The BEST episodes of The Rockford Files season 1

Every episode of The Rockford Files season 1, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of The Rockford Files season 1!

Emmy® winner James Garner stars as the offbeat Jim Rockford, an ex-con-turned-private-investigator who would rather fish than fight but whose instinct on closed cases is more golden than his classic Pontiac Firebird. From his mobile home in Malibu, this wisecracking private eye takes you on the cases of the lost and the dispossessed, chasing down seemingly long-dead clues in the sun-baked streets and seamy alleys of Los Angeles.

Last Updated: 9/28/2024Network: NBCStatus: Ended
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Counter Gambit
star
7.58
106 votes

#1 - Counter Gambit

Season 1 - Episode 17 - Aired 1/24/1975

Jim is hired by a former prison mate to recover a pearl necklace stolen by his girlfriend, and after locating it, Jim is charged with stealing it and so must ask the victim and his old friend Angel to help him out...

Directors: Jackie Cooper
Profit and Loss (1)
star
7.51
102 votes

#2 - Profit and Loss (1)

Season 1 - Episode 13 - Aired 12/20/1974

PART 1 - PROFIT Jim is mystified after he is charged for filing a false police report when he witnesses the kidnapping of a computer programmer from his trailer...

Directors: Lawrence Doheny
Watch Now:Amazon
The Dark and Bloody Ground
star
7.48
175 votes

#3 - The Dark and Bloody Ground

Season 1 - Episode 2 - Aired 9/20/1974

Jim is hired by Beth Davenport to help clear her female client accused of murdering her husband.

Directors: Michael Schultz
Watch Now:Amazon
Tall Woman in Red Wagon
star
7.47
145 votes

#4 - Tall Woman in Red Wagon

Season 1 - Episode 5 - Aired 10/11/1974

Jim helps a journalist trace the whereabouts of her friend and has to adopt a series of covers in order to obtain the information, as well as contend with a mobster's goons and a Treasury Agent...

Directors: Jerry London
Watch Now:Amazon
The Kirkoff Case
star
7.46
220 votes

#5 - The Kirkoff Case

Season 1 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/13/1974

A wealthy but dislikable young man hires Jim to solve the mystery of the death of his parents - the crime for which he stands accused.

Directors: Lou Antonio
Watch Now:Amazon
Find Me if You Can
star
7.38
106 votes

#6 - Find Me if You Can

Season 1 - Episode 9 - Aired 11/1/1974

Rockford is hired by a secretive woman who refuses to tell him anything about herself, and gives him an unusual task – to simply find her. Soon, Jim is embroiled in the mysterious woman's life, including the mobster who is after her.

Directors: Lawrence Doheny
Watch Now:Amazon
In Pursuit of Carol Thorne
star
7.36
102 votes

#7 - In Pursuit of Carol Thorne

Season 1 - Episode 10 - Aired 11/8/1974

Jim has been hired to find an elderly couple's missing son, and assumes several guises to check out the man's former girlfriend, who has just been released from prison. But it is a complex case where everybody concerned is conning everyone else.

Directors: Charles S. Dubin
Watch Now:Amazon
Claire
star
7.36
101 votes

#8 - Claire

Season 1 - Episode 18 - Aired 1/31/1975

Jim has some trouble with gangsters and an ill-tempered police captain when he helps his old girlfriend Claire....

Directors: William Wiard
Watch Now:Amazon
The Countess
star
7.35
132 votes

#9 - The Countess

Season 1 - Episode 3 - Aired 9/27/1974

Jim is helping a countess avoid a blackmailer but is then charged for the blackmailer's murder.

Directors: Russ Mayberry
Watch Now:Amazon
The Big Ripoff
star
7.33
120 votes

#10 - The Big Ripoff

Season 1 - Episode 8 - Aired 10/25/1974

A life insurance investigation becomes more complicated than it first appeared when Jim believes the insuree is still alive...

Directors: Vincent McEveety
Watch Now:Amazon
Sleight of Hand
star
7.32
105 votes

#11 - Sleight of Hand

Season 1 - Episode 16 - Aired 1/17/1975

Jim is confused when his girlfriend disappears after they return from a trip and her young daughter is convinced her mother never came home with them...

