Petrocelli: The Complete Collection (1 Viewer)

[BobO'Link]

Pete has grown on me. But he has no visible means of support. Where does he live? How does he pay his rent? With six packs?

I've also noticed that they use stock footage with the actors. The two stock footage sequences I've noticed are 1) when Petrocelli is about to put up a bogus sign on his windshield to get out of paying for parking and sees the meter maid, then pays and smiles at her; and 2) when his wife drops him off, he gets out forgetting to kiss her and she says, "Hey!" Through disc 4 I have seen those sequences at least twice, perhaps three times each.

The producers could never dream of DVDs and their original ten-year-old viewer binging on the show 40 years later. Otherwise, with weeks between each episode, it's doubtful too many viewers noticed

Those segments are like the scene of the Batmobile pulling up in front of the Police Headquarters in the 66 Batman. My 5 year old granddaughter noticed that on the 3rd or 4th episode we watched and now comments on it almost every time she sees the scene!

I have vague recollections of that scene with he and his wife. My set has shipped so maybe I'll push it to the front of the viewing queue...

 

[bmasters9]

This Petrocelli release-- I'd like to see what it looks like inside (i.e. how the discs are arranged, what the episode guide is like, etc.).

 

[Doug Wallen]

Pete has grown on me. But he has no visible means of support. Where does he live? How does he pay his rent? With six packs?

I've also noticed that they use stock footage with the actors. The two stock footage sequences I've noticed are 1) when Petrocelli is about to put up a bogus sign on his windshield to get out of paying for parking and sees the meter maid, then pays and smiles at her; and 2) when his wife drops him off, he gets out forgetting to kiss her and she says, "Hey!" Through disc 4 I have seen those sequences at least twice, perhaps three times each.

The producers could never dream of DVDs and their original ten-year-old viewer binging on the show 40 years later. Otherwise, with weeks between each episode, it's doubtful too many viewers noticed

There are other scenes that are reused, mostly long shots of the truck travelling through "San Remo", driving to their home, Tony parking in the Police parking lot and overhead shots of Tony and Maggie walking away from the fountain outside the courthouse (with and without dialogue). I don't seem to recall noticing things like that years ago. I'm sure you are correct that no one could ever guess that fans could own whole seasons of our favorite shows.

Did I also mention I had (have) a major crush on Susan Howard

Me too, ever since she was Mara, wife of Kang from "Day of the Dove" and even later when was was Donna Culver Krebs.

 

[Carabimero]

Wow Alan, you're really flying through the series!

When I find myself feeling the urge to "make a series last" because I am enjoying it so much, I remind myself that there's always another great series on the horizon, that my newest infatuation is only a few discs away...and I watch till my heart is content (or until it is time to go to bed, which usually comes first).

This Petrocelli release-- I'd like to see what it looks like inside (i.e. how the discs are arranged, what the episode guide is like, etc.).

It's a ten-disc set with two discs stacked on the inner ends of the set, and the rest on hard plastic pages. One of the page hinges was cracked on my case and I will eventually have to get a new case. The episodes are listed on the discs (how I wish ALL shows would do this!) and there is no episode guide as such.

 

[ClassicTVMan1981X]

This Paramount series, if I know right, was the only one co-produced by Miller-Milkis that didn't air on ABC... nope, NBC broadcast it first.

~Ben

 

[Doug Wallen]

Interesting that Mark Hamill played a junkie in STREETS OF SAN FRANCISCO and last night I saw him as a junkie again on PETROCELLI. I wonder how history would have gone for Mark if he hadn't gotten STAR WARS right after those parts...

He is also in a 2nd season ep.

 

[Carabimero]

One of the things I admire about PETROCELLI is the subtext and background action. Their marriage is believable and wonderful to see. Whether they're working on building their house, or repainting the office, or whether she's taking belly dancing lessons, I feel like they are real human beings who have lives in-between episodes. I don't feel that way about Perry Mason. For me Perry exists for the life of the episode. But Petrocelli, his wife, and Pete live and breathe in my mind as real people beyond the series. I especially like that they have started giving us glimpses of Petrocelli's other cases, some of which he loses.

There's a lot to love about the show. I'm so glad I am getting to revisit it as an adult.

 

[Doug Wallen]

A running gag in the 2nd season other than his parking concerns an exotic dancer who is convinced her act is not indecent! She is in three (?) episodes. Very funny, especially the way Maggie reacts to her bumps and grinds.

I agree about their relationship, something I mentioned almost every time my wife and I were watching. They seemed like a real couple. That was what made me a huge fan of the series, the way their interactions made the seem real.

 

[Carabimero]

I assume disc 5 is the end of season one. If so, I have a couple of episodes left before I start season two.

 

[BobO'Link]

I assume disc 5 is the end of season one. If so, I have a couple of episodes left before I start season two.

According to IMDB, S1 ends with episode 22 - "A Night of Terror."

 

[Doug Wallen]

I assume disc 5 is the end of season one. If so, I have a couple of episodes left before I start season two.

Yes

 

[Doug Wallen]

I remember the opening credits from Season 2 because of the clip taken from the old cowboys episode (Four the Hard Way). I always smile when I see Tony rocking and aching in the saddle.

 

[Carabimero]

How appropriate is it that I have been watching PERRY MASON, THE DEFENDERS, and PETROCELLI and yesterday was called to jury duty. Can't talk about it but if I don't post for a few days, that is why.

Very cool experience but too bad I don't have E.G. Marshall representing the defense and Barry Newman representing the plantiff.

