Petrocelli is an American legal drama which ran for two seasons on NBC from September 11, 1974 to March 31, 1976.
Tony Petrocelli is an Italian-American Harvard-educated lawyer who gave up the big money and frenetic pace of major-metropolitan life to practice in a sleepy city in the American Southwest. He and wife Maggie live in a trailer in the country while waiting for their new house to be built, and travel around in a beat-up old pickup truck. For a quiet rural area, Petrocelli seems to have no trouble running into his share of murderers to defend.
The Golden Cage (Episode 1)
Writer: William Kelley
Air date: 1974-09-11
Overview: A rich trophy wife gets accused of murder when she tries to leave her powerful controlling husband.
Music to Die By (Episode 2)
Writer: Daniel B. Ullman
Air date: 1974-09-18
Overview: A singer hires Petrocelli to defend him when his career is jeopardized by a homicide accusation.
By Reason of Madness (Episode 3)
Writer: William Kelley
Air date: 1974-09-25
Overview: Petrocelli defends a wife accused of killing her husband. She knows she killed him but says she didn't know she was doing it. Petrocelli soon realizes she was mentally ill and has to prove her not guilty by reason of insanity.
Edge of Evil (Episode 4)
Writer: Mel Goldberg
Air date: 1974-10-02
Overview: The threatened revelation of damaging ecological information results in a murder that Petrocelli must solve.
A Life for a Life (Episode 5)
Writer: Robert C. Dennis
Air date: 1974-10-09
Overview: Petrocelli's defense of a young transient accused of arson and murder is complicated when the only witness who could help the accused refuses to testify.
Death in High Places (Episode 6)
Writer: Leonard Katzman
Air date: 1974-10-23
Overview: Petrocelli defends a spoiled heiress accused of planting a grenade in her father's airplane to speed up her inheritance.
Double Negative (Episode 7)
Writer: Leonard Katzman
Air date: 1974-10-30
Overview: Petrocelli unravels a murder mystery rooted in blackmail.
Mirror, Mirror, on the Wall (Episode 8)
Air date: 1974-11-06
Overview: Although witnesses swear they saw her leave a murder victim's apartment minutes after shots were fired, Petrocelli's client insists she was at home at the time of the crime.
An Act of Love (Episode 9)
Writer: Edward J. Lakso
Air date: 1974-11-13
Overview: Petrocelli defends a man accused of killing a woman with whom he spent the night in her home, waking to find her dead.
A Very Lonely Lady (Episode 10)
Air date: 1974-11-27
Overview: Petrocelli defends a hitchhiker accused of murdering a woman who had given him a ride and an amorous invitation.
Counterplay (Episode 11)
Writer: William Kelley
Air date: 1974-12-04
Overview: Petrocelli's client, a cop, claims he didn't kill his wife's lover, even though he was found over the body with a service revolver.
A Covenant with Evil (Episode 12)
Writer: Leonard Katzman
Air date: 1974-12-18
Overview: Petrocelli defends a man accused of murder after he is found cradling the body of a woman who was raped and killed.
The Sleep of Reason (Episode 13)
Writer: Leonard Katzman
Air date: 1974-01-15
Overview: An argument over hypnosis theory leads to the murder of a professor and Petrocelli's client, a teaching assistant accused of the crime, can't recall the shooting.
A Fallen Idol (Episode 14)
Writer: Robert C. Dennis
Air date: 1974-01-22
Overview: Petrocelli's high school idol, a boxer now over the hill, is accused of beating his new manager to death.
Once Upon a Victim (Episode 15)
Writer: Leonard Katzman
Air date: 1974-01-29
Overview: Petrocelli's client, a physician, is found with a scalpel in hand, standing over the body of the woman who founded his clinic.
The Kidnapping (Episode 16)
Writer: Leonard Katzman
Air date: 1974-02-05
Overview: Petrocelli defends a woman who kidnapped her son from her father-in-law.
A Lonely Victim (Episode 17)
Air date: 1974-02-19
Overview: A romantic triangle comes to a violent end when Petrocelli's client, a divorcee, is found kneeling over the body of her married boss with a fireplace poker in her hand.
The Outsiders (Episode 18)
Air date: 1974-02-26
Overview: Petrocelli defends a penniless young crop picker who was captured fleeing a drugstore where he inadvertently left his fingerprints on a pair of scissors used to stab the owner.
Vengeance in White (Episode 19)
Air date: 1974-03-05
Overview: Petrocelli defends an evangelist's wife, who is accused of killing the mercenary manager who had been working her husband to the point of collapse.
Four the Hard Way (Episode 20)
Air date: 1974-03-13
Overview: Three old codgers hire Petrocelli to defend the fourth member of their pinochle club, a man charged with killing his son-in-law.
Death in Small Doses (Episode 21)
Air date: 1975-03-27
Overview: Petrocelli defends a pharmacist accused of deliberately poisoning a customer.
A Night of Terror (Episode 22)
Air date: 1975-04-02
Overview: Petrocelli defends a woman who, after being knocked unconscious in a fight with her boyfriend, awakened to find him dead and the murder gun in her hand.
