Ed Robertson
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Daily Archives: December 20, 2023
This Date in ROCKFORD FILES History: Ned Beatty stars in “Profit,” Part 1 of the two-part episode “Profit and Loss,” airing Dec. 20, 1974. LEARN MORE about this episode in 45 YEARS OF THE ROCKFORD FILES, available in softcover paperback and now as an eBook through Black Pawn Press
- PROFIT AND LOSS (Part 1: PROFIT)
Original Air Date: December 20, 1974
Synopsis. Computer programmer Alec Morris comes to Rockford for protection upon discovering that his employer, the powerful corporation Fiscal Dynamics, Inc., has been forging information on its annual report to carry off plans to purchase another corporate giant. Rockford witnesses two men abduct Morris—but after reporting the matter to the police, Jim not only finds Morris safe and sound, but faces a false report charge when Morris denies that anything ever happened. In addition, CEO Leon Fielder (played by Ned Beatty) threatens to sue Rockford for $10 million unless he stays out of FDI’s affairs. Noted character actor Ned Beatty (Deliverance, Network) makes the first of his two appearances on The Rockford Files. Beatty, who also played a former Army commander of Rockford’s in the third season episode “Return to the 38th Parallel,” later starred with James Garner in Streets of Laredo, the 1995 miniseries based on the novel by Larry McMurtry.
LEARN MORE about this episode in the revised third edition of 45 YEARS OF THE ROCKFORD FILES, featuring more than sixty new pages of never before published information about both the original Rockford Files and the CBS reunion movies, including twenty new interviews and six new appendices. 25 percent of the net proceeds from the sales of 45 YEARS OF THE ROCKFORD FILES will be donated to The James Garner Animal Rescue Fund, a nonprofit organization dedicated to raising funds to help rescue organizations, shelters, individuals, fosters, and veterans with emergencies, evacuations, medical care, adoptions, training, pet supplies, shelter, rehabilitation, boarding, transportation, food, and other pressing needs. JGARF is one way for Garner fans to honor Jim’s memory and extend his legacy. Plus… if you order 45 YEARS OF THE ROCKFORD FILES directly from Black Pawn Press, you will receive an exclusive bonus gift. Go to Rockford45.com for more details
This Date in MAVERICK TV History: William Reynolds stars in “A Cure for Johnny Rain,” airing Dec. 20, 1959. MAVERICK: LEGEND OF THE WEST: Revised Third Edition is now available both as an eBook and in softcover paperback through Black Pawn Press
- A CURE FOR JOHNNY RAIN
Original Airdate: December 20, 1959
Synopsis. Johnny Rain (played by William Reynolds) is a hero to the townspeople of Apocalypse—the type of man who saves children from runaway horses, mends broken legs, and rides thirty miles through a blizzard to get a doctor for an ailing old woman. He’s also responsible for a series of stagecoach robberies totaling $45,000 (including $5,000 from Bret). Johnny, however, is a heavy drinker who suffers blackouts—he only robs while he’s drunk and has no recollection of what he’s done once he sobers up. Hoping to recover the stolen money (and collect a 25-percent reward for himself), Maverick prescribes a “cure-all” tonic—80 percent of which is alcohol!—so that Johnny can lead him to the money.
William Reynolds, whom we last saw in the second season’s “Holiday at Hollow Rock,” made his film debut as Laurence Olivier’s son in Sister Carrie. Earlier in 1959, he starred as a jazz concert player who doubled as an amateur detective in Pete Kelly’s Blues, a short-lived series produced by Jack Webb (and based on Webb’s 1955 film of the same name). In the 196os, he co-starred in series with two Maverick alumni: he played opposite Diane Brewster in The Islanders, then later joined Efrem Zimbalist Jr. on The F.B.I.
