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
Ed Robertson
Author ● Journalist ● Radio Host ● Collaborative Writer
Black Pawn Press
This Date in ROCKFORD FILES History: Susan Howard guest stars in “Feeding Frenzy,” airing Oct. 15, 1976. 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
- FEEDING FRENZY
Original Air Date: October 15, 1976
Synopsis. Charlie Blaylock, a former oil executive who now runs a bait stand on the pier, embezzled $500,000 from his company three years before. Charlie has never spent the money, but his conscience has never stopped bothering him. Although the statute of limitations on the robbery is about to expire (which means that the police could not arrest him even if he confessed), Charlie hires Rockford to return the money to the company. But when mobsters kidnap Charlie’s daughter Sandy, Rockford uses the money to pay the ransom. However, two factors complicate the matter further: (1) Rockford is arrested after learning that the statute of limitations is still valid, and (2) Sandy is kidnapped again, this time by the police lieutenant who worked with the insurance agent who originally investigated the heist. At the time she filmed this episode, Susan Howard had just completed a two-year stint starring opposite Barry Newman in Petrocelli (NBC, 1974-1976), an unorthodox legal drama produced by Leonard Katzman. In early 1979, Katzman cast Howard as Donna Culver, a character she would play for nine seasons on Dallas (CBS, 1978-1991).
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 ROCKFORD FILES History: Music legends Isaac Hayes and Dionne Warwick star in “Second Chance,” airing Oct. 14, 1977. 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
- SECOND CHANCE
Original Air Date: October 14, 1977
Synopsis. Now working as a bouncer at a dive bar, Gandolf Fitch has fallen in love with Theda Best, a onetime Las Vegas singer (played by real-life singer Dionne Warwick) who’s on the verge of getting another recording contract. Gandy and Theda’s happiness is threatened when she is kidnapped by her ex-husband, Joe Moran, a convicted murderer who was also once involved in a counterfeit poker chip operation, Moran received his parole through “Second Chance,” a rehabilitation program that serves as a front for a shady industrialist named Shapiro (played by Malachi Throne). Shapiro has Moran kidnap Theda because she knows the location of the stereo system where Moran has hidden the counterfeiting equipment. Gandy and Rockford must rescue Theda.
“Second Chance” marks Isaac Hayes’ third and final appearance as Gandolf Fitch, Rockford’s onetime stir mate at San Quentin. At the time they filmed this episode, Hayes and Dionne Warwick had just released A Man and a Woman, an album of live duets that was based on the highly successful series of live concerts that the two artists had performed together between 1976 and 1977. Long an admirer of Warwick’s work, Hayes had released a cover version of her hit “Walk on By” in 1969.
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: Edd Byrnes and Joanna Barnes star in “Ghost Rider,” airing Oct. 13, 1957. MAVERICK: LEGEND OF THE WEST: Revised Third Edition is now available both as an eBook and in softcover paperback through Black Pawn Press
- GHOST RIDER
Original Airdate: October 13, 1957
Synopsis. Maverick has a bad day in the town of White Rock. First, he’s robbed of $3,000 by a young punk known as “The Kid” (played by Edd Byrnes). Then he discovers that The Kid not only lost all of his money playing poker, but was shot and killed for cheating. Then Bret loses his coat (containing the $1,000 bill he keeps for emergencies) after helping out a red-haired woman who, according to the townsfolk, died ten days earlier. When Maverick returns to town, he’s nearly shot to death by the undertaker. When the undertaker, a very popular man in town, is later gunned down by a man named Foster (who matches Bret’s general physical appearance), Maverick becomes the likely suspect.
LEARN MORE about this episode in the revised third edition of Maverick: Legend of the West, featuring more than 100 pages of new information about the show that made James Garner a star. 25 percent of the net proceeds from the sales of the third edition 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. The revised third edition of Maverick: Legend of the West is available through Black Pawn Press, Amazon.com, and wherever books are sold online.
This Date in MAVERICK TV History: Reginald Owen stars in “The Belcastle Brand,” airing Oct. 12, 1958. MAVERICK: LEGEND OF THE WEST: Revised Third Edition is now available both as an eBook and in softcover paperback through Black Pawn Press
- THE BELCASTLE BRAND
Original Airdate: October 12, 1958
Synopsis. In Wyoming, Bret collapses outside Belcastle Manor, the home of an eccentric family of British aristocrats. After the Belcastles nurse him back to health, Bret earns his keep by leading the family on a bear hunt across the desert. But the expedition comes to a sudden halt when the Shaughnessy gang robs the group of their supplies—and leaves them to die in the desert.
“The Belcastle Brand” features one of the most famous Pappyisms of the entire Maverick series: “It would be a pitiful thing if you had to work for a living. Son, use your wits; the good Lord didn’t give you brains.”
LEARN MORE about this episode in the revised third edition of Maverick: Legend of the West, featuring more than 100 pages of new information about the show that made James Garner a star. 25 percent of the net proceeds from the sales of the third edition 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. The revised third edition of Maverick: Legend of the West is available through Black Pawn Press, Amazon.com, and wherever books are sold online.
