The Rockford Files

[ZelenskyTheValiant (Ivan)]

Hey T.Q. I still find it odd that you've NEVER seen a single episode of ROCKFORD before. Or FIVE-O for that matter (prior to your recent viewing). Not even by accident? It's just that these shows have always been in syndication as far back as I can remember and you're older than I am so I would have thought that for sure you would have stumbled across them at some point.

Unless they never showed them in Canada, where I'm guessing you grew up? Yet they showed MAGNUM? Hmmm...

[T.Q.]

Hey T.Q. I still find it odd that you've NEVER seen a single episode of ROCKFORD before. Or FIVE-O for that matter (prior to your recent viewing). Not even by accident? It's just that these shows have always been in syndication as far back as I can remember and you're older than I am so I would have thought that for sure you would have stumbled across them at some point.

Unless they never showed them in Canada, where I'm guessing you grew up? Yet they showed MAGNUM? Hmmm...

I watched what was on Buffalo stations as a teen after school.

Mostly sitcoms WKRP, MASH, Cheers, Three's Company were on constant loop for years.

The one hour shows may have been but I didn't see them. The after school window was only 3pm - 5pm remember. So it made sense 1/2 hour shows were on.

I don't remember ever seeing H50 or Rockford reruns on. H50 for sure I would have checked out if it had been because of love of Hawai'i from going every year as a kid.

Maybe late at night after regular programming. But I wasn't watching TV at midnight.

Started seeing Magnum re-runs late 80s early 90s. Rekindled my love.

[ZelenskyTheValiant (Ivan)]

Hey T.Q. I still find it odd that you've NEVER seen a single episode of ROCKFORD before. Or FIVE-O for that matter (prior to your recent viewing). Not even by accident? It's just that these shows have always been in syndication as far back as I can remember and you're older than I am so I would have thought that for sure you would have stumbled across them at some point.

Unless they never showed them in Canada, where I'm guessing you grew up? Yet they showed MAGNUM? Hmmm...

I watched what was on Buffalo stations as a teen after school.

Mostly sitcoms WKRP, MASH, Cheers, Three's Company were on constant loop for years.

The one hour shows may have been but I didn't see them. The after school window was only 3pm - 5pm remember. So it made sense 1/2 hour shows were on.

I don't remember ever seeing H50 or Rockford reruns on. H50 for sure I would have checked out if it had been because of love of Hawai'i from going every year as a kid.

Maybe late at night after regular programming. But I wasn't watching TV at midnight.

Started seeing Magnum re-runs late 80s early 90s. Rekindled my love.

Ah, so you grew up in the states. Buffalo. Yep those sitcoms you mentioned were always on here in Philly too, including HAPPY DAYS, GOOD TIMES, ALL IN THE FAMILY, HOGAN'S HEROES, ANDY GRIFFITH, GILLIGAN'S ISLAND, etc. At different hours of the day. The 1-hour drama shows would normally be shown during the daytime or afternoon hours. FIVE-O was on at 1:30pm, followed by MPI at 2:30pm as I recall. On a different channel KNIGHT RIDER was on every day at noon, followed by THE A-TEAM at 1pm. Then I think followed by AIRWOLF. This was in the early to mid 90s as I recall. Of course I could only watch these if I stayed home from school, which was always a special treat for me. Or during summer vacations when mom and dad were at work and me and my sister were home alone all day.

By the time I was finishing high school and starting college they moved FIVE-O to yet another channel and showed 2 episodes back to back at 10am and at 11am. Preceded by STREETS OF SAN FRAN at 8am and ROCKFORD at 9am. But basically these shows were always rerun some time during the day on some channel. And keep in mind that we never had cable so these were regular TV channels. Not TVLand or A&E or TBS or whatever other cable channels ran reruns of old shows.

Did you watch MPI first run in the 80s on CBS? You said the reruns rekindled your love. So I'm assuming you saw the original run?

[T.Q.]

Ah, so you grew up in the states. Buffalo. Yep those sitcoms you mentioned were always on here in Philly too, including HAPPY DAYS, GOOD TIMES, ALL IN THE FAMILY, HOGAN'S HEROES, ANDY GRIFFITH, GILLIGAN'S ISLAND, etc. At different hours of the day. The 1-hour drama shows would normally be shown during the daytime or afternoon hours. FIVE-O was on at 1:30pm, followed by MPI at 2:30pm as I recall. On a different channel KNIGHT RIDER was on every day at noon, followed by THE A-TEAM at 1pm. Then I think followed by AIRWOLF. This was in the early to mid 90s as I recall. Of course I could only watch these if I stayed home from school, which was always a special treat for me. Or during summer vacations when mom and dad were at work and me and my sister were home alone all day.

By the time I was finishing high school and starting college they moved FIVE-O to yet another channel and showed 2 episodes back to back at 10am and at 11am. Preceded by STREETS OF SAN FRAN at 8am and ROCKFORD at 9am. But basically these shows were always rerun some time during the day on some channel. And keep in mind that we never had cable so these were regular TV channels. Not TVLand or A&E or TBS or whatever other cable channels ran reruns of old shows.

