- SLEIGHT OF HAND
Original Air Date: January 17, 1975
Synopsis. Rockford makes an exception to his own rule of never interfering with an open police case when he investigates the disappearance of his girlfriend Karen Mills, who mysteriously vanished in front of her home moments after returning from a trip to San Francisco with Jim and her daughter Julie.
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
Dyan Cannon
This Date in ROCKFORD FILES History: Rob Reiner and Dick Butkus star in “The No-Cut Contract,” airing Jan. 16, 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
- THE NO-CUT CONTRACT
Original Air Date: January 16, 1976
Synopsis. Larry “King” Sturtevant, starting quarterback for the Southern Illinois Warriors—a second-rate team in a third-rate pro football league—knows that team owner Dale Fontaine has ties with the Chicago underworld, so he had Fontaine’s conference room bugged to gain leverage in case he ever needed any. Sturtevant recorded a conversation in which Fontaine sold mob information to federal agents; when he learns that Fontaine planned to replace him with another quarterback, Sturtevant threatens to turn over the tapes unless Fontaine cancels the deal. However, when word of the tapes leaks out, Sturtevant finds himself on the run from both sides of the law. The weaselly Sturtevant, who claims he’d stashed the tapes with a private detective, supplies the mob and the FBI with a name he’d randomly plucked
from the Yellow Pages: Jim Rockford.The fourth of five episodes directed by Lou Antonio, “The No-Cut Contract” features Emmy Award-winning actor and Academy Award-winning director Rob Reiner, the Emmy Award-winning actor and future Academy Award-winning director who was starring on All in the Family (CBS, 1971-1983) at the time he appeared in this episode. Reiner’s father, the legendary writer/director and comic genius Carl Reiner, wrote the screenplay for The Thrill of It All, the 1963 comedy starring Doris Day and James Garner.
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: Dyan Cannon stars in “If the Frame Fits…,” the third of the eight Rockford Files reunion movies produced for CBS, airing Jan. 14, 1996. LEARN MORE in 45 YEARS OF THE ROCKFORD FILES, available in softcover paperback and now as an eBook through Black Pawn Press
- IF THE FRAME FITS…
Original Air Date: January 14, 1996
Synopsis. Falsely accused of murdering a rival detective, Rockford fights to clear his name despite a staggering circumstantial case against him and increasing animosity from his two longtime nemeses on the Los Angeles Police Department, Commander Alex Diehl and Captain Douglas Chapman. But our hero finds help from friends old and new, including Dennis Becker, former attorney (now bestselling novelist) Beth Davenport, and IRS agent Jess Wilding. While If the Frame Fits… was the third of the new Rockford episodes to have aired on CBS, in many respects it was the first “true” reunion show. Besides James Garner, Stuart Margolin, Joe Santos, and Jack Garner, the show brought back the three remaining members of the original cast: Gretchen Corbett (as Beth Davenport), James Luisi (as Lieutenant Chapman), and Tom Atkins (as Lieutenant Diehl). The movie also acknowledges the passing of Noah Beery Jr. with the help of guest star Dyan Cannon (Heaven Can Wait, Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice) as Jess Wilding, an IRS agent who also knew Rocky.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.