97 replies to this topic

[TudorQueen]

I was so thrilled when James Garner got the Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award at this year's Golden Globes. He's the sort of actor who rarely gets his talent fully acknowledged because he makes it all look so damn easy. This show is a perfect example. How many actors can you think of who would have brought off the tricky character of Jim Rockford - a virtual high-wire act, IMHO - while making it look almost as if he was playing himself [which he most assuredly was not].

[dorabelle]

Oh, I love me some Jim Rockford! A Philip Marlowe for the 70s (and into the early 80s?), walking the mean streets with rugged charm, dogged tenaciousness, and a seemingly outmoded sense of honor (and some of the greatest theme music in the history of TV). I cried, y'all, when the actor that played Rocky died. Great show, and it wouldn't have been without James Garner. He brought the perfect mix of battered idealism that never quite shaded into outright cynicism to the role.

[apocalipstick]

How good was The Rockford Files? John D. MacDonald said it was the only show that was so well-written that the scripts could have been made directly into novels without total re-writing.

And as my daughter (age 9) likes to ask, "Is Angel in this one?"

Why is Tru Calling on DVD and not TRF?

[cyberducks]

Sorry, the dreaded double post...

Edited by cyberducks, Mar 19, 2005 @ 7:12 PM.

[cyberducks]

I watched this show as a child, and it was already syndicated in reruns then. It entertained me then, but I truly appreciate it now for James Garner's performance, full of humanity, dry wit, and charm. He interacted so well with the various excellent supporting cast and guest stars. I think women fared well on this show, they were appreciated, but not turned into the usual sex object, so typical of this genre. And the plots were pretty damn clever, funny, and often quite unpredictable.

[NoFatChicks]

My husband absolutely loves this show. I think there's something I'm missing.

His lawyer/girlfriend looks like Gina from Nip/Tuck.

P.S. I love teasing my brother-in-law by listing my evidence of Rockford's gayness.

P.P.S. I really like in the opening credits when you see Rockford choosing a cut of meat at the grocery store. It's like, I'm just a normal dude in some fucked up circumstances, man.

Edited to Add: I hate Angel so much!! He disgusts me!! Such an ugly two-faced monkey weasel!

Edited by NoFatChicks, Mar 19, 2005 @ 9:29 PM.

[dustylil]

I too am a devotee of The Rockford Files. My James Garner love goes back to "The Great Escape" and "The Americanization of Emily". Those dark, good looks and that easy grace. Sigh.
I agree with Cyberducks on how women were treated on the show. I can't imagine characters like Beth the lawyer and Rita the hooker being written with that much nuance and depth and the characters treated with as much respect on any other show of that decade - or later decades, come to think of it.
Another nod should go to The Rockford Files's influence on some later classic shows. Sometime ago, I posted on one of the Sopranos' threads, how many of the quirky aspects of the modern day TV mobsters seem to have their genesis in some of the Rockford guest characters - the gay mobster having the affair with the entertainer, the emotionally ill Mob wife/sister who believed what she read in the tabloids, the first generation mob fellow who was humiliated by a practical joke at his birthday party, the old time mafioso who got religion, etc. (I know David Chase wrote for both).

Edited by dustylil, Mar 19, 2005 @ 9:35 PM.

[apocalipstick]

I think women fared well on this show, they were appreciated, but not turned into the usual sex object, so typical of this genre. And the plots were pretty damn clever, funny, and often quite unpredictable.

TRF was also one of the first shows to deal with homosexuality. In one ep (can't remember titles, sorry) a mobster ordered a hit on his son because he (the son) was gay. Very low-key, matter-of-fact stuff, well-written, well-played.

I hate Angel so much!! He disgusts me!! Such an ugly two-faced monkey weasel!

That's kind of the whole point. Maybe you are missing something.

[dustylil]

"Requiem for a Funny Box" from Season 4 was the episode that dealt with hit on the gay mob guy.

[cyberducks]

I am always willing to see the HoYah! in everything, and I am a slasher of certain favourite characters of mine - but, nah, Jim Rockford is as straight as they come.

All of this talk of Rockford makes me want to watch this show again - why aren't there any DVD's? Considering all the crap that is out on DVD...

[apocalipstick]

Thank you, dustylil! It was indeed "Requiem for a Funny Box."

