The Rockford Files

*The Rockford Files*
The Rockford Files
	File:Rockford files.JPG Title sequence showing the famous answering machine
Created by	Roy Huggins; Stephen J. Cannell
Starring	James Garner; Noah Beery Jr.; Joe Santos; Gretchen Corbett; Stuart Margolin
Theme music composer	Mike Post; Pete Carpenter
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	123 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer	Stephen J. Cannell
Running time	60 minutes
Original release
Network	NBC
Release	September 13, 1974 –; January 10, 1980

The Rockford Files is an American detective (private investigator) television drama that had its first run on the NBC television network between September 13, 1974 and January 10, 1980 and has been in constant syndication to the present day. The show is notable for the quality of its writing (often by co-creator Stephen J. Cannell),^{[neutrality is disputed]} an agile Pontiac Firebird and the easy charm and charisma of James Garner, who starred as Jim Rockford. The series' memorable theme by composer Mike Post became a surprise hit, receiving Top 40 radio airplay.

The show was created by Roy Huggins and Stephen J. Cannell. Huggins had produced the TV show Maverick, which had also starred Garner, from 1957 to 1962, and wanted to try and recapture that magic in a "modern day" detective setting. He teamed with Cannell, who had written for Jack Webb productions such as Adam-12 and Chase (1973–74, NBC), to create Rockford. The show was credited as "A Public Arts/Roy Huggins Production in association with Cherokee Productions and Universal Studios" (later NBC Universal). Cherokee was the name of Garner's own company, which he ran with partner Juanita Bartlett, who doubled as story editor during most of Rockford’s run.

Premise

The character Cannell devised was a rather significant departure from typical television detectives at that time. James ("Jim," "Jimmy," or "Jimbo") Scott Rockford (played by veteran movie/television actor James Garner) served time in California's San Quentin prison (presumably in the 1960s) due to a wrongful conviction; after five years, he received a pardon. His infrequent jobs as a private investigator barely allowed him to maintain his dilapidated mobile home (which doubled as his office) in a parking lot on the beaches of Malibu, California. His often-uncollected rate was "$200 a day, plus expenses", which many of his clients considered steep.

In early episodes in the show's first season, the trailer was located in a crowded parking lot across the highway from the ocean; for the rest of the series, the trailer was located adjacent to the Malibu pier, and a restaurant, the Sand Castle. In the series of TV movies from 1994-99, Rockford was still living in a trailer, but it had been extensively enlarged and remodeled, and could no longer be described as 'dilapidated'.

Unlike the almost uniformly macho and trigger-happy gumshoes on other shows of that day (and before), Rockford would just as soon duck a fight as swing his fists, and he rarely carried a gun (for which he did not have a permit; he kept it in a cookie jar in his kitchen). As Rockford preferred talking his way out of trouble over violence, he typically worked on cold cases, family arguments, runaways, and low-budget insurance scams. In the pilot (and in Rockford's Yellow Pages ad), it was stressed that he "specialized in closed cases," so as to avoid conflict (and trouble) with the police. This point was mostly ignored in the later seasons, to allow Rockford to become involved in more dramatic cases like murder, kidnapping, and extortion.

Other characters

File:Rockfordfilespic.jpg

James Garner as Jim Rockford (left), with Joe Santos as Dennis Becker (right).

Rockford's pursuit of these cases would often lead to difficulties with his friend in the LAPD, Sgt. Dennis Becker (played by character actor Joe Santos), a homicide detective struggling to advance in the department under a series of overbearing lieutenants. The two most notable were: "Alex/Thomas Diehl" (Tom Atkins) during the first two seasons and "Doug Chapman" (James Luisi) during the rest of the show's run. Those higher-ups invariably hated Rockford (and private investigators generally) because of their perception that either he meddled in open cases or was trying to make the LAPD look incompetent in its handling of closed ones. Further, Rockford often called Becker asking for favors such as running license plates through the state computer system, sometimes irritating the already overworked cop. Eventually, by the fifth season, Becker was promoted to lieutenant; it was stated in the storyline that Becker's association with Rockford, considered by LAPD brass to be a shifty ex-con, had probably hampered Becker's chances for promotion. "Lt. Chapman" also intensely disliked the fact that Becker had become his "equal".

