Two Hundred A Day - Episode 145: The Kirkoff Case

Episode Date: November 10, 2024

Nathan and Eppy start from the beginning with S1E1 The Kirkoff Case. Jim's client is a real slimeball who's been arraigned, but not prosecuted, for murdering his own parents. The money is too good for Jim to drop the case, and then it gets personal when he takes a beating from not a "goon", but a "labor organizer". This series premiere episode shows us that this PI gets beat up a lot, but he doesn't quit - and he's going to be a hell of a lot of fun to watch. Add in a noir-inflected plot and great casting, we're confident in saying that if you wanted to start watching The Rockford Files, this would be a good place to start! We have another podcast: Plus Expenses. Covering our non-Rockford media, games and life chatter, Plus Expenses is available via our Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/twohundredaday) at ALL levels of support. Show Notes: We mention this podcast from TV Confidentional (https://edrobertson.com/tag/lou-antonio-rockford-files/) with director Lou Antonio, Lou Antonio's memoir Cool Hand Lou (https://mcfarlandbooks.com/product/cool-hand-lou/?srsltid=AfmBOoplp_o0vVa37KjZybVvQ2boz-IyIKrYH7dvfU-3awD33P0joi0w), and here's the website for the historic Tail o' the Pup (https://www.tailothepup.com) in LA. Want more Rockford Files trivia, notes and ephemera? Check out the Two Hundred a Day Rockford Files Files (http://tinyurl.com/200files)! We appreciate all of our listeners, but offer a special thanks to our patrons (https://www.patreon.com/twohundredaday). In particular, this episode is supported by the following Gumshoe and Detective-level patrons: * Richard Hatem * Bill Anderson * Brian Perrera * Eric Antener * Jordan Bockelman * Michael Zalisco * Joe Greathead * Mitch Hampton's Journey of an Aesthete Podcast (https://www.jouneyofanaesthetepodcast.com) * Dael Norwood wrote a book! Trading Freedom: How Trade with China Defined Early America (https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/T/bo123378154.html) * Chuck Suffel's comic Sherlock Holmes & the Wonderland Conundrum (http://whatchareadingpress.com) * Paul Townend recommends the Fruit Loops podcast (https://fruitloopspod.com) * Shane Liebling's Roll For Your Party dieroller app (https://rollforyour.party/) * Jay Adan's Miniature Painting (http://jayadan.com) * Brian Bernsen's Facebook page of Rockford Files filming locations (https://www.facebook.com/brianrockfordfiles/) * Brian Cummins, Robert Lindsey, Nathan Black, Jay Thompson, David Nixon, Colleen Kelly, Tom Clancy, Andre Appignani, Pumpkin Jabba Peach Pug, Dave P, Dave Otterson, Kip Holley and Dale Church! Thanks to: * Fireside.fm (https://fireside.fm) for hosting us * Audio Hijack (https://rogueamoeba.com/audiohijack/) for helping us record and capture clips from the show

All right, and we are recording for our penultimate Rockford Files. Yes. Well, yes. Our penultimate 200 a day. Our penultimate 200 a day, yes. For the first non-pilot episode of the Rockford Files. I'm Nathan Poletta. Just switch it up. All right, you get to do the play-by-play. Oh, God. Oh, God. Jim, it you get to do the play by play. Oh God, oh God. Jim, it's Norma at the market. It bounced.

You want us to tear it up, send it back, or put it with the others. Welcome to 200 a Day, the podcast where we talk about the 70s television detective show, The Rockford Files. I'm Nathan Palletta. And I'm Epidia Realmshow. And here we are for our penultimate 200 a day episode

in which we are talking about season one, episode one, the first episode brackets non pilot of the Rockford Files entitled the Kirkhoff case took us long enough. Seriously. So here here we go. We're going to start we're going to start off this Rockford files thing. Well, I think this this one was your choice. Why did you pick this one? Well, we got to do it eventually, and we might as well do it now.

So I think one reason I wanted to do this particular order where we did the pilot, then the first and the last was, I mean, to go out on the last episode and therefore doing the first episode, then the pilot doesn't really make much sense. But I was also a little curious. I think I mentioned this last time about whether there's any like continuity between the pilot and this episode. And I don't write there is I think that is I mean,

there's continuity between that and The other episode with Sarah in it, but yeah, there's a pretty clean that is a standalone movie And here is an episode of a show. Well, I mean we do get the next evolution of Rocky That's true. We get real rocky rocky real rocky Bizarro Rocky went back to the Phantom Zone and we get real rocky who is he has slightly Bizarro rocky ish. Yeah, they haven't dialed him in yet. He doesn't have a whole lot in this episode. So that's that's fine I mean, I think as it should this episode pretty much focuses on Jim. Yeah, just as a spoiler we enjoyed it You'll be shocked to hear. This is a good episode of the Rockford files. Yes

It's interesting seeing things that are sort of definitive for the character, I think. Like kind of came out of the our last episode, the pilot and this one. Yeah, I don't know. It's a fun one. The thing I had in my mind when I was watching it was like, which is the better introduction to the pilot files, right? And I think that this one kind of is, except the problem is that we as a culture understand pilots. Like you couldn't throw that pilot in like halfway through the first season because then you'd be like, what happened to Rocky? Like what's going on?

Well, mainly on but mainly that mainly that's the only reason I guess it otherwise it does kind of fit Rocky's a little different Jim's the same they have Jim nailed it dialed it pretty good he yeah he he says poo in this one I don't know he doesn't say poo which is every minute is underwear which is also maybe like a first and a last for the entire... We've seen him in PJs. But the gag that puts him in underwear is very rock-fruited, rock-pervishness.

Yes, it is. Yes. This episode, so there's a lot, again, like the pilot, and I think a lot of the hug and scripts, there's a lot of noir in this episode, right? So in that way, it's a it's more on the kind of harder, edgier side of the Rockford character. But there's also a lot of humor that undercuts the noir, which is the signature, you know, dynamic, probably even more so than in the pilot. Yeah, I think you're right.

Yeah. The one thing that they don't have in this one, and it's fine that they don't, it's not a thing that I need in every single episode, but in the pilot, they did a great job of the Jim as being, you can say this different ways, but being judicious with his bravery. He can say that.

He knows that there's danger and he's like, I'm not doing that. That's dangerous. Whereas in this one, he does seem to go a little just stepping into the danger, which is a little more Noir-y. I'm just going to walk in and get beat up. And boy does he. Yes, he does. We'll get into it. But I think there's a bit of a statement with this episode about like showing us. What am I trying to say here? I imagine I don't have didn't look this up, but I imagine there are like a selection of episodes that could have been the first episode, just, you know, however they could book guest stars and whatever they want to do production wise.

I would put one this week and another one that week or whatever. Yeah. So I'm you know, I don't think this necessarily had to be the first episode. There's a couple elements in it that I think are there because it's the first episode when we get to it. I'll I'll mention those. But there's something about like you're watching this new show, this detective show with Jim Garner, who's a big tough guy, and you're excited to see what it's all about. And this episode does a lot of

saying, this guy gets beat up a lot. Right. The pilot shows us a little more of the smarter, I have the upper hand, Jim. Yeah. And this episode's like, just so you know, you need to be aware that this guy gets beat up a lot in this show, or else you're gonna be sorely disappointed. Yes, it says you're going to see Jim pick his tooth up off the concrete floor, but you're only going to see it once. We're going to do it once. So they were done. All right. So this one, again, like most of these first season

ones story by Roy Huggins, credited John Thomas James, teleplayed by Stephen Cannell. This one is a story that was originally for Tomah, I believe, per Ed Robertson. Yeah, so it was conceived by Roy Huggins as an episode entitled How to Get Away with Murder as an episode for Toma, which was never produced. So this gets repurposed into this Rockford story. So again, the noir elements, I think, are, you know, maybe some of the rough and tumble

bits are kind of have that lineage. Yeah, Teleplay by Stephen Cannell. More Cannelly dialogue in this than in... I feel like the pilot didn't actually have a ton of like great Cannellisms that we would come to know and love. This one sounds more like The Rockford Files, I think. Yeah. You know, he's working on his voice, obviously, along with everything else.

