From Monday 2 December, on TV on Sky Cinema Uno, on demand and also in streaming on NOW comes Piedone – A cop in Naples, a TV series in four episodes of a good hour each. The TV series, with Salvatore Esposito as the protagonist, is an ideal sequel to the four films which, between 1973 and 1980, between Naples, Hong Kong, South Africa and Egypt, saw Bud Spencer as the protagonist in the role of Inspector Rizzo.

The links with the “mother” tetralogy, however, are rather tenuous, although among the producers and authors of the series story there is Giuseppe Pedersoli, screenwriter son of Carlo (Bud Spencer’s real name). Nonetheless, whether you loved those films or are approaching the series without previous Piedone experience, Piedone – A Cop in Naples is a highly enjoyable series. We then summarize the plot, the characters and the connection with the original films, and then express our personal opinion.

What Piedone’s series is about

Vincenzo Palmieri (Salvatore Esposito) is a police inspector who is a student of the legendary commissioner Rizzo known as Piedone (although in theory Rizzo was already of retirement age when Palmieri was born, considering that Bud was born in 1919 and Esposito was born in 1986, but it doesn’t matter ).

From Piedone the good Palmieri inherited the “popular” investigation methods, unconventional, sometimes a little harsh (Palmieri has a passion for wrestling) but certainly effective. After four years of work with Interpol in Stuttgart, Germany, Palmieri returns to Naples because he is convinced that the boss Edoardo “o’ muschillo” Iodice, officially dead in Brazil, is alive and hiding under Vesuvius.

Palmieri has a score to settle with Iodice, but since he is dead he cannot investigate him regularly. But he will find his own methods. Meanwhile, Chief Commissioner Felice Ruotolo assigns him the case of an immigrant killed at the port. Vincenzo will be supported by deputy inspector Coviello (Fabio Balsamo), but will have to answer first to commissioner Sonia Acciarelli (Silvia D’Amico), who is extremely compliant with the rules, also because she would like to be transferred to the Anti-Mafia.

The clash between Vincenzo and Sonia promises sparks, but at least they both share a passion for justice. We stop here so as not to spoil, at the bottom of the review you will find the official trailer of Piedone – A cop in Naples.

Why see Piedone’s series, even if it has little to do with Piedone’s films

A photograph with Bud Spencer photoshopped in the middle, some flashbacks with a voice and size that recall him, the wrestler’s name Flat Foot (because Big Foot is something else) and some “Budspenceresque” but slow-motion ravings that Palmieri gives to the unfortunate person on duty.

The references to Steno’s films are essentially all here: for the rest, not only can you watch the series without knowing the films, but you could remove the references, change the title and the series would be substantially the same.

And this also applies in a positive way, let’s be clear: because if it is true that the Piedone “brand” serves to make a detective series recognizable that would otherwise have a harder time getting noticed, it is also true that this Piedone is a highly enjoyable product.

The relationships between the main characters work well, the supporting characters are spot on, as is the image of a Naples which – although far from the dark squalor of Gomorrah – is deep and familiar, intimate and magnetic, and just rightly stereotyped.

Even the vertical plots, the cases that are solved from episode to episode, contribute to generating that sense of humanity that Esposito, like Bud then, embodies with his body as a good and warm giant.

In short, even if, to use a Neapolitan expression, this Piedone has little to do with the old films, the series is beautiful and entertaining as if the legendary Bud Spencer was still there.

Rating: 7.7