Did you watch MPI first run in the 80s on CBS? You said the reruns rekindled your love. So I'm assuming you saw the original run?

Grew up Toronto.

We had 3 Buffalo stations.

Magnum first run I was a fan only in later seasons. Probably '86 - '88 when I was 15-17 years old.

The re-runs cemented the deal.

[ZelenskyTheValiant (Ivan)]

Ah, so you grew up in the states. Buffalo. Yep those sitcoms you mentioned were always on here in Philly too, including HAPPY DAYS, GOOD TIMES, ALL IN THE FAMILY, HOGAN'S HEROES, ANDY GRIFFITH, GILLIGAN'S ISLAND, etc. At different hours of the day. The 1-hour drama shows would normally be shown during the daytime or afternoon hours. FIVE-O was on at 1:30pm, followed by MPI at 2:30pm as I recall. On a different channel KNIGHT RIDER was on every day at noon, followed by THE A-TEAM at 1pm. Then I think followed by AIRWOLF. This was in the early to mid 90s as I recall. Of course I could only watch these if I stayed home from school, which was always a special treat for me. Or during summer vacations when mom and dad were at work and me and my sister were home alone all day.

By the time I was finishing high school and starting college they moved FIVE-O to yet another channel and showed 2 episodes back to back at 10am and at 11am. Preceded by STREETS OF SAN FRAN at 8am and ROCKFORD at 9am. But basically these shows were always rerun some time during the day on some channel. And keep in mind that we never had cable so these were regular TV channels. Not TVLand or A&E or TBS or whatever other cable channels ran reruns of old shows.

Did you watch MPI first run in the 80s on CBS? You said the reruns rekindled your love. So I'm assuming you saw the original run?

Grew up Toronto.

We had 3 Buffalo stations.

Magnum first run I was a fan only in later seasons. Probably '86 - '88 when I was 15-17 years old.

The re-runs cemented the deal.

I see. So you were watching Buffalo stations in Toronto. Well, at least you got to see some of MPI first run. That must have been cool.

[80s Big Hair]

As The Rockford Files is one of the shows I lost in The Great Data Loss Of A Year Or So Ago I am currently watching it once again in order and downloading them while watching. This time I am downloading from a Blu-Ray source which is not the Blu-Ray quality that I am used to. I am guessing that it was shot on tape and not film so the picture is less sharp than what a show like Magnum, P.I. that was shot on film is. The color looks good though, possibly just with a computer "correcting" the faded colors. No complaints. I would be happy even with old VHS tapes of it in reruns (if I had a VCR). My schedule so far is one episode per weekday, possibly two on weekends and since I just started, I will have at least one hour of joy/per day for quite some time. I am already tempted to skip to some of my favorite episodes out of order but so far (two days into the project) I have maintained discipline.

So I suppose you can take from this post that there is not much of an incentive to get this on Blu-Ray over DVD. Get whatever you can because it is a great show.

[Chris109]

As The Rockford Files is one of the shows I lost in The Great Data Loss Of A Year Or So Ago I am currently watching it once again in order and downloading them while watching. This time I am downloading from a Blu-Ray source which is not the Blu-Ray quality that I am used to. I am guessing that it was shot on tape and not film so the picture is less sharp than what a show like Magnum, P.I. that was shot on film is. The color looks good though, possibly just with a computer "correcting" the faded colors. No complaints. I would be happy even with old VHS tapes of it in reruns (if I had a VCR). My schedule so far is one episode per weekday, possibly two on weekends and since I just started, I will have at least one hour of joy/per day for quite some time. I am already tempted to skip to some of my favorite episodes out of order but so far (two days into the project) I have maintained discipline.

So I suppose you can take from this post that there is not much of an incentive to get this on Blu-Ray over DVD. Get whatever you can because it is a great show.

Maybe Little Garwood has a VCR. Heck, he has a stereo with TWO cassette decks.

[Chris109]

As The Rockford Files is one of the shows I lost in The Great Data Loss Of A Year Or So Ago I am currently watching it once again in order and downloading them while watching. This time I am downloading from a Blu-Ray source which is not the Blu-Ray quality that I am used to. I am guessing that it was shot on tape and not film so the picture is less sharp than what a show like Magnum, P.I. that was shot on film is. The color looks good though, possibly just with a computer "correcting" the faded colors. No complaints. I would be happy even with old VHS tapes of it in reruns (if I had a VCR). My schedule so far is one episode per weekday, possibly two on weekends and since I just started, I will have at least one hour of joy/per day for quite some time. I am already tempted to skip to some of my favorite episodes out of order but so far (two days into the project) I have maintained discipline.

So I suppose you can take from this post that there is not much of an incentive to get this on Blu-Ray over DVD. Get whatever you can because it is a great show.

RARBG has the 1080p vids. PBay only has the 720p. Haven't checked out the quality.