This episode is directed by Lou Antonio. So a director we've seen four other times. So we're finally saying goodbye. It's a wrap on Lou. He also did the season two premiere, Aaron Ironwood School of Success, which was pretty another rough and tumble. We get thrown into empty cardboard boxes in both these episodes. And he also did Bow foul on the first play

and the no cut contract in season two and roundabout season one at the end of the season, which is the one where they end up doing the foot chase through Hoover Dam. Right. Yes. The roundabout. I didn't recognize the title. I know the title. I always forget. But that's the end up in Vegas and yeah. Fairly memorable episodes. Yeah. So yeah, it ends up in Vegas and yeah, yeah fairly memorable episodes Yeah, so yeah, he's a he's a working TV director through the

70s and 80s Takes kind of a break in the 90s and then comes does some more TV in the late 90s He's also an actor. He graduated from the Actors Studio He had a role in cool hand Luke, which is kind of the, you know, the one that people might know him from. He was also in the Star Trek with the half and half aliens. Yeah, half white face. Yeah. I forget what the title of that one is. His IMDB picture is from that episode, which is

why I remember it. But a couple of episodes of Vig dream of Jeannie Gunsmoke, etc. He's low-key. Let that be your last last battlefield. Oh, it's it's a mirror universe one. He has a mirror guy and they're fighting and they keep throwing each other from one universe to the other. And oh, wow. And they get the enterprise stuck in the middle of it. I got to watch more of the original series. I'm remembering it because in the screenshots on IMDb, there's

the they matted them with like a red glow every time they. Switched. Switched from universe to universe. And then there's like a big like lava lamp like filter for. Right. Because there's a ship that's like stuck between universes or something. I don't I don't think it's a great episode but it is a memorable episode but yeah the black and white thing is in one universe half his face is white and half his face is black and his mirror image antagonist has white on the black side and black on the white side. Yes they they've been fighting for 50,000 years.

So, you know, we got that going on. Anyway, anyway, when I was just poking around, I actually found so Ed Robertson, author of the book that we always reference, has a website and he has a podcast called TV Confidential where he talks to various people in TV. So there's an episode of TV Confidential where Ed Robertson talks to various people in TV. So there's an episode of TV confidential where Ed Robertson talks to Lou Antonio.

Oh, so I skimmed that. It's from 2018. I'll put a link in the show notes. And they primarily talk about how the shooting the chase in Hoover Dam for roundabout was like, really fun, but also difficult. Really fun, but also difficult. Yeah, I would imagine. He mentioned the thing where it was like, you know, we would shoot those shows in six days and that was, you know, really fast and all that stuff. But they do specifically talk about how, like, in the TV business, you kind of have to do the best you can while working as quickly as you can and just like accept that that's the deal and just like have fun with it, which I thought was a good attitude. He teaches acting now, I guess is his. It's it's not like two random dudes are going to start picking over every moment of it. But yeah, of an entire body of work like that doesn't make any sense.

That would never happen. And he apparently also has a memoir called Cool Hand Lou. My 50 years in Hollywood. Oh, that's great. I have not. I just know that it exists. I think he was doing the podcast, I think, as part of promoting the book. So I'll put a link to that in the show notes as well. But it's a wonderful title. Yep. Wonderful title. Very good. Anywho, that's so we say goodbye to Lou Antonio as we get into our preview montage. Yeah, okay. So the preview montage, it's a lie. We'll get into this. But it seems like every other beat in this preview montage is a car chase. And it's a car. There's one car chase in the whole episode and it's at the very end which has all these beats So I guess technically yes, they're all shots from one from the same car chase Yeah, I mean, it's a strong opening car busting through a fence like yeah, I'm on in on this. Oh, yeah, but

They got some great lines from Jim here like to look clearly Having been knocked down, just looking up at the guy and saying, did you notice I was wearing glasses? And then, could I have my pants please? Good, we're looking forward to that. And also Dennis, is it?

Yeah, Dennis, Abe Vagoda. Yeah. I know, I have Abe Vagoda exclamation point. Good old Abe Vagoda. Fish from Barney Miller. Barney Miller is in 1974, started the same year as this. In 1974, Abe Vagoda was 53 and was playing an old man. He was playing an old man and would be playing an old man for the entirety of his career

Which is a long and storied career. He passed away in 2016. So Yeah, so he was also notably in Rosendahl and Gilda Stern are dead Yes, as like the mob boss who like had cancer and was. Yeah. Yeah. All Herman Melville about it. It's a good way to put it. Yeah. So I think this is just a fun bit. But the character's name in that is Phil the dancer Gabriel. And the character's name in this one is is Al Dancer. Yes.

I feel like I read somewhere that that was like an intentional just like little nod. No, yeah, because I don't think that's supposed to be the same character. But yeah, he was great in that. And then I saw his face in the preview montage. I was like, yes. And then he's barely in it, but it's it's good. Small but pivotal role.

I really, really enjoyed the the part that he was in it though I think it was that was some classic Rockford stuff He was also in a couple episodes of Toma. So, you know may there's some connection there Yeah, I noted Dennis's line every time you come in here with a bloody nose morale goes up ten points I honestly heard the line in the montage thought oh Maybe I should write it down and then went on to like my pants or whatever. But then when I came across the episode, I was like, no, it's just really good. So I wrote it down then.

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you. Well, let's get into our first episode of The Rockford Files. Oh, the delightfully happy theme music we start with. with a jaunty theme rendition. We have a nice, luxurious shot of watching Jim driving the firebird, following someone in a blue pickup. And I think this is like, all, this is gonna be our first episode So we have a nice long traveling shot Revealing James Garner in in the firebird and then like sticking with him with like a

Just really bathing in the moment of like this is our guy. It's a very sad tale for the firebird in this episode This is our guy. And it's a very sad tale for the firebird in this episode. Well, so I guess this is the firebird that got exploded in the pilot. So the firebird already is. Yeah, that's right. A lot. And we're about 30 seconds in. But yes, he is following this blue pickup that ends up pulling over and a guy in a cowboy hat and big belt buckle

comes out. ends up pulling over and a guy in a cowboy hat and big belt buckle Jim executes a u-turn across the highway maneuver and then does a quick change where he takes off his jacket It stashes it in the trunk and pulls out a fishing rod Yes No I don't know about you they comment on this and this I love that they comment on this because I was thinking are you kidding me? And I love that they comment on this because I was thinking, are you kidding me? This is not a disguise, Jim. You can do better than this. But he kind of dresses dresses down as fast as possible, right?

He takes off his jacket. He unbuttons his cuffs and gets a fishing rod so that he can follow this guy down to the shore. Right. So he's clearly giving himself some kind of cover. Just, you know, doing some fishing randomly near this person, perhaps. There's some nice point of view shots where we're with Jim looking for this guy. He's disappeared down this little cliff. It's the rocky shores of California with caves and whatnot.

So there's a little bit of suspense, like, is Jim about to get jumped? Oh, yeah. I mean, I was feeling it. But fortunately, we're not there yet, I think, with the danger level for him. Not yet. Not yet. He runs through this little cave tunnel thing carved out by the water. That's the only place that his quarry could have gone. And he comes out to see a woman sunbathing on a towel with a big yellow hat all alone

on the beach. And so he of course asks if she's seen a guy go by and cowboy hat, etc. And we just get right, right into cannibalistic Yeah, banter, a little flirty banter here. You had a cowboy hat, you know, 10 gallon hat, jeans, boots, all that. What color horse? I know I'm amusing you, but could you give me a straight answer? OK. Did you see him?

No. I feel like she clearly gets the upper hand. I'm amusing you, but could you give me a straight answer? OK. Did you see him? I feel like she clearly gets the upper hand. Yes. Yes. Jim discouraged is going back up on the access road and then she pulls up next to him in her sporty red convertible and paces him as she continues the conversation. She says that she was reading. He could have come by, but she thinks she would have noticed, et cetera. She goes on about the fishing rod being for trout fishing. Yeah, she's like, that's a trout fishing rod.

Why are you out here? The trout fishing in the ocean is lousy. I want to say at this point, she's perfect for Jim. Spinning reel and wingtip shoes. Yes, and it was supposed to be sort of a disguise. Yeah Yeah, she's perfect because not only is she like clever. She's got like a nice, you know, very acerbic wit and whatnot, but also like she understands fishing gear like she's got fishing like. I don't understand why Jim's not falling in love. Maybe he is a little. The character is Tanya Baker, as we will learn.

This is played by Julie Summers, who was in lots of TV around this time. I feel like would have been a recognizable face. And ended up on Matlock, it looks like. Looks like she was a main character on Matlock, which I have not actually really watched any of well That's the next podcast We'll need a tight a tight five episodes

Recommendation for Matt walk Anyway, she's really good. Like you said her wit Yeah, it's really good. And then as we'll see she has she's a she's a pretty good range of what she brings to the table To counter. Yeah. Yeah, what do you do when you're not hunting cowboys? I sell greeting cards. And she ends up inviting him to have a drink at her with her in her apartment. So it's right up the road there. Her directions to her apartment were pretty vague.

Like if it were an apartment in an apartment complex, she just described the complex. And it's the white one up there. Yeah. Yeah. I imagine that there's, yeah, whatever they need to do to get them up there. So we cut from there to Jim Sportcoat back on reading the social registry while he gets him gets him a drink. She says, you're not in there, which is nice.

But she uses it as a reference. She looks through to find someone to marry. I'm spontaneous and blunt. Yeah. Rich people just love that combination. More banter here. And yeah, I think we're getting a bit of like, all right. So clearly there's a deal going on. She's involved in whatever Jim is trying to investigate.

She's fairly open about it, which Leads to like a thing that happens in a little bit that I I really like but yeah She's she's not hiding the fact that she's running a con Can you I don't even know if you can call it a con like a little later on she even mentions that like One of the guys that she with has is 100% aware what's going on. Yeah, like it's not not a She's not trying to trick anyone out of anything, right?

