- KILL THE MESSENGER
Original Air Date: October 27, 1978
Synopsis. As a nervous Becker prepares to take the examination for lieutenant, he’s assigned a departmental hot potato: the homicide of parole officer Eileen Towne, wife of Deputy Chief of Police Eugene Towne. When Rockford decides to help Dennis by conducting a preliminary investigation, he inadvertently jeopardizes their friendship and nearly sabotages Becker’s chances for promotion.
Reportedly Joe Santos’ favorite episode, “Kill the Messenger” also marks one of the first screen appearances of future Oscar winner Ed Harris.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
David Chase The Sopranos
This Date in ROCKFORD FILES History: Part 2 of “Only Rock ‘n’ Roll Will Never Die” airs on Oct. 26, 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
- ONLY ROCK ‘N’ ROLL WILL NEVER DIE (conclusion)
Original Air Date: October 26, 1979
Synopsis. Pop music superstar Tim Ritchie, already facing a palimony lawsuit by his former live-in girlfriend Diane Bjornstrom, hires Rockford to locate his record producer and longtime friend Bryan Charles, who disappeared after they had a major dispute seven days earlier. Jim learns that Charles supplied Evergreen Management, a rival record label run by mobster Bernie Seldon, with bootlegged copies of Ritchie’s latest LP Renegade Lotion—a move that has cost Ritchie’s company $1.4 million in profits. The matter turns to murder when Rockford finds Charles buried in the back yard of his own home.“Only Rock ‘n’ Roll Will Never Die” marked the final appearance of “Jimmy Joe Meeker,” the smooth-talking alias that Rockford assumed on several occasions during the fourth, fifth, and sixth seasons.
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: Marcia Strassman, Kristoffer Tabori and George Loros star in Part 1 of the two-part episode “Only Rock ‘n’ Roll Will Never Die,” airing on Oct. 19, 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
- ONLY ROCK ‘N’ ROLL WILL NEVER DIE (Part 1)
Original Air Date: October 19, 1979
Synopsis. Pop music superstar Tim Ritchie (played by Kristoffer Tabori), already facing a palimony lawsuit by his former live-in girlfriend Diane Bjornstrom, hires Rockford to locate his record producer and longtime friend Bryan Charles, who disappeared after they had a major dispute seven days earlier. Jim learns that Charles supplied Evergreen Management, a rival record label run by mobster Bernie Seldon, with bootlegged copies of Ritchie’s latest LP Renegade Lotion—a move that has cost Ritchie’s company $1.4 million in profits. The matter turns to murder when Rockford finds Charles buried in the back yard of his own home.Marcia Strassman (Welcome Back, Kotter, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids) later played Dr. Trish George in Friends and Foul Play, the fifth of the eight Rockford telefilms that James Garner produced for CBS in the late 1990s. George Loros previously appeared as tightly-wound mobster “Anthony Boy” Gagglio in “To Protect and Serve” and “The Man Who Saw the Alligators” and as equally paranoid hitman Tommy Lorentz in “The Dog and Pony Show.”
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: Rockford leads a field trip to a funeral in “Friends and Foul Play,” the fifth of the eight reunion movies that James Garner produced for CBS, airing Apr. 25, 1996. LEARN MORE in 45 YEARS OF THE ROCKFORD FILES, available in softcover paperback and now as an eBook through Black Pawn Press
- FRIENDS AND FOUL PLAY
Original Air Date: April 25, 1996
Synopsis. Rockford tries to help his friend Babs Honeywell, a waitress at the Sand Castle, prove that her son was killed by mobster Happy Cartello. When Babs herself is murdered, Jim goes through her diary, hoping to find clues that could link the two deaths. Rockford is on the verge of cracking the case when Chapman orders him banned from the investigation. But when Rockford learns that Chapman is teaching a course on criminology—and that the captain has incorporated the Honeywell case into the curriculum—he immediately enrolls in the class himself so that he can study the matter first hand.Friends and Foul Play features two actors who previously guest-starred on the original Rockford Files. Murray MacLeod appeared in the second-season episode “Where’s Houston?” while Marcia Strassman starred in the sixth-season two-parter “Only Rock ’n’ Roll Will Never Die.”
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: Rita Moreno and Hal Linden star in “If It Bleeds… It Leads,” the eighth and final Rockford reunion movie, airing Apr. 20, 1999. LEARN MORE in 45 YEARS OF THE ROCKFORD FILES, available in softcover paperback and now as an eBook through Black Pawn Press
- IF IT BLEEDS… IT LEADS
Original Air Date: April 20, 1999
Synopsis. Rita Capkovic (played by Rita Moreno) turns to Rockford one last time when her husband Ernie Lansdale (Hal Linden), a respected school teacher, is wrongfully suspected of being the West Side Rapist, the perpetrator of a series of brutal child molestations. When a police sketch of the rapist is leaked to the media, Ernie is immediately hounded by reporters because of his striking resemblance to the suspect depicted in the sketch. With Ernie’s reputation in tatters, Rockford’s only hope of restoring his friend’s good name is to find the real culprit. The Rockford Files ended its run on CBS with a surprisingly strong finish, earning the second-highest household rating (10.3) and share (16.0) among all network programs that aired on Apr. 20, 1999, the night it was originally broadcast. The movie drew 14,480,000 viewers, finishing a close second to the 14,540,000 viewers who tuned in to Dateline NBC. (Dateline that night devoted its entire hour to its coverage of the tragic shootings at Columbine High School in Denver, Colorado, which had occurred earlier that day.)If It Bleeds… also finished tied for fifteenth place in the overall Nielsens for the week. That marked the first time a Rockford reunion movie landed in the Top 20 since November 1994, when I Still Love L.A. placed fourth with a whopping 28 share.
