Series Description

The Petrocelli TV show was a 60 minute legal action series on NBC about an Italian-American Lawyer who graduated from Harvard in anticipation of a wealthy life in a Boston, Massachusetts legal practice. After deciding that life was not for him, he and his wife moved to the small town of San Remo, Arizona where they lived in a trailer and drove around in an old junker of a pickup truck. That inexpensive lifestyle allowed Petrocelli to take on cases involving people who were innocent but seemed likely to be convicted of major crimes which were, in most cases, murder. Petrocelli somehow always managed to find some evidence that had eluded everyone else and offered an alternate suspect in the crime.

Petrocelli Cast

Barry Newman .... Anthony J. Petrocelli
Susan Howard .... Maggie Petrocelli
Albert Salmi .... Pete Ritter
David Huddleston .... Lieutenant John Ponce

Petrocelli Trivia

There were three episodes of the Petrocelli TV show that were produced but were not broadcast. Their titles were: "The Payoff", "Shadow of a Doubt", and "Jubilee Jones".

One of the most interesting aspects of the Petrocelli TV show was that the crime was often shown from the viewpoint of several witnesses in a flashback format and the events typically didn't match from one witness to the other. It showed that even eye witness accounts are often unreliable because people don't always see what they think they saw.

The Petrocellie character was based upon the attorney who defended an innocent murder suspect who seemed certain to be guilty in the 1970 film titled, "The Lawyer". That movie was loosely based on the Sam Sheppard murder trial. It seems likely that trial also inspired two TV series titled, "The Fugitive" and a movie with the same title but the creators of those series and film have always denied that claim.

Episodes List With Original Air Dates

The Pilot Episodes

The Lawyer (1970 Theatrical Film)
Night Games (90 Minutes) (3/16/1974)

Season 1

1. The Golden Cage (9/11/1974)
2. Music to Die By (9/18/1974)
3. By Reason of Madness (9/25/1974)
4. Edge of Evil (10/2/1974)
5. A Life for a Life (10/9/1974)
6. Death in High Places (10/23/1974)
7. Double Negative (10/30/1974)
8. Mirror, Mirror, on the Wall (11/6/1974)
9. An Act of Love (11/13/1974)
10. A Very Lonely Lady (11/27/1974)
11. Counterplay (12/4/1974)
12. A Covenant with Evil (12/18/1974)
13. The Sleep of Reason (12/15/1974)
14. A Fallen Idol (12/22/1974)
15. Once Upon a Victim (12/29/1974)
16. The Kidnapping (2/5/1974)
17. A Lonely Victim (2/19/1974)
18. The Outsiders (2/26/1974)
19. Vengeance in White (3/5/1974)
20. Four the Hard Way (3/12/1974)
21. Death in Small Doses (3/27/1974)
22. A Night of Terror (4/2/1974)

23. Death Ride (9/10/1975)
24. The Mark of Cain (9/17/1975)
25. Five Yards of Trouble (9/24/1975)
26. One Killer Too Many (10/1/1975)
27. Chain of Command (10/8/1975)
28. To See No Evil (10/29/1975)
29. Terror on Wheels (11/5/1975)
30. The Gamblers (11/12/1975)
31. Terror by the Book (12/10/1975)
32. Face of Evil (12/17/1975)
33. Too Many Alibis (12/24/1975)
34. A Deadly Vow (12/31/1975)
35. Falling Star (1/21/1976)
36. Survival (1/28/1976)
37. The Night Visitor (2/4/1976)
38. Blood Money (2/11/1976)
39. Any Number Can Die (2/18/1976)
40. Six Strings of Guilt (2/25/1976)
41. Deadly Journey (3/3/1976)