She just knows her target and how to you know, and you know knows her goals. Well, I take it back She's trying to trick one person Yes, why did you invite me here? And she says we're just having a drink Maybe we'll get to be friends. And then he is from the preview montage. He has a ironic. You wouldn't be setting me up, would you? Of course not. Don't be silly.

And that's when we go back to a point of view shot from Jim and we see that everything's starting to get blurry. Obviously, she's put something in his drink. Oh, no. And some boy says, Oh, I sure called that one. As he stumbles out into the hall and she's just kind of watching him like, all right, let's see how far he gets. More point of view of the blurry world spinning around him. He finally falls, but since he's out in the hallway, he has enough presence of mind to take his wallet and tuck it underneath the rug. Right. So they don't know who he is.

I guess. I thought that was going to be like important. As it turns out, I think it's just like a character note. Yeah. Functionally, it doesn't actually do anything. But I really appreciated that that was like. Yeah. There. It does come up that they don't know who he is and like they were searching. But then he tells her who he is. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Oh, I'll send this one which I Forgot to send but just the palette of the moment when she's driving next to him

She's she's in a bright red car wearing a bright yellow hat and he's in like a blue silk shirt That's with the oh, yeah the belt. It's uh, it's good. It's good. Yeah. It's a well-framed shot. Yeah, this is a good looking episode, I think. Yeah. Yeah. But I was going through that to get to this one, because this is when Jim wakes back up. We see the blurry vision of a cowboy hat and we hear a voice saying, what else did he tell you?

Jim turns his head and he's looking right down the barrel of a gun. Just like James Bond. Mm hmm. Do do do do do do do. Yeah, I feel like, again, a shot we don't see a whole lot and very noirey. Yeah. And that is on the line. OK, hot shot. Who are you? This is kind of what I was talking about earlier. We have this very noir shot with the gun and, you know, it's very threatening.

And then we cut to the wide shot. That's where we see that Jim is not wearing pants. Yes. I guess the effort is to like make it so it's harder for him to run out to escape, I suppose. Yeah, they probably were going through his pants trying to find ID and money or whatever. But yeah, if you take his pants away, you may not run. So we have some back and forth here where he claims to be a cop and then the guy's like, you're not a cop. Yeah. But Jim was going to ask this guy about it anyway.

So what we learn here is that Jim is investigating the Kirchhoff killings, which were a couple who were both shot. Their son, Larry Kirkoff, was indicted for killing his parents, but there was not enough evidence to convict. So he's still free. This guy, Travis, Jim found out that he was having an affair with Mrs. Kirkoff before she was killed. So that's why Jim is following him. There's a good exchange. You aren't going to shoot anybody. We both know it. So why don't you just put that thing away before you have an accident?

Who are you working for? Well, that's confidential. Larry Kirkhoff. Yes, which is a little out of character for later, Jim. Later, Jim. But it's also very in character for Jim. It's but it's I think we're getting a little insight into what Jim's opinion of his client. Yeah I was about to say that I think we're seeing that

he's not really invested in the success of his client here. Yes, yes. Tempers start to flare, we have a line where Jim has spent enough time answering questions reasonably. I want my pants and I want to get out of here Travis's says he's gonna take Jim for a ride somewhere because he could cause trouble for them them being Travis and Tanya Jim as a good I came here alone. I'd like to leave alone And he lights a cigarette while Travis is ushering him out the door and at the door he turns goes, you know Travis and then flicks the cigarette into the guy's face and punches him across the jaw as he's distracted. He looks at Tanya and says, you know, I fell for that trick once myself works pretty good,

doesn't it? Gets his little camera, takes a picture of her just for future reference, I guess. So this this bit here, because when he says is do you have my camera? Yeah. And she just gives it to him as if the knocking out of Travis has changed the dynamic and now she's working with Jim. Mm hmm. And then he takes her picture and she's like, why did you do that?

I just like it. It's a very interesting thing on her part where she just plays it as if, oh, we're allies. Obviously, we're working together like there's no need to get violent or anything. Yeah, she doesn't want a confrontation, I think, with necessarily. It's not like she's doing anything under duress or as a threat. It's as if she just was like, yeah, sure, here you go. Here's your here's your camera. You won. Yeah, I just wanted to make a note of that because that is like there's something about the dynamic between the two of them that is very open.

Yeah, they are sparring, but they're not fighting. They're not fighting. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. As he leaves, she does say, you know, Larry, Larry did it. He killed his parents and that he's just hired Jim to make his country club friends think that he's innocent because they're not inviting him to like parties anymore or whatever. So we get a lot of this reiteration where Jim's like, I'm working for Larry Kirchhoff and they're like, Oh, the guy who killed his parents, like right. Yeah, just accepted as read across the board. Sure. We all know that the DA couldn't take it to court to trial, but like we all know. We all know there was one other I thought really good line in that scene that actually feels a little bit

like a Douglas Adams line. Larry Kirchhoff killed his own parents. Everybody knows that. The cops, the DA, the paper system. I have been sitting here answering questions in my shorts for a reasonable length of time. Now I want my pants and I want to get out of here, all right? Give him his pants.

It's time to get me dressed and get me out of here. Like, yeah, now we get to meet who could possibly play this universally hated Larry Kirkhoff. Oh, man, just because he's so young here, I actually didn't realize who this was until I was looking back at it. So yeah, we go from here to a shot of an oil painting being taken off a wall. It's being carried out by movers as we meet Larry Kirkov, who is played by James Woods, the man himself. I don't know. Yeah, it's not like he's not a recognizable guy. I guess just 1974 James Woods just doesn't look very old, which is I mean, I think, you know, he's appropriately cast. Yeah, yeah, I think he's he's well cast.

But I guess I just associate him with like, yeah, stuff he did in the 90s. A little bit later, he does a good job of playing this young snotty kid. Oh, I made a note of it that he got top billing over debt and chose Santos. Yeah, it's like, what? First of all, James Woods did this, but second of all, but yeah, he wouldn't have been known at that time. Yeah, so he's, yeah, his first credits start in 1971. So this is only his like fifth or sixth.

Yeah, early days. Yeah, he was in a couple of TV movies. Then he was like, yeah, he was in a movie. He was in The Way We Were, which I feel like is a movie I've heard of, but I don't actually know what it's about. He was in an episode of Kojak, and then this episode, and then he starts being in, he was in Night Moves, and then he starts being in TV.

Yeah, I feel like, what is the thing I, well, I guess I'll go to the top and look at what he's known for. Yeah. You know, I know him as James Woods, I don't think of like- Right, right. As like a personality, like, oh yeah, I know it was James Woods. I don't think of like a personality. Oh, yeah, he was in Videodrome.

Videodrome might be the thing that I'm. But yeah, I kind of just know him as like actor personality. James Woods. I mean, John Carpenter's vampires, obviously. So what is it now? OK, hold on now. And now I'm embroiled in his politics. As we've been looking at his at his credits and biography, perhaps not the greatest guy to focus a whole lot of our attention on.

But in this episode, he is a good... It's not really sleazy. You used the word earlier that was the right word. We know he's the villain because he at some point... He has an angry dog. He has an angry dog and he goes to some place on his estate near a body of water to have a meal with Jim. And you don't do that unless you're the villain. Right, right. And they have tiny sandwiches that are already cut into triangles.

Yes, yeah. So we meet Larry. He's clearly a slimeball. Jim is basically telling him that he's run out of clues. He doesn't have anywhere else to go with this. He's like, yes, Travis was having an affair with your mother, but I don't figure for him for killing her. What's the boat?

You know, like why? Right. And he says that he's done with the case. He's run out of clues. And Larry says, I'll notify you when we're out of clues. There's some banter about him being indicted, but the D.A. didn't bring it to trial because he didn't have a case, et cetera. Jim. So this I just noted this because this was still like part of the framing for the series at this time, where Jim says that the and the cops are on it because they don't have any evidence.

So it's currently an active case. Right. He specifically mentions that so that we know because Jim only works have any evidence. So it's currently an active case. Right. He specifically mentions that so that we know, because Jim only works on closed cases. He would not take this otherwise. Says that Larry seems to be having a lot of fun redecorating the place for someone whose parents just were murdered. You know, he clearly did not have a great relationship with his dad. It happened like some months ago.

I'm just moving some things around with the big deal? They get the tiny sandwiches. Jim tries to be done with the job. He says, I'll send you a bill, Larry, not so fast. No one is in this racket without being influenced by money. And Jim kind of is like, and he says, I'd say your price hovers around $20,000. Yes. You're right. It does hover around there. Yeah. Cut in a million dollar man Ted DiBiase. Money isn't everything. It's the only thing and everyone, everyone has a price for the million dollar man. Right. This is this is the line delivery that I love. I made my offer Mr. Rockford. I'm not going to bicker about it. Twenty thousand dollars buys a lot of groceries. Like there's something about me.