Directors: William Wiard
Watch Now:Amazon
This Case is Closed (1)
star
7.30
112 votes

#12 - This Case is Closed (1)

Season 1 - Episode 6 - Aired 10/18/1974

While investigating the fiancé of Warren Jamison's daughter, Jim experiences some strange events which include kidnapping by the mob and the FBI who are anxious to get a statement - it all relates back to Jim's recent trip to Newark...

Watch Now:Amazon
Charlie Harris at Large
star
7.29
92 votes

#13 - Charlie Harris at Large

Season 1 - Episode 20 - Aired 2/14/1975

Jim's old cellmate Charlie is accused of murdering his wife, but Jim must find Charlie's alibi - a mystery woman who he met on the beach....

Directors: Russ Mayberry
Watch Now:Amazon
Say Goodbye to Jennifer
star
7.27
96 votes

#14 - Say Goodbye to Jennifer

Season 1 - Episode 19 - Aired 2/7/1975

Hired by Mitch, a photographer friend, Jim must travel to Seattle to find a missing model who stands accused of shooting a gang member...

Directors: Jackie Cooper
Watch Now:Amazon
This Case is Closed (2)
star
7.25
80 votes

#15 - This Case is Closed (2)

Season 1 - Episode 7 - Aired 10/18/1974

Jim is ordered off the case but this proves difficult after the fiancé Jim was investigating is found dead and the mob and the FBI still want answers, so Jim must track the real killer...

Watch Now:Amazon
Aura Lee, Farewell
star
7.24
104 votes

#16 - Aura Lee, Farewell

Season 1 - Episode 15 - Aired 1/3/1975

Sara Butler hires Jim again to investigate the death of her friend Aura Lee Benton who died of a drug overdose despite her not being a drug user...

Directors: Jackie Cooper
Watch Now:Amazon
Exit Prentiss Carr
star
7.23
119 votes

#17 - Exit Prentiss Carr

Season 1 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/4/1974

Jim finds the murdered body of Prentiss Carr in his hotel room and after reporting the incident to the police learns it has been classified as suicide...

Directors: Alex Grasshoff
Watch Now:Amazon
The Dexter Crisis
star
7.20
106 votes

#18 - The Dexter Crisis

Season 1 - Episode 11 - Aired 11/15/1974

Jim is hired by a wealthy business tycoon to find his mistress who has disappeared with 'property' belonging to him. Accompanied by the girl's roommate, the trail leads to Las Vegas, but things soon develop into much more than a simple missing person case.

Directors: Alex Grasshoff
Watch Now:Amazon
Just by Accident
star
7.18
94 votes

#19 - Just by Accident

Season 1 - Episode 22 - Aired 2/28/1975

Jim invesitgates the death of a man on behlaf of his mother, an old friend, but stumbles into a insurance scam...

Directors: Jerry London
Watch Now:Amazon
The Four Pound Brick
star
7.10
102 votes

#20 - The Four Pound Brick

Season 1 - Episode 21 - Aired 2/21/1975

Jim investigates the death of a rookie police officer on behalf of his mother, a good friend of Rocky's...

Directors: Lawrence Doheny
Watch Now:Amazon
Profit and Loss (2)
star
6.93
104 votes

#21 - Profit and Loss (2)

Season 1 - Episode 14 - Aired 12/27/1974

PART 2 - LOSS After being charged with filing a false police report, Jim and Rocky continue to investigate Fiscal Dynamics Incorporated...

Directors: Lawrence Doheny
Roundabout
star
6.91
55 votes

#22 - Roundabout

Season 1 - Episode 23 - Aired 3/7/1975

Jim is hired to pass on an inheritance to a young woman in Las Vegas, who acts very strangely and appears not to really want the money...

Directors: Lou Antonio
Caledonia – It's Worth a Fortune!
star
6.70
108 votes

#23 - Caledonia – It's Worth a Fortune!

Season 1 - Episode 12 - Aired 12/6/1974

Hired by Jolene Hyland, Jim helps her try and locate a fortune buried somewhere in Caledonia by her terminally ill husband Gerry, whose former partner Leonard wants a piece of the action...

Directors: Stuart Margolin