"The Rockford Files" Coulter City Wildcat (TV Episode 1976) Poster

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9/10
A Rocky Road
zsenorsock8 December 2006
Warning: Spoilers
Rocky comes home and his stunt man gets a beating from a couple of goons who want him to sign over control of an oil lease. Jim and Rocky then drive up to Coulter City to investigate and discovers Rocky's land (parcel 334) is rich in oil and he's the victim of a massive oil scam.

This episode gives Noah Beery Jr. a chance to shine. He has a lot to do, beginning with the very opening scene where he passes on a fishing trip because he's disturbed about aging and doing nothing with his life. He shows his ability to think on his feet by doing a bad forgery of his own signature, and then has a nice moment when he preempts Jim telling him to hole up in a hotel out of danger by suggesting it himself. There are a lot of nice moments between father and son in this one.

John Anderson (who appeared in the "Maverick" episode "Benefit of the Doubt") puts in a good guest appearance as O'Malley, an old coot whose old bomb shelter (looking VERY MUCH like the hatch on "Lost") plays a key role in saving him from the same guys who are after Rocky. Unfortunately in a very sloppy continuity error, when Jim calls him to go in to his bomb shelter right away, it is night. In the next shot when we see O'Malley run for his bomb shelter, it is obviously mid-day.

Gretchen Corbett makes another strong appearance as the fetching Beth Davenport, and has a nice moment letting Jim and Rocky know their oil land should net them $42,000 a piece--a day!

Sharp eyed viewers might also notice the place Rocky dodges the goons, "Pete's Cafe", is the same diner used in the "Back to the Future" movies.
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8/10
Good 70's mystery story.
mm-3915 January 2019
Warning: Spoilers
A good 70's mystery story. Rocky get's involved in a Oil lease deal. There is a hustle being play on Rocky and Jim has to go to the small town. There is the usual Jim poking around, car chases, and questionable Rockford investigation tactics, which make for an entertaining episode. What works here is the father, son Rocky -Jim relationship. Proud but loving is how one could explain the Father son dynamic. Look's like Rocky struck in rich, but there is the usual Rockford files twists. A memorable episode from a strong season 3.
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6/10
Father and son team up
bkoganbing18 December 2014
Noah Beery, Jr. is a man who disapproves of his son's profession and has voiced that on many occasion. But when a couple of thugs come over and give him a beating and force him to sign over an oil lease that he thought was worthless Rocky needs the services of his son.

Father and son work this one together. Some mighty unfriendly people keep shooing him away from the lot that Beery has leased. But he's not even their main target. There's a survivalist out there in the middle of the wilds played by John Anderson and he's the best one in this episode. He's the main target of the goons and I have to say that James Garner quite cleverly plays on his fear of nuclear holocaust to save his life.

In the end we also have Gretchen Corbett to explain why those leases are in such demand. You'll have to see the story to find out what this was all about.

Highlighting this one is Beery and Anderson. Anderson is one whacked out paranoid man.
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There Will be Rockfords
stones7811 April 2011
I consider this one of the better episodes of the fine Rockford Files mainly because the partnership between father and son, Rocky and Rockford, and how they care for each other, even though it's not always evident in many of the shows. Their relationship isn't cold by any means, but it appears that neither really open up about their true feelings; many times Jim happens to turn down Rocky's request to go fishing because he's usually "busy" or his mind is on other things. Now, Rocky is the one turning down his son's request this time around because it appears that he's in a grumpy mood because he's aging and the mail isn't what it used to be; one of the envelopes in the mail is regarding an oil lease, and some goons soon rough up Rocky and make him sign the lease over to someone else. The remainder of the episode is basically father and son for most of the scenes, as they see who and why Rocky was assaulted and who has his lease, although I can't quite recall the particulars of why he has the lease in the first place, but a shady character sold it to him. Along the way, you may recognize Noble Willingham as some sort of oil lease authority, who breaks the bad news at the end of the episode that the Rockford's won't get the $42,000/day they thought they were getting. This is a very picturesque episode with many terrific shots of the highway, oil field, and a small town, but perhaps the most important moments revolve around how father and son work together to make things right and enjoy spending time with each other.
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