I don’t know about that. I’ve seen that happen in real,life on occasion. Besides, Berry’s performance is perfect.
Well, I can buy into it because my dad was a stick thin Dobby The House Elf lookalike who barely made it to five foot & a fart whereas I'm nearly a foot taller and built like a brick outhouse. No idea what my parents' milkman looked like, mind. Back to Rockford. Still my favourite American show!
They could have had problems with the dialog or the producer just didn’t like the read, rewritten lines, etc. it’s not uncommon.
I’ve had those moments as well. I,will see something I say or image I posted and think “did I say that?”
Other episodes are shorter. These are the syndicated versions for many if mot most,of,the episodes not the full,original airings.
PQ looks excellent for me. Yes it's entirely correct that a weekly show may seem less repetitive. As for extras. I never watch them. Zero extras would suit me. I didn't realise there aren't any subs
It’s a step up from the DVDs but there are unnecessary compression artifacts and the blacks look crushed sometimes. The detail varies a bit too. In the case of,the latter, that could be due to howit was shot/ source but these clearly weren’t the original negatives for the series. Either they cut the original negatives for syndication, inter positives or just used prints. I think there would be an even more noticeable uptick in quality if they had used the original negs. They may not exist any longer due to the Universal Fire. Either way, it’s a reason why you want to keep a duplicate inter-positive somewhere else. It’s sloppy archiving or lazy or both. I’m happy to hwve them mind you but as I get older I appredicate the subtitles. As to special features, Universal was always super stingy with those anyway for their Blu’s especially for TV but I always find them interesting especially if someone from behind the camera shares info on the makings the show.
A script was written where Lance runs for mayor of L.A., but never produced as Garner quit the show early. When I heard Selleck would be getting his own series I was very excited, as I hoped it would similar to Lance. I was very disappointed when it turned out to be just another private eye show.
OK, that's fair. But I still think the casting of Beery was a poor choice. I know some suspension of disbelief is necessary when it comes to watching television and movies, especially regarding the resemblance between unrelated actors playing close relatives, but sometimes I feel like Hollywood is trying to stretch things too far, and for me, Rockford senior and junior are one of those cases. YMMV (as you've already explained yours does).
I couldn't disagree more. Not only do Garner and Beery seem like a good physical match -- so what if there is a height difference -- but they also have great rapport. They're a very believable father and son. If you want to see a mismatch, watch the Rocky in the pilot. He doesn't look like he could be Garner's father, and the two have no rapport at all. They seem to barely know each other.
I don't know who played Rocky in the pilot episode, but it's not really a fair comparison to contrast the "lack of rapport" between actors who only worked together on one episode versus the rapport of two actors who worked together for several seasons. Obviously Garner and Beery liked each other and got along well, otherwise Beery would have been replaced just as swiftly as the first Rocky was. But there's more to being (or passing for) father and son than liking each other and getting along.
This is a reasonable point, although the difference is in fact noticeable from the beginning of Beery's tenure. Garner and the other actor have absolutely no chemistry at all. As for the idea of Garner and Beery not being a believable father and son, we'll just have to politely agree to disagree.
Thanks for the info. Bad decision from my perspective though. Why not use the original cuts for such a deluxe package?
Is there a list somewhere showing which episodes were shorter? I'm wondering if this is more of an issue with the BR set rather than the DVD set. I don't really remember many of the shows when it was on TV as I was too young. But I did watch the entire DVD set before buying the BR set. I have yet to go through the BR set.
Like a I said, it looks pretty good. There is an uptick in quality. There are certainly limitations to what was shot as well. Not that I know of but you can look at the timing of the episodes. Don’t get me wrong, I like the set and it is a marked improvement over the DVDs especially for the price but with a little more research (if the originals survive) we could have gotten the definitive set. I’m also not a fan of the cheap packaging.
The whole injury and then cancellation nightmare with NBC and Universal (ironic that they are both part of the same company now) was horrible.
And, as you know, Berry was Garner’s first choice he just wasn’t available for the pilot. Yep, they look more alike.
It’s a great book but does summarize the episodes a bit too much. I would prefer more trivia on the series.
Falling in Love with The Rockford Files—All Over Again James Garner and 'The Rockford Files' didn’t just humanize the TV private detective; for some, the show was a kind of guide to life. Over five and a half seasons, Jim Rockford would offer a number of life lessons: That you can gain entry to many social functions simply by wearing a blue sport coat or phony glasses; when impersonating salesmen, it’s good to have a variety of drawling accents and bold hats; any business office can be accessed either with a set of quality lock picks or by double-talking the receptionist and showing fake business cards you can print in your car; in a high-speed chase, you can often outsmart goons with a cool reverse J-turn move they somehow never expect; sometimes you’ll work for people you detest, so know how much you’re willing to take; likewise, being a good listener is not only nice manners but also can be professionally useful. And finally, if you want the dream of a home office without paying a secretary, then rent an answering machine (rather new at the time). The Rockford Files’ opening sequence did not show the usual action shot, chalk corpse silhouette, or hero swirled in police lights but a pan of Jim’s untidy desk laid with playing cards and a large standing photo of his dad, as the answering machine plays. Jim’s messages famously began every episode, ensuring that fans of the show would be in their seats as it opened: “Hey Jim, this is Louie down at the fish market—you gonna pick up these halibut or what?”
Don't you love it when Jim belts someone either literally or metaphorically. One episode has me in hysterics with his last line. This one concerned psychological testing. Jim had been set up as usual At the end the chap who set him was in the trailer. Jim said to him. Answer this question yes or no I like my front teeth Oh boy I laughed and laughed Im watching the show now and he's laid a couple of thugs out I remember many years ago at celebrity golf pro am tournament. A chap in the crowd had been heckling him throughout the round. James garner walked up to him and laid him out. Wow. He paid the ten dollars and the rest. Boy I bet it was worth it.
Hi, Would love your help on a question. I wanted to check whether the Universal DVD set and the Mill Creek blu ray collection use exactly the same syndicated versions of the episodes. Is there any difference at all in episode edits between the blu rays and DVDs? Is one less edited than the other or do they come from the same edited master tapes? I have been trying to get an answer in this but find it unclear - so any help would be great. John
It's a long thread and no one should be expected to have read it all. But if you look at post 127 you will at least see some discussion about the pilot. Apparently the old DVDs had cut out a lot of stuff in the Pilot, but it's added back in the Blu Rays. That nightclub scene begins at around 33:30 in the old DVD and at 44:30 in the Blu Ray, so that's at least ten minutes added back in. In the nightclub scene in addition to the female gymnast, after her there is a scene of dancing dogs - this was not in the old DVDs. Thing is, all that was added back in is total fluff so they could make it into two full episodes in syndication. Personally, I kept my DVD set and returned the Blu Ray set. I didn't like that the BR did not have subtitles and I didn't like the treatment of the pilot episode, among other things.
