Baretta
Pay or Die
TV Flash files “Pay or Die” as hour 28 of 82 in the TV Flash guide — Baretta (1975–1978) on ABC, season 2, episode 16, aired 1976-01-28, 60 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S02E16: listed hour 28 of 82 in the Baretta guide, hour 16 of 22 in season 2. It aired 1976-01-28 (60 min). The listed hour before it is “Murder for Me” (S02E15). Next is “The Blood Bond” (S02E17).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
After a crime lord is arrested, Baretta must jeopardize an undercover policewoman to stop an escalating war of succession between gangland factions.
Viewer FAQ
Where does Pay or Die sit in the Baretta guide?
S02E16 is listed hour 28 of 82 — hour 16 of 22 in season 2, season 2 episode 16.
When did Baretta S02E16 air?
Pay or Die aired 1976-01-28 and is listed at 60 minutes.
Do I need Toma first?
No. Baretta replaced Toma as a Cannell vehicle for Blake. This undercover hour stands on its own street.
In the series
Why this series still plays
Robert Blake's undercover cop keeps a cockatoo named Fred and a theme America sang in parking lots. Street-level Spelling/Thomas toughness with disguises, informants, and a catchphrase about doing the time. Intensity on camera first; the later legal saga is extra-textual weather you already know.
The first image is a cockatoo named Fred and a cop who would not play pretty: Robert Blake's Tony Baretta in street-level disguises, informants, and a theme America sang in parking lots. ABC's Baretta (1975–1978), created by Stephen J. Cannell as a vehicle for Blake after Toma, ran four seasons, 82 episodes, in the Spelling/Thomas crime wave. Tom Ewell's Billy Truman and Michael D. Roberts's Rooster filled the orbit. Keep Your Eye on the Sparrow was a charting hit for Sammy Davis Jr. Don't do the crime if you…
Filed against
- Robert Blake as Det. Tony Baretta
Robert Blake's Det. Tony Baretta kept a cockatoo named Fred and a theme America sang in parking lots — street-level Spelling/Thomas toughness, disguises, informants, a catchphrase about doing the time. Intensity on camera first. TV Flash…
- Tom Ewell as Billy Truman
Tom Ewell occupied Baretta’s street-level orbit as Billy Truman — the civilian weather around Robert Blake’s undercover cop, a 1970s Spelling/Thomas hour with a cockatoo named Fred and a theme America sang in parking lots. Intensity…
- Michael D. Roberts as Rooster
Michael D. Roberts’s Rooster walked Baretta’s street-level toughness like an informant who had already heard the theme song — 1970s Spelling/Thomas cop hour, Robert Blake, a cockatoo named Fred, disguises, a catchphrase about doing the…