The Rockford Files (TV Series) Nice Guys Finish Dead (1979) User Reviews

Character is Everything

[zsenorsock · 10/10 · 2 January 2007]

Even though Tom Selleck overplays Lance White a little on this second time around for the character. this is a must see "Rockford" episode.

Jim is a nominee at the Detective's Association convention where he's seated with Lance and the MC is Vern St. Cloud (Simon Oakland, making his third appearance as the character). Freddie Beamer (James Whitmore Jr.) crashes the convention and stumbles on the dead body of a state senator who was going to make a speech at the convention. Panicked, Beamer flees and thus becomes the prime suspect. It's up to Rockford and Lance White to prove him innocent.

Cannell has once again submitted a superior script--funny, loaded with character and yet some mystery as well. This is a good example of why Jim Rockford has been referred to as "the Jack Benny of private eyes". Everyone kind of treats him with disdain while admiring Lance (especially Lt. Chapman). Cannell spoofs the typical private eye show in his discussion about hunches, clues and Lance's "total recall". A real highlight is the scene in which Lance suggests they put Beamer under hypnosis to learn what the man looked like coming out of the room where he discovered the murderer man (a stocky, bald man in a red shirt and green pants, wearing a hat with a feather in it). Whitmore is great as Beamer, and a whole show in herself is the eye popping Erica Hagen as the hypnotist Brandy Alexander. Strangely this was her last role on record. I for one would certainly have loved to see more of her! (You can in "Soylent Green" where she plays one of the girls that comes with the apartment!)

Garner is great in dealing with his frustrations with Lance and Beamer (two extremes if ever there were) and then going back to try and find where he threw away his coveted Goodhew Award (at the time claiming it means nothing). Simon Oakland is just as gruff and boisterous and wrong as ever. Oakland would make one final appearance on the series, but not as St. Cloud in the dreary "Just a Coupla Guys" episode.

"Magnum" fans in particular should love this episode. It not only features Selleck as White but Larry Manetti, who played Rick Wright on "Magnum". Whitmore also appeared with the two on the series as Billy Jo Bob Little (as well as on "Bret Maverick").

Rockford comedy!

[mm-39 · 8/10 · 1 April 2019]

Classic Rockford comedy! Nice Guys Finish Dead is a comic episode where Jimmy plays the straight serious guy, while Beemer is the pathetic humorous character and Selleck is the over naive P I who is over skilled, and lucky. Selleck's character is a guy women love, saves peoples lives, and always has the breaks. Selleck over applauds Jimmy winning the award is hilarious. Selleck's character tells people to put their hands up to fight fair, and Chapman just over love for the P I who saved Chapman's life is the funny two funny on going jokes of Nice Guys Finish Dead. Not much of a story, but Nice Guys Finish Dead's paper thin story is done deliberately to enhance the humor. Nice Guys Finish Dead starts out with a bang of a serious episode, which slowly unravels from one silly moment to the next as the comic collusion climaxes! 8 out of 10 stars. A break form the more serious episodes, which makes for a classic series.

Some truly memorable characters

[bkoganbing · 8/10 · 24 March 2015]

Some truly memorable characters from the Rockford Files come back in this episode about private investigator's convention where a State Senator who was to give a keynote address gets murdered. And it's luckless Freddie Beamer who spots the murderer and the murdered who gets the blame for it.

If you remember James Whitmore, Jr. played Freddie in a previous episode where he appropriates Jim Rockford's identity because he's tired of the dreary life of a garage mechanic and pretends he's a real honest to goodness PI. This is just the kind of jackpot he put himself and James Garner in from the previous episode. Whitmore can't get out of his own way.

On the other hand there's the immaculately tailored and insufferable Lance White played again by Tom Selleck. White is the kind of guy who might be digging a trench in his backyard and discover oil he has that kind of luck. But he charms one and all except Garner who can't stand him. Nevertheless they agree to work together to get Whitmore out of his jackpot.

Simon Oakland who was a boorish PI is the head of the PI Association probably because no one else wants the job. He keeps trying to bury Whitmore and he's got good reason. Vern St. Cloud who is Oakland's character has also shown up in The Rockford Files before.

Best scene in the story is Garner and Selleck taking Whitmore over to a hypnotist to see if his memory can be jogged. Erica Hagen plays the hypnotist and she keeps trying with Whitmore, but he's so dumb he's a horrible subject.

This episode also has Selleck with future Magnum regular Larry Manetti playing Oakland's equally boorish nephew.

It's one of the best Rockford Files episodes. I only wish they had managed to work Dennis Dugan as Richie Brockelman into the story.