Unlike many 1960s and 70s TV private eyes, who typically lived in penthouse apartments or ritzy houses, Rockford resided in a decidedly humbler abode: a trailer house in Malibu on the Pacific Coast Highway, not far from the small bungalow home of his father, Joseph "Rocky" Rockford (played by veteran actor Noah Beery Jr., nephew of screen legend Wallace Beery). Rocky (Jim usually called his dad by his nickname) was an ex-Seabee, semi-retired semi-truck driver who often nagged his son to get more stable employment, often urging him to follow in his footsteps as a truck driver (especially in early seasons). The relationship of this father and son was an integral part of the show. Rocky was in almost every episode and was usually involved (whether he liked it or not) in his son's cases. Occasionally, he even hired Jim himself. Helpfully, there was also a physical resemblance between Garner and Beery.

File:Jimmy angel rocky.JPG

Jimmy, Angel and Rocky

Rockford's scheming former San Quentin cellmate, Evelyn "Angel" Martin (something of a comic relief character portrayed by character actor Stuart Margolin), would almost always get Rockford in trouble, usually by involving him in harebrained scams, which as often as not would result in either his arrest or being placed on somebody's hit list. In spite of this however, Jim considered Angel as one of his best, if most exasperating, pals.

Rockford had a close relationship with his beautiful attorney, the idealistic, tenacious Beth Davenport (Gretchen Corbett). During the show, never made explicit, it was understood the two had been romantically involved at one time. At other times in the series, the two shared an "open relationship," dating others and openly discussing their respective romances with each other. After Corbett was dropped from the show prior to the final season (allegedly due to contract disputes), a new romantic interest for Rockford was introduced in the character of Megan Dougherty (Kathryn Harrold), a blind, yet very independent and gorgeous psychiatrist. Rockford also had romantic flings with numerous other women on the show, but none appeared to last for any significant period. Almost every episode had a "leading lady".

Garner’s brother, Jack Garner, made 23 guest appearances playing (at various times) a policeman, a gas station attendant, and a stranger in a bathroom. The most regular character Jack played was that of police "Captain McEnroe" in a number of appearances.

Famous answering machine introduction

The show's title sequence began with someone leaving a message on Rockford's answering machine, a device which was still something of a novelty in 1974, and which Rockford was leasing, at apparently significant cost (as mentioned in several episodes).

A different message was heard in each episode. These frequently had to do with creditors to whom Rockford owed money, or deadbeat clients who owed money to him. They were usually unrelated to the rest of the plot. As the series went on, this gimmick became a burden for the show's writers, who had to come up with a different joke every week. Suggestions from staffers and crew were often used.

Aftermath

The still-successful show went into hiatus late in 1979 when Garner was told by his doctors to take time off because of his bad knees and back, as well as an ulcer. He sustained the former conditions largely because of his insistence on performing most of his own stunts, especially those involving fist fights or car chases. Because of his excruciating physical pain, Garner eventually opted not to continue with the show a number of months later, and NBC cancelled the program in mid-season. Also, Rockford became extremely expensive to produce, mainly due to the extensive location filming and frequent use of high-end actors as guest stars. According to some sources, NBC and Universal claimed the show was generating a deficit of several million dollars, a staggering amount for a nighttime show in those days.

Universal began syndicating the show (initially under the name Jim Rockford, Private Investigator due to standard practices at that time for a show still running on a network) in 1979 and, probably attempting to recoup its financial losses through royalties, aggressively marketed it to local stations well into the early and middle 1980s; this almost certainly accounts for its near-ubiquity on afternoon and late-night schedules in those days. From those showings, Rockford developed a cult following among younger generations of fans, with the momentum continuing throughout the 1990s and 2000s on cable. The show was canceled in 2006 on Superstation WGN. In 2007 the show is currently appearing on the cable channel WWME (Me TV Channel 23) out of Chicago.

Later in the 1980s, after he attempted to fulfill his Rockford contract with a 1981 Maverick revival titled Bret Maverick, Garner became engaged in a legal dispute with Universal that lasted over a decade, causing (and reflecting) significant ill will on both sides. Because of this conflict, the Rockford character would not re-emerge until 1994.

Rockford’s style was said to have influenced the creation of many other detective shows, including Magnum, P.I. and Tenspeed and Brown Shoe (also created by Cannell). It is of note that Tom Selleck made two guest appearances on the show as a rival private investigator, Lance White (insufferably smooth, rich, lucky and naive, in contrast to Rockford's rumpled, financially-struggling and street-smart persona). Rockford’s producers would later tap Selleck in the next TV season after the Rockford cancellation for Universal's Magnum P.I., where he played a character similar in many ways to Rockford, although with wholesome, patriotic undertones in the context and plots.

