The Rockford Files
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The show was created by Roy Huggins and Stephen J. Cannell. Huggins had produced the TV show Maverick with Garner from 1957 to 1962, and wanted to try and recapture that magic in a "modern day" detective setting. He teamed with Cannell to create Rockford. The show was credited as A Public Arts Roy Huggins Production in association with Cherokee Productions and Universal Studios (later Universal/NBC).
The character Cannell came up with was a bit of a departure from television detectives at that time. James Rockford was an ex-convict, wrongfully convicted and then pardoned after five years in prison. His infrequent jobs as a private investigator barely allowed him to scrape up enough cash -- his often-uncollected fee: "$200 a day plus expenses" -- to keep his dilapitated mobile home (which doubled as his office) in a small mobile home lot on the beaches of Malibu, California. He would just as soon duck a fight as to swing his fists, and he rarely carried a gun (he kept it in his kitchen in the cookie jar).
The tone of the show varied from sharp humor (often provided by Stuart Margolin as Rockford’s shifty friend and former fellow inmate at San Quentin, Evelyn 'Angel' Martin, whom he has occasion to call on for "backup") to high drama. In addition to 'Angel' Martin, he was often aided in the show by his father, 'Rocky' (Noah Beery, Jr.), who was supportive, but nonetheless wished his son would find more stable (and safe) employment, a friendly police Detective, Dennis Becker (Joe Santos), who was annoyed by Rockford's constant requests to run license plates, but usually came through for him in the end, and his attorney Elizabeth Davenport (Gretchen Corbett). 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 show's title sequence began with someone leaving a message on Rockford's answering machine. A different message was heard in each episode, often unusual, humorous (frequently having to do with creditors to whom Rockford owed money, or deadbeat clients who owed money to him), and usually unrelated to the rest of the plot
The writing on the show was generated 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); 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 (9 episodes).
The still-successful show went into hiatus when Garner was told by his doctors to take time off because of his knees and back, and an ulcer; he eventually opted not to continue with the show a number of months later.
The 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. Rockford’s producers would later tap Selleck for Magnum P.I.. Several Rockford Files episodes featured Jim Rockford interacting with members of organized crime (including a New Jersey Mafia family), also apparently influential on Chase's later work on The Sopranos.
Eight Rockford Files TV movies were made from 1994 to 1999, reuniting most of the cast from the original show. Beery did not appear in any of these as he had passed away on November 1, 1994. The first of these TV movies, which aired later that month, featured the dedication - "This picture is dedicated to the memory of Noah Berry, Jr. We love you and miss you, Pidge." On a Tonight Show interview, Johnny Carson asked Garner about Beery's passiing and Garner became too choked up to talk about it, underscoring what was, for many, one of the most satisfying aspects of the show...the father-son relationship of Jim and Rocky.
Notable Cast
- James Garner — Jim Rockford
- Noah Beery, Jr. — Joseph ‘Rocky’ Rockford – Jim’s father
- Stuart Margolin — Evelyn ‘Angel’ Martin – Jim’s former cellmate
- Joe Santos — Det. Dennis Becker – Jim’s friend in the LAPD
- Gretchen Corbett — Beth Davenport – Jim’s lawyer (seasons 1–4, and TV movies 3, 5, & 8)
- Kathryn Harrold — Megan K. Dougherty – Jim’s blind love-interest (seasons 5–6, and TV movie 6)
Episode List
List of Rockford Files episodes and TV movies.DVD Releases
Universal Studios has released both the first and second seasons of The Rockford Files on DVD.Trivia
- The license plate for the Pontiac Firebird Esprit 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.
- In the pilot Robert Donley played Rockford's father
- Ben Folds Five referenced the show on their 1997 album Whatever and Ever Amen in the song "Battle of Who Could Care Less"
- Ranked 39th on TV Guide’s list of Top 50 Greatest Shows of All Time
External links
- [Rockford Files at TVSODA.COM]
- [Encyclopedia of Television]
- [Thrilling Detective]
- [Rockford Files @ the Sandbox]
- [THIRTY YEARS OF THE ROCKFORD FILES by Ed Robertson]
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