james garner

[Adam]

This could just be his desk phone carried into the bedroom.  They did have long line cords available in those days, and it's just a little trailer, after all!   

[TelePlay]

This could just be his desk phone carried into the bedroom.  They did have long line cords available in those days, and it's just a little trailer, after all!   

That may be but I think it was a regular line cord with a wall plug. The line cord on the floor goes behind the wall, not down the hallway.

And, yes, it most likely is the desk phone. It wasn't until Season 2, Episode 5 that the ivory 2500 showed on on his night stand.

This is the shot that opens the scene, as the phone is ringing before he answers it. It shows, slightly out of focus, the top of his desk and the floor phone in the distance. I do not see a phone on the desk. So, I guess on Season 1, Episode 16, he was still too poor to put a third phone in that small trailer . . . 

[TelePlay]

Watching a few more episodes helped me figure this out, I think, subject to change. In this photo in the above post, the black 2500 is on the floor. A couple of episodes later, the black 2500 is on the table next to his bed (the first photo below) as he answers it. A few episodes later, the phone rings early in the morning (second photo below), right after that he gets up and goes to the front door of his trailer. At that point, we see another black 2500 on the desk (the third photo below. A few episodes later, it rings about 7:30 in the morning and just the front left of the black 2500 is seen just to left of the clock.

So, from what I can tell so far, the trailer has 3 phones - 1) living room; 2) kitchen; 3) bedroom. In Season 1, the bedroom phone is a black 2500. In Season 2, they swapped out the black phone for the ivory 2500 posted on the second page of this topic.

And just happened to catch this evening shot of his lovely home.

And only 5 years of episodes left to watch . . .

[TelePlay]

He stated once that college football did his knees in.

The last episode of season one has him running down the inside of Hoover Dam, and not well. Not bad but you could see his knees were bothering him. The first episode of season two opened with him running away from some thugs and he definitely had knee issues. He came around the corner of a building heading for a parked car hopping on his left leg, favoring his right. So, he did five seasons on bad knees. Amazing.

[TelePlay]

1974 and today, 2014.

40 years later it's still a beach, pier, restaurant and a trailer park.

[TelePlay]

Another shot of his lovely home as it sits on the parking lot next to Alice's Restaurant from Season 4, Episode 11 "Forced Retirement."

And, in the next episode, "The Queen of Peru" which aired on December 16, 1977, it seems Jim upgraded his bedroom phone to a beige Trimline.

[JimH]

Nice shot of his Firebird, too.  I read that he drove a new one each year of the series, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, and a 1978 for the last two seasons of the show.  He did not get a new 1979 Firebird because he was not a fan of the new front-end styling.

Here's a '79.

[TelePlay]

Nice shot of his Firebird, too.  I read that he drove a new one each year of the series, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, and a 1978 for the last two seasons of the show.

Here's a front end shot of his Firebird from an early 1978 episode. They really did change the front end for '79. The '78 did look much better than the '79s IMHO.

As I continue to watch the series, I am amazed and always wonder how many Firebirds they went through, or parts for or if they used junkers for those scenes in which his car was damaged or near destroyed. If I look closely, I see small dents and dings that carry through from one episode to another but in some episodes with real damage done to the car, a bomb under the seat to a shotgun blast in the passenger door, the car had to be fixed for the next show. His car took a beating in almost every episode. His Firebird could have really been a Timex (It takes a licking and keeps on ticking). I realize it's TV and a lot of that is done with smoke and mirrors but the car really did blow up, or a car blew up. Still, they had to have a nice sized production budget to cover the perils of his 'bird.

[WesternElectricBen]

His Firebird could have really been a Timex (It takes a licking and keeps on ticking).

Very reliable, my uncle's 1977 Firebird was driven throughout the Minnesota seasons until a few years ago. When it was deemed no longer safe with all of the rust.

[TelePlay]

And then, in Season 5, Episode 6 (The Empty Frame) we see a never before seen in this series until now WE 6 button 851 being used by Jim.

[JimH]

Nice shot of his Firebird, too.  I read that he drove a new one each year of the series, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, and a 1978 for the last two seasons of the show.

Here's a front end shot of his Firebird from an early 1978 episode. They really did change the front end for '79. The '78 did look much better than the '79s IMHO.

As I continue to watch the series, I am amazed and always wonder how many Firebirds they went through, or parts for or if they used junkers for those scenes in which his car was damaged or near destroyed. If I look closely, I see small dents and dings that carry through from one episode to another but in some episodes with real damage done to the car, a bomb under the seat to a shotgun blast in the passenger door, the car had to be fixed for the next show. His car took a beating in almost every episode. His Firebird could have really been a Timex (It takes a licking and keeps on ticking). I realize it's TV and a lot of that is done with smoke and mirrors but the car really did blow up, or a car blew up. Still, they had to have a nice sized production budget to cover the perils of his 'bird.

Now you can own one of the Rockford Firebirds.  It is up for auction. 

Here is the link:

http://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/carsforsale/pontiac/firebird/1706502.html

[TelePlay]

Still working my way through the series.

I'm in the last season now but first noticed in the last episode of season 5 and all episodes of season 6 that I've seen so far, the black 2500 has become modular. The opening sequence shows the hardwired phone but the phone he uses on his desk in the trailer is now modular.

Now, why would they change out a prop such as that? No need other than to be contemporary authentic when filmed.

[TelePlay]

After looking for about 9 months, I finally got my Rockford Files phone. All of the pictures and it's history are at this link:

https://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=28016.0

[Dennis Markham]

Congratulations, John.  It looks great! 

[TelePlay]

One of the local old TV Shows channels started to show The Rockford Files from Season 1, Episode 1.

Yes, they are on Netflix but seem more normal with commercials . . .

Looks like two episodes a night for awhile. Once there was one oldies station, now there are more than seven. And I know why.