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: Roger E. Mosley guest stars in “Dirty Money, Black Light,” airing Apr. 1, 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
- DIRTY MONEY, WHITE LIGHT
Original Air Date: April 1, 1977
Synopsis. Beth hires Jim to find a woman who allegedly could clear her client, pro football player Davey Woodhull, of first-degree murder charges. Meanwhile, just as Woodhull’s trial begins, Beth is harassed by crank phone calls, stalkings, and a series of sexually explicit gifts sent to her through the mail. When Woodhull’s mystery woman is murdered shortly after Rockford locates her, Jim suspects Woodhull of masterminding an insidious scheme that covers all bets in case he’s convicted—by showing that Beth was distracted, Woodhull could appeal on the basis that she could not render an effective defense. Rockford must prove that Woodhull orchestrated the harassment. The second of two episodes directed by Stuart Margolin, “Dirty Money, Black Light” features some very effective P.O.V. shots. For example, the sequence where Angel is being questioned by the two federal agents is shot from Angel’s perspective: the agents are filmed with the camera tilted slightly upward, as if the viewers are looking at the agents from where Angel is seated. Also, because Angel speaks quickly and acts very nervously throughout this scene, the camera frequently cuts back and forth from one agent to the other.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: Lindsay Wagner, Bill Mumy, Nita Talbot, and William Smith star in “The Rockford Files,” the 90-minute pilot for the classic TV series, airing Mar. 27, 1974. LEARN MORE in 45 YEARS OF THE ROCKFORD FILES, available in softcover paperback and now as an eBook through Black Pawn Press
JAMES GARNER
in
THE ROCKFORD FILES
An NBC World Premiere Movie
Original Air Date: March 27, 1974
Synopsis. Rockford reluctantly agrees to investigate the death of Harvey Butler, an elderly derelict whose body was found beneath the Santa Monica pier two months ago. (Although the police consider the case unsolvable, Butler was strangled to death by a man named Jerry Grimes, a karate expert with a mean streak.) Butler’s daughter Sara (played by Lindsay Wagner) thinks there’s a connection between her father’s death and socialite Mildred Elias (Nita Talbot), who has been putting Sara’s brother, Nick (Bill Mumy) through medical school. Although his initial investigation leads him nowhere, Rockford becomes curious when he discovers Grimes tailing him shortly after the private eye interrogates Mildred Elias.
The sequence in which Rockford literally upends Jerry Grimes (William Smith) not only demonstrates how Rockford will often use elemental means to work his way out of trouble, it also showcases the character’s droll sense of humor. It’s an important scene that encapsulates what The Rockford Files is all about. As is the case with many of the other staples of the series, the development of that sequence was the collaborative effort of Roy Huggins and Stephen J. Cannell.
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: “The Attractive Nuisance” airs on Jan. 6, 1978. 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
- PIECE WORK
Original Air Date: January 6, 1978
Synopsis. Rocky opens a truckstop diner with a man named Vince Whitehead. Neither Jim nor Rocky realize that Whitehead, a onetime major mob figure, is using the garage located behind the restaurant to market stolen auto parts. Jim soon discovers that he and Rocky have been under the surveillance of Eddie LaSalle, a retired FBI agent who has long been obsessed with apprehending Whitehead—the man who murdered his partner more than forty years before. Meanwhile, Rockford finds himself sued by a man hired by LaSalle hired to bug his home. The man fell off the roof of Jim’s trailer after planting an electronic bugging device.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: Erin Gray and Rene Auberjonois star in “With the French Heel Back, Is the Nehru Jacket Far Behind,” the episode that also marks the second appearance of Jimmy Joe Meeker, airing Jan. 5, 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
- WITH THE FRENCH HEEL BACK, CAN THE NEHRU JACKET BE FAR BEHIND?
Original Air Date: January 5, 1979
Synopsis. Rockford probes the apparent suicide of his friend Carol Calcote, a high-fashion supermodel who was found dead on the same night an international jet setter named Consuela Hooper was murdered. With the help of former model Alta Hatch (played by Erin Gray), Jim discovers a link between both deaths and internationally renowned couturier Masters (Rene Auberjonois).“With the French Heel Back, Can the Nehru Jacket Be Far Behind?” ties the record previously set by “Sticks and Stones May Break Your Bones, But Waterbury Will Bury You” for Longest Title of a Rockford Files Episode. Both episodes have twelve words in the title. The episode with the second-longest title (ten words) is “Never Send a Boy King to Do a Man’s Job.”
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: Lindsay Wagner, Bill Mumy, and Greg Mullavey star in “Aura Lee, Farewell,” airing Jan. 3, 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
- AURA LEE, FAREWELL
Original Air Date: January 3, 1975
Synopsis. Once again, Rockford teams up with Sara Butler (Lindsay Wagner), the woman who hired him in the pilot episode to solve the murder of her father. This time, Sara wants Jim to prove that the apparent suicide of her girlfriend and employee Aura Lee Benton was a homicide. Though the official report says that Aura Lee died of a heroin overdose, Sara suspects foul play because she knows that Aura Lee did not use drugs. Emmy winner Lindsay Wagner (The Bionic Woman) returns as Sara Butler, the role she originated in the Rockford Files pilot. Though Sara was slated to be a recurring character on Rockford, that changed once Wagner landed the role of Jaime Sommers in “The Bionic Woman,” a two-part episode of The Six Million Dollar Man that originally aired in March 1975.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