MetaChat - The Rockford Files.

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16 March 2009

The Rockford Files. Neglected genius or Brilliance ignored? Discuss.

post by: jonmc at: 12:57 | 31 comments

Neglected genius!

I recently found out that a Rockford Files episode was filmed at the museum where I work, which was nearly as exciting as finding out about the Nancy Sinatra TV special that was filmed here, too.

posted by scody 16 March | 13:05

heh. Jim Rockford is just the kind of guy you want to be: tough and streetwise, yet compassionate and human, and with a sense of humor. Plus he had a cool car.

posted by jonmc 16 March | 13:15

I don't know but I always had a little thing for James Garner because of it.

posted by Miko 16 March | 13:58

If nothing else, he gave us the Rockford Maneuver of starting in reverse, kicking into a 180 degree skid spin, and then continuing pursuit in a forward gear.
(Couldn't find a video of Jim's Firebird in action, so you get a Fiat)

posted by rocket88 16 March | 14:09

Oh yeah, James Garner was so handsome! *swoon* Rugged and a little impish. My mom got to meet him once when she was a teenager back in his Bret Maverick days... she said she was so starstruck and he was so nice that she literally couldn't get a word out of her mouth.

posted by scody 16 March | 14:13

rocket88: nice find on the Rockford Maneuver!

posted by scody 16 March | 14:14

Miko: you have heard of my James Garner as Generational Delineator, haven't you?

Say "James Garner"

to our parent's generation, the answer will be "Bret Maverick."

To our generation, the answer will be "Jim Rockford."

To anybody borm after our generation, the answer is "Who?" which is why the world is in the shape it's in.

posted by jonmc 16 March | 14:15

James Garner was the genius. No matter how stupid the dialog got, he found a way to pull it off. Something Tom Selleck never quite figured out.

posted by Ardiril 16 March | 14:19

Well said, my friend. Tom Selleck was...OK, I guess, but James Garner makes him look like a hack.

posted by jonmc 16 March | 14:22

I'm very slightly younger than you, jon, and I mostly think of Garner as the guy who, despite having had, like, quintuple-bypass surgery or something, continued to shill for the beef industry in a bunch of teevee commercials.

posted by box 16 March | 14:29

well, maybe you need to watch some Rockford Files to get over that.

posted by jonmc 16 March | 14:31

What's all the fuss about? He's just a roguishly handsome and witty cynic with a hidden heart of gold who thinks on his feet and plays by his own rules.

Swoon! James Garner!

to our parent's generation, the answer will be "Bret Maverick."

To our generation, the answer will be "Jim Rockford."

The Americanization of Emily falls neatly between those two eras, and is probably the reason that both my Mom and I have enormous, long-lived crushes on James Garner.

posted by Elsa 16 March | 14:38

Wow, jon...I though that was just me. When I used to watch Rockford Files my mom would always comment on how she could only accept Jim Garner as Bret Maverick. Years later when Maverick had a run on some classics cable channel, I saw why: he was just as awesome and cool back then.

posted by rocket88 16 March | 14:42

Wait, James Garner acquired a genetic predisposition to heart disease from selling beef?

posted by Hugh Janus 16 March | 14:42

rocket88: I actually was a fan of the early 80's remake of Maverick. He just radiates that cool that came off the dude who got you drunk and taught you to pick up girls.

posted by jonmc 16 March | 14:46

To anybody born after our generation, the answer is "Who?" which is why the world is in the shape it's in.

Oh, you guys are talking about the sweet old man from The Notebook?

Really, though, very good-looking guy. Except his hairline was always so square that it looked fake to me. Too-perfect hair is unnerving.

posted by notquitemaryann 16 March | 14:48

Trufax: Garner was replaced on Maverick by Roger Moore (as Bret's cousin Beau Maverick) because the two actors were thought to look almost identical.

posted by rocket88 16 March | 14:57

No offense to Roger moore....but not even close.

posted by jonmc 16 March | 14:58

I never watched Rockford as a kid. I mostly knew him from the Polaroid commercials with Mariette Hartley.

posted by mudpuppie 16 March | 15:02

Woah. I'd almost forgotten those.

posted by jonmc 16 March | 15:04

posted by fluffy battle kitten 16 March | 15:05

I always forget that mecha doesn't want me to use brackets.

I heart james garner in almost any role. I do have very fond memories of Rockford being on at what seemed like all times when I was little though.

posted by fluffy battle kitten 16 March | 15:06

Ha, I was just coming back to link to a few Polaroid commercials! (Don't miss the NBC promo that follows this one.)

posted by scody 16 March | 15:08

We've been watching the first season of Staurday Night Live, with the live-on-air Polaroid commercials. It's an odd little throwback to the early days of TV, when George and Gracie put bumpers on the show extolling the virtues of Maxwell House.

posted by Elsa 16 March | 15:08

That first season of SNL makes the 70s feel very, very long ago. LT and I watched the first 3 seasons last year, and it was like becoming time anthropologists and traveling to our own lives. So odd.

posted by Miko 16 March | 15:14

Ha, scody! A horse that only a young retarded girl could ride....

posted by mudpuppie 16 March | 15:14

We have a station that only plays old tv shows-my husband loves The Rockford Files.

posted by bunnyfire 16 March | 18:27

He's great in Barbarians at the Gate (trailer).

posted by kirkaracha 17 March | 10:10

and if it wasnt for his excellent scrounging skillz , would there have been a Great Escape ?

posted by rollick 17 March | 10:45

Oh, you guys are talking about the sweet old man from The Notebook?

Oh, I so loved that movie.

My parents were fans of the Rockford files. I remember liking the car and the manooovers. I'll go with unappreciated genius. It's hard to make it look easy.

posted by lysdexic 17 March | 12:22

The only thing that I know about Rockford Files was that Ben Folds mentioned it in a song. Oh, and it starred John McCain back before he was a maverick.

posted by Eideteker 17 March | 14:04

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