The Rockford Files (TV Series) Local Man Eaten by Newspaper (1978) User Reviews

Soprano's meets the Rockford Files.

[mm-39 · 8/10 · 25 March 2019]

Soprano's meets the Rockford Files. Local Man Eaten by Newspaper has many ingredients for a awesome episode. Jimmy is working for a local tabloid newspaper, which the viewer and Jimmy learns the ins and outs of the rag newspaper stories. Then you mix in a Soprano's dysfunctional story-line of a mobster with a mentally sick wife. The desperate mobster is Tony and the wife is like Tony's mother from the Sopranos. Watching the two stories collide with Jimmy on the hit list makes for an interesting drama. The small details of the the rag newspaper and the mobsters make the episode a gem. One reporter shows Jim how to lie and grab the readers attention hits the mark. The beginning of Local Man Eaten by Newspaper has the Capo doing push ups to show the Capo's strength, and showing clips of a film of the Capo's trophy girl friend give a bravado feel for the mob. Local Man Eaten by Newspaper is 8 stars out of 10 with a tragic ending. We knew the ending would be tragic and could not help but keep watching!

I read it in the paper

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 27 February 2015]

Jim Rockford starts this episode in character. He's gone undercover as a reporter newly hired at Scott Brady's scandal sheet because a prominent Beverly Hills doctor has had break-ins and he wants to know who's doing the second story work. When two guys are caught breaking in and the doctor is shot trying to strong arm them at that point the police are called in.

Dallas Mitchell was trying to protect his privacy and his patients' confidentiality. A lot of people get it wrong including James Garner for a while. It's all because people are reading the garbage that the scandal sheet is printing.

An item in Brady's rag sets off a Mafia turf war with a pair of mooks played by Joseph Hindy and Scott Marlowe, part of the gang that couldn't shoot straight.

Smartest one in this episode is Bo Hopkins playing disbarred lawyer John Cooper. They all including Rockford should have followed his lead.

When local newspapers were on top

[safenoe · 6/10 · 18 September 2020]

This episode was of a time when newspapers were on top, before the world of social media. It's a time when we got ink on our fingers flicking through the news print. I like The Rockford Files, and the 70s nostalgia from LA. It's a shame that season 6 was cut short.

Coop needs some love

[stones78 · 13 July 2012]

After reading both reviews for this episode, I feel that John Cooper, who's Rockford's attorney since Beth left town, does indeed have some chemistry with his client. For those wondering, Coop(Bo Hopkins)is only in the latter half, and doesn't have many scenes, so quit complaining; how could anyone not like Rockford and Coop sharing a beer at a local establishment? Back to the story, Rockford goes undercover for a trashy magazine that likes to gossip, as he was hired by a doctor with famous patients; someone has broken into his office and either stolen or misplaced files, as I can't recall exactly. I would have to say that the best performance was by Scott Marlowe, a hood who works for boss Johnny(Gianni Russo), but is conspiring against him to take over his territory; the magazine had some dirt on Johnny, and this interests both Rockford and the hood(Marlowe), as he was one of the 2 hoods, along with Leo, who shot Johnny, although I'm not quite sure if he was killed or just hospitalized; also, watch for an odd performance by Rose Gregorio(Natalie), who seems a bit mentally challenged and spews strange phrases throughout the episode. Dennis has a few scenes, and Rocky had only one, I think, and Scott Brady has a few solid moments as Harold Witback, who ran the magazine. An odd phrase uttered by Rockford, thanks to the language bar, was "Klaatu barada nikto" to an employee who threw him out of the building; I looked the phrase up, and it revolves around the film "The Day the Earth Stood Still", but wasn't needed in this episode, as I think the writers tried to outsmart themselves. Lastly, I didn't find it believable that Natalie started the fire in the building which housed the magazine, as she spews nonsense to her husband and the cops at the end, as the 2 hoods were arrested. As I said earlier, this isn't really a John Cooper episode, but I felt he added to this episode, as I like when he and Rockford work together.

Mech

[rms125a · 6/10 · 7 May 2024]

This weird story about a miscegenation between two low-level Mafiosi who, with one deadly exception can't shoot straight, and the world of tabloid journalism.

The more senior mob mook's wife is religiously obsessive but also a calculating, ruthless, and increasingly psychotic would-be ersatz Julia Agrippina. Her incessant reading of one particular tabloid puts ideas in her head to encourage her husband on a mission to rise in the organization which only leads to his downfall. Eventually, she simply resorts to convincing herself with lies when her "facts" break down. Played with chilling coldness, and sociopathological deviance by Rose Gregorio, she is hateful but fascinating.

Weak story line in Local man eaten by newspaper.

[mjgarske · 3/10 · 4 February 2008]

What is the deal with this episode? I try and get in to it but there is something missing, it's like it has no soul or something.

Plus there is a ridiculous instance when Rockford, Coop and the 2 Mafia guys climb out of the burning newspaper building. The cops show up to 4 guys and a burning building and they automatically attempt to arrest them, why? Wouldn't the cops first idea be to see if everyone is OK? Why would they suspect that they are criminals? Plus, the most glaring point that I have a problem with is that Jim tells one of the cops, "officer, I'm a private detective and the man on the end is my associate" the cops than release them. In all the years of TRF has any cop EVER been impressed by the fact that Rockford is a PI? In my experience they have been HARDER on him exactly because he IS a PI!!!

Is Rockford in This Episode?

[zsenorsock · 4/10 · 22 August 2006]

Pretty weak episode in which Rockford goes undercover at a tabloid newspaper fashioned after the National Enquirer. He's been hired by a doctor to find out if they've broken in to his files and stolen information for their gossip mag. For the second time, Jim calls upon his new attorney, John Cooper (Bo Hopkins) to help him solve the case. Yes, I'm a big Gretchen Corbett fan (Beth Davenport was HOT) but honestly there is no chemistry at all between Garner and Cooper. Maybe his laid back style of playing was too similar to Garner's style...except Hopkins was almost lethargic. Most of the episode's screen time is spent not with Rockford or Cooper, but with a crime family who's had its leader's medical files stolen. Unfortunately they were not a particularly interesting crime family and thus this is not a very good episode.