Michael D. Roberts Movies

This time, undercover cop Tony Baretta (Robert Blake) goes behind bars to nab a master criminal. Posing as a convict, Baretta blends into the prison population in search of a minor-league jewel thief. His real target, however, is the genius who commandeered a huge jewel theft -- and ordered two brutal murders in the process. Guest stars include future Oscar winner Tommy Lee Jones and soon-to-be CHiPs star Erik Estrada. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Sanford and Son regular Whitman Mayo guest stars as John Rich, a ghetto father whose son is "on the junk." Witnessing the murder of the dope pusher who hooked his son, John takes credit for the killing, thereby becoming a neighborhood hero. He also becomes the next target of the pusher's real killers, obliging undercover cop Tony Baretta (Robert Blake) to come to the rescue. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Kim Hunter guest stars as Crazy Annie, a skid row derelict. Undercover detective Tony Baretta (Robert Blake) invades the shadowy, squalid world of Annie and her fellow down-and-outers as he searches for an elusive killer. Before he quite knows what has happened, Baretta is kidnapped by Annie, who is convinced that the cop is her long-lost son. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Several teenage lawbreakers from a so-called honor farm escape their captors while appearing in court. The kids hijack a bus and take two police officers as hostage. As the escapees demand a plane to Cuba, undercover cop Tony Baretta (Robert Blake) tries to straighten out the tense situation with a minimum of violence. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In search of a courier for stolen diamonds, undercover cop Tony Baretta (Robert Blake) boards a cross-country bus. The problem: Baretta has no idea what the courier looks like. A bigger problem: The bus is being closely followed by the mastermind of the diamond heist, who intends to exact a horrible revenge from his double-crossing henchmen. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Geraldine Brooks guest stars as Judge Anna Gavin, who years ago straightened out the life of an aimless teenage punk named Tony Baretta. Now all grown up, Baretta (Robert Blake) is an undercover cop, eternally grateful to the dedicated female jurist who directed him toward the straight and narrow. Alas, all is not well with Judge Gavin, who is being blackmailed by the slimy loan shark over whose trial she is currently presiding. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the opening episode of Baretta's third season, undercover cop Tony Baretta (Robert Blake) searches for the thugs who killed a young Nisei girl. Complications ensue when the dead girl's father takes the traditional Japanese vow to kill everyone connected with his daughter's death. Could this mean that Baretta himself is on the grieving father's list? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Undercover cop Tony Baretta (Robert Blake) works side by side with a federal agent to find the courier for a dealer in illegal weapons. Normally, Baretta's assignment would be fraught with danger. This time, however, that danger comes from an unsuspected but deadly source: Tony, his partner, and the fugitive have all been exposed to a particularly vicious form of contagious spinal meningitis. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this first episode of Baretta's second season, undercover cop Tony Baretta (Robert Blake) goes after heroin dealers who are trafficking in a very pure, and very lethal, grade of the addictive drug. Singer-composer Paul Williams, who co-wrote the script, guest stars as a music emporium owner who sidelines as a dope pusher -- and who is unwittingly doling out the deadly "horse." Edward Grover joins the cast as Lt. Hal Brubaker. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A pre-One Day at a Time Mackenzie Phillips guest stars as Mindy, a runaway teenager. Undercover cop Tony Baretta (Robert Blake) manages to catch up to Mindy and to handcuff himself to the girl. Anxious to return to headquarters, Baretta and Mindy clamber into a police squad car and ask the uniformed drivers for a lift. Unfortunately, the two "cops" at the wheel turn out to be a pair of homicidal holdup men (played by Strother Martin and Gary Busey). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Rocky co-star Burt Young makes his second Baretta appearance, this time in the role of immigrant Jewish watchmaker Solomon Goldfarb. No stranger to persecution, Goldfarb defiantly stands up to a gang of protection extortionists who have been terrorizing his neighborhood. Undercover cop Tony Baretta (Robert Blake) makes it his personal mission to protect Goldfarb from mob retribution. The actual telecast date of this episode is in doubt: Originally scheduled for November 19, 1975, it was reportedly not seen until over a year later, on December 29, 1976. However, a summer 1976 telecast of the episode was listed as a "rerun" in the pages of TV Guide, suggesting that "The Big Hand's on Trouble" first aired sometime in December 1975. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Tony Baretta (Robert Blake) goes undercover as a stevedore to investigate a series of dockside murders. Unfortunately, a waitress with a long-standing grudge against Baretta recognizes him. Will she blow the whistle on his cover, thereby putting both Tony and herself in jeopardy? Susan Tyrrell essays a dual role in this episode. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Charles Durning guest stars as Hatch, a veteran safecracker whom undercover cop Tony Baretta (Robert Blake) sent to prison. When a series of jewelry store robberies hits his district, Baretta realizes that there is only one man who can help him bring the perps to justice. Need it be added that the man in question is none other than the hapless Hatch? Former B-Western leading lady Peggy Stewart appears in a cameo role as a teacher. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide