Keep Your Eye on the Sparrow
| Baretta | |
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Baretta title screen
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| Genre | Detective fiction |
| Created by | Stephen J. Cannell |
| Starring | |
| Theme music composer |
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| Opening theme |
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| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 4 |
| No. of episodes | 82 (list of episodes) |
| Production company(s) |
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| Distributor | NBCUniversal Television Distribution |
| Release | |
| Original network | ABC |
| Original release | January 17, 1975 – May 18, 1978 |
| Chronology | |
| Preceded by | Toma |
Baretta is an American detective television series which ran on ABC from 1975 to 1978. The show was a revised milder version of a 1973–74 ABC series, Toma, starring Tony Musante as chameleon-like, real-life New Jersey police officer David Toma. When Musante left the series after a single season, the concept was retooled as Baretta, with Robert Blake in the title role.
Detective Anthony Vincenzo "Tony" Baretta is an unorthodox plainclothes cop (badge #609) with the 53rd precinct, who lives with Fred, his Triton sulphur-crested cockatoo, in apartment 2C at the run-down King Edward Hotel in an unnamed, fictional city. A master of disguise, Baretta wore many while performing his duties. When not working he usually wore a short-sleeve sweatshirt, casual slacks, a brown suede jacket and a newsboy cap.
Baretta was often seen with an unlit cigarette in his lips or behind his ear. His catchphrases included "You can take dat to da bank" and "And dat‘s the name of dat tune." When exasperated he would occasionally speak in asides to his late father, Louie Baretta. He drove a rusted-out Mist Blue 1966 Chevrolet Impala four-door sport sedan nicknamed "The Blue Ghost" (license plate 532 BEM). He hung out at Ross’s Billiard Academy and referred to his numerous girlfriends as his "cousins".
"Keep Your Eye on the Sparrow," the show's theme music was composed by Dave Grusin and Morgan Ames and sung by Sammy Davis, Jr.
The theme song, "Keep Your Eye on the Sparrow", was written by Dave Grusin and Morgan Ames; initially an instrumental, lyrics were added in later seasons that were sung by Sammy Davis, Jr. Every episode of Baretta began with the song, which contained the motto, "Don't do the crime if you can't do the time." The song was released as a single in Europe in 1976, reaching number one in the Dutch Top 40 as "Baretta's Theme". The music for the theme song was performed by Los Angeles-based Latin influenced Rock band El Chicano from Los Angeles, California. El Chicano also released the song as a 45 and also as a track on one of their albums. The "Baretta" theme song by El Chicano was a huge hit in many countries including Turkey, Malaysia, Singapore, France and The Philippines.
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