Television series

Baretta

Name: Baretta
Genre: Action, Adventure
Released: 1975
Cast: Robert Blake, Tom Ewell, Edward Grover, Dana Elcar

A rumpled, cockatoo-owning undercover cop works Los Angeles' seediest corners in disguises and cheap suits, more street philosopher than badge-flashing tough guy. It's pure funky, synth-and-wah-wah '70s cop television: episodic, morally simple, occasionally goofy, but Robert Blake's twitchy, generous performance gives it real texture. Good for anyone nostalgic for pre-CSI policing or curious what television looked like before it got self-serious.

TVMaze rating

6.0

If you liked this

The Rockford Files1974

Same decade, same shabby apartments and rule-bent justice, but funnier and wearier — Jim Rockford is what Baretta would be if he'd been burned once too often and stopped pretending otherwise.

But Slower paced, more conversation than action; if you want fistfights every episode this isn't it.

Kojak1973

Telly Savalas chewing lollipops and scenery in a grimier, more procedural New York cop show from the exact same TV moment — catchphrase-driven, streetwise, unapologetically pulpy.

But Kojak is slicker and more polished than Baretta's ragged charm; some of the grit gets sanded off.

Serpico1973

The real-life undercover cop story that Baretta's whole persona is clearly borrowing from — Al Pacino, beard and all, going native inside a corrupt department.

But Far more serious and downbeat; no cockatoo, no quips, just institutional rot and a man alone in it.

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

The Naked City1948

This is the ancestor of Baretta's whole aesthetic — the idea that a cop show's real star is the city itself, full of ordinary faces and 'eight million stories.' Baretta just added funk and a bird.

Shot on real New York streets with a documentary eye decades before that became fashionable, following a homicide investigation through the city's actual grime and crowds.

But Black-and-white, deliberately paced, and narrated in a style that now feels quaint and formal.

The French Connection1971

Gritty, sweaty, handheld New York policing that set the template every '70s cop show including this one was chasing — real streets, real exhaustion, no glamour.

But Cold and clinical where Baretta is warm; Gene Hackman's Popeye Doyle is far less likeable than Blake's hero.

Starsky & Hutch1975no page yet

The buddy-cop flipside of the same era — flashier car, brighter colours, more banter, less loneliness, but the same undercover street hustle and funk-driven momentum.

But Two cops instead of one changes the whole rhythm; less interior, more spectacle.

The Streets of San Francisco1972

A veteran-and-rookie detective pairing working the same kind of location-heavy, character-first cases, with Karl Malden anchoring things the way Blake does here.

But More conventional structure, less eccentric lead performance — steadier but less distinctive.

Dirty Harry1971

The blueprint for the rule-breaking loner cop who trusts his own instincts over the department — Eastwood colder and more violent than Blake, but the same DNA.

But Much harder-edged and politically blunt; none of Baretta's scrappy warmth or humour.

Columbo1968

Contemporary to Baretta but a total tonal swap — a rumpled, underestimated detective who wins by patience and psychology rather than fists, if you want the cerebral cousin.

But Almost no action and a fixed inverted-mystery format; very different pleasures entirely.

Hill Street Blues1981

Watch the loner-cop genre grow up — same streets and struggling precincts, but ensemble-driven, serialized, and far more interested in institutional mess than heroics.

But Slower, denser, more soap-operatic; loses the episodic simplicity that makes Baretta easy comfort viewing.

The Thin Blue Line1988

It's the sober underside of the maverick-cop myth Baretta sells nightly: what happens when the system's rule-bending goes wrong instead of righteously right.

Errol Morris's landmark documentary reconstructs a wrongful murder conviction, interrogating the same world of cops, informants, and street justice Baretta romanticizes — except this one is true and devastating.

But No heroics, no resolution to root for — it's a slow-burn indictment, not entertainment in any comfortable sense.

Reno 911!2003

Same beats, same posture, same episodic cop-of-the-week structure — just filmed as farce instead of drama, exposing how thin the line between the two always was.

A mockumentary sheriff's department show that skewers exactly the tropes Baretta plays straight — the radio chatter, the oddball partners, the improvised busts, the swagger.

But Broad, deliberately dumb comedy with no plots to speak of; if you want the genuine article played earnestly, this will feel like mockery.