata
- ^ Robinson, Johnny (February 19, 1975). "Complete Schedule of Programs for Radio and TV". Lewiston Sun-Journal. p. 21. Retrieved July 28, 2025. "Mary Thorpe (Anjanette Comer), who had been having an affair with her boss until he was slain, becomes the prime suspect in the case in 'A Lonely Victim.' When young Billy Thorpe (Bobby Eilbacher) shows up in Petrocelli's office seeking help for his mother, Petrocelli agrees to take the case."
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Petrocelli DVD news: Announcement for The Complete Collection - TVShowsOnDVD.com". tvshowsondvd.com. Archived from the original on December 20, 2016.
