The Rockford Files - Caledonia - It's Worth A Fortune!
In a terrific 1st season episode, with guest star Shelley Fabares, all the qualities which endear this series to it's fans are on display here.
That would be enough, but, as I said, this is an early episode, so, to see how the team behind the series were able to get into gear so fast, is an extra bonus.
In a nutshell; there's a hidden treasure, and the link to finding it is Ms. Fabares.
Now, I'm too young to have seen her in her 'Johnny Angel, and 'I Love Him' popularity of the 60's, and I was under 10 when the series started, but, I would watch it with my mom, and even then, I knew this was more than your typical 1hr-long filler show.
As is usual for most series, the first season is where the kinks are worked out, and, if a series is fortunate enough to have a 2nd year, that's typically what most people who are fans would remember as where a series finally gelled; the characters had become well- formed, and the actors have finally become comfortable in their 'skin.'
The Rockford Files was fortunate to have had top-notch both in-front and behind the cameras, with Garner and co. doing their best, and Cannell (and Roy Huggins) crafting fine scripts.
All of this is on display here, in a terrific story.
It's a simple story; a crook hid loot, and everyone wants it. They each have a piece of the puzzle, but, not the whole thing. Add to this, the crook's girlfriend, Ms. Shelley Fabares, and the chase is on to Caledonia!
The loot - or, as Hitchcock would've said - the 'MacGuffin' - isn't the important part, it's the interactions of the characters, and boy do they.
One of my favourite quotes is the back-and-forth between Fabares and Garner;
Rockford: You know what you do? Jolene: What? Rockford: You apologise - all the time. Jolene: I do? Rockford: Yeah. Jolene: I'm sorry.
It's so funny, because, to me, I find Ms. Fabares' character, a bit of a sad-sack, so, this bit of give-and-take dialogue - and her line at the end - really just clears the deck, as it were, it's as if the writers (speaking for/as Jolene) are saying; 'yeah, I'm a bit whiny, but, I can make you laugh, as well, and we sure do.
The cast includes some other great character actors from the period, including Richard 'Dick' Schaal, and Sid Haig.