Columbo, Rockford Files, Kojak

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by Brian Lux, Jun 1, 2017.

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  1. Brian Lux

    Brian Lux One in the Crowd Thread Starter

    Location:
    Placerville, CA
    Falk, , Garner, Savalas, three cool cats, three great shows.
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  2. cboldman

    cboldman Forum Resident

    Location:
    Hamilton, OH USA
    I'm a latecomer to Columbo, but have been watching it regularly on MeTV. Enjoyed last week's entry; one of the Patrick McGoohan episodes, 'Ashes to Ashes.' I like Rockford, but prefer James Garner in Maverick (or even his short-lived series, Nichols). Kojak, I have never warmed up to, even though I like Telly Savalis.
     
  3. digdug67

    digdug67 Hockley's Hits Here!

    Location:
    Hockley, TX
    Loved all three but Rockford was my favorite. "Angel!!!!!"
     
  4. The Panda

    The Panda Forum Mutant

    Location:
    Marple, PA, USA
    I'm a huge Kojak person almost from the show's beginning. I loved the 'gritty' feel of the show. Cars on dirty streets, tenements, grimy alleys, etc.

    Some of you might enjoy this. When I was a soph @ PSU, I was the only one with a TV (a small B&W). No cable in those days. Reception from my room (facing in to a quad) was mediocre at best. On the other side of the dorm, it faced a huge parking lot. Two seniors on that side (the coolest guys on the floor) made a deal with me--they borrowed the TV almost full time and in return I could come in every night around 10:30 for Kojak (and 'by appointment' for other programs). The reception really was great. One night while Theo was on, the door gets locked and the one guy pulls out a pound of weed and scales. He then cuts and dilutes (you know what I mean) the stuff and bags it. I was freaking out inside--I did a lot of weed in HS and college, but I was a small town kid, never knew a dealer. Needless to say, I passed that test and sometimes I was allowed to sample the raw stash, all due to my crappy little TV.
     
  5. JozefK

    JozefK Forum Resident

    Location:
    Dixie
    All part of Universal's "Cop's name" assembly line:

    Rockford
    Columbo
    Kojak
    Baretta
    McCloud
    McMillan
    Banacek
    Quincy


    Somebody should write a book about this sub-genre, as there was plenty of drama behind the scenes, inspiring Jack Klugman's classic line: "I'm not difficult, I'm just taking Peter Falk lessons from Robert Blake!". All these stars, aside from Garner, Hudson, and perhaps Weaver, became known for not always being totally cooperative on the set, although Blake and Peppard were especially notorious for making demands.

    Maverick is great but I think Rockford is even better -- Garner had really perfected his technique by that time. Nichols (Garner's own favorite, FWIW) is more interesting than completely successful. It has a shaggy-dog, meandering quality that is intriguing but not really suited to a TV series.
     
  6. rockclassics

    rockclassics Senior Member

    Location:
    Mainline Florida
    Rockford gets my votes as the best one. Kojak was good too and I watched it each week with my dad. Columbo was ok but I did not always watch it each week.
     
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  7. Frozensoda

    Frozensoda Forum Resident

    "There's just one more thing...":love:
     
  8. Jason Pumphrey

    Jason Pumphrey Forum Resident

    Dragnet and Adam 12 were also Universal.
     
  9. Jason Pumphrey

    Jason Pumphrey Forum Resident

    That is a great later Columbo episode, the late Rue McClanahan was the victim in Ashes to Ashes.
     
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  10. JozefK

    JozefK Forum Resident

    Location:
    Dixie
    But they didn't adhere to the Lone Crusader template, breaking rules and busting heads to get things done!
     
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  11. Jason Pumphrey

    Jason Pumphrey Forum Resident

    The British show The Sweeney certainly did that, of course not a Universal show...
     
