I just never liked this one so it is going to be my pick:
"The Trees, The Bees and TT Flowers" and I don't mind telling you that the fact that it is a two-parter does NOT help !!!!
I usually like Strother Martin, but just don't care for this one.
[deleted]
[deleted]
I agree with that. Garner's physical condition resulted in some lame episodes; the overly-talky two-parters and the show's absolute low-point, "Love is the Word".
shareI believe this topic was done a few years back, but the powers that be deleted it. I was going to restart this very subject myself.
There Really isn't any "bad" Rockford, though I will admit that it was a struggle for me to get through "Love is the Word." Overly serious sometimes works for this show, like "The Hammer of C Block", which is magnificent, and "So Help Me God", which is chillingly prescient. However, "Love is the Word" is just too sombre and too much of a departure in that the story and tone of the episode falls flat for me. Don't care for "Black Mirror", either.
I used to dislike "The Return of the Black Shadow" simply because it was the first episode of TRF I had seen in nearly thirty years, and there's just not enough of Jim in it for my liking. That and the brutal-for-TV-back-then sexual assault of Coop's virginal sister. However, I've since warmed to the Coop character and actually appreciate the episode for its strengths rather than its weaknesses.
Meanwhile, I'm not sure I'll ever warm up to back-door pilot "Heartches of a Fool" and its showcasing of the 1970s Country music-CB radio fad.
"Heartaches" definitely isn't one of the better ones, but it's watchable. The Chinese Mafia is an interesting take, although the ending is a little too pat.
"Just a Coupla Guys" is the backdoor pilot people usually bitch about. Doesn't make much sense seeing the same characters from "The Jersey Bounce" (I usually watch "Coupla Guys" as a prequel to "Jersey Bounce" when I watch the discs).
"Just Another Polish Wedding" is another pilot, but I like the characters.
I'm pretty sure most of us are not fond of back-door pilot episodes. Can't say I like the producers using a built-in audience as a captive audience, though businesswise I can see why they do it--still can't stand them, though. Quincy, M.E. might be the king of the back-door pilot. They even tried it twice using A. Martinez in a recurring role and I disliked it both times.
As for least favorite episodes, I have to be in a great mood in order to watch the Rita Capcovik episodes; she's hit or miss with me. Sometimes I adore her and other times...not.
I may be the lone Rockford fan who actually likes Richie Brockelman! Don't know if I would be so appreciative if I watched his solo series, though. I haven't seen it.
I never minded Rita, or Brockelman. I watched the Brockelman show, which aired in "Rockford's" place the summer of '78. I was disappointed it didn't return the following summer. I watched Rockford faithfully and would've preferred another run of Brickelman instead of the Rockford reruns that I ended up watching that summer, not that I minded watching them again.
Just a Coupla Guys is my least favorite -- though I enjoyed the same characters with different names in Jersey Bounce. I've always felt guilty about not liking the Rita Capkovic episodes, but I just never did. I think Rita Moreno seemed to give off too much of a middle class vibe to be a convincing prostitute.
shareWith Rita, it seems she didn't like doing what she was doing, but it was the only "job" she could do where she could support herself.
She has a New York accent, so you have to assume that's where she got her start, possibly moving to LA where people are slightly more civilized.
I'm not crazy about "Irving the Explainer" and "Requiem for a Funny Box."
I love the TT Flowers episode! Different strokes and all that.
Yes, different strokes! Ironic that I like "Requiem", it's ok...and then we agree on "Irving the Explainer" because I don't care for that one either. Seemed like it could have been a better story based on the way it started but then they realized that they needed a scene where someone explains what happened and that's what happens! My wife and I like to call it the "McMillan and Wife Syndrome" because if you have ever seen that show, they frequently had to have a last scene where the characters are sitting around a coffee or breakfast table "explaining" the episode because they did not do a good enough job through the acting and original script.
share[deleted]
Columbo and McCloud were the ones I watched, but neither are as good as Rockford.
shareI was in high school when the NBC Mystery Movie started, and I loved McMillan and Wife. I thought Susan Saint James was so cute, and all my friends wanted hair like hers. I didn't watch it long, however, as I only recently found out the Sally character died. Anyway, it's a snoozefest, I couldn't get through an episode now if I had to!
