The BEST episodes of The Rockford Files season 3

Every episode of The Rockford Files season 3, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of The Rockford Files season 3!

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
Share:
The Oracle Wore a Cashmere Suit
star
7.77
113 votes

#1 - The Oracle Wore a Cashmere Suit

Season 3 - Episode 2 - Aired 10/1/1976

Rockford is double-crossed by the supernatural when a psychic points to him as the potential killer of a suddenly wealthy dope pusher.

Directors: Russ Mayberry
Writer: David Chase
Watch Now:Amazon
star
7.75
99 votes

#2 - Drought at Indianhead River

Season 3 - Episode 5 - Aired 11/5/1976

Rockford's former cellmate strikes it rich in real estate, but when his underworld connections take offense, it's up to Rockford to get them both to safer ground.

Directors: Lawrence Doheny
Watch Now:Amazon
star
7.60
88 votes

#3 - To Protect and Serve (1)

Season 3 - Episode 19 - Aired 3/11/1977

Rockford's search for a gangster lawyer's missing fiancée is complicated by a civilian with an unfortunate passion for police work.

Directors: William Wiard
Writer: David Chase
Watch Now:Amazon
star
7.57
89 votes

#4 - Coulter City Wildcat

Season 3 - Episode 6 - Aired 11/12/1976

Rocky thinks his luck has finally changed when he wins a piece of land in an oil-rights lottery, but he's soon hounded by some sore losers who want his winnings for themselves.

Directors: Russ Mayberry
Watch Now:Amazon
star
7.55
95 votes

#5 - The Becker Connection

Season 3 - Episode 16 - Aired 2/11/1977

When Detective Becker is accused of stealing drugs from the police evidence room, Rockford comes to his defense and uncovers a police setup.

Watch Now:Amazon
star
7.51
87 votes

#6 - So Help Me God

Season 3 - Episode 7 - Aired 11/19/1976

The American justice system doesn't seem to be working in Rockford's favor when he is brought in to testify about the kidnapping of a union official and is then arrested for contempt before he can finish collecting his defense materials.

Directors: Jeannot Szwarc
Watch Now:Amazon
The Trouble with Warren
star
7.49
85 votes

#7 - The Trouble with Warren

Season 3 - Episode 11 - Aired 12/24/1976

Corporate corruption ensnares attorney Beth Davenport's brilliant cousin, Warren Weeks, and it's up to Rockford to prove that Warren isn't responsible for the death of his superiors.

Watch Now:Amazon
star
7.47
83 votes

#8 - To Protect and Serve (2)

Season 3 - Episode 20 - Aired 3/18/1977

Rockford hides the missing woman on a boat, but her location is compromised when the police groupie reveals information to mobster thugs.

Directors: William Wiard
Writer: David Chase
Watch Now:Amazon
Return to the 38th Parallel
star
7.40
89 votes

#9 - Return to the 38th Parallel

Season 3 - Episode 9 - Aired 12/10/1976

Friends prove to be more trouble than they're worth when Rockford's buddy gets him involved in a missing-person case that leads to a dangerous and wealthy smuggling ring.

Directors: Bruce Kessler
Watch Now:Amazon
The Fourth Man
star
7.37
97 votes

#10 - The Fourth Man

Season 3 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/24/1976

Airport security falls through the cracks when Rockford's flight attendant friend, Lori, is threatened by an assassin after an upsetting flight.

Directors: William Wiard
Watch Now:Amazon
The Trees, the Bees and T.T. Flowers (1)
star
7.33
85 votes

#11 - The Trees, the Bees and T.T. Flowers (1)

Season 3 - Episode 14 - Aired 1/21/1977

Part 1. At his father's urgent request, Rockford comes to the aid of an old man who has been committed to a hospital by his daughter and son-in-law.

Directors: Jerry London
Watch Now:Amazon
There's One in Every Port
star
7.29
91 votes

#12 - There's One in Every Port

Season 3 - Episode 12 - Aired 1/7/1977

Lady Luck is not on his side when Rockford is swindled in a poker game by a father-daughter con team, and he decides to take whatever steps are necessary to get back his stolen cash.

Directors: Meta Rosenberg
Watch Now:Amazon
star
7.28
67 votes

#13 - Dirty Money, Black Light

Season 3 - Episode 22 - Aired 4/1/1977

When Rockford's father begins receiving large amounts of cash in the mail, both the mob and the Feds are interested in his new good fortune.

Directors: Stuart Margolin
Watch Now:Amazon
star
7.28
96 votes

#14 - Rattlers' Class of '63

Season 3 - Episode 8 - Aired 11/26/1976

Angel thinks he's marrying his way into a fortune, but his new wife's family may also be guilty of using this unholy union to scheme their way into ill-gained riches.

Directors: Meta Rosenberg
Writer: David Chase
Watch Now:Amazon
Just Another Polish Wedding
star
7.28
61 votes

#15 - Just Another Polish Wedding

Season 3 - Episode 17 - Aired 2/18/1977

Ex-con Gandy Fitch returns, reminding Rockford of their time together in prison and announcing that he would like to get into the business of detective work.

Directors: William Wiard
Watch Now:Amazon
star
7.27
91 votes

#16 - Piece Work

Season 3 - Episode 10 - Aired 12/17/1976

Rockford's investigation into an accident claim has him stumbling with a target on his back into a much larger gun-smuggling scheme being investigated by the Feds.

Directors: Lawrence Doheny
Watch Now:Amazon
star
7.26
65 votes

#17 - Crack Back

Season 3 - Episode 21 - Aired 3/25/1977

Attorney Beth Davenport hires Rockford to help her locate a witness who can help prove her football player client innocent—but the rules of the game change when she herself becomes the target of a stalker.

Directors: Reza Badiyi
Watch Now:Amazon
star
7.25
92 votes

#18 - Feeding Frenzy

Season 3 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/15/1976

Love is put to the test when Sandy, Rockford's fiancée, asks him to help her father return the half-million dollars he stole three years earlier from an oil company.

Watch Now:Amazon
Sticks & Stones May Break Your Bones, but Waterbury Will Bury You
star
7.24
88 votes

#19 - Sticks & Stones May Break Your Bones, but Waterbury Will Bury You

Season 3 - Episode 13 - Aired 1/14/1977

Rockford sees how competition can be a killer when fellow private investigators turn to him for assistance after they are forced out of business.

Directors: Jerry London
Writer: David Chase
Watch Now:Amazon
The Trees, the Bees and T.T. Flowers (2)
star
7.23
83 votes

#20 - The Trees, the Bees and T.T. Flowers (2)

Season 3 - Episode 15 - Aired 1/28/1977

Part 2. The drama continues as Rockford helps Flowers to escape, but then the older man takes drastic steps in an effort to hold on to his land.

Directors: Jerry London
Watch Now:Amazon
star
7.10
87 votes

#21 - New Life, Old Dragons

Season 3 - Episode 18 - Aired 2/25/1977

What begins as a missing-person case turns into a job involving a kidnapping plot, the CIA, and $500,000 stolen from American payrolls in Saigon.

Watch Now:Amazon
The Family Hour
star
7.04
97 votes

#22 - The Family Hour

Season 3 - Episode 3 - Aired 10/8/1976

Rockford and his father become the unlikely babysitters of a wandering nine-year-old girl when her father goes missing.

Directors: William Wiard