Gearjammers, Part 2 (3 Oct. 1975)

The Rockfords work with Sgt. Becker to solve Rocky's friend's murder. When 6 tractor trailers from the same depot are hijacked by a gang, there must be a connection with the killing, but ... See full summary »

Director:

William Wiard

Writers:

Roy Huggins (creator), Stephen J. Cannell (creator),

Stars:

James Garner, Noah Beery Jr., Joe Santos

Cast

Episode complete credited cast:
James Garner	...	Jim Rockford
Noah Beery Jr.	...	Joseph 'Rocky' Rockford (as Noah Beery)
Joe Santos	...	Dennis Becker
Jack Kruschen	...	John Koenig
Scott Brady	...	Hammel
Robert F. Hoy	...	Scheib (as Bob Hoy)
Joe E. Tata	...	Willie
Bucklind Beery	...	Mazurski (as Bucklind Berry)

Storyline

The Rockfords work with Sgt. Becker to solve Rocky's friend's murder. When 6 tractor trailers from the same depot are hijacked by a gang, there must be a connection with the killing, but who desperately needs tons of ladies' underwear, grapefruit and dynamite ? The proud Rocky resents Jim taking care of him, making the slew of hit-men even harder to combat for Dennis and a very confused LAPD.

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Plot Keywords:

car chase

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 October 1975 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Roy Huggins-Public Arts Productions, Cherokee Productions, Universal TV

Technical Specs

Runtime:

50 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

4:3

Did You Know?

Trivia

The message left on Jim's answering machine is from Angel Martin: "Hey, Jimmy, thank you. Don't worry about it. You're clean. Ignore that earlier message, Okay?"

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Goofs

About half way through this part 2, Rocky, who is hiding out in Jim Rockford's trailer with Jim, peers outside and asks Jim are the men in the green Chevy. The two shots we get of the green Chevy are actually a 1974 Oldsmobile Delta 88 4 door hardtop, not a Chevy.

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Quotes

Jim Rockford: This is Jim Rockford. At the tone leave your name and message, I'll get back to you.
Angel: Hey, Jimmy, it's Angel. Don't pay no attention to my other message. You're out of it. You're clean, no trouble at all. Just ignore the first message.

User Reviews

The old geezer still has it

This review of the latter half of this episode is the only part I've seen, but thanks to the very long recapitulation by James Garner before part 2 began, I was able to get the gist of most of the entire episode. Even without seeing the first half, this is still a very solid story revolving around Rocky witnessing a crooked meeting between a dispatcher and a hood, played solidly by Scott Brady, a great Rockford foil. Luckily, I was able to see clips of the first part, and got to catch the famous J-Turn from the Firebird, and also saw the poor car get blown up, which is rather sad, but it'll come back again. There's another reason I really enjoyed this segment, and that's because it was mostly shot outdoors, and had some great atmosphere on sunny California days; cool shots were on the freeway and a trucking yard, which had both Rocky and Jim driving together at times. They had several fine scenes together, and the chemistry between the actors is special, and it's easy to want to share a beer with them. Throw in many good scenes with Dennis as well, and we have a winner. Regarding the outcome, Jim deduces the tractors, rather than the trailers, is what was being stolen and somehow Rocky got poked his nose where it didn't belong, but he more than made up for it by driving that rig in a father and son tag team to run down a hood in a larger truck, which also led to the arrest of Brady's character. I'm not a huge fan of the first two seasons of the Rockford Files, but this one is terrific.