 

[Carabimero]

I love Petrocelli but there's no way his character wouldn't be smarter and braver when it comes to bad guys who keep wanting to play "chicken" with him on the road. All he has to do is either slow down or, when they turn around and drive straight for him, simply stop. He's too smart and brave to swerve like a pansy and end up in a heap on the side of the road.

 

[Carabimero]

My wife and I like to take road trips to obscure places. We are trying to figure out where to go during Spring Break. I mentioned we should go to San Remo, where they shot PETROCELLI. She thought it was a great idea. We figured it was somewhere in Arizona, but we couldn't find it. I suspect it was a made-up town somewhere in Tuscon. Even if true, I think it would still be fun to go and try to find that courthouse and the street where his office was. We're talking about it. I thought someone might know more than I do about the location....

 

[FanCollector]

According to IMDb, it was filmed all around Tucson. The courthouse was the Pima County Consolidated Justice Court and his office was at 72 East Congress Street. I don't have any independent knowledge beyond those listings, but in other cases where I did know something, I've found that the filming location trivia on IMDb is generally reliable.

 

[Flashgear]

Alan, Lee just gave you some good info, that I can add a little to...It has been a few years since I was last in the Tucson area, and there has been tremendous growth... I first went there in 1975, right at the time that Petrocelli was in production... the Pima County Courthouse is definitely worth seeing with it's beautiful Spanish Colonial Revival architecture...also for the stunning courtyard gardens and fountains there...it is also beautifully lit at sundown...also within walking distance from the Courthouse is the incredible Cathedral of Saint Augustine, about 120 years old...it's only about 2 blocks from the Courthouse, and the bell towers are often seen just up the street while Tony Petrocelli is coming and going from his choice on street parking, or chasing the tow truck as it pulls away with his truck camper, ha, ha...

It would be absolutely insane to go to Tucson and not see the Awesome Mission San Xavier Del Bac...this 1797 Spanish Mission and Church is located about 10 miles South of Downtown...parking is ample and very close to the Mission...it is known as the "White Dove of the Desert"...gleaming White with beautiful gardens, the altar and interior are incredibly beautiful...absolutely essential to the history and culture of the past...if you've ever seen the early Rawhide episode "Incident at Alabaster Plain", you have seen the Mission San Xavier on another classic TV show...with the very same Paul Brinegar (Wishbone) who turns up in the Petrocelli episode "Four the Hard Way", 16 years later...the "Old Tucson" film studio set should also not be missed, a lot of it rebuilt since a fire destroyed part of the old Western town set seen in so many great John Wayne movies...Rio Bravo, Commancheros, etc...

Lee suggested you check out Petrocelli's office on Congress Street, above the Navajo Market...the Great old and ornate Congress Hotel is nearby also...

I think that the Petrocelli's trailer and house under construction site is out in Sabino Canyon...worth a drive for the tremendous scenery, although there has been a lot of development sprawl along the road since the '70s...Saguero National Park and Coronado Forrest are also wonderful...I'm sure quite a few outdoor sequences for Petrocelli were filmed there...

Midway between Phoenix and Tucson (Route 79 near Florence, turn on 287 toward Coolidge) is the Impressive Casa Grande National Monument...4 story tall mud brick adobe pueblo, the Greatest Hohokam Indian ruins anywhere...if you've seen the second season Rawhide episode "Incident of the Druid Curse" you have seen Clint Eastwood and Eric Fleming have a terrific gun battle with Claude Akins and Stanley Adams in those very ruins...one of my favorite episodes...

In the Tucson area, a couple of more unusual attractions are the Pima Air Museum (antique aircraft) and the Titan Missile Museum...where else can you take a tour underground in a Titan 2 missile silo?

The high point scenery at Kitt Peak Observatory is stunning...likewise the underground Kartchner Caverns...

As you can tell, I love the area and was fortunate to live there for a time...so much to see and only so much time...I hope you and your Wife can take a "Petrocelli" tour, Alan...much like my "Rawhide" tour which also included Cochise Stronghold Canyon, Casa Grande, Apache Junction and Superstition Mountains, Oro Valley, San Xavier Del Bac, Santa Rita, Nogales and Coronado, Tucumcari, N.M.,...and CBS Studio City of course...

 

[Flashgear]

You know, I hadn't seen Petrocelli since '74-'76...in revisiting the show with VEI's excellent DVD release, I was pleased to see the Great Sam Manners in the credits...for production manager...with his contribution, I'm not surprised at the wonderful outdoors location shooting, with heavy emphasis on the helicopter mounted camera platform...expensive production values...Sam Manners was the co-producer of the Great Herbert B. Leonard's Naked City and Route 66...he also often served as second unit director on those ground breaking shows...he worked also on Leonard's Rin Tin Tin and Rescue 8 in the '50s...just a few years before Petrocelli, he was production manager on Bearcats!, another Tucson area filmed show...he was also second unit director on the Burt Lancaster film Valdez is Coming...with all this Tucson work, perhaps he lived in Arizona at the time...Sam Manners was a Master and pioneer of Television...I recommend the inexpensive Timeless release of the 13 episode 1971 Rod Taylor and Dennis Cole show Bearcats!...more Old Tucson is a good thing...and like Petrocelli, it features great action stunts and outdoor scenery, fun as well...

 

[Carabimero]

Thanks for the great posts, Randall. We were recently at Saguaro and at the Titan Missile Museum but at that point Petrocelli was not in my consciousness. My wife says she is game. I think it's just a question of when--hopefully this month at the soonest, this summer at the latest.

 

[Carabimero]

The court is in recess and I am sitting in the jury room watching PETROCELLI on my laptop

I just finished MURDER BY THE BOOK. Looks like I only have 12 episodes left. Will be sad to see this series end.