[cyberducks]

According to my digital cable guide, Rf is showing Sat. night 1.30 a.m. on WGN; and weekdays 11.00 a.m. also on WGN.

[indigo4]

Is Rockford shown in reruns anywhere?

It's shown on WGN every weekday around noon in California (11 am?) and sometimes late at night on the weekends.

The Sky the Hippie one is one of my all-time favorites. I got so happy last night when that one came on. So well written, cast, and acted.

Word to all the good things the rest of you have said about this show -- it's a gem. Years ago I read a review of this series where the guy said, "Why anyone would watch this tire squealer is beyond me!" I love TRF, but ever since then I've observed that there's a "tire squealing" scene in almost every episode. Don't know why they felt they had to do that. every. time. Fortunately, the show is so much more than that.

Edited to add: TRF has really suffered from editing to fit in more commercials. Sometimes the episodes are so butchered that the plots are unintelligible. There oughta be a law! I'm looking forward to the DVDs.

Edited by indigo4, Mar 20, 2005 @ 10:36 AM.

[NoFatChicks]

I did enjoy the episode where Tom Selleck plays a P.I. who has all the luck in the world, his hunches always pan out, and the ladies are dying for him. Jim has to sit back and watch him pick up some P.I. of the Year award. That was some funny stuff.

[xii]

No mention yet of the theme music? Best theme music ever, hands down.

I have been known to going into my "This is Jim Rockford. Please leave your name at the tone" spiel whenever I hear an old-fashioned rotary phone ring on TV. They have such a cool, distinctive ring, those old phones. It kind of echoes and fades out, I guess because they used to have a real bell inside.

My favorite Rockford pairing was with the blind psychiatrist. They had a great relationship.

[NoFatChicks]

One of the fitness instructors at my health club has a CD of re-mixed 70s and 80s TV theme songs. It has Dallas and Knots Landing and Dynasty, etc. And the Rockford theme! One day in class she shouted, "does anyone know what show this was?" I was the only one who knew! I felt so special.

[fernsehen]

NoFatChicks:  I did enjoy the episode where Tom Selleck plays a P.I. who has all the luck in the world, his hunches always pan out, and the ladies are dying for him. Jim has to sit back and watch him pick up some P.I. of the Year award. That was some funny stuff.

Made all the funnier by James Garner's reactions. And don't forget that very conspicuous convertible Lance White (Selleck) drove. Wasn't it white with red interior?

You were the only person in your health club who recognized the Rockford Files theme? I never thought I'd hear that. Next thing you know, people won't know the Dragnet theme.

I'm glad Jimmy and Rocky are back on WGN.

[Videophile]

I just finished a two-month stretch where I was "between jobs". What a great show! And twice a day to boot! Between this and twice-daily Magnum I almost hated to go back to work. But my family wants to eat so whatcha gonna do?

I even watched and taped the two-hour pilot episode. Quite different from subsequent episodes, especially the lighting and camera angles. There was a different actor playing Rocky but he just didn't have the chemistry with James Garner that Noah Beery did.

[apocalipstick]

I've been enjoying Jim, Angel, and Rocky during summer vacation. I'm always amazed when I watch this show by the prescience of the writers. David Chase's work on The Rockford Files is just as strong, if not stronger, than his writing for The Sopranos. The plots were so ahead of their time: "Profit & Loss", about a company that has succeeded due to massive fraud (paging Kenny-Boy Lay), the episode about prosecutorial abuse of the grand jury system, the Richie Brockelman/Garth McGregor ep about the sale of private information... and that was thirty years ago.

Also, "Never Send A Boy King To Do A Man's Job" was better than The Sting.

[NoFatChicks]

From The Onion: Repressed-Memory Therapist Recovers Rockford Files Episode

LMFAO!!!!!!!!

[apocalipstick]

Yes!!! "Never Send A Boy King To Do A Man's Job"--one of the greatest episodes of series television evah!

[Mr. Excitement]

Yep, "King..." never gets old.

"Y'know, some people would say that a con that involves both of the principals getting beaten up by the mark must have some basic flaw..."

[libad]

Every so often I catch myself humming the theme song and get a big grin on my face. The characters were exaggerated to just the right degree -- hilarious, but not absurd.

Somebody with a better memory remind me who played his lawyer, Beth (was that her name?).