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THE ROCKFORD FILES
SEASON SIX
THE FINAL SEASON
Studio: Universal
Original Broadcast: 1979-1980
Length: 9 hours 52 mins
Genre: Detective Series/Action/Comedy
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 Full Frame
Color/B&W: Color
Audio:
English Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Subtitles: English SDH
Rating: Unrated (TV-safe violence)
Release Date: January 20, 2009
Rating: Starring: James Garner, Noah Berry, Stuart Margolin and Joe Santos
Series Created By: Roy Huggins and Stephen J. Cannell
The Rockford Files: Season Six is the final season DVD set of the series, consisting of the twelve episodes filmed before health issues forced a premature end to the show. While the packaging here indicates the final episode, “Deadlock in Parma”, to be a “Series Finale”, this is more than a little disingenuous. In reality, that episode was simply the last one filmed before the series went on hiatus. But don’t let that fool you as far as the quality here. These episodes are just as good as the prior seasons of the show. If anything, they illustrate how unfortunate it was that the show had to come to an end in such a fashion. (For the record, James Garner’s injuries to his back and knees have plagued him over the decades since the show ended – an unfortunate consequence of having performed many of his own stunts over the years.) And for those looking for a happy ending, in the 1990s, Garner and the gang returned to make a series of 8 TV movies – thus proving that perhaps you can go home again sometimes.
The nice thing about The Rockford Files as a TV show is that it’s very easy to jump in and start watching without a lot of preface. (Unlike, say, LOST, where trying to start watching the show as of this season would be confusing...) The series follows the detective business of Garner’s Jim Rockford, a genial ex-con (he was innocent) who lives and works out of a mobile home in Malibu. Within a few minutes of the show’s trademark answering machine opening, we’re off and running with Rockford on his latest problem. The emphasis of the series tends to be on gentle character comedy, with the show’s mysteries being solved along the way. Rockford is a likeable, easygoing guy, and the show reflects his outlook on life. The show also benefits from some strong writing talent, including David Chase some twenty years before he would create The Sopranos, and a regular array of interesting guest stars. (I should also note that the sixth season was nominated for the usual slew of Emmy Awards in 1980, with Margolin winning a second acting award for his role. In general terms, the series, Garner and Noah Beery were nominated as well. I’ll dissect the other nominations as we get to the episodes.)
As expected, the complete episodes are presented here, in the order of airing. The episodes are presented in full frame and 2.0 mono sound. As I noted in my review of other series from this time, the episodes have the same basic look as when they were originally aired, although the sophistication of today’s TVs and HDTVs reveals the flaws and color limitations to be expected from a nearly 30 year old source. There is no remastering happening here, but it really wouldn’t make any difference, particularly for fans of the series. There are no special features here, aside from a few previews for other Universal Television DVDs on the first disc.
We’ll go through each disc in order. THERE ARE SPOILERS IN THE EPISODE DESCRIPTIONS HERE. .
DISC ONE:
This disc contains the first four episodes of the season:
“Paradise Cove” – Stephen J. Cannell writes and directs the season opener himself. The story here finds Rockford forced to work as night watchman for the trailer community, and the episode features an Emmy-nominated performance by Mariette Hartley. (Trivia note: Hartley had won an Emmy the year before this for her guest work on The Incredible Hulk, and was in the midst of doing a large number of commercials with Garner for Polaroid Cameras.)
“Lions, Tigers, Monkeys and Dogs (Part One)” – Rockford deals with an uncomfortable situation at a masquerade ball. Lauren Bacall guest stars here, and her performance draws an Emmy nomination.
“Lions, Tigers, Monkeys and Dogs (Part Two)” – The second part of the prior episode wraps up the story.
“Only Rock ‘n’ Roll Will Never Die (Part One)” – Rockford gets caught between mobsters and a musician in a story written by David Chase.
-When this disc is initially put in the player, you can see a series of non-anamorphic trailers, including one for the season sets of Columbo, a collective trailer for Knight Rider, The A Team and Magnum P.I. and trailers for Monk and Life.
There is also a “Previews” menu, which brings up non-anamorphic trailers for the season sets for Columbo, Friday Night Lights, Heroes, House, Law & Order, Monk, The Office, psych, and Quantum Leap.
DISC TWO:
“Only Rock ‘n’ Roll Will Never Die (Part Two)” – The second part of the prior story gets wrapped up here.
“Love is the Word” – Rockford takes a case for his ex, only to find that complicates things. This one has a script by David Chase.
“Nice Guys Finish Dead” – Rockford tries to find out who murdered the guest speaker at an awards dinner. Tom Selleck guest stars here as Lance White.
“The Hawaiian Headache” – Rockford’s vacation is disrupted and he winds up in the middle of an international conspiracy.
DISC THREE:
“No Fault Affair” – Rockford’s father gets involved when he sees Rockford trying to handle two cases at once. This episode is notable for receiving a nomination for the 1980 Eddie Awards. (These are given for Editing)
“The Big Cheese” – Rockford tries to get a package of evidence from the mail service.
“Just a Coupla Guys” – David Chase writes this possible Sopranos precursor that finds Rockford in New Jersey doing protection duty for a local mobster.
“Deadlock in Parma” – Rockford gets caught in the middle of a city council vote when he proxies one of its members. This is the final episode of the series, although not by any means a series finale. Think of it more as a typical episode of the series.
VIDEO QUALITY: 3/5 :star: :star: :star:The Rockford Files: Season Six, offers full-frame presentations of the best masters available. The image here is what you saw when these episodes originally aired. Picture quality varies throughout, but this is to be expected from 30 year old prints made on a television schedule. As far as the transfer itself goes, it is an accurate representation of the series as it was telecast.
AUDIO QUALITY: 3/5 :star: :star: :star: The Rockford Files: Season Six is presented in an English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono mix that essentially gives us what we heard during the original broadcasts 28 years ago. The dialogue is mostly clear, as is the music and the sound effects. One particularly clear (and hilarious) moment comes right in the first episode, where tape recordings are played of Rockford’s various escapades at the mobile home park. Meaning that we hear a pretty clear series of recordings of gunshots, tire squeals and then an explosion. Much of which gets played to Garner’s exasperated expression.
IN THE END...
The Rockford Files: Season Six is a pleasure to recommend both to fans of the series and to people who haven’t experienced it before. This isn’t exactly high definition picture or sound, but that’s not what Rockford fans would expect or want. It’s just another twelve episodes in the company of what feel like very good friends indeed.
Kevin Koster
January 26, 2008
