The Rockford Files

[Pahonu]

I think Rockford is a better show than Magnum.

Off to the pillory with thee! Seven days of public scorn and then you will be shamefully escorted to the outskirts of town (on your knees), never to return. This is the sentence imposed on thee. Just be thankful we didn't toss you in the gibbet!

Well, as long as it's just that....

[J.J. Walters]

But seriously, I LOVE Rockford! One of my very favorite "70's Shows". James Gardner is just fantastic and a great supporting cast, too.

[Pahonu]

But seriously, I LOVE Rockford! One of my very favorite "70's Shows". James Gardner is just fantastic and a great supporting cast, too.

Most of the supporting cast ended up guest starring on Magnum so that tells you something about the quality.

I just find the writing to be incredibly clever with lots of unexpected plot twists and unique stories. Many of Magnum's episodes, while entertaining, are a bit less sophisticated.

Magnum has the advantage in its Hawaii setting, but I'm also a bit partial to Rockford's. Because of living in the area I recognize so many of the places when I watch. I've been to Paradise Cove in Malibu where his trailer was parked many, many times. They even have a plaque now to show where in the parking lot it was located. As a side note the location of Harry O's beach house was just a hundred yards or so down the beach but it was demolished after the hillside collapsed in the winter storms that also washed away the end of the pier.

Magnum's Ferrari is awesome but the car chases in Rockford were better. Then again, Magnum had TC's helicopter. Robin's Nest certainly beats Jim's trailer, but Paradise Cove and the pier are beautiful locations.

Both Selleck and Garner play great non-traditional characters shaped by their past, and they play them superbly.

I guess it all comes back to the stories. The writing in Rockford is so goooood!

[MagnumILWU]

I thought Harry-O was a great show! Now here's one for you! Darren McGavin was "Rockford" before Rockford! The Outsider, 68-69! Down on his luck PI. Sent to prison on a trumped-up murder charge for 6 years! Pardoned for It! It only lasted one season, but it was a good show! Look it up Google it, or maybe there's something on You Tube!

http://youtu.be/VYYSpmqk4Hs

[Pahonu]

I thought Harry-O was a great show! Now here's one for you! Darren McGavin was "Rockford" before Rockford! The Outsider, 68-69! Down on his luck PI. Sent to prison on a trumped-up murder charge for 6 years! Pardoned for It! It only lasted one season, but it was a good show! Look it up Google it, or maybe there's something on You Tube!

http://youtu.be/VYYSpmqk4Hs

I watched the opening last time you posted it. I'd love to see an episode some time.

[J.J. Walters]

Came across this cool 1996 Rockford Files novel by Stuart Kaminsky at a used book store the other day. Kaminsky is a top shelf, Edgar Award-winning mystery author. I have several of his Inspector Rostnikov books. I didn't realize he did some Rockford Files books! He apparently did two -- this one and Devil on My Doorstep (1998). Can't wait to read it!

[308GUY]

Very cool find.

Let us know how it reads and how you liked it.

[MagnumILWU]

https://scontent-sea1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hp ... e=56D02052 Found this on the Facebook page- "Mavericks and Misfits-A Shrine to 70's US TV crime"! Copy of pilot script, with name found by creators in a staff directory(according to the story). Now if Rockford had kept that name, would Magnum have been Thomas later on?

[KingKC]

Since I am still a newbie and getting in my two cents everywhere I will say that if I picked one private detective actor that men wanted to be like and women wanted to be with it would be James Garner/Jim Rockford. The show was also more believable and less fantasy than Magnum. I can see a former convict as a down on his luck LA private detective living in a trailer with a retired truck driving father before I can see a former naval intelligence officer living free on a plush Hawaiian estate driving a Ferrari. Don't get me wrong. Magnum PI was a great show and I will have significant memories of it for many reasons but I also liked Rockford Files.

KingKC

[Little Garwood]

I watch two episodes of The Rockford Files each week, usually while eating Rockford-style foods like burritos or tacos.

The Rockford Files has earned and continued to retain its title as the greatest private detective series of them all...though Magnum will always be my personal favorite. The Rockford Files, however, is never less than magnificent most of the time.

[marlboro]

Kind of off topic, but I'll ask anyway.

Does anyone else think that James Garner rarely had chemistry with his female romantic interests? I'm a dude, so I'm not the best judge of these things but there rarely seemed to be a "spark" there. I never really noticed it until I watched Maverick and realized that Jack Kelly was much more believable in the romantic scenes.

I feel the same way about a lot of the romantic scenes in Magnum with TM and his various love interests. Maybe it just takes more than 60 minutes to develop chemistry between two characters.

[KingKC]

Kind of off topic, but I'll ask anyway.

Does anyone else think that James Garner rarely had chemistry with his female romantic interests? I'm a dude, so I'm not the best judge of these things but there rarely seemed to be a "spark" there. I never really noticed it until I watched Maverick and realized that Jack Kelly was much more believable in the romantic scenes.

I feel the same way about a lot of the romantic scenes in Magnum with TM and his various love interests. Maybe it just takes more than 60 minutes to develop chemistry between two characters.

I have to agree with you as to both James Garner as Rockford and Tom Selleck as Magnum. Maybe the producers, writers and directors did not want to see either one get too seriously involved and have to carry a theme, or a girlfriend, throughout the show. Maybe they didn't want either to look cheesy and promiscuous. Look at the way Tom Selleck's character Jesse Stone hooked up so easily but that show came on some twenty years after Magnum and almost 30 years after Rockford. I don't think TV of the Seventies and Eighties wanted to explicitly portray the star as a slut puppy (excuse the expression). Magnum was clearly "beefcake" or "eye candy" but he never came off as shallow with his relationships. The episode(s) with the steamy scenes and Sharon Stone kind of surprised me to be honest with you. I don't recall anymore like it for the rest of the series. The closest he came to any romantic interest I think was Dana Delaney and the Cynthia Ferrell character that nothing ever worked out with.

KingKC

[Little Garwood]

I think that Garner's chemistry with his female co-stars was pretty solid, though not as energized as in the Polaroid commercials he made with Mariette Hartley! Garner IMO had the best onscreen chemistry with his younger, not-as-well-known guest actresses. I'd say that Garner's onscreen chemistry compares favorably to Selleck's, whose onscreen interactions could be occasionally awkward. However, I've always conveniently chalked that up to "The Michelle Factor."

One of my favorite bits from TRF's opening credits is when Jim is sharing a laugh with this goddess in blue eye shadow:

[KingKC]

Wow Garwood!! Thanks for that memory of James Garner and Mariette Hartley in the Polaroid commercials. I remember people thinking they were in a relationship in real life if not married. There was definitely chemistry in that commercial.

KingKC

[Steve]

agreed on the theme song/opening. I was never a religious watcher back in the day (only 45 now), but I saw my fair share. Good show and just haven't found a vehicle to watch it now (Directv customer). Not at point where I would buy the DVDs (still getting through my Magnum collection-baseball season has stalled me).

I do like James Garner a lot. Played a great role in the Great Escape as the Scrounger. Definitely a great everyman.

James Garner was good in Barbarians at the Gate. He plays the CEO of RJR Nabisco who tries to buy the company. Garner was very good. It is different than Rockford, but still good.

I forgot all about Barbarians at the Gate. That's been many years now, but I really remember liking it.

One of my all time favorite movies, I even bought the DVD as HBO doesn't show it any longer. I recall the one small criticism at the time is Garner is just so darn charming an actor that he made F. Ross Johnson look more loveable than he was in real life....