6.5/1049 votesLoading...#1 - By Reason of Madness
Season 1 Episode 3 - Aired 9/25/1974
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.
Director: Allen Reisner
Writer: William Kelley
6.8/1027 votesLoading...#2 - The Gamblers
Season 2 Episode 8 - Aired 11/12/1975
When evidence linking a young man to the slaying of his employer makes Petrocelli suspicious, he investigates and uncovers a web of gambling debts and strange burglaries.
Director: Herb Wallerstein
Writer: John Hudock
6.9/1021 votesLoading...#3 - A Deadly Vow
Season 2 Episode 12 - Aired 12/31/1975
When a woman is arrested for murder, Petrocelli isn't sure he wants the case because she told him earlier she was going to do it.
Director: Irving J. Moore
Writer: Leonard Katzman
7.0/1026 votesLoading...#4 - Face of Evil
Season 2 Episode 10 - Aired 12/17/1975
A mysterious woman hires Petrocelli to defend her twin sister, a shy waitress whom she loathes, against a murder charge.
Director: Irving J. Moore
Writer: N/A
7.0/1022 votesLoading...#5 - Survival
Season 2 Episode 14 - Aired 1/28/1976
Petrocelli and a suspected burglar, ambushed in the desert, must battle nature to survive.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.1/1031 votesLoading...#6 - An Act of Love
Season 1 Episode 9 - Aired 11/13/1974
Petrocelli defends a man accused of killing a woman with whom he spent the night in her home, waking to find her dead.
Director: Paul Stanley, James Sheldon
Writer: Edward J. Lakso
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7.1/1030 votesLoading...#7 - The Kidnapping
Season 1 Episode 16 - Aired 2/5/1974
Petrocelli defends a woman who kidnapped her son from her father-in-law.
Director: Irving J. Moore
Writer: Leonard Katzman
7.1/1025 votesLoading...#8 - Four the Hard Way
Season 1 Episode 20 - Aired 3/13/1974
Three old codgers hire Petrocelli to defend the fourth member of their pinochle club, a man charged with killing his son-in-law.
Director: Joseph Pevney
Writer: N/A
7.1/1026 votesLoading...#9 - Death Ride
Season 2 Episode 1 - Aired 9/10/1975
Petrocelli defends a rodeo clown accused of the murder of a rodeo star. Rodeo clown Gage seems to have murdered a rival rodeo man. Surprisingly Gage doesn't want to appear innocent.
Director: Irving J. Moore
Writer: Leonard Katzman
7.1/1026 votesLoading...#10 - The Mark of Cain
Season 2 Episode 2 - Aired 9/17/1975
A boyhood friend pays a visit to Petrocelli and later is arrested on a homicide charge.
Director: Leonard Katzman
Writer: Leonard Katzman
7.1/1020 votesLoading...#11 - The Night Visitor
Season 2 Episode 15 - Aired 2/4/1976
Petrocelli's office is ransacked and he becomes the quarry of a couple who will stop at nothing to get the diamond he is supposedly keeping for a mysterious client.
Director: Robert Scheerer
Writer: Leonard Katzman
7.2/1041 votesLoading...#12 - A Life for a Life
Season 1 Episode 5 - Aired 10/9/1974
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.
Director: Herb Wallerstein, Allen Reisner
Writer: Robert C. Dennis
7.2/1023 votesLoading...#13 - Too Many Alibis
Season 2 Episode 11 - Aired 12/24/1975
Petrocelli's client is a conscientious black doctor accused of killing the hospital chief of staff, who charged him with incompetence and fired him.
Director: Herb Wallerstein
Writer: Fred Freiberger
7.2/1021 votesLoading...#14 - The Payoff
Season 2 Episode 20 - Aired 3/10/1976
Tony must defend Maggie's visiting Uncle Roy, who has been accused of the murder of a prostitute.
Director: Joseph Pevney
Writer: N/A
7.3/1035 votesLoading...#15 - The Sleep of Reason
Season 1 Episode 13 - Aired 1/15/1974
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.
Director: Herschel Daugherty
Writer: Leonard Katzman
7.3/1031 votesLoading...#16 - Once Upon a Victim
Season 1 Episode 15 - Aired 1/29/1974
Petrocelli's client, a physician, is found with a scalpel in hand, standing over the body of the woman who founded his clinic.
Director: N/A
Writer: Leonard Katzman
7.3/1024 votesLoading...#17 - Vengeance in White
Season 1 Episode 19 - Aired 3/5/1974
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.
Director: Leonard Katzman
Writer: N/A
7.4/1036 votesLoading...#18 - Double Negative
Season 1 Episode 7 - Aired 10/30/1974
Petrocelli unravels a murder mystery rooted in blackmail.
Director: Paul Stanley
Writer: Leonard Katzman
7.4/1031 votesLoading...#19 - Counterplay
Season 1 Episode 11 - Aired 12/4/1974
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.
Director: Irving J. Moore
Writer: William Kelley
7.4/1026 votesLoading...#20 - Terror on Wheels
Season 2 Episode 7 - Aired 11/5/1975
Petrocelli defends a man suspected of murdering a motorcycle-gang member who had been romancing his daughter.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.4/1016 votesLoading...#21 - Blood Money
Season 2 Episode 16 - Aired 2/11/1976
Petrocelli's client is charged with murder when a fraternity-prank kidnapping suddenly becomes deadly realistic.
Director: Irving J. Moore
Writer: Leonard Katzman
7.4/1020 votesLoading...#22 - Deadly Journey
Season 2 Episode 19 - Aired 3/3/1976
Petrocelli and Ritter offer a lift to an elderly female hitchhiker, who they later learn has been arrested for killing her son's employer.
Director: Paul Lynch
Writer: N/A
7.5/1043 votesLoading...#23 - Death in High Places
Season 1 Episode 6 - Aired 10/23/1974
Petrocelli defends a spoiled heiress accused of planting a grenade in her father's airplane to speed up her inheritance.
Director: Irving J. Moore, Richard Donner
Writer: Leonard Katzman
7.5/1036 votesLoading...#24 - A Very Lonely Lady
Season 1 Episode 10 - Aired 11/27/1974
Petrocelli defends a hitchhiker accused of murdering a woman who had given him a ride and an amorous invitation.
Director: Richard Donner, Vincent McEveety, Herschel Daugherty
Writer: N/A
7.5/1027 votesLoading...#25 - Five Yards of Trouble
Season 2 Episode 3 - Aired 9/24/1975
Petrocelli defends a man who, enraged to find his wife posing for a photographer at another man's home, has a reason to be suspected for murder.
Director: Joseph Pevney
Writer: N/A
The Worst Episodes of Petrocelli
Every episode of Petrocelli ranked from worst to best. Explore the Worst Episodes of Petrocelli!
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...
Genre:Drama
Network:NBC
Episodes
44
Avg. Rating
7.5
S1
S2
S3
S4
E1
E2
E3
7.8
7.1
8.0
7.1
6.5
7.5
Worst Episodes Summary
"By Reason of Madness" is the worst rated episode of "Petrocelli". It scored 6.5/10 based on 49 votes. Directed by Allen Reisner and written by William Kelley, it aired on 9/25/1974. This episode scored 0.3 points lower than the second lowest rated, "The Gamblers".
