Even as a kid, what I loved even more was the entire preposterous-ness of a helicopter chasing an automobile (without shooting down at it!!) I used to say, “Just ignore it, what can it possibly do to you?!” In fact I figured that if a car slammed against the helicopter’s landing skids hard enough it was more likely to cause the chopper to crash*!* Being a fan of GM cars I loved later watching reruns and being able to see the obvious differences in the newer & newer Firebirds he drove without him ever officially buying a new one (and every one always being gold). I later owned a couple and there were significant headlight & taillight changes on Firebirds throughout the 70s. There was even an episode where his car was blown up, and right before you can clearly see it’s a much older model (like a '71!) that they blew up to save money.
Rockford not carrying a gun was part of his whole persona in the series. He lived in a crappy trailer, he never carried a gun, he never got paid, he always got beat up, and he (almost) never got the girl*!*
I love Rockford Files. I recall his neighbors getting together and complaining about the noise, gunshots and dangerous activity around his trailer. They got him and Rocky thrown out of the trailer park if I recall correctly. Of course none of the gunshots were by Jim. I think one neighbor had a tape of squealing tires and gunshots, and said something like “And this was on Christmas Eve!”
Rocky didn’t live at the trailer park. He had his own home, (the one Jim grew up in), but he spent a lot of his time fixing Jim’s trailer up, getting together with him to fish, occasionally nursemaiding him when he got injured. And it was mainly one of Rockford’s neighbors who had a grudge with him who was trying to get Rockford thrown out, but he wasn’t successful. The rest of his neighbors didn’t have anything against him.
Season 6, episode 1, Paradise Cove; C.C. Calloway, a retired former sheriff, is trying to get Rockford run out of the neighborhood. He has even won a civil judgment against Rockford for an injury he suffered, although Rockford thinks he’s faking. It turns out that Calloway was corrupt, and he’s trying to get Rockford out of the neighborhood so he can dig up some gold that’s buried under Jim’s trailer. Mariette Hartley (of the Polaroid commercials) played a receiver appointed by the court to evaluate Jim’s business.
Actually, in the episode “The Big Ripoff,” Rockford told a local sheriff he kept his gun in a can of freeze dried coffee to keep the moisture from the ocean climate from rusting it.
I just realized this is a zombie, but I think I remember an episode where Jim is working with/for a (female?) race car driver who comments on his car’s crappy handling. Jim then disses Rocky’s vehicle, and Rocky notes it’s no worse than the Firebird.
Jim Rockford: You better lose that guy or we’re gonna have a black and white at every intersection… . Drive a race car huh?
Doris Parker: Lousy damn suspension…
According to IMDb, Jack Garner (James’s brother) was on the show 23 times. He played unnamed police offficers and bartenders (among others) until settling into the role of Capt. McEnroe in the show’s final season.
I think Law & Order would really make the zealots’ heads explode. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen someone familiar on that show, looked them up on IMDb, and discovered that I recognized them from another episode of Law & Order.
It was mentioned upthread that the pilot episode featured Lindsay Wagner as Rockford’s client, and Bill Mumy as her brother (who worked in a drugstore and was having his school tuition paid for by the woman they were investigating).
There was another episode with Lindsay Wagner, either late S1 or early S2 where she played the same character. Bill Mumy was also in this episode, but wasn’t her brother, just some artist selling his paintings on the street. That one had me scratching my head.
It’s funny how the same actors will show up just a few episodes apart as completely different characters.
On that note, there were two different Firebirds used during the show’s run, I believe a 76 model, then later a 77-79 one. After the producers procured the latter the former would still constantly show up in stock footage.
It’s been common practice in TV dramas. Look at the credits for Bruce Dern, in his early career he played multiple parts on The Fugitive, 12 O’Clock High, The Virginian, Wagon Train, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Naked City, and a couple of others.
It’s not like it was a secret at the time or that no one noticed. They just didn’t care. The staff of the show appreciated an actor that they liked personally and were reliable. Obviously tv watching has changed.