Rockford and Magnum

[stones78 · 12 May 2011]

This is another episode of the lighter fare variety of this great show, which is nearing the conclusion of a solid run from 1974-1980, and many recognizable faces such as Tom Selleck, Larry Manetti, and Simon Oakland make appearances revolving around an awards banquet for private investigators. It turns out a senator gets killed in the banquet bathroom, and Freddie Beamer(wannabe P.I.)gets himself involved accidentally, and somewhat stupidly; he sees the guy dead on the floor and when someone else comes in the room, he runs away like he's guilty. Rockford should've beaten him up for that stupid act alone instead of putting up the Firebird for Freddie's bail. Tom Selleck is the real highlight here as the perfect and smooth Lance White, who's everything Rockord isn't, and their scenes together are rather funny as Jim keeps trying to prove Lance wrong, but it turns out the guy's always right about his hunches; even Chapman, who loathes Rockford, is in awe of White. I believe James Garner was set to guest star in a Magnum, P.I. episode, but he was in a dispute with one of the studios at the time and he supposedly refused to set foot on their set, which was unfortunate. Back to this episode, it turns out that Manetti's character killed the senator in a botched blackmail scheme that went awry. This isn't one of my personal favorites, mainly because Rockford is more of a side character instead of the lead, but it is very enjoyable with interesting characters and funny moments.

"Respighi" not Respighi

[dmrn-91617 · 10/10 · 6 July 2016]

Great episode even though the characters of Lance White and Freddie Beamer are annoying to no end, but well that's the joke and it is served by classic dialogue. It's definitely one of the lighter episodes after a string of quite heavy ones preceding.

But when Tom Selleck promises to listen to Respighi - Ottorino Respighi (1879–1936) - to calm the nerves and presses the play button on his Teac Reel to Reel, he plays instead the Adagio to Marcello's Oboe Concerto and good for him as it's gorgeous.

Marcello: Oboe Concerto In D Minor - 2. Adagio Alessandro Marcello (1684~1750)

Great later episode !

[ronnybee2112 · 9/10 · 15 June 2022]

I think this is a wonderful last-season episode. The large cast of guest-stars work very well together,and it is a very funny episode despite the grim topic. One of the best and most memorable episodes!

But these nice guys will always be with us

[Lookedagain · 10/10 · 14 May 2023]

Played for laughs and there are plenty of them in this one, one of the best in the last season of a wonderful series. Great reprised performances by Tom Selleck as Lance White, as perfect as always, James Whitmore, Jr. As Freddie Beamer, the penultimate nebbish and Simon Oakland as the overbearing Vern St. Cloud. Rockford does his best but comes up short in this one, perhaps Beamer's incompetence has affected his abilities. This episode has all the elements, skillfully presented, that made The Rockford Files so good in its day and still enjoyable and worth watching forty-four years later. Erica Hagen as the ridiculously named hypnotist Brandy Alexander adds to the fun. Try to not get as distracted by her as Beamer did. Definitely worth a watch.

Generous

[TurboarrowIII · 7/10 · 26 November 2014]

I think this episode shows what a great star and generous man James Garner was.

He is meant to be the star of the show but he allows guest star Tom Selleck to totally dominate and upstage him.

Selleck plays Lance White again. White is another PI who has been involved with Rockford in past cases and always gets the luck with clues etc.

Here they are investigating the murder of a senator at a PI awards dinner. Rockford shows frustration at the way everything goes White's way and how everything he does comes off. Garner was good at this type of light comedy. Even at the end Rockford finds out that the award he had supposedly won wasn't his due to a miscount and it actually goes to White.

I quite enjoyed this episode but it would have been nice if something had gone Rockford's way.

Not many stars in their own show would have allowed themselves to play second fiddle to a guest star I don't think and it was very generous of Garner to do so. Maybe this was one of the reasons why he was so popular and the regulars on the show always got along so well. This helped to make it the great show it was.

Three men and a dead senator

[safenoe · 7/10 · 19 October 2020]

This episode has nearly twice as many IMDb user votes as most of the other season 6 episodes. Maybe it's because it features two future Magnum stars: Tom Selleck and Larry Manetti. This is the second appearance of Tom Selleck as Lance White in The Rockford Files. Hard to believe this episode was broadcast over 40 years ago.

Here Rockford, White and the inept Freddie Beamer (James Whitmore Jr) are on the hunt for the murderer of a senator who died at an awards convention for private investigators of all places.

Sad to say, this is the sixth last episode of this fine series.

One of the worst

[msederoff-16279 · 1/10 · 21 August 2016]

I love Rockford, and have watched all the shows several times. It became apparent that as time went on, either the writers became bored with the show, or the original writers were replaced.

I don't know what the point was of this show; it was not entertaining, intriguing, suspenseful or interesting. The first 10 minutes of the show have Rockford and his friends at a detective's convention. It was actually as boring as a REAL convention. Even James Garner and Tom Selleck are not capable of making a professional convention anything but utterly tiresome.

The rest of the show was spent looking for a killer who killed somebody that no one knew nor cared about and trying to protect an accused innocent man with the personality of a door knob.

In between the above, we see Rockford constantly exasperated at his seemingly perfect, saccharin sweet, plastic rival played by Tom Selleck. There was not one redeeming quality in this entire episode.

I usually at least enjoy looking at Tom Selleck, but in this episode, he was so annoying I just wanted him to go away.