[Pahonu]

As The Rockford Files is one of the shows I lost in The Great Data Loss Of A Year Or So Ago I am currently watching it once again in order and downloading them while watching. This time I am downloading from a Blu-Ray source which is not the Blu-Ray quality that I am used to. I am guessing that it was shot on tape and not film so the picture is less sharp than what a show like Magnum, P.I. that was shot on film is. The color looks good though, possibly just with a computer "correcting" the faded colors. No complaints. I would be happy even with old VHS tapes of it in reruns (if I had a VCR). My schedule so far is one episode per weekday, possibly two on weekends and since I just started, I will have at least one hour of joy/per day for quite some time. I am already tempted to skip to some of my favorite episodes out of order but so far (two days into the project) I have maintained discipline.

So I suppose you can take from this post that there is not much of an incentive to get this on Blu-Ray over DVD. Get whatever you can because it is a great show.

It was shot on film with the ubiquitous Panaflex 35mm cameras of the era. They can be seen in several behind the scenes photos of the production.

[80s Big Hair]

Interesting that it was shot on film as it does not seem all that sharp to me. Here is a screenshot:


Was I imagining that it is not as sharp as it should be? Now it looks pretty good to me.

Where I am downloading is a Swiss server and not a torrent site. Switzerland does not care about American copyright laws and it is legal. I have no idea the source other than they say it is a Blu-Ray. They may compress it some as well. Whatever. It is good enough to make me happy.

[T.Q.]

The Dark and Bloody Ground

Pretty good.

Long truck chase scene.

Learned Gretchen Corbett (The Curse of the King Kamehameha Club and The Look) is a semi-regular on the series.

[ZelenskyTheValiant (Ivan)]

Interesting that it was shot on film as it does not seem all that sharp to me. Here is a screenshot:


Was I imagining that it is not as sharp as it should be? Now it looks pretty good to me.

Where I am downloading is a Swiss server and not a torrent site. Switzerland does not care about American copyright laws and it is legal. I have no idea the source other than they say it is a Blu-Ray. They may compress it some as well. Whatever. It is good enough to make me happy.

I can't imagine ROCKFORD or any other crime drama of that era being shot on tape. Wasn't that strictly for sitcoms? Besides, looking at that pic you posted it's obvious that it's film quality.

[ZelenskyTheValiant (Ivan)]

The Dark and Bloody Ground

Pretty good.

Long truck chase scene.

Learned Gretchen Corbett (The Curse of the King Kamehameha Club and The Look) is a semi-regular on the series.

I think this is an excellent episode and the one that actually made me a fan!! This is the episode that made me tune in on a daily basis. And you got it - that lengthy truck chase had A LOT to do with it. I didn't see the pilot until much later and for the longest time "Bloody Ground" was pretty much my #1 episode for season 1. Actually I think it still is, maybe tied with another episode later in the season. I guess I don't count the pilot as part of season 1 since it was shown a few months earlier (during the 1973-1974 season). Otherwise the pilot would be my favorite from season 1.

Anyway, great episode! Gretchen and Jim have perfect chemistry together. Love her disgust at Jim eating tacos for breakfast or the scene where she puts his car keys down her blouse and Jim says "If you think that's gonna stop me...". I also like the twisty tale about the deceased guy who burned up in the fire at the start and the trail that Jimbo has to follow to figure out who he really was and who else he knew in town and then something about a book that was being made into a movie. All this was interesting stuff. But of course the highlight was the truck chase which takes up a good chunk of the episode! Like something out of Spielberg's DUEL. In fact I wouldn't be surprised if that was the inspiration. Love all that desert landscape as Jim tries to evade this killer truck. Also love that twangy "desert music" (as I call it) that plays during some of those scenes. It's just soooo ROCKFORD-ish. That's why I love season 1 so much.

Loads of Five-O guest stars here! In addition to Gretchen Corbett, you've got Linden Chiles (who drives the killer truck), Nancy Malone (she was McGarrett's sister whose baby died in that sad S1 episode), Walter Brooke, and Patricia Smith (who was the undercover cop Joyce in the very first Five-O episode "Full Fathom Five", out to trap the murderous Kevin McCarthy and his wife).

[80s Big Hair]

I figured out why I was confused about the video quality of the Blu-Ray rips I am downloading. They look close to perfect until I watch full screen which leads me to believe they are overly compressed. Watching on my laptop full screen with my head one-two feet away from the screen reveals flaws. If I sent it to a TV and sat back on a couch I am sure it would look fine.

But I read something interesting recently from somewhere online. The first 15 episodes of season 1 were based on stories that the creator of the show wrote in the 1940s. So they have a gritty/noir/hardboiled feel to them. The show gives credit for the stories to a nom du plume of the creator of The Rockford Files instead of his real name for whatever reason.

[ZelenskyTheValiant (Ivan)]

But I read something interesting recently from somewhere online. The first 15 episodes of season 1 were based on stories that the creator of the show wrote in the 1940s. So they have a gritty/noir/hardboiled feel to them. The show gives credit for the stories to a nom du plume of the creator of The Rockford Files instead of his real name for whatever reason.

That's interesting because I too always felt that the early season 1 episodes have a hard-boiled/noir feel to them. Especially long quiet moments of Jimbo watching someone from a distance or rummaging through someone's darkly lit room or certain nighttime shots. Love it!

Yep that was show creator Roy Huggins who for whatever reason was credited as John Thomas James and wrote those early season 1 episodes.