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Thirty Years of The Rockford Files:
An Inside Look at America's Greatest Detective Series

by Ed Robertson



      Do you remember the good-looking TV detective who might take your case if the money was good and the danger was low? Actor James Garner made the unique detective, Jim Rockford, a fan favorite for over 30 years. The award-winning The Rockford Files ran from 1974-1980 and returned in television movies in 1994. Are you a fan of the sarcastic but loveable Rockford? Author Ed Robertson’s Thirty Years of The Rockford Files reveals interviews, anecdotes, episodes, and updates in a jam-packed 495 pages.

Robertson interviews actors, writers, guest stars, and production crews to find the magic behind the Rockford stories. The Rockford character was based on Garner’s previous television character, Maverick - a gambler who shied away from physical fights. In late seventies television, detectives had been tough and gritty - the hero who won every fight. How would the audience react to a "hero" detective who looked out for himself and got hurt in the fights he couldn’t dodge? With creative writing and Garner’s appeal, Rockford attracts fans with his average guy commonalities like being a bit paunchy, living in a trailer, and eating junk food. Rockford requires clients to pay him in advance plus expenses and would bail at the first sign of trouble. Rockford also was smarter than he let on, and audiences knew that he’d close the cases.

The meat of Thirty Years of The Rockford Files provides season episode guides with original airdate information, guest cast, and a synopsis of the show. Fans will love the extra tidbits in Rockford Facts, Rockford Funnies, Rockford Familiar Faces, and Rockford Flubs. Do you remember the opening of The Rockford Files? Robertson includes each episode’s answering machine message, which provided laughs but no correlation to the upcoming show. In the "Coulter City Wildcat" episode, the answering message was, "It’s Shirley at the Plant and Pot. There’s just no easy way to tell you this, Jim -we did everything we could. Your fern died." Who wrote those messages? How did James Garner make The Rockford Files a family production? Read the book.

Thirty Years of The Rockford Files is a wonderful treat for the Rockford fan. Robertson’s research turns this book into a treasure of interviews, photos, little known facts, and episode synopsis. Need to find a gift for a Rockford fan? Buy Thirty Years of The Rockford Files - less than $200 a day plus expenses and stock full of memories.

The Book

ASJA Press
February 28, 2005
Paperback
0595342442
Non-fiction / Misc / Television Classics
More at Amazon.com
Excerpt
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The Reviewer

Jennifer Akers
Reviewed 2007
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© 2006 MyShelf.com