It's as if he's never purchased groceries in his life. So he doesn't know how to pronounce the word. You like this. But also, like it's good. Like what do you spend money on groceries? It's very good. So he offers Jim a bonus of twenty thousand dollars when he finds out who killed his parents. And Jim's like, OK, well, there's one more thing I can look into, because he took a photo of the girl.

Yes. So to the dark room. This scene is kind of funny because, like, Larry seems to be chill in this scene. Like, he seems to be like doing something that he likes to do. So I was thinking about this scene afterwards because I thought okay so we're in the dark room. It makes sense given the technology of the time that you would need quick access to a dark room to just go to the picture. You couldn't just show them you know your phone screen or whatever. It wasn't a Polaroid that he was using. But we're in the darkroom. And like you said, yeah, it feels like he's doing his hobby. He's enjoying it. He apparently mentioned to Jim that he

had a darkroom. You don't mention a darkroom unless you're... Yeah, because Jim's like, you have a darkroom, right? Yeah. If you were a photographer in the 70s like an amateur photographer you would tell people about your darkroom. I feel like that's a fun thing to say. But the part that stuck in my brain was yeah we had this thing about his dad being shot by this high caliber gun. I think this comes up in this scene. This rifle. Yeah Jim specifically says like so your mother was shot with this particular pistol and your father was shot from long range

with this particular hunting rifle and there's all these pinups in the dark room of Larry with hunting trophies where he's standing next to like a rhinoceros with you know holding his rifle. I don't remember the exact line but like Jim's like, is that the rifle? I don't know if that's it. I guess it could be, yeah. Well, you told the police you never reported it stolen

because you didn't miss it for a long time and you had never used it very much. I didn't. You were sure you were using it when these pictures were taken. Those pictures were taken, what, five years ago. But these are being developed right now. Now, it's true that you like,

maybe you take some pictures, you have to complete a roll of film before you actually develop it. And that roll of film might have had pictures from like a year ago or whatever, it might take a while. So that's fine. But it just had this weird, like clue feel to it. Yeah, the dialogue is about Jim's like the cops couldn't find the gun, right? You know, yeah, I wasn't using it and then Jim like looks at these pictures Yeah, he's like a trophy hunter, but he like lost his gun like that's kind of yeah Yeah, and it turns out to be actual clues

I guess but I kind of felt like it to be I kind of felt like it would have come back again In a mystery kind of way, right? Like, I know, ha remember which is totally not a Rockford Piles thing. It would be yeah, it would be more Congress. I guess if he was like those are a year old or something Yeah, well they developed this picture which is it seems to be a really good picture from that little tiny camera Yeah, yeah, like not only like a really good picture, but a really good picture with like a all-white backdrop Yeah, you know like it's like a a glamour shot or something like a like a headshot But it's TV magic is what it is. Yeah, but Larry does in fact recognize this girl

He doesn't know her but he saw her driving his dad's car at their hunting cabin and he figured it was his dad's car at their hunting cabin. And he figured it was his dad's affair. Right. And we learned eventually that like his parents separated and all this stuff. So there were apparently both having affairs. But yeah, so he's like, so those are the connection. This girl was driving my dad's car. It's probably the girl he's having an affair with. So Jim has another clue to chase down. And then I really like this end of the scene just mechanically because Larry

just goes, fair enough. And then he turns off the light like the with the little pull chain. And that's the cut to commercial. Yeah, it's it's really nice. Yes. There's good transitions in this, which I wanted to use to bring in a quote from 30 Years of the Rockford Files here, just because we've been talking about him so much, our boy Roy Huggins. Let's see, I'm quoting here, a film's story is told three times, first by the writer, then by the actors and the director who interpret the writing, and finally in the post-production process, which includes editing, the most crucial part of post-production. He mentions frequent Rockford director William Wired and writer-producer Gordon Dawson, to name just two, began their film careers in the cutting

room. This is leading up to talking about Roy Huggins, where he says, Roy Huggins, who originated the stories for nearly every series, episode, or TV film he ever made, paid close attention to the editing of all his projects, and often served as an auxiliary editor. Roy was incredible in the cutting room in terms of what he could do with film, said Joe Swirling. If he saw some footage that he thought might detract from the story, Roy would try to change it. He'd flip it around, blow it up, run it backwards, put wild lines on it, or do whatever

it took to make the film work. There's some more details about some specific techniques that he used. There's an example where the script did not have Jim fire a gun, but then in the editing room, he wanted him to have fired the gun, so he like scratched the film to make it look like a bullet had come out of the gun, like it had a sound effect or something. Yeah, but I wanted to lead up to this because I really appreciated it. Huggins firmly believed that the quality of what went on the air was reflected by the amount of time spent in post-production. After all, it was always his philosophy to carry his shows to the minority, the 20% of the audience that might not otherwise tune in next week.

Huggins' philosophy didn't always sit well with Universal, whose business department often complained that Huggins' shows cost a third more than any other show produced at the studio. The extra expenditures were always tied to post-production. You know, along with some of the quotes from in our last episode, just like, caring about the craft really mattered to him. Yeah, exactly. And that attitude of like, we grow our audience not by appealing to the largest demographic, but by trying to keep that 20% who might otherwise go and watch something else to keep them coming back.

We don't have to worry about that 80%. They're going to come back no matter if they kind of like it or whatever. But how do we get the people who are more discerning or have more varied interests? Yeah, if you're tuning in for a detective show, you're good. Yeah, but if you're if you're tuning in just to see what's going on, I mean honestly, we're I think I think we got caught up in that 20% Yeah, we're in that 20%. Yeah, it's still working that Huggins magic. It's still working. Like we talked about it a while back Obviously like eight years ago But it was like I watched the Rockford F profiles because I remember it from when I was a kid And then watching it again. I was like I could there's a lot of shows

I watch that I remembered as a kid and then just I watched an episode and I was like, oh, yeah That's what that show was like and that's it this one. I was like, oh, I'm gonna keep watching and then I tell my friend Nathan You want to talk about this on air? So, yeah, yeah, it worked, right? It worked. Mm hmm. Back to this show that we're talking about. We have Jim going to a private club with a special delivery for Mr. Smith. So good.

Talking his way through the gate. Which is that so and so Smith or so and so Smith? And he's like, oh, the second one. Yeah. Like, oh, it's good. It was good. Yeah, he does a lot of. And he's like, oh, the second one. Yeah. Like it was good. It was good. Yeah. He does a lot of just good, like, again, a little crafty. Yeah. Jim is a detective thing. So he like talks his way past the gate really smooth. The way that he gets kind of into the club is he takes a minute to pick up

the club magazine that has an article and we focus on it as like, oh, because I was like, is this supposed to be one of the people that we've met? Like I was looking at the pictures, but it's an article about Jerry and Madge. Yeah, imagine Jerry Green head for the Greek Isles. And so when the assistant manager corners Jim and says, can I help you? He has enough information to run a line about like, I'm a friend of Jerry Green's from Chicago. And he said, you know, to meet him here, but I don't see him. And then, you know, and then he's able to say like, oh, did they finally go on that on that vacation to the Greek Isles? And she's like, oh, yeah. And it's enough to make him believable. And there's this like moment where he's kind of like, eh, and the woman kind of is giving him a bit of a look Mm-hmm. I think he let want you to have a guest pass like he's a little bit of like a weird flirt vibe there for ya Yeah, he established his credentials through this, you know little little bit of a little cold read. Yeah

Yeah, a little cold read and then he kind of went a little Charlie Brown like no I guess I'll go back to my lonely hotel. Lonely, boring hotel. Yeah. And yeah, I think like she did that because she wanted him to hang around, not because she was trying to smooth over some social situation or anything like that. And that's just enough, right? It's just enough to get Jim what he wants, which is the guest pass so that he can go inside to the tennis

courts and find Tonya Baker, who is talking to an older guy named Cal. And he interrupts with the old, I haven't seen you in forever routine, which I love. He includes this part of it, the line, have you seen Travis since the accident? Right. I haven't seen him since the accident? Right. As you can see, accident. That's so good. So he just takes a seat and he drives away the guy by just being annoying. He specifically is like, how was your how's your insurance picture?

Like he's about to sell them insurance. Right. Right. The guy's like, nope. The guy's like, excuse me for a minute. So, yeah, he's getting in on on on Tanya's grift here where she is, you know, as has been established, she's very open about like, I find older men with money and I get them to date me. Yes, that is my deal. What I do. So there's, you know, some banter.

