Toma can refer to:
TOMA as an acronym can refer to:
Toma was a short-lived television series that ran on ABC in 1973 and 1974.
The series starred Tony Musante and Susan Strasberg and was based on the real-life story and published biography of police detective David Toma. Toma had compiled an amazing arrest record during his years on the force, particularly in arresting drug dealers. Toma was known as a master of disguise and undercover work, and achieved his success while never firing his gun. After retiring from the force, Toma became one of America's most sought after speakers, lecturing students all over the country about the dangers of drugs.
Toma himself usually made a cameo appearance in episodes as a minor character (bartender, police officer, etc.). His boss, Inspector Spooner, was played by character actor Simon Oakland.
Musante (who was primarily a movie actor) got tired of the grind of making a weekly program after only one season (Roy Huggins said that Musante had told him at the outset that he only wanted to do one season, but that Huggins didn't believe him until it happened; see video link below). Since Toma was achieving relatively good ratings and reviews the show was quickly revamped as Baretta starring Robert Blake, and debuted as a mid-season replacement on ABC in early 1975.
According to the interviews on the Greatest American Hero DVD set, a writers strike during the shooting of this series is what indirectly led to The Rockford Files. Writer Stephen J. Cannell and his mentor Roy Huggins created the character of Jim Rockford as a way to get around an impossible schedule created by the strike.
One episode, with guest star Martin Sheen aired on TV Land in 2001.
When Musante, Tony decided to quit the series, the producers wanted to continue on with Blake, Robert in the lead role, but Blake didn't want to appear on the series feeling like he was an understudy to Musante and suggested a name change. The producers changed the name, and also agreed to rewrite the role to better fit Blake's true character, and renamed the show "Baretta".
Tony Musante originally didn't want to quit the show, just to reduce his work load (he was working almost every day). He wanted to continue in the role if the producers converted it into a Tuesday Movie of the Week with six 90-minute episodes. The ratings were enough to get the series renewed, but not much better than that. ABC muddled the idea and turned it down, and Musante went ahead and quit the show. The show's morphing to Baretta (which became a huge hit after a slow start) followed.
This series was based on a real New Jersey police detective named David Toma. Every episode featured a cameo by the real Toma.
Stephen J. Cannell created a character named Rockford for a script he wrote for this series. That script was based on a story idea by his boss, Roy Huggins. That script was rejected by ABC, so it was rewritten and eventually became the pilot for the classic NBC series, Rockford Files, The (1974) (TV).
