The Rockford Files is an American detective drama television series starring James Garner that aired on the NBC network from September 13, 1974, to January 10, 1980.

[2] In the series storyline, James Scott "Jim" Rockford had served time in California's San Quentin Prison in the 1960s due to a wrongful conviction.

His jobs as a private investigator barely allow him to maintain his weathered mobile home (which doubles as his office) in a parking lot on a beach in Malibu, California.

In the television movies from 1994 to 1999, Rockford is still living and working at the same Paradise Cove location, but in a much newer trailer that has been extensively enlarged and remodeled.

In contrast to sharp-dressed, pugnacious television private eyes of the time, Rockford wears casual, off-the-rack clothing and tries to avoid physical altercations.

He can hold his own in a one-on-one fistfight, but is frequently overpowered when ambushed or outnumbered, often from behind, but he almost always winds up figuring out what is going on, catching the bad guys/gals, and usually exacting revenge by the end of the episode, with some notable exceptions.

He rarely carries his Colt Detective Special revolver, for which he has no permit and usually stores in a cookie jar, and prefers to talk his way out of trouble.

Listed in the opening credits: Frequently recurring cast: Seen in multiple episodes: Dennis Becker: Rockford's pursuit of cases often leads to difficulties with his friend in the LAPD, Sgt.

Further, Rockford often calls Becker asking for favors, such as running license plates through the California Department of Motor Vehicles computer system, often annoying the already overworked cop.

Jim Rockford's mother is never shown or named, and is very seldom referred to; though never stated directly, she apparently died some years ago.

Jim also uses Angel on a few occasions to play a supporting role in con games that he sets up to sting especially difficult adversaries.

Angel is himself forever running some sort of (usually very bottom-of-the-barrel) con game, and is consistently ready to sell anyone out at a moment's notice for his own benefit — and often does.

Towards the end of the series, a noticeable cooling occurs in Jim's attitude toward Angel in their often-fractious relationship; however, the rift seems to have been repaired by the time of the reunion movies.

A new romantic interest, Dr. Megan Dougherty (Kathryn Harrold), a blind but highly independent psychiatrist, appears in two episodes in seasons five and six ("Black Mirror" and "Love Is the Word", respectively) and the 1996 television movie The Rockford Files: Punishment and Crime.

Huggins' contributions to the show ended midway through the first season, though, after he submitted a script rewrite direct to set as the episode was shooting, without getting approval from any other writer or producer.

One oft-recurring element of the show was the famous "Jim Rockford turn-around" (also known as a J-turn or a "moonshiner's turn" - commonly employed as an evasive driving technique taught to Secret Service).

Additionally, the truck sported various after-market accessories added by noted California customizer and off-road racer Vic Hickey, including the winch, brush guard, hubcap covers, sidestep bed plates, auxiliary gas tanks, custom steering wheel, rear roll bar, Cibié headlamps mounted on the front bumper/rear roll bar, and Pace CB radio.

In several season-five and -six episodes, Rocky drives a candy-apple red 1980 GMC C-10 short box pickup when his original vehicle is said to be in the shop for repair of damage from one of Jim's earlier adventures.

Throughout the show's tenure, the theme tune went through numerous evolutions with later versions containing a distinct electric guitar-based bridge section played by session guitarist Dan Ferguson.

[22] Each episode began with the image of Rockford's answering machine, and the opening title sequence was accompanied by a message on a Dictaphone remote Ansafone 660.

Each message is a standalone gag that often provides a small amount of biographical detail about Rockford, the people he knows, and the activities that occur in his life as a private investigator.

The show went into hiatus late in 1979 when Garner was told by his doctors to recuperate from numerous knee injuries and back trouble, as well as an ulcer.

He sustained the former conditions largely because of the daily grind of an extremely physically demanding show, performing most of his own stunts for realism, especially those involving fist fights or car chases.

Because of the toll on his body, Garner was ordered by his doctor to immediately take time off some months later, and NBC abruptly cancelled the program in midseason.

In 2007, the Retro Television Network began broadcasting the program nationwide, as did the digital cable channel Sleuth and Chicago TV station WWME-CA.

Other Rockford regulars who appear in multiple movies include Luisi, Atkins, Corbett, and Jack Garner (as Capt.

Also added to the cast (i.e., appearing only in the movies and in small, recurring roles) were Gerry Gibson as "Critch" Critchland, the owner of The Sand Castle restaurant across from Jim's trailer; and Shirley Anthony as Sally, a friendly, cheerful grandmotherly type who frequented the precinct to (falsely) confess to crimes, and to knit sweaters while she waited.

Huggins had created, written for, and produced Garner's breakthrough series Maverick in 1957 and envisioned The Rockford Files as presenting a similar character as a modern private investigator rather than a gambler in the American Old West.

Huggins teamed with Cannell, who had written for Jack Webb's Mark VII Productions such as Adam-12 and Chase (1973–1974, NBC), to create The Rockford Files.

[34][35] On April 18, 2016, it was announced that Mill Creek Entertainment had acquired the rights to the series; they subsequently re-released the first two seasons on DVD in Region 1 on July 5, 2016.