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  12. The Slug Man

    The Slug Man Forum Resident

    Location:
    North Carolina
    Love The Rockford Files. You can watch the episodes in order and watch James Garner age about 15 years in the space of 6 thanks to all the stuntwork he did. It jumped the shark after Beth left, though.:(:love:
     
  13. Commander Lucius Emery

    Commander Lucius Emery Forum Resident

    Reminds me that in 1975 Jack Palance was on Johnny Carson to promote his detective show "Bronx" and they kiddingly talked about the gimmick/hook that differentiated "Bronk" from the 47 other detective shows. At least ai think it was Palance.

    I've only ever seen one "Rockford File". Columbo strikes me as more about a character while Kodak was more about Telly Savalas's character.
     
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  14. Instant Dharma

    Instant Dharma Dude/man

    Location:
    CoCoCo, Ca
    Rockford Rules.
     
  15. Brian Lux

    Brian Lux One in the Crowd Thread Starter

    Location:
    Placerville, CA
    Yes, Angel! Stuart Margolin played that part so well. Love him, drove you nuts all at the same time!
     
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  16. Brian Lux

    Brian Lux One in the Crowd Thread Starter

    Location:
    Placerville, CA
    Beth was great! Loved Gretchen Corbett's work on that show!

    Garner talks about his injuries in one of the DVD extras. Definitely went the extra mile. And what a driver!

    We have most of the DVDs if all three shows and after seeing them over the years I would be hard pressed to say which I like best- pretty much each one for different reasons. Rockford for being so cool and down to earth, Columbo for being quirky and lovable, Kojak for being like an invincible force with an underlying big heart.

    Three cool cats and marvelous co-stars and sidekicks all around.
     
  17. Scope J

    Scope J Senior Member

    Location:
    Michigan
  18. Andre Acvedo

    Andre Acvedo Sargento Primero

    Location:
    Mijas
    What a fantastic format Columbo was. One of the best for sure. I Owen all the episodes.
     
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  19. monovinyl

    monovinyl Senior Member

    James Garner is legendary! Rockford Files is one of very best TV shows ever (IMHO)...been watching the entire series in order on BR. Excellent quality. It's very interesting to see California in it's awesome 1970's glory.
     
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  20. eddiel

    eddiel Senior Member

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    Old post I know but...I agree I thought Gretchen Corbett was great on the show and was disappointed when I realised she was no longer in the show. I had to wiki it :)

    I've gone through both the Columbo and Rockford series, more than once over the years. Wasn't inclined to get any Kojak dvds though. But one my earliest memories of TV is actually of Kojak.

    When I was a little kid, our living room doubled as my bedroom. At bedtime the french doors would close, creating my bedroom. I had a hard time going to sleep and the TV would help lull me to sleep. We had a really small black and white tv and I remember going to bed with Kojak on in the background (bedtime was very late I guess). I don't remember many of the episodes but I remember it being on.
     
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  21. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

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    Less dated, at least the character.
     
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  22. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    Favourite 70s series
    Kung Fu
    The Waltons
    Detective genre ..private eye Harry O
     
  23. Trashman

    Trashman Forum Resident

    Location:
    Wisconsin
    Columbo seems to be aging well, especially the 70s episodes. While they are of their time and the pacing is much slower than modern TV, they are still extremely watchable . The amount of humor really helps these episodes too, as it's basically a comedy as Columbo slowly tightens the noose around the murderers.

    The format also remains somewhat unique, revealing the murderer to the audience right away. It shouldn't work, but it does.

    I have nothing against the other shows listed above, but they don't entice me to watch them like Columbo does.
     
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  24. arley

    arley Forum Resident

    Columbo trivia: you never hear his first name, but in one episode you can see his ID--'Frank Columbo'.
    Sadly, toward the end of his life Peter Falk developed dementia, so badly that he couldn't remember he once played Columbo. IMHO, his greatest performance was opposite Alan Arkin in 'The In-Laws'--brilliant.

    James Garner was always watchable, always likable. Mark Steyn wrote a great tribute to him on his passing a few years ago (irrespective of your feelings about Steyn's political commentaries, he's a terrific obituarist):

    Chemistry Lessons: James Garner, 1928-2014
     
  25. Dillydipper

    Dillydipper Space-Age luddite

    Location:
    Central PA
    Ummmm......and Wife...? :idea:
     
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