shareAgree abt Mc & Wife. I was too young for it originally, but it looked interesting and funny, so I found it on Netflix recently. It was TERRIBLE-excruciatingly bad...bad acting, turgid scripts, and stupid plots.
share[deleted]
I was famiar with McMillan and Wife without actually seeing it. I saw the commercials and changed the station as soon as it started. Back in '73 I thought The Rookies was a ballsy show, but it's laughable now. I saw part of McMillan and Wife a few years back; Hudson acted as though he didn't realize the camera was rolling.
shareI'll be the lone voice of dissent and admit to liking McMillan and Wife. I especially enjoy the first season, where Rock sports a mustache worthy of early '70s immortality. Plus, the fact that he had excellent onscreen chemistry with Susan Saint James despite what is known about the late Mr. Hudson since then (or maybe even then). He was a much better actor than anyone gave him credit for.
McCloud, on the other hand, was total sheep dip. Good lord, was that show awful--and I say this as a Dennis Weaver fan.
Lol.
I like McCloud, but his catchphrase "There you go" is a little cheesy. His Chief added humor, but of course it wasn't anywhere near the likes of Kolchak and Vincenzo on "Kolchak: the Night Stalker" (one of my all-time favorite '70s shows).
I completely agree about Columbo being the best of the Mystery Movie shows. I was a kid back then but my parents would let me stay up late on Sunday night to see which show was going to be broadcast that night. The TV guide never said in advance which show was going to be on(McCloud, McMillan or whatever the others were Hec Ramsey I think and some other one). Once my mother and I saw that it was going to be Columbo, we would get settled in for the show!
shareNorth by Northwest, I think it's called; it's popular on here, but I couldn't stand the female lead, and found her and Rockford's admiration kind of forced.
share"South by Southeast".
Rockford's access to the woman seemed a little too easy. I would have thought Von Deerlin would've had her more closely guarded, both in town, and during the party.
The series finale, "Deadlock in Parma," was a real mess: disorganized, confused, boring, and Garner is only on screen maybe 15 minutes of the show, which we find out later was mainly due to his bad physical condition which led to the end of the series.
Before I knew it was the series finale, I just thought it was a really boring lackluster episode. Knowing it was the unintended series finale and it kind of exemplified the bad feelings that went into the end of the show, it becomes even more unenjoyable to watch.
I always watch "The Hawaiian Headache" last when I'm watching the discs. Much better finale.
shareJust watched non-favorite of many fan episode "This Case is Closed." I rate it a 6/10. I don't share other fans' dislike of the episode and I agree that "Love is the Word" is probably the series' low point, relatively speaking. I've long-since warmed up to The Return of the Black Shadow."
I enjoyed the Cotten-Garner scenes--Cotten does have a rather interesting accent--and Beery was his usual charmingly good-natured self. His "Greatest Generation"-era mentality makes for a fine counterpoint to Jim's ex-con, post-Watergate cynicism, which is why I must respectfully disagree with the one or two out there who prefer "Pilot Rocky" over cherished Beery Rocky. The running gag about the ashtray is pretty funny!
The one bit I didn't get was when Rockford was driven out to almost the middle of nowhere and just...dropped off. What was the purpose of that scene, other than to sort of set up the amusing bit with the cabbie and Rocky? Also, Sharon Gless could have been better used; all she does is watch Rockford down a hot-sauce-covered taco (served by future Officer Billings and Garner crony Luis Delgado).
Enjoyed the nighttime car chase through old L.A. and its atrocious streets; they're all cracked and crumbling. It all adds to the unique atmosphere that makes TRF so great to me. Most shows rely on the Universal Lot, whereas TRF actually "takes it to the streets." The fact they actual film at night is another plus, as it is with most Universal shows.
I never minded "This Case is Closed", although I would've preferred to have the original 90-minute version on disc, as part two is padded with a ton of part one footage at the beginning.
The reason for Rockford being taken to the middle of nowhere to "meet" with a mysterious underworld leader was simply a suspense-building scene, and the incident with the cab driver was humorous.
The aspect I found implausible was the conclusion; Jameson being within firing range of Rockford, who drove his car for a pretty good stretch away from the little hill Jameson was staked out on.
to have the original 90-minute version on disc, as part two is padded with a ton of part one footage at the beginning.
I may have to check those out.
share