What does he want? How did he get in? And, you know, he shows her the guest pass. And he says that he's doing a little reading up on on her. Her background reads like the Chapman report. So I looked that up. I did, too. I was like, wait, is this Chapman? No, it's a thing. Yeah, it's a it's a movie from 1962 about the sex lives of women,

kind of based on the Kinsey report. Yeah, I guess it's based on a book that is kind of fictionalizing some of the stuff that the Kinsey report was about. So I guess the reference is you sleep around, I believe. Right. Yeah, that's basically what he's saying. But yeah, contemporaneous references. Sometimes I don't know them. Yeah, he found out that she was indeed having an affair with Charles Kirkov. Mm-hmm Right She finally waves off Cal for for tennis. She's not feeling well, maybe later Asked Jim what he wants again dinner tonight to find out what you know about the Kirkov killings I'll tell you now we can skip the. But he ends up not being too satisfied with her basic explanation, which was fine. She was in love with Charles Kirchhoff. Travis

was in love with Mrs. Kirchhoff. They both got killed. And when Larry didn't get tried for their murders, they got together and decided to look into it themselves. And I guess that's what whatever whatever Travis was doing is what Jim dug up and, you know, led us to where we are now. Jim's not satisfied and says that he'll pick her up for dinner. This is worth $20,000 to him, and he's going to sit on her until she hatches into something. I love that line. Oh, good. She's like, $20,000. Yep. You're not worth it.

And he says, I know. So we're again, we're into this lovely. I mean, there's a mystery, but it's not so much of a mystery. We we all kind of agree that Larry did it. But there is something going on here. The mystery is why is Jim being hired? Jim being hired? Yeah. Yeah, he's trying to get out of it. Yeah.

Because it's like on the one hand, is he really trying to clear his name? Sure. But also it seems like he's not really facing any consequences. So it's not like imminent. She had her theory of like, he's just trying to look good for his country club friends or whatever. The motive here for why Jim has hired is has been hired at an extravagant rate, in fact, is still up in the air. Those of us who have watched the rest of the show, but not the first episode yet, might be thinking,

oh, there's clearly something else going on here. Maybe Jim is being like he's going to be a fall guy or something for something, but we don't have enough information yet. It's time for us to take our traditional intermission, as we all need a little break to head out to the lobby, take a little stretch, get a snack, a drink, reflect on what's come before, and anticipate what's to come in this episode of The Rockford Files. We also like to take this time to remind you of where else you can find us on the internet.

Epi, where can our listeners find you? Well, you can find me at my website dig1000holes.com. That's 1000 the number. Or you can find me as Epidaya on the Macedon instance, dice.camp or on co-host. Where can our listeners find you, Nathan? All of my games, zines, podcast projects and other work are at NDPdesign.com and over on Instagram

at NDPdesign.Games. And of course, you can always find this show, 200 a day, at 200aday.fireside.fm. And now we return to the continuing adventures of Jimmy Rocco. Jim goes home to the trailer. Rocky is in the trailer. Yay! The real Rocky. He's returned from the Phantom Zone and he is the real Rocky with a real Rocky-ish line to kick this off.

Hi Rocky. Where you been, sonny? Out. I'm only asking because I'm interested. That's a good line. That's good. He has Jim's messages and reads them to him while Jim washes down some aspirin with a swig of milk straight from the carton, which is the screenshot that I just sent you.

Yes, it's good. I like, there's this whole thing, like he wants some aspirin and Rocky's like, what do you want aspirin for? It's like the carpet biting. Like, like, what do you want aspirin for? It's like the carpet biting like, like, what do you want? What do you think? We don't quite get into the Rocky disapproves of his profession in this one. But there is a little bit of that going on. It is there.

It is forming a bit of a roller coaster with our overall observation of like he disapproves of Jim, but then he starts helping Jim, right? Yes. Because he actually starts off here helping Jim. Yes. But yeah, he was taking Jim's messages. There was one about like someone trying to scalp him tickets for the Lakers game or whatever, which is always good.

And there was a call from a woman who just left a number and then he cautions Jim. Oh, are you going to call her? You know, left a number and then he cautions Jim. Oh, are you gonna call her? You know, the bill collectors are getting really smart. Yes Which is more bizarro rocky than yeah That we love that is the slightly more savvy less naive rocky Yeah, uh jim does call and there's a woman on the phone who says that she has information about the kercoff killings But it's gonna cost him She wants to meet him at 8 at this fancy lounge and

gives instructions for meeting etc. Jim gives Rocky the number and asks him to call a guy at the phone company. He's in the Rolodex to find out an address associated with the number which I noted because I was like ooh well Jim is getting some insurance but it turns out that it is irrelevant by the time Right you would have found anything out. I guess they have that fun receptionist banter Like where where he's like you got to get someone else to do this Why are you giving me the real work or something like that? Right? Yeah, Rocky. Yes. Why don't you get a secretary? Well, then she'd sit on the sofa you'd end up at the desk and there wouldn't be any room for me.

Yeah, so I appreciated like, OK, Jim is getting some insurance. He's like, let's find out where this call came from so I can follow this up after I have this meeting or whatever. Right. Unfortunately. And this is I don't know. This is great. It is. My note here is it is, of course, a trap. It is, of course, a trap. Yeah. In our gaming parlance, this is this is a bang. It is of course a trap. Yeah. In our gaming parlance, this is a this is a bang. This is just yes.

So Jim drives up. He gets out of the firebird. The valet asks him how long he's staying. He says not long. They says, excuse me, sir. Jim turns around and then the valet just punches him in the stomach and two guys who were just kind of standing off to the side run in and grabbed him and stuff him in the back seat of the Firebird.

And then as they drive away the valet throw he's in the red uniform, he throws his red hat out of the window. Like, I don't need this anymore. And then the camera shows us the bound and gagged real valet on the ground, like between two cars. Yes. It's so fast. It is so good. Yeah, no need to think about this. We're getting there. Oh, love this scene too.. No need to think about this. We're getting there.

Oh, love this scene too. He is taken to some garage somewhere. They start off just beating him up just right from the mat. Like he's like, take it easy. I'm not struggling, am I? And they don't care. They hold his arms and give him some solid punches. That's not good for Jim.

He's got this line that's we could talk about it a little while. And then if I say something wrong, you could always get to this. OK, look, look, we're doing this in the wrong order. You need to ask me questions and then beat me up. Like this is always an option. Let's try some other things first. This is very rock pretty, even though he's clearly getting the snot beat out of him.

He gets worked over. And then the guy who's obviously the boss comes into the picture. This is great because it's like framed really dramatically. This guy's delivery is a little over the top, but also very serious. This feels like a serious situation. Yeah, it's not going to play for for laughs. And this is, again, a very noir-ish bit of the episode. This guy is gonna offer him some advice and thinks Jim's gonna take it. Because if he doesn't, I'm gonna sharpen your heels and pound you down into the hard ground.

Mwah, shit kiss lines. Everyone knows Larry Kirchhoff killed his parents. Why are you trying to prove otherwise? But that's not the reason why I want you to quit fooling around with this. You're right, I understand. Oh, you don't understand. No, I don't. I'm gonna explain it to you, though.

It's a real estate fraud that could get discovered if the DA reopens the Kirchhoff case. Now, if that happens, I'd have myself some real trouble. and you'll end up in a brass bottle. It's good, yeah. But then he leaves Jim with $200 so he doesn't feel so bad about getting beat up. And Jim's like, you don't have to do that. Says, no, no, it's my pleasure.

And then his goons break the headlights on the, like out the firebird on the way out. And then we have the scene with Jim picking up his tooth off the floor. Oh, man. Ouch. Mm hmm. Seeing that Jim had lost a tooth is one thing. Seeing it on the concrete floor really, it's as if I can feel the nerves. Yeah, yeah, it's pretty visceral. There's a great exchange here where Jim says something like, you're right, I understand.

And Muzzy, as we find out, says, no, you don't understand. And Jim's like, no, I don't. Whatever you say. Yeah. Oh, yeah. The lighter and everything. Yeah, because they kick out his headlights, because those are the things illuminating the scene. And then we leave.

So now the warehouse is dark. Like just the lighting, the diegetic lighting in this one is really good. So good. Yeah, so he uses a lighter to look around and find his tooth, which is the screenshot I just sent. But it's not looking good for Jim. Jim looks like he really, really might have stepped in it. So of course he goes to the police station to talk to his good friend, Dennis Becker.

That'll solve it right if there's one thing we know about Jim is that he will report and assault the police Yes, I feel like one time in ten that actually does something so he tries it every time Becker is looking for the 409 assault form No one has one to give him they all ignore him because they're all busy And goes I'll just have to use a 157m Jim says that's for murder and Becker says it's the same as the assault form but there's a box on it for the coroner's report which you might need pretty soon. Yeah, he tells him what happened, describes the boss, the main guy, there's the detail that his voice is really hoarse.

And Becker says, maybe like a fighter who got hit in the throat a few times. Yeah, that sets us up. That sets us up. That is relevant. Tells Becker he's working for Larry Kirchhoff. Becker says he killed his own parents. And we would have had him. But for two things, we couldn't find the hunting rifle and we couldn't put him at the scene of the crime.

Jim wants to know what Becker is going do, he says don't expect too much. If he wasn't a buddy of Jim's, he wouldn't even type this up at all. This is where Jim, uh, swears. I get kidnapped by two guys and they beat the poo out of me. I'm making a legitimate complaint. Yes. It stands out. It's it's a it's a non gym line. Yeah, like beat the snot out of me or be stuffing out of me or something. They worked me over like a gorilla in a in a banana factory. Like there's something, you know, like there's a lack of poetry to it.

I'm not saying it's a bad line. I loved it because it just stood out. It's like Jim just at his wit's end with it. Right. Yeah. Yes. And then we get the really good line. Yeah. Well, he wants to know if Dennis can find out who owns the warehouse, because those guys seem like they knew it. They walked around like they were familiar with it. And Dennis says, no.

And the gym offers to spot him some points next time they play handball. House, watch your 10 points points next time they play handball Watch your ten points next time we play handball Five bucks a point ten bucks a game. Come on Dennis Two bucks a point five Okay, but you don't tell anybody when you get it and if you turn up anything good you give it to me you make Me look like the hero where you get it. And if you turn up anything good, you give it to me. You make me look like the hero. You're a sweet guy.

Oh, so good. And then we leave on Jim. I think he made a bad bet. The camera stays with Jim and we see him smile as as Dennis walks away. So I think Jim thinks he got, you know. Yeah. What do you came for? This is the scene in which Dennis says, every time you come in here with a bloody nose, morale goes

up by 10 points. And now we're going to cut to a restaurant called Owl in Turtle? Olive Turtle? It's Owl in Turtle and I... With a apostrophe N kind of thing? Yeah, it's like Owl apostrophe N Turtle. But I swear we have seen this restaurant before. Oh, okay I'm seeing if it's in my notes somewhere else, but by the way friend of the show Jay Sent me an image of the

the hot dog Shop from the last episode. Oh, yeah, it still exists. It's still there today. Yes Oh, that's awesome. Okay, so a quick search in my notes Yes. Oh, that's awesome. Okay, so a quick search in my notes Season 5 episode 12 with the French heel back and the Nehru jacket be far behind Has a scene at the owl in turtle lounge as well. Ah, okay Mm-hmm the the establishing shot on this the angle on the neon sign had me guessing I mean my best guess was owl in turtle. I think it's owl apostrophe and yeah space turtle. Um Yes, that is the only place that it comes up in my notes so there we go

Owl and turtle you love to see it. Anyway, it's a bar Jim sees Tanya talking to a guy at the bar. It's not a cheap one though. No scares him off Yes, he's like I'm with the lady. And the guy's like, I'm sorry. Jim from here on has like the big bruise on his like the big, bloody, yes, opened bruise on his cheek. That's very obvious.

Tanya asks, says, you've been fighting. And he says the other guys did all the fighting. I stood there and caught punches. There's a again, a little character note where he looks down and the fighting. I stood there and caught punches. There's a again a little character note where he looks down and the guy who had been there had like a blended margarita or something. It's like a fruity frosty drink. And he just has this sound of disgust in his voice and goes, what's that? Can I exchange this for a soft scotch and soda? They go to their table. They have some banter where she says that she's sick of people like Jim,

because, you know, you're coming under false pretenses. And Larry Kirchhoff has twenty thousand dollars for you. And you drop right in the basket, which is a great phrase that I know exactly what it means, even though it's not a meaningful phrase. Yes. I feel like that's Cannell's genius is like a string of words that when you put them together and say them in the right tone of voice, you know exactly what they mean. But then when you look at them written, you're like, what is that? Is it any that's not anything? This is nothing. You not only know exactly what they mean, and that they are nothing, but that you also feel this desire to be part of the the culture in which those have meaning, right? Like you're like, oh, I wish I just said things like that. You dropped right in the basket. Yeah.

But yeah, she went after Charles for his money and he knew that. But it turns out that he was one of a kind and she would have married him no matter what, even if he didn't have any money. Jim has had a hell of a day. He runs down all the things that have happened. And then they pause and he says, let's say you and I start fresh so he calls for a truce and there's a beat and then she says deal and she takes his hand they like shake hands basically like okay we're both involved in whatever's happening we have

an interest in it in one way or another we can help each other is I think you know what they're connecting over and then I can't afford this place Me neither. Let's go And they go to the burger stand, oh yeah Ellie's historic tale of the pup Oh, yeah, sorry, I had to scroll through so much to find that but like I'll put it in the show notes It's yeah, it's good'm so glad it's still there. Tale of the Pup. So yes, we cut to the drive-in burger stand.

Yes, I love this. Jim eating something in his price range. Yes, they're at the drive-in burger place, so it has a little tray that they put on the side of the convertible. This particular screenshot is, I think, as the waitress has just left saying, like, I'll bring your coffees later. And Jim is basically just giving her like the smile and nod. But for whatever reason, this particular screenshot,

it just looks like he's like, I don't know. I'm about to eat the hell out of this burger. And then yes, Tony is like, what am I? What am I doing here? Which is funny, because she's fine. Like this is her to. But I captured a specific moment here without really meaning to. It's pretty good. Yeah.

Jim did find out, I guess, presumably from Dennis at the warehouse he got beat up in was owned by a union called the BRW. It's like the Brotherhood of Ironworkers. So I guess B.I.W. And I just didn't understand what he was saying I kept hearing VRW Yeah, whatever. Whatever. It's a union. Yeah, it's the Rockford files. There's a crooked union just mm-hmm Yeah, but I apparently this was a union that Charles Kirchhoff did most of his negotiating with so right there's a connection there

Tanya says that her burger is good, but Jim says, Oh, I forgot the mustard. Yes, Tanya specifically says this. Hey, this is good. And Jim goes, you don't think I'd stiff you with a bad restaurant. She's like, just a cheap one, which is specifically, I don't know, there's just something great about that. Because like, yeah, Jim has discerning tastes, but he also has cheap tastes like right right he can get you the best hot dog in town it'll just be yes so this is my Jim taking a bite picture so again tacos haven't entered the picture yet but at least we got hot dogs in the pilot and we get a burger in this one unfortunately there's no mustard so it's not up to his snuff the

mustard business throughout the rest of the scene is not only like, it's great, it's fun, and just like gives Jim something to do. Yeah. But it's so real. I'm a mustard fan. You can forget the cat. You can accidentally leave the ketchup off and I would be like, oh, that's fine. Whatever. Leave the mustard off. And I'm honking my horn at you.

You heard it here first folks. I Flickered lights. That's what he was doing. He just kept flicking his legs trying to get service Yeah, and then he finally honks at the end of the scene. Yeah. Yeah, but yes Jim asks if Charles Kirkoff ever had business conversations around Tanya because she was around you know so much towards the end She says that well He he did and he was kind of using them to brag. Like he was like a big shot having these big business conversations. Jim asks, did he ever send you out of the room?

And she says that she remembers twice that he sent her out of the room. One time he just, she just left. And another time she remembers because it was a, it was a funny kind of name that he said he had to talk to someone named Muzzy. Yes. It was a funny kind of name that he said he had to talk to someone named Muzzy. Yes. We get our great, you know, narrative coincidence of the show to get it all to tie together. So Jim thinks he might know a Muzzy.

There was a prize fighter a few years ago who had flat feet, so he didn't make it in the fighting business, but he was called Muzzy Vinnette. And so we're like, all right, Vinnette, mobster. We got the prime about maybe a fighter who got punched in the throat or whatever. So we're like, OK, it's all coming together. Now that we know that there's a Muzzy Vanette in the picture, we cut to Jim entering a building with briefcase and glasses. His his core disguise.

Mm hmm. He has to beat a level boss before he gets to the main boss, right? So he has to deal with the secretary who I didn't look at it. I'm sure this guy has been in other Rock for Fuzz. Is this maybe Marsh? Maybe Milt Kogan? This feels like this is this guy. Yeah, I think it probably is. He's bald like him. Mm-hmm

He was on the Sim City enhanced CD-ROM in 1993 now that is a credit I feel like this is someone where a friend of the show Sam will be like, oh right BAM Here's all the goons that this guy has played. So he's been in three episodes of the Rockford Files He's in the Kirkhof case no cut contract, someone named Norman. Oh, he was Aaron Kiel in the empty frame. The one time we meet Angel's brother-in-law is in that episode. And he apparently played him. How about that? Indeed. He has a Rockford face.

Yeah, he does. Well, he's great in this as the guy that Jim has to beat to get to the main boss. Right. Yes. So he's the secretary here. So we as we learn, we're at the Union Hall, I guess. And Jim wants to see, like, the union boss, the head of the union, Mr. Dancer. He says that I have an appointment. And this guy checks the book and goes, no, you don't. Goodbye. Yeah.

guy checks the book and goes, no, you don't. Goodbye. Yeah. Well, he Jim represents represents Kirk off industries on a personal injury insurance claim and wants to talk to Mr. Dancer personally. Well, we have a whole insurance claims department. You should talk to them. I'll walk you to the elevator. And when he gets out from behind the desk, he's like taller than Jim, which is.

Yes. Oh, he's amazing. So, yeah. And Jim goes, there has to be some way of convincing you to let me talk to him. The only way you're getting in there is if you climb over me to do it. Yes. During this time, I did think that maybe Jim was going to try and bribe him because there's like a moment where he like goes for what could be his wallet, but he's actually getting a cigarette and he's putting a cigarette in his mouth. We see him raise his hand and we're like, oh, he's going to do the cigarette thing again.

And then the guy just punches him across the face before he can flick the cigarette and he falls down and says, you've seen it before, huh? That guy says, yeah, a couple of times. It's so good. So good. Then he pulls Jim's wallet, sees he's a P.I. This guy's face will be will be in the or will be on the Patreon. Sometimes past me takes screenshots that present me doesn't remember. So past me left a little present of a screenshot of this guy who we think is Marsh as credited with his tie with his pattern tie. Yeah, great look. It's a very, very Rockford.

I look at this picture go, oh yeah, that's probably from the Rockford files. Yes, yes. Anyway, pulls his wallet, sees his API, pulls him up by the lapels. And Jim says, guess I'll see him after all. I feel like this is something that you've mentioned and so I remember it, which is how Jim, he is goal oriented. It doesn't matter how he gets there, just that he gets there. So this particular plan could have gotten him there in so many different ways. And it turns out that it worked. It just happens to be that he had to get punched

to do it. Any method to getting there was what he was hoping for. And so, yeah, like oftentimes he'll be in the middle of one of these little sweet talking things and he'll just stop because he knows that that's not working. So let's try the other approach, like because he's not dedicated to keeping the lie up. He's dedicated to the goal that he's looking for. And yeah. And in this case, the goal is seeing Abe looking for. Yeah, and in this case the goal is seeing a pagoda

Yeah, and admirable goal who starts off strong with any reason I shouldn't have you booked for assault and battery But Jim says he has he has something to say that mr. Dancer is not gonna want his goons to hear Mm-hmm. Oh, he says you're not gonna want these guys to hear and he takes a beat then he sends his guys out I'm calling them goons in anticipation because we have this is good the uh amazing exchange. So Jim says, you wouldn't like to hear that one of your people was moonlighting. Hey, no, I wouldn't like to hear that. I'm gonna do you a favor, Mr. Dancer. You got a goon working for you named Muzzy Vanette. This is the age of public relations. Mr. Vanette is not called a goon. He's called a labor organizer. Our dedication to the goons in Rockford Files has been justified.

It is a self-aware, they know they're goons. They know they're goons. Jim thinks that Muzzy Vanette took an independent contract to kill mrs. Kirk off mr. Dancer Why should I believe you and Jim in this age of public relations? You can't afford to? He says that if he's right he owes Jim and Jim says put something in the mail There's some language Like this isn't the 30s anymore. Right. No, we don't put hits on people, something like that. You know, it's good, good stuff.

There's good body language when he leaves. The goons are waiting for him and he kind of walks between them. He's like, I think your boss is going to want to see you. And they wait for him to leave before they go back. And like they they like watch him leave and then they go back To talk to him, which I thought was like a nice beat part of the dialogue And I've been skipping it because I don't want to write down all the details But part of the dialogue here was also specifying the gun, right?

He says like yeah, mr. Kirkoff was killed by this whatever caliber gun and I bet Muzzy Vannette has that kind of gun Yeah, and so we stay with the goons after Jim leaves They go in to talk to mr. Dancer who says go pick up Muzzy get his guns and bring them all here Yeah, this is a just a delightful gym tactic of like pun intended feeding a fish to a bigger fish Mm-hmm, like he's like, oh, I've got a problem with you to a bigger fish. Like he's like, Oh, I've got a problem with you. Let me just hand you over to the mob boss that like is going to take care of you and then we'll be done. Here's a guy who doesn't like Jim. Fine. Jim can find somebody higher up in the food chain

who is going to be upset about what this guy's doing. He can leverage this particular issue to his advantage. Yeah. So the establishing shot that we leave on that we cut to is like the big sign for the Brotherhood of Ironworkers. Yeah, I know that's where they were. Jim follows, I guess, Marsh as he leaves and we get good aerial shots of L.A. highways because we were going wherever we're going. And we come back to Jim parking across the street watching Marsh go into this house. There's a crossfade, so we know that some time has passed.

And then we hear two gunshots and then Muzzy comes running out and jumps in his car. He pulls out of the driveway, sees Jim across the street and then the chase is on. Here we go! The long promised chase. Before we get into the chase, did Jim get that guy killed? I think he did. I don't think like,

there's a pause between the gunshots and when he comes out. It's not like guns blazing, there's a firefight. Like there's two shots, there's a beat, and then Muzzy comes running out of the house. Yeah, and Muzzy sees Jim. And that, I think, is the impetus of the chase. It's not like Muzzy's trying to get away from a crime scene, but he's not running from somebody with a gun.

It doesn't seem that way. I do think that's the end of Marsh. Jim got his revenge in the end. Yes. Oh, man. Well, yeah, so this is a pretty exciting chase that takes place on the golf course. Yes. There's no score. It's all rumbles and screeches and engine noises. Lots of dust clouds. Lots of dust clouds. What stood out to you? All right. So a couple of things things Jim Jim is not in the firebird He's in a rental car. Yeah, I think I think there's like three reasons for that number one the maybe he hasn't gotten his headlights Fixed again. I'd yet I don't know. I think he tells Tanya when he meets her for dinner that he had to rent his car

So right. Yeah, I think we don't want to put the firebird through this particular chase. And also, like, Muzzy knows the firebird. Like, he wouldn't hang out in front of Muzzy's house in the firebird. OK. Well, my favorite things about this chase are the the lines from the golfers. Hey, you can't drive here. You know that guy. Yeah, we just have like off camera shouts. We have like, I think two scenes in which before the car comes flying through a golf cart goes over the road just like perpendicular to the chase, right?

Like, oh no, they almost hit a golf cart as if we'd worry about that. But all of that is fun. I love the fan trap humor at the end of it. Right. Like he oh, yeah, that's a good one. Yeah. So the drama of the chase, essentially, it's pretty extended. It's pretty long. Yeah. Neither of them can really get the advantage over the other. But Jim eventually gets like the high ground.

So Muzzy is like in the bottom of like a drainage like a royal or something and Jim is up above him So he's able to cut him off and make him turn around then when he when when he turns around and they're going the other way Jim is able to get up alongside him and then just Barely sideswipe him into the sand trap and so so he's stuck. He scrambles out. He dives for his gun. And that's when Jim runs up behind him and grabs a convenient shovel that's just been sitting right there. My favorite implement.

And just whacks him in the stomach with the shovel, which is the screenshot that I have here. So good. It's very good. A good musical sting at that moment, too. We have this incredible group of golfers, which I'm sending to you now. Yes, that was one of the things I was like, they're not what I was expecting. When if you were like, hey, there's a group of golfers that I was like, no, those

those are pro wrestlers. Yeah. These guys look like they were also bikers in the return of a black shadow yeah like look at these guys yeah I honestly I can't imagine that these guys don't aren't like they like they weren't at the VFW pro you know doing like a local wrestling show and they're like we need someone to play golfers can you put this outfit on They like they weren't at the VFW pro, you know, do like a local wrestling show. And they're like, we need someone to play golfers. Can you put this outfit on? Oh my God.

How did one guy? So on the left is a kind of Captain Lou Albano type with, with curly hair, big mustache and beard, like a wavy pattern shirt and bright red pants. And probably the definition of barrel chested. Yes. And then on the right is more of a Rick rude ish type. Yeah. I was good. Disappointed dad vibes. Yeah. He looks like the most disappointed dad.

He has a cap, like a nautical style, like captain's hat with some kind of seal on it and sunglasses. And then behind them is just like the manager. Yes, the manager is just like a middle aged guy in high waisted pants and sunglasses. It's anyway, these pictures are all on the on the Patreon. It's a public post. If you want to check it out, Patreon dot com slash 200 a day. Yeah, I was I was stunned when we cut to them and I was like who are these guys?

One of them has a finisher move that's called the back nine. Yeah Anyway, one of them says what are you guys doing and Jim says sorry he keeps getting stuck in sand traps Just play on through He keeps getting stuck in sand traps. Just play on through. Yes So we cut to a mounted snarling tiger head And so we know we're back in the Kirchhoff household as Jim meets with Larry to get his $20,000 there was a close-up when Jim grabbed Muzzy's gun like in the aftermath I think to show oh, yeah, yeah to be like, this is the gun he's been talking about. Yes.

Yeah. Maybe that's where the music sting hits. There's something like, there was very ominous about, not ominous, pointed. Yeah. Like, pay attention to this. Yeah, yeah. This is important. But yeah, ballistics matched the gun.

Muzzy was the one who killed Mrs. Kirkov. He corrects Jim. He was the one hired by my father to kill my mother. And then he says, who did the police think killed my father? And Jim's like, we all know who did that. You did that. Yeah. You found out that your mother was killed.

