The Rockford Files: Season 01  (1974)

Theatrical Release Information:
The Rockford Files: Season 01

Introduced as a 90-minute TV movie in March of 1974, The Rockford Files began its weekly, hour-long series run in September of that year. The opening episode, "The Kirkoff Case," finds ex-con turned private eye Jim Rockford (James Garner) trying to prove that his earnest but obnoxious young client (played by James Woods, Garner's later co-star in the made-for-TV feature My Name is Bill W.) did not murder his parents as claimed. In the first season's second episode, Gretchen Corbett is introduced as Jim's lawyer girlfriend Beth Davenport, who hires our hero to clear her client of a murder charge. Throughout the rest of the season, Jim is aided and abetted by his crusty dad Rocky (Noah Beery Jr.), his likeable (if not entirely honest) former cellmate Angel (Stuart Margolin), and, reluctantly, by his police-department contact Detective Dennis Becker (Joe Santos). Meanwhile, Dennis' superior Lt. Alex Diehl (Tom Atkins) can't shake himself of the conviction that Jim's prison record was somehow deserved -- especially when the private eye utilizes unorthodox methods to get results. Although the main focus is on star Garner, season one of The Rockford Files affords generous screen space to a variety of guest stars. A pre-Cagney and Lacey Sharon Gless is seen along with Joseph Cotten in the two-part "This Case is Closed"; a young Jill Clayburgh shows up in "The Big Ripoff"; Joan Van Ark (Dallas) and Paul Michael Glaser (Starsky & Hutch) are seen in "Find Me if You Can"; Shelley Fabares, halfway between The Donna Reed Show and Coach, guests in "Caledonia -- It's Worth a Fortune"; Linda Evans, likewise 'twixt and 'tween The Big Valley and Dynasty, appears in "Claire"; and future Bionic Woman Lindsay Wagner can be seen in "Aura Lee, Farewell." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide