The Rockford Files: Season 05 (1978)

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James Garner is back as Jim Rockford, an ex-con turned private eye with a penchant for righting old wrongs (and a predilection for getting beaten up by those who don't want those wrongs righted) in season five of The Rockford Files. Also returning are Noah Beery Jr. as Jim's dad Rocky, Joe Santos as his "friendly enemy," police detective Dennis Becker, and Stuart Margolin as Jim's delightfully duplicitous former cellmate Angel Martin, a role that would earn Margolin an Emmy award this season. And though Gretchen Corbett, who played Jim's attorney girlfriend Beth Davenport, is no longer on the series, her function as "legal liaison" has been filled by Bo Hopkins as disbarred lawyer John Cooper. Also introduced this season is Jim Rockford's bete noir, dazzlingly handsome rival private detective Lance White, whose incredible luck (vital clues seem to literally appear out of nowhere at all the right moments) and irritatingly unerring intuition is a continual source of outrage and embarrassment for Mr. Rockford. Lance White is superbly played by Tom Selleck as sort of a dry run for his more famous starring portrayal of Magnum P.I. in the TV series of the same name. Additionally, Rita Moreno makes a return appearance in her Emmy-winning role as abrasive "working girl" Rita Capkovic in the cleverly-titled episode "Rosendahl and Gilda Stern Are Dead"; and Dennis Dugan is back as boyish, baby-faced private eye Richie Brockelman (a role he also played in his own spin-off series) in the two-part "Never Send a Boy King to Do a Man's Job." ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi