Petrocelli (1974–1976)

Tony Petrocelli is an Italian-American Harvard-educated lawyer who gave up the big money and frenetic pace of major-metropolitan life to practice in a sleepy city in the American Southwest.... See full summary »

Creators:

Harold Buchman, Sidney J. Furie

Stars:

Barry Newman, Susan Howard, Albert Salmi

Nominated for 2 Golden Globes. Another 1 win & 3 nominations.

Cast

Complete series cast summary:
Barry Newman	...	Anthony J. Petrocelli (44 episodes, 1974-1976)
Susan Howard	...	Maggie Petrocelli (44 episodes, 1974-1976)
Albert Salmi	...	Pete Ritter (44 episodes, 1974-1976)

Storyline

Tony Petrocelli is an Italian-American Harvard-educated lawyer who gave up the big money and frenetic pace of major-metropolitan life to practice in a sleepy city in the American Southwest. He and wife Maggie live in a trailer in the country while waiting for their new house to be built, and travel around in a beat-up old pickup truck. For a quiet rural area, Petrocelli seems to have no trouble running into his share of murderers to defend.

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Plot Keywords:

law | character name in title

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Genres:

Drama | Crime

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 September 1974 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Tucson, Arizona, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Miller-Milkis Productions, Paramount Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min 60 min (44 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Follows Night Games (1974)

User Reviews

Good show, but unethical

This series was excellent in all the primary attributes one looks for in a legal drama: the setting was fresh and new, the characters were interesting, the cast was always on the mark, and the writing was both believable and absorbing. I had a major complaint, however, with the most famous aspect of the show. What "Petrocelli" did different from other courtroom dramas was its dramatization of each witness's account of the crime. Unfortunately, this meant it visually presented false accounts--things that *never happened.* I know how rhetoricians, relativists, and post-modernists of every stripe love to debate the non-existence of objective truth, but prime-time television isn't the forum for such questions. It bothered me every time I watched the show, and every time it came up in discussion with others, they (almost to a one) agreed with me.