This Date in ROCKFORD FILES History: Screen legend Lauren Bacall stars in the two-hour episode “Lions, Tigers, Monkeys, and Dogs,” airing Oct. 12, 1979. 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
- LIONS, TIGERS, MONKEYS, AND DOGS
Original Air Date: October 12, 1979
Synopsis. A chance meeting at a posh Beverly Hills restaurant brings Rockford to the attention of the elegant Princess Irene Rachevsky, who wants to hire the private investigator to probe a series of attacks targeted at her close friend Kendall Warren.
The dynamic onscreen rapport between James Garner and fellow screen legend Lauren Bacall highlights “Lions, Tigers, Monkeys, and Dogs.” It’s fun to watch the two of them together, and it’s clear that they both had fun filming the episode.
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: Mona Freeman, Buddy Ebsen, and Richard Deacon star in “The Cats of Paradise,” airing Oct. 11, 1959. MAVERICK: LEGEND OF THE WEST: Revised Third Edition is now available both as an eBook and in softcover paperback through Black Pawn Press
- THE CATS OF PARADISE
Original Airdate: October 11, 1959
Synopsis. Bret goes into business selling cats to a town besieged by rats and mice. Bret doesn’t realize that his charming partner, Modesty Blaine, is also a crafty, and completely amoral, con artist who robs him of $500 and nearly has him shanghaied. Maverick locates Modesty in Paradise, where he finds her conveniently protected by the town’s two-faced mayor and its superstitious but equally corrupt sheriff.
“The Cats of Paradise” is the first of three episodes featuring Modesty Blaine, a Samantha Crawford-like character who bedevils Bret Maverick (and, later, brother Bart) over the remainder of the series. In this episode, however, Modesty comes across more like Dandy Jim Buckley, only worse: she doesn’t think twice about hiring a gunman to kill Bret. (While Buckley was an all-out grafter, even he had his limitations.) When Maverick‘s audience dropped 5 percent the week after “Paradise” aired, series producer Coles Trapnell took steps to refine the Blaine character.
LEARN MORE about this episode in the revised third edition of Maverick: Legend of the West, featuring more than 100 pages of new information about the show that made James Garner a star. 25 percent of the net proceeds from the sales of the third edition 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. The revised third edition of Maverick: Legend of the West is available through Black Pawn Press, Amazon.com, and wherever books are sold online.
This Date in ROCKFORD FILES History: James Garner files his lawsuit against Universal Studios on Oct. 11, 1983 over his share of profits from The Rockford Files. The case would play out in court over the next six years before both sides reached a settlement in April 1989. LEARN MORE in 45 YEARS OF THE ROCKFORD FILES, available in softcover paperback and now as an eBook through Black Pawn Press
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 ROCKFORD FILES History: Janet MacLachlan, Robert Webber and Michael Conrad star in “The Deep Blue Sleep,” airing Oct. 10, 1975. 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
- THE DEEP BLUE SLEEP
Original Air Date: October 10, 1975
Synopsis. Police classify the death of premier fashion model Margaux Adams as either accidental or suicidal. But Beth, one of Margaux’s best friends, suspects foul play—particularly since she received a frantic phone call from Margaux shortly before she died. At Beth’s urging, Rockford looks into the matter. After uncovering a romantic triangle between Margaux, fashion designer Adrienne Clarke (played by Janet MacLachlan), and accountant Bob Coleman (Robert Webber), our hero suspects that Margaux was killed once she learned that Coleman has links to organized crime.
According to Rockford producer Chas. Floyd Johnson, Tony Award winner Diahann Carroll was the original choice to designer Adrienne Clarke in this episode.
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: Alan Hale, Joanna Barnes and Donald “Red” Barry star in “Arizona Black Maria,” airing Oct. 9, 1960. MAVERICK: LEGEND OF THE WEST: Revised Third Edition is now available both as an eBook and in softcover paperback through Black Pawn Press
- ARIZONA BLACK MARIA
Original Airdate: October 9, 1960
Synopsis. While camping in the Arizona desert, Bart finds himself the target of a determined Indian named Redfeather, who needs to collect one scalp in order to be named chief. Two gunmen rescue Maverick in the nick of time, but they steal his water as payment and leave him to die of thirst. The next morning, Redfeather tries to scalp Bart again, only this time a federal marshal comes to the rescue. The marshal asks Bart to help him transport a wagonload of prisoners to the federal penitentiary. Redfeather’s tribe overtakes the wagon, but agrees to let the marshal pass through if he turns over Maverick.
“Arizona Black Maria” features one of the most-remembered lines of the entire Maverick series. Captain Jim Paddishaw (played by Alan Hale) tries to console Bart after turning him to the Indians: “You’re a brave man, Maverick. At least you know that you won’t have died in vain.” Bart’s response? “I’d rather live in vain, then die any way there is.”