Baretta
The Ninja
TV Flash files “The Ninja” as a desk essential hour — Baretta (1975–1978) on ABC, season 3, episode 1, aired 1976-09-22, 60 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S03E01: listed hour 35 of 82 in the Baretta guide, first listed hour of season 3. It aired 1976-09-22 (60 min). The listed hour before it is “And Down Will Come Baby” (S02E22). Next is “Soldier in the Jungle” (S03E02).
Essential hour: “The Ninja”. The Ninja is mid-run undercover as a marquee word. 1970s cop television chasing a look: Blake still the intensity, Fred still the bird, the hour still disguises before procedure.
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
Baretta tries to stop a Japanese martial arts expert from taking personal revenge on the mobsters who murdered his daughter.
Viewer FAQ
Where does The Ninja sit in the Baretta guide?
S03E01 is listed hour 35 of 82 — first listed hour of season 3, season 3 episode 1.
When did Baretta S03E01 air?
The Ninja aired 1976-09-22 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…