# Petrocelli

Petrocelli is an American legal drama that ran for two seasons on NBC from September 11, 1974, to March 31, 1976.

## 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.
| Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date |
| "Night Games" | Don Taylor | E. Jack Neuman | March 16, 1974 (1974-03-16) |

### Season 1 (1974–75)

| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date |
| 1 | 1 | "The Golden Cage" | Joseph Pevney | Story by : Eric Bercovici Teleplay by : Dan Ullman | September 11, 1974 (1974-09-11) |
| 2 | 2 | "Music to Die By" | Paul Stanley | Oliver Crawford | September 18, 1974 (1974-09-18) |
| 3 | 3 | "By Reason of Madness" | James Sheldon | William Kelley | September 25, 1974 (1974-09-25) |
| 4 | 4 | "Edge of Evil" | Irving J. Moore | Story by : Mel Goldberg Teleplay by : Dan Ullman | October 2, 1974 (1974-10-02) |
| 5 | 5 | "A Life for a Life" | Allen Reisner | William D. Gordon & James Doherty | October 9, 1974 (1974-10-09) |
| 6 | 6 | "Death in High Places" | Richard Donner | Leo Pipkin | October 23, 1974 (1974-10-23) |
| 7 | 7 | "The Double Negative" | Herb Wallerstein | Robert C. Dennis | October 30, 1974 (1974-10-30) |
| 8 | 8 | "Mirror, Mirror on the Wall..." | Irving J. Moore | Leonard Katzman | November 6, 1974 (1974-11-06) |
| 9 | 9 | "An Act of Love" | Paul Stanley | Leonard Katzman | November 13, 1974 (1974-11-13) |
| 10 | 10 | "A Very Lonely Lady" | Vincent McEveety | Robert Stull | November 27, 1974 (1974-11-27) |
| 11 | 11 | "Counterploy" | James Sheldon | Edward J. Lakso | December 4, 1974 (1974-12-04) |
| 12 | 12 | "A Covenant with Evil" | James Sheldon | Story by : Bob Green & Bill Harley Teleplay by : Bob Green & Bill Harley & William Kelley | December 18, 1974 (1974-12-18) |
| 13 | 13 | "The Sleep of Reason" | Irving J. Moore | William Kelley | January 15, 1975 (1975-01-15) |
| 14 | 14 | "A Fallen Idol" | Herb Wallerstein | Leonard Katzman | January 22, 1975 (1975-01-22) |
| 15 | 15 | "Once Upon a Victim" | Herschel Daugherty | Story by : Stanley Roberts Teleplay by : Leonard Katzman & Stanley Roberts | January 29, 1975 (1975-01-29) |
| 16 | 16 | "The Kidnapping" | Gunnar Hellstrom | Robert C. Dennis | February 5, 1975 (1975-02-05) |
| 17 | 17 | "A Lonely Victim" | Irving J. Moore | Leonard Katzman | February 19, 1975 (1975-02-19) |
| 18 | 18 | "The Outsiders" | Irving J. Moore | Leonard Katzman & Thomas L. Miller | February 26, 1975 (1975-02-26) |
| 19 | 19 | "Vengeance in White" | Leonard Katzman | Robert Stull | March 5, 1975 (1975-03-05) |
| 20 | 20 | "Four the Hard Way" | Joseph Pevney | William Kelley | March 13, 1975 (1975-03-13) |
| 21 | 21 | "Death in Small Doses" | Don Taylor | Al Reynolds & John Dawson | March 27, 1975 (1975-03-27) |
| 22 | 22 | "A Night of Terror" | Bernard McEveety | William Kelley | April 2, 1975 (1975-04-02) |

### Season 2 (1975–76)

| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date |
| 23 | 1 | "Death Ride" | Irving J. Moore | Leonard Katzman | September 10, 1975 (1975-09-10) |
| 24 | 2 | "The Mark of Cain" | Leonard Katzman | Leonard Katzman | September 17, 1975 (1975-09-17) |
| 25 | 3 | "Five Yards of Trouble" | Joseph Pevney | William Keys | September 24, 1975 (1975-09-24) |
| 26 | 4 | "Shadow of Fear" | Irving J. Moore | Leonard Katzman | October 1, 1975 (1975-10-01) |
| 27 | 5 | "Chain of Command" | Herb Wallerstein | Katharyn & Michael Michaelian | October 8, 1975 (1975-10-08) |
| 28 | 6 | "To See No Evil" | Irving J. Moore | Leonard Katzman & Thomas L. Miller | October 29, 1975 (1975-10-29) |
| 29 | 7 | "Terror on Wheels" | Herb Wallerstein | Story by : Peter Lefcourt Teleplay by : Peter Lefcourt & Leonard Katzman | November 5, 1975 (1975-11-05) |
| 30 | 8 | "The Gamblers" | Herb Wallerstein | John Hudock | November 12, 1975 (1975-11-12) |
| 31 | 9 | "Shadow of Doubt" | Irving J. Moore | Story by : Deena Silver-Kramer Teleplay by : Jeff Myrow | November 19, 1975 (1975-11-19) |
| 32 | 10 | "Terror by Book" | Irving J. Moore | Thomas L. Miller | December 10, 1975 (1975-12-10) |
| 33 | 11 | "Face of Evil" | Herb Wallerstein | Fred Freiberger | December 17, 1975 (1975-12-17) |
| 34 | 12 | "Too Many Alibis" | Irving J. Moore | Leonard Katzman | December 24, 1975 (1975-12-24) |
| 35 | 13 | "A Deadly Vow" | Russ Mayberry | Leonard Katzman | December 31, 1975 (1975-12-31) |
| 36 | 14 | "Jubilee Jones" | Art Fisher | Leonard Katzman | January 14, 1976 (1976-01-14) |
| 37 | 15 | "The Falling Star" | Robert Scheerer | Leonard Katzman | January 21, 1976 (1976-01-21) |
| 38 | 16 | "Survival" | Irving J. Moore | Story by : Norman Lessing Teleplay by : Leonard Katzman | January 28, 1976 (1976-01-28) |
| 39 | 17 | "The Night Visitor" | Leonard Katzman | Jeff Myrow & Leonard Katzman | February 4, 1976 (1976-02-04) |
| 40 | 18 | "Blood Money" | Don Weis | John Hudock | February 11, 1976 (1976-02-11) |
| 41 | 19 | "Any Number Can Die" | Paul Lynch | Kathy Donnell & Madeline DiMaggio | February 18, 1976 (1976-02-18) |
| 42 | 20 | "Six Strings of Guilt" | Joseph Pevney | Mann Rubin | February 25, 1976 (1976-02-25) |
| 43 | 21 | "Deadly Journey" | Jerry London | Sean Forestal | March 3, 1976 (1976-03-03) |
| 44 | 22 | "The Pay Off" | Victor French | John Hudock | April 4, 1976 (1976-04-04) |

## Guest stars

* Anne Archer
* Ned Beatty
* Stefanie Powers
* Lucille Benson
* Lynn Borden
* Nancy Criss
* Kim Darby
* Susan Dey
* 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.

## Books about the series

* Petrocelli: San Remo Justice: An Episode Guide and Much More by Sandra Grabman, published 2018 by BearManor Media. ISBN 978-1-62933-205-5