The Rockford Files (season 5)
| The Rockford Files (season 5) | |
|---|---|
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of episodes | 22 |
| Release | |
| Original network | NBC |
| Original release | September 22, 1978 – April 13, 1979 |
| Season chronology | |
The fifth season of The Rockford Files originally aired Fridays at 9:00-10:00 pm on NBC from September 22, 1978 to April 13, 1979.
Episodes
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 90 | 1 | "Heartaches of a Fool" | William Wiard | Stephen J. Cannell | September 22, 1978 |
| Rockford investigates an operation smuggling sausages from Mexico. It starts out with Rocky driving a nonunion big rig at high speed and two cars block his path resulting in a wreck. The DMV takes his license and Jim investigates in order to reinstate his license and reinstate him with the union. They have nothing to go on except a package of sausages, and the company doesn't exist. But Jim sees a TV commercial about the sausages and visits country western singer Charlie Strayhorn (Taylor Lacher), whom he recognizes. Jim and Charlie team up to investigate. They fly to the site of the American sausage factory in Charlie's Lear jet and find nothing but a trailer with a telephone and a fax machine. A Chinese mafia called the Triad seems to be running the operation, which causes a deadly war between the Triad and the trucker's union. | |||||
| 91 | 2 | "Rosendahl and Gilda Stern Are Dead" | William Wiard | Juanita Bartlett | September 29, 1978 |
| Rita Capkovic is accused of murder. | |||||
| 92 | 3 | "The Jersey Bounce" | William Wiard | Teleplay: David Chase Story: Stephen J. Cannell, David Chase and Juanita Bartlett | October 6, 1978 |
| Rockford is the prime suspect in the murder next door to Rocky's house of a hooligan because of bad feeling between him and the New Jersey hooligans who live there. Beth Davenport no longer works for the law firm Hartcourt and Low, and Jim was sent Wade Ward, a real turkey, as a defense attorney. Jim gets help from John Cooper (Bo Hopkins), a legal researcher. | |||||
| 93 | 4 | "White on White and Nearly Perfect" | Stephen J. Cannell | Stephen J. Cannell | October 20, 1978 |
| Rockford meets up again with another detective, Lance White (Tom Selleck), whose halo effect is off the charts. He's the type who always gets the girl, and, well, he does. | |||||
| 94 | 5 | "Kill the Messenger" | Ivan Dixon | Juanita Bartlett | October 27, 1978 |
| Becker is unable to study for his lieutenant's exam. Episode includes one of the first, if not the first-ever, featured role for Ed Harris. | |||||
| 95 | 6 | "The Empty Frame" | Corey Allen | Stephen J. Cannell | November 3, 1978 |
| Rockford annoys the police with his investigation of an art theft at a party. Includes Angel Martin. | |||||
| 96 | 7 | "A Three-Day Affair with a Thirty-Day Escrow" | Ivan Dixon | David Chase | November 10, 1978 |
| Arabs think Rockford has information they want, putting Rockford in a situation where he has to try to prevent an "honor killing" in a Muslim family. Episode includes Richard Moll in one of his earliest featured roles. | |||||
| 97 | 8 | "A Good Clean Bust with Sequel Rights" | William Wiard | Rudolph Borchert | November 17, 1978 |
| A writer who was once a cop keeps getting into trouble. | |||||
| 98 99 | 9 10 | "Black Mirror Parts 1 and 2." | Arnold Laven | David Chase | November 24, 1978 |
| Rockford falls for a blind psychologist (Kathryn Harrold) who's being targeted by a psychopath. Both episode 9 and 10 contain Angel Martin. | |||||
| 100 | 11 | "A Fast Count" | Reza Badiyi | Gordon Dawson | December 1, 1978 |
| A TV personality plots to set up a boxer's manager. | |||||
| 101 | 12 | "Local Man Eaten by Newspaper" | Meta Rosenberg | Juanita Bartlett | December 8, 1978 |
| Rockford faces obstacles when he investigates a shooting. | |||||
| 102 | 13 | "With the French Heel Back, Can the Nehru Jacket Be Far Behind?" | Ivan Dixon | Rudolph Borchert | January 5, 1979 |
| Rockford investigates what appears to be a suicide when a homicide is committed. | |||||
| 103 | 14 | "The Battle-Ax and the Exploding Cigar" | Ivan Dixon | Teleplay: Rogers Turrentine Story: Mann Rubin and Michael Wagner | January 12, 1979 |
