Jim finally snaps at Angel this week, as you can see in the accompanying pic.
Russians.
East Germans.
Wait so it is the 70s, of course.
Funny to think I was staying up late to watch Voyager on TV and it's still going!
Chapman is annoyed this week. So it's a week...
We get an LJ mention, which is like a Dale sighting on Mad Men.
Bo Hopkins's final appearance as Coop.
'You wanna eat some iron?'
The rise and fall of bider culture in California was a thing at the tie.
Some fun evil performances this week.
Oh yeah, we get a Steve's Spotlight!
Disturbing one this week, perhaps the darkest episode of the series.
Come out and play Warriors
This episode was originally a 90 minute one that was cut down to an hour for syndication. We will talk about the 90 minute version. Hopefully we get through it in a reasonable amount of time. (I clearly write these things before we start).
David Chase did this one, and it seems that every episode he runs gets closer and closer to the Sopranos. This one has George Loros returning as Anthony Boy, who we first met in the two parter 'To Serve and Protect'.
Oh hey and there's Joey Aresco from Black Sheep!
The B plot has Jim trying to get out from under an IRS audit.
This plot is not as complicated as we've seen before, but it's made up for by how good the episode was.
Apparently this is a 90 minute one because of torrential rains in California. At least IMDB says that, but who knows when it comes to IMDB.
I keep saying this, but this really is a Proto Sopranos episode.
Sorry about the Cylon voice, I'll have it sorted by next week, hopefully..... Here's an update, just after getting off of the call I fixed it. Here's a podcasting tip, don't update your interface's firmware and control software just before recording.
When I see the name 'Mills Watson' in the credits I'm happy.
This is an episode that doesn't like Mondays.
As expected, and consistent with the character and the actor, Jim Rockford takes his civic duty very seriously. Or (unlike the actor) he pretends to anyway.
His father on the other hand....
OK, maybe not THAT seriously.
The whole time through this episode I kept thinking of John Bassett, former owner of the Tampa Bay Bandits of the USFL... (seriously)
Man this is an elaborate plot.
A bit of ickiness from Jimbo this week.
Interrogating someone in a garbage can is a thing of beauty.
This had a long and involved denouement scene as the plot had to be explained.
A couple of MASH connections this week.
A heck of a lot happens in a short period of time in this episode.
We get out 39th '200 Dollars a day plus expenses' in this one.
The fact that the stuff Val designs is supposed to be the height of hip (and it was!) shows you how truly odd tastes got into the late 70s.
I like the background on Jim, that he almost married Val etc. Rocky talking about how he would dance with her daughter, that resonated with me. I think that Garner might have been thinkng about Gigi while he was doing that scene, you could see some real emotion on his face.
Val is a touch, oh let's go with manipulative.
Some fun guest stars this week as well.
Car chase with a helicopter!
We've got the FBI.
We've got the ATF.
We've got the LAPD.
We've got USCG.
Sadly no BB King, BBC or Doris Day.
We've got the DIA, wait, not the CIA? Well whatever, but we've got an alphabet soup of agencies this week.
Classic bungling federal agencies in a 70s show, a clear sign of the times.
The selling bad weapons thing, that happened, more than once. Not just weapons either. There's a subplot in the TV show 'The Americans' about this.
Rene Auberjonios!
WK Stratton!
Erin Grey!
Directed by Ivan Dixon!
I've used too many exclamation points in this post!
Yeah a pretty good set of 70s guest stars.
Making fun of fashion is fun, especially in 1979.
I almost always use a picture of Jimbo, but this week's screenshot is Odo getting ready to toss wine into a French guy's face.
Lots of disco references this week.
Big story this week is the US and the PRC normalizing relations. It was a big, and surprising, deal.
Lots of Sopranos refugees this week.
Coop is always welcome, I like Bo Hopkins.
Jim's working under cover for the National Investigator which is clearly standing in for the National Enquirer.
A couple of nice pulls by Jim this week, one to The Day The Earth Stood Sill and one sort of meta one to Garner's character in The Great Escape.
Augie and Natalie are quite a pair. A pair of what, I am not sure.
Boxing!
Mary Frann!
All boxing trainers look like Kenneth McMillan.
Hey, I should also mention that's Rocky Echeverria, you may know him as the way more white boy name, Steve Bauer. It's his life, and his name, but Rocky is just a better name, change it back!
We've got cons inside of cons this week.
A big news story this week was Vietnamese refugees, the so called 'boat people' and their struggle to get somewhere, anywhere really.
The 70s car lot ads, you know, as annoying as they were, I almost feel like we've lost something. Until I remember what those ads were like.
Jim should consider more sweaters.
Jonno did the intro this week!
We get a lot about multiple personality disorder (or dissociative identity disorder as it is now called). The three faces of Eve and Sybil were FICTION.
Unlike most two parters, or ones that were double episodes, there is no padding in this one.
Kathryn Harrald, the actor for Megan, eventually did become a therapist! I wonder if this episode had anything to do with it.
Billings is an unsung hero on this show.
Oh we find out that Megan lost her sight in an accident.
