# Rockford Files... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 17, 2009, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rockford-files/510411 "2009-09-17T05:06:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2016, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rockford-files/510411/61 "2016-03-22T15:00:31Z")
Eddie Coyle damn autocorrect. Rockford would punch it out. ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2016, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rockford-files/510411/62 "2016-03-22T16:12:07Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > Eddie Coyle damn autocorrect. Rockford would punch it out. I’ll have to check that out. Looks like “Dennis Becker” was in it. Garner had some great lines: **Alvin Thomas** : Are you a connoisseur of art? **Jim Rockford** : I had a painted turtle when I was a kid. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2016, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rockford-files/510411/63 "2016-03-22T18:15:01Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Angel: Am I my brother’s keeper? > > Rockford: The answer to that is supposed to be yes! “The guy you’re looking for is Jim Rockford. That’s R-O-C-K-F-O-R-D. ROCKFORD!” ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2016, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rockford-files/510411/64 "2016-03-22T22:56:39Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Without looking it up, what was Rockford’s license plate number? > > 853-OKG 8-5-3 **OCEAN-KING-GEORGE!** :o OMG, I just got the “King George” part! :smack: ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2016, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rockford-files/510411/65 "2016-03-23T11:32:21Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > 8-5-3 **OCEAN-KING-GEORGE!** :o > > OMG, I just got the “King George” part! :smack: FTR, in case you or others don’t know, it’s the date (8/53) **Ok** lahoma lost **G** arner to Hollywood. ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2016, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rockford-files/510411/66 "2016-03-24T13:46:36Z")
> [@crypto](#): > > My favorite Rockford answering machine message at the beginning of the show: “Mr Rockford, this is Something-or-Other Grocers. Some guy named Angel Martin just charged $104 worth of groceries to your account. Is that okay?” 😃 I’m in the “NEVER do a remake of this show” column. Though I will admit the notion of Tony Shalhoub as Angel gave me a happy for a minute… ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2016, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rockford-files/510411/67 "2016-03-24T13:56:44Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > I loved this show. Any attempt at a remake would be blasphemy. It would end up being just another detective show or movie that shared a name with a classic but very little else. Garner _was_ Rockford and there can be no other. This is the correct answer. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2016, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rockford-files/510411/68 "2016-03-24T14:12:33Z")
> [@CaptMurdock](#): > > I’m in the “NEVER do a remake of this show” column. Though I will admit the notion of Tony Shalhoub as Angel gave me a happy for a minute… He did well as the scuzzy alien in one (or both?) of the Men in Black films. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2016, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rockford-files/510411/69 "2016-03-24T14:14:05Z")
Do you purists have any objection to using the same plot with different characters? “The Smith Files”, “The Goldstein Files”, “The Archer Files”? ---
**Author:** ![Stormcrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/0ea827/32.png) [@Stormcrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stormcrow)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rockford-files/510411/70 "2016-03-25T20:17:46Z")
I think Brad Pitt could do a pretty good job; he’s old enough that he’s not quite so pretty, and he can do the folksy bit pretty well. He also doesn’t seem to mind playing the less-than-perfect hero from time to time. Clooney has got too much polish, IMO. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rockford-files/510411/71 "2016-03-25T20:46:28Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Do you purists have any objection to using the same plot with different characters? > “The Smith Files”, “The Goldstein Files”, “The Archer Files”? Sure. You could do a similar type of character, maybe set in the current day, and it _could_ end up being good, maybe even as good as Rockford, but in it’s own way. Calling it “The Rockford Files”, and having the same characters, will just set expectations that wouldn’t be achieved. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rockford-files/510411/72 "2016-03-25T20:58:08Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > He did well as the scuzzy alien in one (or both?) of the Men in Black films. He was in the first two. He didn’t appear in _Men in Black 3_. ---
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rockford-files/510411/73 "2016-03-25T21:01:05Z")
> [@dasmoocher](#): > > Garner had some great lines: > > **Alvin Thomas** : Are you a connoisseur of art? > > **Jim Rockford** : I had a painted turtle when I was a kid. My favorite Garner-ism is from _Marlowe_ (1969), a film in which Garner plays Philip Marlowe exactly like Jim Rockford: [Thug approaches Garner and jerks his head toward a car] **Thug:** Car. **Garner:** Beep beep. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rockford-files/510411/74 "2016-03-25T21:56:51Z")
Actually, Russell Crowe would do a good Rockford. He is about the same body type now. ---
**Author:** ![pmwgreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@pmwgreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pmwgreen)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2016, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rockford-files/510411/75 "2016-03-26T00:59:42Z")
To me the real problem is that Roy Huggins and Steven J. Cannell are dead. Don’t tell me you think they can be replaced. With who? ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2016, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rockford-files/510411/76 "2016-03-26T01:33:05Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > He was in the first two. He didn’t appear in _Men in Black 3_. Oh yeah, thanks! “How did you know it grew back?” “I didn’t.” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2016, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rockford-files/510411/77 "2016-03-26T01:34:13Z")
> [@erysichthon](#): > > My favorite Garner-ism is from _Marlowe_ (1969), a film in which Garner plays Philip Marlowe exactly like Jim Rockford: > > [Thug approaches Garner and jerks his head toward a car] > > **Thug:** Car. > > **Garner:** Beep beep. My favorite in that film is how he takes out Bruce Lee. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2016, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rockford-files/510411/78 "2016-03-26T02:53:33Z")
> [@Kropotkin](#): > > I make no claims about its quality or anything else, but the CBC series Republic of Doyle [Republic of Doyle - Wikipedia](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Doyle) was designed as an homage to Rockford and had Margolin as a guest star playing an Angel-like character. The hero drives a 1968 Pontiac GTO, rust and all. It’s not bad. It ain’t _The Rockford Files_, but it’s not bad. I watch it because my wife, who is from Newfoundland, watches it. Otherwise I would never have known about it. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2016, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rockford-files/510411/79 "2016-03-27T05:00:53Z")
> [@zamboniracer](#): > > My favorite Rockford lines were Angel’s line “I’ll stonewall 'em, Jimmy” right before Angel spilled his guts in world record time I remember this one, and, it was even funnier than you let on. Angel: I’ll stonewall 'em, Jimmy. (Later, Rockford is talking to some babe about Angel being caught by the Feds) Rockford: It’s OK, Lana, Angel knows how to keep his mouth shut. (Next scene: Angel blabbbing to the Feds without stopping to breathe, including adding some shit onto Jimmy to boot.) After Angel gets through blabbing to the Feds- Fed 1 to Fed 2: (Shaking his head) "I’ve heard of spilling your guts! ---
**Author:** ![DaphneBlack](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daphneblack/32/5389_2.png) [@DaphneBlack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaphneBlack)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2016, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rockford-files/510411/80 "2016-03-27T12:58:15Z")
> [@Saintly\_Loser](#): > > It’s not bad. It ain’t _The Rockford Files_, but it’s not bad. > > I watch it because my wife, who is from Newfoundland, watches it. Otherwise I would never have known about it. Republic of Doyle is very charming, and the locations are beautiful! It does have a ‘Rockford’ vibe to it. I’m not against a ‘RF’ remake. Of the suggestions so far, I think Bruce Campbell is the best. I’d rather it be done as a period piece than a ‘modern take’ though. I love period pieces, and there’s not been a great 1970s-set show. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rockford-files/510411.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rockford-files/510411.md?page=5)