Credits

The writing on the show was penned by co-creator and TV icon Cannell (36 episodes); one of the show’s producers and Garner’s partner at Cherokee Productions, Juanita Bartlett (34 episodes; also Scarecrow and Mrs. King and In the Heat of the Night); David Chase (16 episodes; Northern Exposure and The Sopranos); and Roy Huggins (as John Thomas James), among others. Directors included William Wiard (23 episodes), Lawrence Doheny (10 episodes), and Ivan Dixon (previously a star on Hogan's Heroes) (9 episodes). Veteran actor James Coburn also directed an episode. Coburn had co-starred with Garner in the classic movie, The Great Escape (1963).

Among those appearing in Rockford episodes were: Lindsay Wagner, James Woods, Dionne Warwick, Ed Harris, Robert Loggia, Suzanne Somers, Stefanie Powers, Larry Hagman, Bill Mumy, Sharon Gless, Rick Springfield, Joe E. Tata, Isaac Hayes, Rita Moreno, Rene Auberjonois, James Cromwell, Linda Evans, Mariette Hartley, Roger E. Mosley, Blair Brown, Strother Martin, Michael Lerner, Ned Beatty, Paul Michael Glaser, Linda Dano, David Spielberg, Veronica Hamel, among many others. Rob Reiner, at the time a major sitcom star on All in the Family, appeared along with former NFL linebacker (and later sitcom star) Dick Butkus in a Rockford episode. Veteran Hollywood stars Joseph Cotten and Lauren Bacall also appeared on the show. Future Press Your Luck host Peter Tomarken guest starred on an episode as a commercial director. Future Knots Landing stars John Pleshette, Joan Van Ark and Ted Shackelford also made some cameo appearances as well. A very notable guest star in two episodes was Garner's former co-star from Maverick — Jack Kelly, as well as Beery's real-life son, Bucklind Beery.

Two Rockford Files episodes, "The Jersey Bounce" (1978) and "Just A Coupla Guys" (1979), written by Chase, featured Jim Rockford interacting with members of organized crime (including a New Jersey Mafia family), which may have foreshadowed Chase's later work on The Sopranos. ^{[citation needed]} Actor Gregory Antonacci, who appeared on The Sopranos in the 2006-07 seasons as Phil Leotardo's sideman Butch DeConcini, appeared in the two episodes as the young wannabe Mafia hood Eugene Conligilaro.

Notable cast

Starring:

James Garner — James Scott Rockford - A cool private eye who works for himself

Also Starring:

Noah Beery, Jr. — Joseph 'Rocky' Rockford – Jim’s father, a retired truck driver.
Joe Santos — Sgt. Dennis Becker – Jim’s friend in the LAPD (promoted to Lieutenant in season 5)

Recurring Stars:

Stuart Margolin — Evelyn 'Angel' Martin – Jim’s former cellmate / con artist friend
Gretchen Corbett — Elizabeth 'Beth' Davenport – Jim’s lawyer / girlfriend (seasons 1–4)
James Luisi — Lieutenant Douglas J 'Doug' Chapman (seasons 3-5)
Tom Atkins — Lieutenant Alex / Thomas Diehl (seasons 1-2)
Bo Hopkins — John 'Coop' Cooper – Jim’s disbarred attorney friend (Season 5)
Pat Finley — Peggy Becker, Dennis' wife

Episodes

Main article: List of Rockford Files episodes (including TV movies)

The series pilot aired on NBC March 27, 1974 as a 90-minute made-for-television movie. In the pilot, Robert Donley played Rockford's father; Lindsay Wagner also starred and later made a return appearance. The pilot was titled Backlash of the Hunter for syndication.

Four filmed and completed episodes were destroyed in a fire in 1980. These presumably would have been Season 6 episodes. They may have been re-filmed and then still broadcast for Season 6 as intended, but that has not been confirmed by Universal or other sources.

Eight Rockford Files TV movies were made from 1994 to 1999, reuniting most of the cast from the original show. Beery died on November 1, 1994, so the first of these movies, which aired later that month, stated, "This picture is dedicated to the memory of Noah Beery, Jr. We love you and miss you, Pidge." "Pidge" was Beery's nickname.

Spinoffs

The character of Richie Brockelman, played by Dennis Dugan, who first appeared in a 1976 series pilot produced by Cannell, appeared in the 1978 Rockford episode, "The House on Willis Avenue." The limited-run series, Richie Brockelman, Private Eye appeared as a summer-replacement series, thus becoming the only Rockford spinoff to be aired, but was cancelled after five episodes. The character of Richie Brockelman returned to Rockford in the 1979 episode, "Never Send A Boy King To Do A Man's Job."