You picked up the rifle. But unfortunately, the cops can't find it, so they can't make the case. And Larry says, and for this, you think I'll pay you $20,000 So Jim's like, you know what sure fine. How about 10? Yeah. Yeah, just willing to compromise Yeah, Larry starts looking really thoughtful and he's sitting down He's like so the that's what the police think Boba and he's like, I'll send it to you send me a bill and Jim

Starts off with the like no, I would want it now, but this is when Larry's Doberman yeah starts growling more and more being very threatening and Jim finally breaks and is like, okay How about you mail it to me fine? Mm-hmm. So we know that he's never gonna see that money. Nope I've got a whole money thing which we'll get to at the end of this So we go to Jim driving Tanya in her car to wrap up our story. She can't believe that Charles would have hired that man to kill his wife. And then she says, what if he did it? Like, what if he did it for me?

Like he wanted to, you know, and the, and the relationships that he could marry me or whatever, and Jim's like, you'll go crazy if you start thinking like that. Don't blame yourself. He killed her cause she was going to break his reputation as the stand-up guy or whatever and then pick him clean in divorce court, which has been mentioned a couple times that they've been separated and didn't want to go, you know, there's bad blood between the two of them. And he says, I'd hate to see Larry get away with it, but maybe if someone, maybe a woman with an interest in the case, wanted to keep digging for evidence, maybe? And she's like, okay, fine, how much?

And then one of the few times we, 175, 150 and you buy the dinner tonight. You got yourself a deal. As they're going to go back to the owl and turtle to finally have their fancy dinner. Now, I think this negotiation, the reason why we see this negotiation is because this is one of the very few times, if maybe the only time,

Jim is looking for a client instead of trying to tell a client to go away. I think you're right. Yeah, he's like, Larry's a slimeball. He should go to jail. Right. But also, I need to get paid. But then, as we're going into the owl and turtle, they see a newspaper headline in a

news box. Larry Kirchhoff admits killing father. And Jim's like, Oh, he was using me. Just not the way I thought. Uh, he wasn't trying to get away with it. He just needed the proof that he was right. That his father hired someone to kill his mother because that was his motive for killing his father.

He wanted there to be proof that he had made the right decision basically, right before he could give himself up and Jim's like I'm really something and he has a whole line about Misjudging people and I think insensitive is the word I'm looking for it's kind of funny because it's like he's still a slimeball I don't know. Maybe we could talk about that. Yeah. Yeah, we'll get through the scene They have some banter about his personality. She doesn't think it's so bad, etc. They're heading up to the Alan Turtle.

He says, let's get something to eat. And then as they're going to go in, she says, by the way, you're fired. You know, haha. Well, in that case, I'll buy you a hot dog and they walk away. End of episode. Welcome to the Rockford Files, everyone. Yes, we have 116 more of these. So, okay, I don't think Kirkov ever pays him. Rich people don't pay. We know that. That's just a

lesson of the Rockford Files and in life. Obviously, she doesn't pay him because the case was solved before he could start his job. But I do think Al Dancer will probably send him something. My gut feeling on this is that Al Dancer is a man who pays his debts. One way or the other. But maybe not. Maybe Al Dancer will be like, you got my man killed. Yeah, yeah, maybe. Well, and Muzzy does give him $200 so that he doesn't feel so bad about getting beat up. So he does $200, which might cover the dental work. Or

replacing the firebird. Yeah, the headlights. Yes. Yeah. It was a really fun episode. I can see why I would watch it and think I want to tell the internet they should watch the Rockford Files. Yeah. Yeah, it's good. It's kind of interesting that it has like the the the there's this motion at the end to be like, and the villain was more complicated than we gave him credit for. Right. That I think is is is the Huggins ask. I think that's part of the stuff that he does is often like, you know, people aren't one dimensional. They have different motivations, etc.

It's a little weird because it's like, am I supposed to feel bad for that guy? Right, right. Like James Woods was an. Yes. That was what we saw on screen. And Jim's like, I don't know, I was really insensitive. I'm like, I don't think you were that insensitive, honestly. No, no. But that's more just a curiosity. It's not really like an issue.

Yeah, it was a good episode. Don't have much more to say about it. It has like so I think, again, like the formal qualities are really nice, like the the the framing, the way that the transitions were edited and all that kind of stuff, like it's really good looking episode. This is going to sound a little weird, but like I found I was pleasantly surprised by how well formed it is with the rest of the Rockford file.

Cause like there's a few first season ones we watch where we're like, you know, this was taken from a book that was written before the Rockford files has nothing to do with Jim Rockford. We're just kind of throwing Jim Rockford in it and it's still good. It's still enjoyable and throwing Jim Rockford in it. And it's still good. It's still enjoyable. And you still see Jim in it, but it's not.

Yeah. The ones that are like, here's the detective story that happens to be with Jim versus here's a Rockford file story. Yeah. And this one feels like, oh, we're we're defining this. What we want out of this. And yeah, there are obviously some things that changed a little bit, but for the most part, you could have thrown this in any season and I would have been like, yeah.

Yeah, it's pretty, it's a good, you know, I don't know how exceptional it is in any particular dimension, but it's like a good solid meaty episode. The casting's good, I think. Julie Summers, Sonia Baker, she I think they have a quirky kind of chemistry that that was fun to watch. Every time she's on screen, I'm kind of like, All right, where's this going? Which is, yeah, you know, kind of a fun dynamic.

We love to see a pagoda. James Woods is a memorable jerk, oil villain kind of character, even if I didn't recognize him. Yes. I think what it is that like a lot of times with television shows, somebody's like, oh, yeah, I'm thinking about watching this television show. A lot of times you end up going like, oh, don't worry about the first two, first three or something like that. Where if this one, if it's like, should I start at the beginning like yeah fine sure just go ahead and watch that first episode again maybe that's the pilot but the pilot's a long one and I wouldn't like if somebody's like I want to test the waters with the Rockford files I wouldn't recommend a two-parter because

you want a quicker dip yeah yeah like there's there's no reason you couldn't start with the first episode, which is yeah good Which is kind of a recommendation. It doesn't necessarily hit all of our like Favorite notes from being immersed in the show like, you know, there's no angel rocky is not really fully formed There's no Beth obviously. So like having an episode where like one of the characters is just like a real weirdo But it really but it works like is good. You know of the characters is just like a real weirdo, but it works like is good. You know, the plot is pretty straightforward. You know, it's not like a real mystery or or a con game or like whatever. So like some of the things that are like I wouldn't pick

this as a favorite episode. No, but there's no downside to watching it. There's no like, yes, I would. Yeah, there's no reason to ward someone away from watching it. If you're like, I'm just going to start from the beginning. Yeah, yeah, there's no reason to ward someone away from watching it if you're like I'm just gonna start from the beginning Yeah, yeah exactly because like I said like a lot of shows you kinda you're like Oh, I mean you can watch the first episode but give it a few episodes before you you know, and this one It's like that's fine. You start at the beginning like when I think of some of my favorite episodes I probably wouldn't recommend them as starting like yeah Chicken Little's a little chicken is a, I mean that's a favorite, right? But also I kind of want you to have a little

Rockford files under your belt before you do. You don't need it. There's some stuff where like you might appreciate a little more if you've. Yeah, exactly. If you're just used to the vibe and you like know the character a little bit. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

I'd agree with that. All right. Well, that was the Kirchhoff case. Oh, we're we're getting so close or so close. I will say that we were we talked about mentioning this, and then I think we just both forgot. If you have any thoughts, feedback on recent episodes or just something you want to get something to leave our answering machine. This is probably the best time to make sure you get that in on some kind of timely fashion.

I can't promise because our recording schedule is not 100% formed, so I can't promise that we'll address everything on our answering machine. We've got one show left. But if you hear this and you have something, you can email us at 200adaypodcasts.gmail.com. You can leave feedback on any individual episode on our website, 200aday.fireside.fm. And you can get in touch through Patreon, patreon.com slash 200aday and send us those thoughts and we will listen to our answering machine before we get into our final episode. We're not saying there's never going to be another episode or we talk about reader feedback or reader. Right. Yeah. As we've discussed, we will continue having occasional episodes going forward.

So, you know, maybe at some point we'll do like a backlog. Right. Feedback episode or something. But anyway, that's all just to say, if you have something to say, how's the time? Yes. Well, and we really appreciate all the thoughts that people have sent our way. Notes on episodes that we missed or Sam telling us about character actors, people alerting us to things that still exist in L.A. because neither of us actually know anything about L.A.

Yes. You know, all those kinds kinds of things we appreciate and think help us build a richer understanding of the show. And yeah, it's good. So we look forward to what that blinking red light will foretell when we get to it next time. Do you have anything else to say or share about this first episode of the Rockford Files? No, it's a good one. I enjoyed it. Looking forward to watching the episode of the Rockford Files? Uh, no, it was a good one.

I enjoyed it. Looking forward to watching the rest of the series. And with that, I can, I can still say wholeheartedly and with 100% honesty that we will be back next time to talk about another episode of the Rockford Files. Cue recorder. I'm going to go ahead and turn it off.