The note at the end from Charlie Martel is gold.
Angel has left the building.
Megan reappears in season 6, and in one of the TV movies.
But, a blind character with a PhD in psychology, even if the actor is not blind and it was 50 years ago, means a lot to me.
I will likely talk a lot about the importance of representation in media (As I have noted before, I write these things before we record).
Much of the performance in Part 1 (this was originally a 2 hour episode) by Kathryn Harrlod as Megan is remarkable. Either she knew a blind person, or there was an actual blind or low vision person helping out/consulting whatever.
The therapy is pretty well done as well (I may not be a clinician, but I know things).
We get a couple of actors we've seen earlier in the series.
A little of Rocky pushing Jim to call Megan.
Parts of this were very difficult for me to watch. So it was that well done.
I adore this one.
We've got Chapman with no power.
We've got a little Dennis.
We've got Jim GETTING PAID.
We've got this amazing show not giving a shit that two of the main characters in the story are a gay couple. It's never mentioned, it is not played for laughs (as it was at the time, I'm looking at you Three's Company). They're just a couple.
This is the first time I will be using a picture that does not have Jimbo in it for the post. I needed to use Angel in the pool.
You ever cosplay a Kronstadt sailor?
Angel might be at his worst here, except for when he becomes a televangelist in one of the 90s movies.
The 'communists' are pretty funny.
In the end though, the way being gay is treated as just, well, a normal thing, so normal that it is not even mentioned, is super freaking cool FOR TODAY. In 1978 it's actually revolutionary.
Some 'problematic' as the kids say, portrayals of 'unnamed scary Arab culture' in this one. I suppose that's a sign of the times, but it was a bit weird. This is an occupational hazard of looking at 50 year old media.
There's also a lot of BS psychobabble (that is, to be fair, portrayed that way) in this one. I approve.
This has nothing to do with the episode, but, will spring come at some point please?
The ol' cork in the eye trick eh? That's twice this month.
Is that Bull from Night Court?
(It is).
The words 'ham fisted' come to mind now and then during this one.
I quite liked the episode despite the weirdness.
Another fun one this week.
Jon is a little sick.
Hey Dennis becomes a lieutenant!
I like the deputy chief character.
The Captain Crunch thing was real, and then the show didn't run with it, I wonder what happened there?
Steve and I have had oral exams, they can be, fascinating.
Wait, a car chase without the firebird?
As God is my witness..
What'a the deal with red hat guy.... ?
Hey, that's WK Stratton from some other show!
Oh man, a Lance White episode.
I sort of wish Lance was spun off rather than Magnum, but I dunno about the character driving a whole series.
Sellick is great in this one.
Of course so is Jimbo.
I think we can call Pope JP 1 a friend of the show.
There are a lot of clocks in this episode.
Not PIRATED CASETTES!
We have to handle this ourselves....
Lance White, walking LinkedIn post.
Confusing plot, but Steve says so was the Big Sleep/
Of all of the stars that broke after being on Rockford I think Sellick is likely the biggest star of the lot.
David Chase doing Soprano things.
Indeed, I wonder if these guys know Carmella and Tony.
It's always good when horrible people do bad things and then you get to watch their fall.
They are hilariously stupid (just like a crime family David Chase invented years later...)
There's eventual talk of a spinoff!
Plus, you get Jacques Renault from Twin Peaks being killed and Coop as one of the investigators. I wonder if David Lynch was a Rockford fan...
The Carpenters joke landed for me.
That was indeed a weird pager noise.
Oh we get the introduction of John Cooper in this episode. Wait, Jon Cooper (no h) is the coach of the Canadian Olympic team. Wait, also, we have our own Jon no h. Wait, also, 'Jersey' is mentioned in this episode. Canada Gold Medal confirmed.
Oh yeah the reboot, they've got their Jim!
Boogie Woogie music up around your ears.
ABE VIGODA.
ROBERT LOGGIA.
RITA MORENO!
Hell of a cast this week.
Also, the title is a pretty nice joke.
Hey, in one scene Steve and my expertise could both be brought to bear.
Herb Tarlek?
Dennis gets a lovely necklace as does Rocky.
Wait, 100 episodes?
Ahh the rise of country music in the late 70s.
Willie Nelson started to get some mainstream radio play, as did quite a few other country artists at this time. It was disco and country for a time.
Obvious Jimmy Dean parody is obvious.
Rocky trucking!
No Angel, no Dennis...
Some solid hijinks this week as well.
A couple of genuinely funny moments as well.
We're happy to be back!
It's cold out, Jon should put some pants on.
Yup, there is a pilot order for a reboot of our show.
By our show I don't mean the podcast, though Jon has kind of weaseled his way in...
We discuss our thoughts on the reboot.
Is it a good idea?
Should it happen?
Will it happen?
Who are some actors who could play Jimbo, Angel, Rocky, Beth etc?
Oh, Happy New Year, and back to the regular next week.
Man that was a long trip for not much payoff, title wise. Jim finally snaps at Angel this week, as you can see in the accompanying pic. Russ...