Universal apparently made plans to spin the characters of Gandolph "Gandy" Fitch and Marcus "Gabby" Hayes, played by Isaac Hayes and Lou Gossett, Jr. respectively, off onto their own series, which would have been titled Gabby & Gandy, but that never came to fruition.

DVD releases

Universal Studios Home Entertainment has released the first 4 Seasons of The Rockford Files on DVD in Region 1 for the very first time. It is unknown if the remaining 3 seasons will be released at some point.

Season(s)	Cover Art	Region 1	Region 2
Season One	File:Image-Rockford Files Season 1.jpg	December 6 2005	August 29 2005 (R2 has different cover art)
Season Two	File:Rockford Files Season 2.jpg	June 13 2006	August 21 2006
Season Three	File:Rockford Files Season 3.jpg	February 27 2007	May 7 2007
Season Four	File:TheRockfordFilesDVD4.jpg	May 15 2007	July 30 2007

Trivia

Garner's portrayal of author Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe character in the 1969 film Marlowe foreshadowed the popular Los Angeles-based and wisecraking Rockford character. Sterling Silliphant's script lines for the film may have influenced the creators of the Rockford television character. This overlooked film could easily have been an Emmy award-winning two-part Rockford episode. But the overall style and mood of the show bears a close resemblance to another Marlowe movie, 1973's The Long Goodbye.
The license plate for the Pontiac Firebird Garner drove in the show was 853 OKG. Garner has claimed that his agent chose the plate numbers in tribute to “Oklahoma Garner” and the date he started acting, August of 1953.
Ben Folds Five referenced the show on their 1997 album Whatever and Ever Amen in the song "Battle of Who Could Care Less", with the lines 'And you think Rockford Files is cool, But there are some things that you would change if it were up to you, So think about your masterpiece."
Rockford was ranked 39th on TV Guide's list of "Top 50 Greatest Shows of All Time".
In one episode, Rockford flashed a fake police badge with the name of "Norman, Oklahoma" (Garner's home town).
In a few episodes, Rockford used a small, portable printer to print fake business cards (props he used often to gain access to suspects and/or witnesses) while sitting in his car. In the 1990s, a company named OsoSoft Software came out with a software program (compatible with Windows 3.1) called Rockford (later Rockford Professional) to design business cards.
The driving scenes, particularly in pick-up trucks, were real. Rather than use bluescreening, Garner would actually drive on many occasions — with studio lighting, booms and cameras in his face — and act.
English soccer team Tranmere Rovers FC have been connected with the show since the early 1980s. To this day, the players still run out before every home game to the sound of the Rockford theme on the tannoy. The reason for this has been lost in the mists of time; however, one possible explanation could be that during the 1980s the team played often on Friday nights. This was at the same time as the show was being aired on British TV; thus the theme became a tongue-in-cheek reference to what the alternative could be for the fans instead of watching a struggling fourth division team playing on a cold and wet Friday night.
At the show's beginning in 1974, Jim Rockford always drove the current year's Pontiac Firebird, in a stock Pontiac gold color. There has always been some speculation, however, as to what actual model Firebird it was (or was supposed to be). Since so many different Firebirds were used for the show, this is hard to ascertain but a "common" belief is that it was the Firebird Esprit model (distinctively badged as shown in the titles). "Stunt doubles" and pick-up shots could be several years older, obviously different cars, or even a Camaro rather than a Firebird. For some unknown reason (perhaps Jim wasn't fond of the 1979 restyling, or perhaps the production company was saving money) Jim Rockford never got a new Firebird after 1978, even though the show continued on until the 1980 model year. In the made-for-TV movies, which aired from 1994 through 1999, Rockford still drove a 1978 Firebird, by then a "classic auto."
Mel Gibson's character in the Lethal Weapon movie series, LAPD officer Martin Riggs, lives in a trailer on the Malibu beach apparently within a very short distance of the fictional location of Jim Rockford's trailer. Several background/location shots of Riggs' trailer are almost identical to Rockford Files location shots.
One of the episodes of The Rockford Files was entitled Paradise Cove, which refers to the actual beach where Jimmy supposedly lives.
The character Jimmy James from the show News Radio uses his own version of the Rockford Files answering machine message for his mobile phone's voicemail.
The trick driving maneuver where you accelerate backwards, flip the car around 180 degrees and then race off at full speed is commonly called the "Rockford" due to Jimmy’s prevalent use in various episodes. This maneuver is formally referred to as the J-Turn.

External links