TV FLASHBACK : BARETTA .... PAY OR DIE ... 1976

UNIVERSAL TELEVISION
Presents

BARETTA

Starring 

ROBERT BLAKE as Detective Tony Baretta 
TOM EWELL as Billy Truman 
ED GROVER as Hal Brubaker 
MICHAEL.D.ROBERTS as Rooster 

JOAN as Lynn Stiles

' PAY OR DIE ' 
Guests.. 
JOAN COLLINS as Lynn Stiles 
ROGER ROBINSON as El Dorado 
SONDRA BLAKE as Candy 
THEODORE WILSON as Flash 

LYNN GOES UNDERCOVER

LYNN on the hookout!

When a pimp is found murdered , followed by one of his girls, the finger points to a new pimp in town, the feared El Dorado, who is determined to round up every girl on the street! Baretta enlists the help of his cop girlfriend Lynn to pose as a prostitute to infiltrate El Dorado's stable.. But El Dorado is not a man to mess with and Lynn's life is in danger... Now the time is up, it's a case of Pay or Die!!..

BARETTA persuades LYNN to go undercover!

TONY MUSANTE (left) AS TOMA

"Baretta" is most famous now for starring the infamous Robert Blake, but it was popular viewing in 1975, where it ran for four seasons.. It began life as a short-lived series called "Toma", starring Tony Musante as a New Jersey police officer, David Toma and was a gritty and controversial hard hitting series for it's time..But Musante decided to leave the series at the end of the first season rather than replace him, it was decided to change the format and character. The series now focused on Detective Anthony Baretta, a plainclothes cop with the 53rd precinct , who shared his apartment with his trusty sidekick Fred, a cockatoo! Baretta lived in the run-down King Edward Hotel, run by elderly hotel manager, cum house detective Billy.. For each case, Baretta enjoyed dressing up and was a master of disguise... Trying to find stills from this episode is as elusive as the remaining episodes to be released on dvd, as it's a few years since season 1 came out.. Maybe then I can upgrade my vhs copy...Joan adds her usual touch of glamour to this episode as an undercover policewoman, posing as a hooker in some ropey 70's wigs! An always interesting series to watch..well worth seeking out!  

**** This post has been updated... thanks to a fellow admirer of Joan's , Michael..who kindly supplied me with these excellent screenshots from this episode.."