| Rockford hitches a ride in a Cadillac that is stopped by the cops (while Jim is driving) because it's stolen. When they search the trunk they find suspicious cargo and both are arrested, and Jim falls into a hornets nest of Federal agents. There are good Feds (FBI) and bad Feds (CIA). The other man in the car is working for the CIA, who engineer his release by kidnapping Stacey, the secretary who took the his deposition that would have exonerated Rockford. Jim and Mrs. Bateman ("The Battle-Ax") team up to find Stacey. Mrs. Bateman is Stacey's boss. Inspired by Three Days of the Condor. The chief bad Fed is CIA Agent Donnegan (Lane Smith). The chief good Fed is FBI agent Spelling (Glenn Corbett). The "Exploding Cigars" are defective weapons being sold to the Commies by the CIA in a sting operation. Nice climax with the FBI arresting the CIA as they load the guns onto a ship. Mrs. Eleanor Bateman is played by Marge Redmond. | |||||
| 104 | 15 | "Guilt" | William Wiard | Juanita Bartlett | January 19, 1979 |
| An old girlfriend of Rockford's, Valerie Pointer (Pat Crowley), is being terrorized. A woman who calls herself Jean Ludwig (Elisabeth Brooks) tries in vain to hire Jim for $500 a day to keep him occupied, so that he won't have time to help Valerie. Nice helicopter chase as one of the would-be killers follows Rockford's car. This episode is one of the rare episodes where the answering machine message in the opening credits is referenced in the episode. | |||||
| 105 | 16 | "The Deuce" | Bernard McEveety | Gordon Dawson | January 26, 1979 |
| Juror Rockford defends a habitual drunken driver, George Bassett (Mills Watson), accused of causing the death of a woman, Betsy Pruitt. George Bassett was set up by two men who used him as a murder weapon to kill Betsy Pruitt, and you are shown this in the first scene. Jim votes not guilty resulting in a hung jury, and the grateful George Bassett and his wife hire Jim to solve the case. Sharon Spelman plays Karen Hathaway, George Bassett's grateful defense attorney. The episode was written to point out the importance of taking jury duty seriously, as Rockford and Karen Hathaway discuss the topic at the end of the episode. | |||||
| 106 | 17 | "The Man Who Saw the Alligators" | Corey Allen | David Chase | February 10, 1979 |
| Angel reveals Rockford's location to a thug working for the syndicate. James Garner has limited screen time in this 90-minute episode that focuses mostly on the other characters. Contains Angel Martin. | |||||
| 107 | 18 | "The Return of the Black Shadow" | William Wiard | Stephen J. Cannell | February 17, 1979 |
| Rockford's friend, John Cooper, goes after the motorcycle gang that hurt his sister and Rockford. This episodes focuses mostly on the on John Cooper character. | |||||
| 108 | 19 | "A Material Difference" | William Wiard | Rogers Turrentine | February 24, 1979 |
| Angel tries to con the Mob and accepts an advance on a job as a hit man with no intention of fulfulling his contract. Unfortunately for Angel, the Mob puts out a hit on him. In this hilarious episode there are Russian spies, a formula for blue jeans, and ONI (Office of Naval Intelligence) agents. The "material" is denim. Contains Angel Martin. | |||||
| 109 110 | 20 21 | "Never Send a Boy King to Do a Man's Job, Parts 1 and 2." | William Wiard | Juanita Bartlett | March 3, 1979 |
| Novice P.I. Richie Brockelman (Dennis Dugan) makes another appearance when he hires Rockford to con a con artist. The mark is Harold Jack Coombs, played by Robert Webber. Inspired by The Sting, the episode also includes one of the co-stars of The Sting, Harold Gould. The "Boy King" is King Tut. Both episodes include Angel Martin. | |||||
| 111 | 22 | "A Different Drummer" | Reza Badiyi | Rudolph Borchert | April 13, 1979 |
| While in the hospital after an accident, Rockford thinks he sees a cadaver's arm moving just as an organ is being removed. (Inspired by Coma). John Considine plays the psychopath Dr. Lee Yost, who kills people for their organs, and Jesse Welles plays Sorel Henderson, his mentally challenged secretary. | |||||
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