DVD Review: Page (1) of 1 - 12/09/05

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The Greatest Show Ever on DVD The Rockford Files Season One By Stephen Schleicher

The Rockford Files is one of the greatest television shows of all time.  With a touch of humor, a few fisticuffs, and a likeable supporting cast all rolled into a well told story, one would think this show would have been out on DVD eons ago.  Now, twenty five years after its last regular episode, The Rockford Files comes to DVD and I couldn?t be happier.

Receiving my copy of The Rockford Files Season One DVD was like Christmas coming early to the DMN Central Division.  You see, The Rockford Files, staring James Garner is one of my all time favorite shows.  First aired just a few months before the release of Roman Polanski?s Chinatown, The Rockford Files certainly helped set the tone for the anti-hero detective of the 70?s and 80?s.

James Garner plays Jim Rockford, an ex-con-turned-private-investigator, who would rather be left alone than take on a case.  Only taking closed criminal cases for those desperate lost souls ($200 a day plus expenses), Rockford often found himself on the receiving end of a punch to the head, or a threat from a mob associate.  Jim Rockford was a detective that was just on the border of respect, and always seemed to have the Who?s Who of Underworld Society accessible in his head.  And because of his years in prison (falsely accused of course), Rockford had access to cons and stoolies of every type (for a fee).  Even when he did solve a case, his $200 a day fee was often watered down to nothing or taken as a loss when the beautiful damsel in distress would bat her eyes and kiss him on the cheek.

What made The Rockford Files a huge success was in the stories told each week.  After a while many of the synopses sound familiar, but it was always the unique way the story was told and the characters in the story that made for a long run television series.  With 1970?s Los Angeles as the background, the stories had enough grittiness to make you believe these events were happening, and just enough action and sexual innuendo to make it past the network censors.

How is this different from the Columbo (1973) and Baretta (1975) series?  Rockford also had a fair amount of humor thrown in as well.  If it wasn?t a comic reaction to a thrown punch, it was the situation one of his friends or associates were getting him into.

Even though James Garner is the central figure and appears in nearly every scene in this hour long show, the supporting cast also made the show stand out as a winner.  Season one has the introduction of Noah Berry Jr. as Jim Rockford?s father, Joe Santos as cop friend Dennis Becker, Gretchen Corbett as Beth Davenport, the lawyer always getting Rockford out of jail, lovely Lindsay Wagner as the on again off again romance, and favorite Stuart Margolin as con man Angel Martin.

The season one DVD collection contains the original 23 episodes making up the first year of the show.  The collection kicks off with The Kirkoff Case, which features James Wood and Abe Vigoda as guest stars.  Since it has been thirty years since season one, my mind is a little fuzzy on the original stories, but it does appear that these are the uncut episodes.  This means you don?t have to watch the watered-down-cut-to-pieces-so-we-can-air-more-commercials episodes on WGN.  This is a bonus as the WGN series often has major scenes cut out that tie into the story in some way.

The only problem with the entire Rockford Series that ran from 1974 ? 1980 was the lack of continuity in casting.  In one season we find James Luisi playing a mob boss, then a season later he falls into place as Lt. Doug Chapman.  There are also re-occuring ?heavies? that appear with the same face, but in different rolls.  Had continuity been a concern instead of ?who can we pull from our stable of actors this week?, some of the ?huh-wha?? reactions from audiences would have been limited and made the Rockford Universe that much more dynamic.

Episodes in Season One:
The Kirkoff Case
The Dark and Bloody Ground
The Countess
Exit Prentiss Car
Tall Woman in a Red Wagon
This Case is Closed Part 1
This Case is Closed Part 2
Sleight of Hand
Counter Gambit
Claire
Say Goodbye to Jennifer
Charlie Harris at Large
The Four-Pound Brick
Just by Accident
Roundabout
The Big Ripoff
Find Me If You Can
In Pursuit of Carol Thorne
The Dexter Crisis
Caledonia-It?s Worth a Fortune
Profit and Loss, Part 1:  Profit
Profit and Loss, Part 2:  Loss
Aura Lee, Farewell

With over 19 hours of Rockford entertainment, what could possibly be wrong with the season one collection?  There are a few problems.  First Universal did nothing to clean up the original film ? meaning don?t be surprised when you see dust and scratches all over stock footage.  Also noticeably absent from this collection is the two hour pilot movie (Backlash of the Hunter), which answers many questions as to why Jim Rockford was in jail falsely accused.  The pilot episode also features Robert Donley as the first Joseph Rockford, later replaced by Noah Berry Jr.  This missing episode is one more reason to keep the TiVo recording WGN.

Finally, there is a huge absence of bonus material.  The only extra feature contained on this collection is an interview with Garner has his reminisces about the show.  But even that is brief and you get the feeling he was severely editing his comments to avoid airing his ongoing conflict with Universal over rights and royalties. (This is one of the reasons we didn?t have this series come to DVD sooner).  Considering most of the cast is still alive (Noah Berry Jr. died in 1994), it would have been awesome to have a commentary track from these stars.  Garner does recount in his interview that it is difficult for him to remember specific episodes because of the production schedule and the years since they first aired, but getting him to comment on key episodes or even have a running dialogue with his other cast members would make this a golden collection.

For any Rockford Fan, this is a Must Have Collection.  Even if you are a fan of detective shows in general, none are better than The Rockford Files.  With six more season still to go, I am hopeful Universal gets on the ball and releases the remaining seasons (with more extras please) soon.

The Rockford Files Season One collection has an MSRP of $39.98, but can be found for $27.99.  It doesn?t take a detective to figure out this is a great deal.  For more information, visit www.RockfordFilesDVD.com.

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