Wed, Sep 28, 1977
Baretta is in a blue funk because of a string of failed relationships with women; in fact, the opening finds him nursing a massive hangover and crawling to the phone after going on a bender after another breakup. So who does he get as a new partner? A real bitch --literally. Kelly, a female dog, is brought in to work with Baretta as both sniff out (him figuratively, her literally) a dangerous psychedelic mushroom. Baretta gradually gains respect for the dog -- but then both of them start ducking rifle bullets from an aging Mob hit man. Fortunately, the hired gun is getting so old he can't shoot straight, but it just makes him more and more determined to kill. Finally Rooster (who's carrying drugs on him and is sniffed out) tells Baretta there is a murder contract on the dog rather than on Baretta. The young-Turk mob capo tries to fire the hit man, but when Baretta and Kelly invade the warehouse, the hit man picks up his rifle again and vows to kill the entire group if they interfere with the hit.
Wed, Dec 7, 1977
Strother Martin's third and final episode casts him as a nerdy FBI computer expert who desperately wants to get out into the field. When his bosses in Washington pooh-pooh that idea, he creates a "supercop" with the name in the episode's title and casts himself in the role (Robert Blake used the same pseudonym, with a slight change of spelling, for his part as executive producer of "Hell Town" eight years later). "Dokker" then assigns himself to a case where an Algerian smuggler was murdered for the fortune in emeralds he was carrying. The victim told Billy, while checking into his hotel, that he was going to meet someone, which makes it clear that he knew his killer. But which of several possible suspects could it be? The phony G-man proves surprisingly resourceful as he bumbles through sifting out the clues.
Thu, Feb 2, 1978
Baretta is entertaining a girlfriend in his apartment when there is a knock on his door. He opens the door to find an old girlfriend and her infant son -- and she claims he is the father. Baretta reluctantly takes on the role. While the two of them are walking near the ocean, a hired gun with a high-powered rifle fires at them. The rifleman then spins around and puts a bullet through the windshield of another car -- but he misses the driver and the car crushes him to death, then backs out and peels rubber away from the scene. A check on the dead man reveals he was a hit man for a mobster. Baretta hunts for the huge man who drove the second car. It turns out he's a capo for the Mob himself, sent to watch over the woman and to thwart the assassination attempt.
Thu, May 18, 1978
Two thugs knock over a manufacturing plant and make off with a $200,000 payroll. They know the money is hot and make arrangements with a man named Trudgeon to launder it, passing it through channels and returning $50,000 in clean cash to them. Meanwhile, back at Baretta's apartment, he and Billy are busy making stew when their pimp buddy Rooster turns up -- in a business suit? The reason comes very quickly with a trilled "Oh Quen-tinnn! Where are youuuuu?" Rooster is posing as a legitimate businessman to impress his cousin and her friend, both of whom have come to Los Angeles to work as dance instructors. But the man they work for is Trudgeon the money launderer. Trudgeon now has the $50,000 in legit money, but he's feeling the heat. So he gives the money, wrapped in a bundle, to Rooster's cousin for safekeeping -- and she smuggles it out and keeps it. In the ensuing fight with the thugs, Trudgeon is gunned down and the thugs start hunting for "their" money. Eventually they kidnap one of the girls, leading Rooster to don drag and pose as his own cousin.