27 February 2009

Lentorama 2009: Great(?) Moments in Catholics on Television

September 11, 1985: Robert Blake dons the collar

It makes perfect sense - if you need a guy to play a priest on TV, get Baretta. That's a summary of the thinking at NBC when they cast Blake, best known for playing cops, cowboys and other tough guys as Father Noah "Hardstep" Rivers, an ex-con turned preist who is looking to bring peace to his east LA parish, one sacrament at a time.

It didn't quite hit the mark with viewers, probably because they were confused at why it wasn't the nuns who were doling out the corporal punishment. Hell Town aired its last episode, fittingly, on Christmas Day in 1985.

Blake would not land another regular acting job after this, only making occasional appearances in TV, film, and news coverage of the criminal and civil trials following the murder of his second wife.

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