The saga of maverick undercover cop Tony Baretta (
Robert Blake) sailed effortlessly into a third successful season in the fall of 1976. Although star Blake continued to engage in highly publicized battles with the series' producers and the ABC network "suits", audiences loved both the star and his series, as indicated by the ratings: Ranking 23rd out of 25 top shows during the 1975-76 season,
Baretta closed out 1976-77 in eighth place, with an impressive 23.4 rating (it was tied with ABC's Sunday Night Movie and CBS'
One Day at a Time). The fact that the series' Wednesday-night "lead-in" was the new ABC hit
Charlie's Angels was a significant contributor to this remarkable boost in viewership. The regular cast of
Baretta remained intact from Season Two. Most of the personnel changes were manifested in the production end of the series. Every member of the producers' roster, new and old, was nominated for an Emmy award, as were series costars
Robert Blake and
Tom Ewell. This time, however, none of the nominees took home a statuette. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide