The Rockford Files – Season Two
Picture: C+
Sound: C+ Extras: B Episodes: B
The Rockford Files – Season Two offers
a show that continued to be strong enough to win over viewers and gained David
Chase as one of its new writers. The
show found its identity and rhythm very quickly. The show has appreciated better than expected and I think this
season is even stronger than the first.
The second season produced the following episodes, including notable
guest stars where applicable:
1) The
Aaron Ironwood School Of Success
2) The
Farnsworth Stratagem (Linda Evans, Gerald McRaney, Eric Server)
3) Gearjammers (Two
parts: Scott Brady, Reb Brown, Rosemary DeCamp)
4) The Deep
Blue Sleep (Michael Conrad, Robert Webber)
5) The
Great Blue Lake & Development Company (Dennis Patrick, Dana
Elcar, Bob Hastings)
6) The Real
Easy Red Dog (Stephane Powers)
7) Resurrection
In Black & White (Joan Van Ark, William Prince)
8) Chicken
Little Is A Little Chicken (Frank Campanella)
9) Two Into
5.56 Won’t Go
10) Pastoria Prime Pick (Kathie
Browne, William Lustig)
11) The Reincarnation Of Angie
12) The Girl In The Bay City Boys’ Club
13) The Hammer Of C Block (Isaac
Hayes)
14) The No-Cut Contract (Dick
Butkus, Rob Reiner)
15) A Portrait Of Elizabeth (John
Saxon, Katherine Woodville, Cynthia Sykes)
16) Joey Blue Eyes (Suzanne
Charney, Robert Yuro)
17) In Hazard (Frank Campanella,
Joseph Campanella, Linda Dano)
18) The Italian Bird Fiasco
(William Daniels, Eric Server)
19) Where’s Houston? (Robert
Mandan)
20) Foul On The First Play (Louis
Gossett Jr., Ji-Tu Cumbuka, Jayne Kennedy)
21) A Bad Deal In The Valley
(Veronica Hamel, Susan Strasberg)
Though the show was somewhat offbeat, it really seemed to
get down to business in ways easier to see when you watch the shows uncut and
in order. The deconstructions of the
detective genre were not as obvious as the show knew how to get on with it and
tell its stories. Garner also takes to
the character and really runs with it, showing his truly diverse skills as an
actor. Though it usually makes sense to
start with the first season of any show, I would actually recommend starting
with this set if you have not sent he show because it leaves a better
impression of it at its best.
The 1.33 x 1 image is not bad like the last set, though
color and detail are still not quite distinctive, though I liked the detail and
color more here. Older series (like
Universal’s Kolchak: The Night Stalker) may have better color often, but
this show looks as good as it ever did in broadcast. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono is also good enough, though the sound
has noting distinctive to offer.
Dialogue is clear enough for the most part, while many will wish the
music (especially the theme song) was in stereo. Extras this time are a brief reflection on the season by Stephen
J. Cannell and the original TV movie pilot from 1974, which featured Lindsay
Wagner much more prominently than expected.
I consider that a plus!
Running about 72 minutes, the script is loaded with
Cannell and co-creator Roy Huggins. The
solid journeyman director Richard T. Heffron (Futureworld) does an ace
job here of defining the character and Sara Butler (Wagner) hires Rockford to
find out who killed her father. The
tone of the film is more serious than the series that followed and I liked it
even more than the show. Bill Mumy is
her brother and William Smith and Nita Talbot round out a strong cast. No wonder the show sold, even if Wagner went
on to The Bionic Woman.
Lamar Boren is a legendary cinematographer known for his
ever-brilliant underwater cinematography on the James Bond films and films like
Underwater!, The Neptune Factor and Day Of The Dolphin. This looks as good as any later show and in
a fine print here, the telefilm could have been part of a rotation of
Universal/NBC mystery shows like Columbo, but it became an episodic
hour-long show and continued for several more seasons. We’ll see what Universal comes up with in
the next DVD set.
- Nicholas Sheffo
