A classic detective series from the 1970s is getting a reboot after two previous attempts in the last 15 years. The Rockford Files originally ran from 1974 to 1980 (with some further TV movies from 1994 to 1999), following a private investigator trying to solve cases and make ends meet after he was released from his wrongful imprisonment.
NBC tried to revive it with House and The Good Doctor creator David Shore, and then Universal tried to do a movie version with Vince Vaughn, but neither of those projects materialised.
Now NBC is going at it again, having given a drama pilot order to a new interpretation from The Village (2019) writer Mike Daniels (via Deadline).
The network is on a roll commissioning pilots in January and February to be ready for the May upfronts, where they are presented with the intention of getting greenlit for a full season.
The publication states that NBC is aiming to make between seven and nine pilots, which could break the record for the most pilots a network has created in one cycle since the pandemic.
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The original The Rockford Files starred The Great Escape’s James Garner as lead character Jim Rockford, and he won an Emmy for his work. During the show’s run, it won five Emmys in total from 18 nominations.
It’s still fondly remembered by fans, with an average IMDb rating of 8.2/10 from over 12,000 user ratings.
A lot of that is down to Rockford himself, with fans calling him “maybe the best TV detective ever conceived” and “of the best characters in TV history”, noting Garner’s “charm” and “perfect” portrayal.
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The show’s writing was also praised for its “mix of action, suspense, humour, pathos and humanity” and for being “entertaining without condescension to the lowest common denominator”.
Fans wished that the original run didn’t end in 1980, but understood that it had to due to Garner’s health issues at the time.
The Rockford Files will air on NBC if picked up for a full season.
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Joe Anderton is a freelance news writer at Digital Spy, having worked there since 2016. In his time, he’s covered a host of live events and interviewed celebrities big and small. A big fan of TV and movies both mainstream and obscure, Joe also enjoys video games and in particular PlayStation. Joe currently does not use Twitter, but he only ever used it to tell people to watch the film Help! I’m a Fish.