"The Rockford Files" To Protect and Serve: Part 1 (1977)

Director:

William Wiard

Writers:

David Chase (writer)
Roy Huggins (creator) ...

TV Series:

"The Rockford Files" (1974)

Original Air Date:

11 March 1977 (Season 3, Episode 19)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

Plot:

Plot Keywords:

Car Chase | Police | Detective | Answering Machine | Sting Operation

Cast

James Garner	...	Jim Rockford
Noah Beery Jr.	...	Joseph 'Rocky' Rockford #2 (as Noah Beery)
Joe Santos	...	Dennis Becker
Joyce Van Patten	...	Lianne Sweeny
James Luisi	...	Lt. Doug Chapman
Leslie Charleson	...	Patsy Fossler
Jon Cypher	...	Michael Kelly
George Loros	...	'Anthony Boy' Gagglio
Pat Finley	...	Peggy Becker
Luke Andreas	...	Syl
James Coleman	...	Officer Haydu
Luis Delgado	...	Officer Billings
Charles Parks	...	Officer Drum
Jason Ledger	...	Sgt. Salcedo
Bob Peterson	...	Bartender

Trivia:

Rockford's phone number is 555-2368.

Quotes:

Lianne Sweeny: It may interest you to know that Sergeant Becker rolled a code three to a major four-fifteen which could have turned out to be a one-eighty-seven.
Jim Rockford: I flunked math.

Cop Groupie

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Dennis goes to the scene of a hostage situation and ends up shooting the perp when he fails to surrender and comes out guns blazing. Unlike most TV Supercops, killing somebody, even a justified shooting, really bothers Dennis. Leeann Sweeney (Joyce Van Patten), a police buff/groupie tries to come to his aid and then some.

In the meantime, Jim is trying to find Susan, a missing fiancé for a New York lawyer named Michael Kelly. However, it turns out Kelly was a mob lawyer and the reason he's looking for her is that he told her too much. Syl (Luke Andreas) and Tony (George Loros)a couple of New York boys of Joseph Minnette (yes, the Minnette family again!) are also looking for her.

This episode is full of nice little scenes: Dennis involved in a shooting; LeeAnn hitting on just about any cop she can get to talk to her; Dennis being ordered to invite Jim over to his house to pump him for information about Kelly; and a cookout where everyone seems to get mad at everybody else. Pat Finley is back as Dennis' wife, Peggy and she's solid as always, giving the show and Dennis' character a shot of reality and humanity. She also played Emily's sister Ellen on "The Bob Newhart Show". George Loros is much better here as a mob bad guy than he'd be later in the series as an old prison buddy of Jim's who's now a go-fer for a rock star. He's later show up on David Chase's hit series "The Sopranos" (Apparently Chase has a long memory!) Jim's brother Jack makes a brief appearance as the Jolly's Catering Service guy.

At one point, Jim and Susan are being chased by the New York mob guys and Syl, manages to get off a number of shots at Rockford's car almost at can't miss range without hitting anything. This seems to be a bit unlikely until you remember Tony's the hit man--Cil is just the driver and may not be a very good shot!