Time for one of our season wrap-up episodes. This of course makes sense as we just finished season 4. Hey, I buried the lede, it's Jeff from the 70s TV Detectives! Some people don't like Richie Brockelman, I don't understand these people. What episodes were the best? Which ones weren't? Where does Rockford fit in in the 70s detective pantheon?  We ask Jeff. How did the show mirror the 70s? mp3 download

These titles are getting odder.  That said, I like this one. Oh man, part 2 moves quickly. 'Hi Vern, getting any?' Steve informs me that is the sam dispatcher as in Adam 12! I still chuckle at Trapper John playing BJ. The thing of it is is, that's a wilco. 'Do you have a 38 automatic?' We saw the actor who played Sgt. Coopersmith like two episodes ago! The title card at the end, wow. Don't point. This episode might be the most prescient of the series. mp3 download

There are four 'that's a wilco's' in this episode.  When I say 'episode' I'm talking about roughly the first half of 'The House On Willis Aveenue', which might be my favourite episode, other than Boy King, the other Richie Brockelman episode. RICHIE! Some people don't like Richie.  I don't understand these people. That's a wilco. The thing of it is is. I love how Richie sees Jim as a hero, but he's not above bullshitting him. We've got to microspool and degauss as often as possible. That's a wilco. Is Richie Pete Campbell? A thing like that. JACKIE COOPER! PERNELL ROBERTS!   Also, that's Trapper John playing a guy named BJ. We'll finish this one up next week! mp3 download

Oddly proud of this title. Ooh, ooh, Rockford goes to College! Steve and I were not profs in the 70s, but we know more about universities than most people... Lady, telling your dead boyfriend's mom 'at least he found love' is not the flex you think it is. Some general late 70s anti Arab paranoia played for laughs in this one.  That said, the laughs are eventually at the expense of the bozo security people. I hate fraternities. Steve hates fraternities. Irrational telephonic call/ I don't know what Jon thinks of them, but it seems to me if he's anything like his father... mp3 download

Lame title. How often are my titles non lame? This is the sort of almost trope that One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest got going. Nurse Ratchet is three people... I have some expertise here, well, I'm not *that* kind of psychologist, but, I know some stuff through osmosis from my colleagues.  No seriously, I do know some things.   A couple of great Star Trek actors this week. Pop culture in Australia stopped in the 70s. mp3 download

I'm oddly pleased with this title. Steve tells us about North by Northwest. This is a sort of odd episode. I like the 70s angle of corrupt but also inept federal agencies, Watergate break in anyone? Jim has some good lines. The goons, hired goons, are great this week. I think our main character hangs out with Joy and the rest of those jet setters at the Hotel California.  (Yes I can always find a Mad Men reference, much like Steve can always find Columbo reference and Jon just knows plane crashes). We don't say many of the main characters this week. mp3 download

I'm much prouder of this title than I should be. A bit of behind the scenes this week, I didn't edit out our pre show banter! Great guest star week. Oh I wish that I had Jesse's girl. BUS CHASE! These people are like the jet setters in that Mad Men episode. The difference is that the people in that Mad Men episode had some class.  These people just have some crass.  Thank you. I feel bad for J's parents, and his dog. By the way, that was some good dog acting. I get the idea J's parents would be Holocaust survivors. It's subtle, but I think it's there. PIZZA HOUSE! We get more David Chase and the mob. mp3 download

We're back!  Yes we've been away, Jon and I (oh and Jon's mother...) went to Montreal, where I watched this one. RITA MORENO!!!!! HOCKEY! Rita won an Emmy for this episode, and you can see why. Dunno about the high class call girl trope. Some truly great guest stars this week. We also get to see more of Dennis's home life. Again, the show takes a rather neutral look at sex work.  I don't think it's presented as 'good' but it isn't presented as 'bad' either, which is a hell of a thing. Some shout outs to Canada this week, including the Ottawa Otters, a team with just as many Stanley Cup banners as the Ottawa senators. mp3 download

This week's title pretty much wrote itself. MILLS WATSON.  You know you're getting quality.  Also, it was just his 85th birthday! It was just my 60th birthday, for what it's worth. We get the trope of the drunk writer. I wonder if Steve teaches people to behave like this.... I couldn't get past chapter four. James Garner actually did lay carpet for a living for a while! Steve understands Korsakoff's syndrome! You have to love Rocky taking a swing at anyone! I've used too many exclamation points, but I really like this one, but I also don't.  The pacing is off somehow, it's like they had more story to tell.  The performances were great. Seeing Dennis kick into action, and then... mp3 download

Thought I'd get Jonno in on the title action. We're into 1978. Lots of fun this week, Jim trying to figure out how he has been screwed again is a recurring theme if you have not picked up on that yet. Gretchen Corbett's last appearance as Beth Davenport, so we have a special spotlight this week. Yup, that's right, a spotlight when I'm driving, we just like to live on the edge. People really did eat dog food, probably, in the 70s. Well, Johnny LaRue did anyway.  That's Cooking With LaRue, a LaRue Enterprises production, LaRue Ontario. Rocky is working with the mob? What's with everyone being so afraid of garlic? mp3 download

I am truly sorry for this title. LARRY LINVILLE!!!! Oh man, you know, about 15 minutes in I figured 'wait, this guy is one of my people' (experimental psychologist). I'm curious as to who is funding this work.  Either way his grant is up now that Trump is in power... There are some really not at all how it works things in this about what I do. There are some things that are right! Not goons, hired goons, but students, graduate students. Bob Newhart celebrity bowling! I never thought research ethics would come up as an important plot point in a Rockford Episode. I helped write the ethics policies for two Canadian universities (pats self on back). Fun spotlight this week, and of course Jon's intro. mp3 download

I like this title. Some great 70s stuff this week. This is a fun one. Hey some casual racism! Isn't that the guy who took creepy pics of Andy Travis and Jennifer Marlowe? (There's a plane crash this week, so we get a Jon cameo). Pop culture is lame again. Ken Swofford is awesome. Calling all you hoosiers..... mp3 download

Again, it's the name of the episode, we aren't going anywhere... LARRY HAGMAN?! Oh, hey, drop by the watch party on Thursday nights at 8.30 pm EDT : Oh this one has Beth too, plus and old friend of Beth's. I like how if this was today, the idea of harvesting kelp and turning it into some sort of green energy would be pretty hot actually. Any episode where Jimmy Joe makes an appearance is a good one in my book.  To be clear, I have no book. This is a big day for Beth, but we're going to see less and less of her. We've also got a lot of Angel in this one.  He is at his Angelest too! This is not the April Wine podcast. mp3 download

We had separate rooms.... The phone message matters to the plot! Oh man, this is an Angel episode, which makes it so fun. It's Gerald McRaney's final appearance on the show. Steve and I both noticed how the show treated sex workers as people who deserve respect.  Because they are, you know, people. Sometime's Jim Garner's just overall goodness shows up in a scene.  I don't mean Rockford's I mean Jim Garner's. We get a callback to an earlier episode too, which rarely happened back then. Steve calls you a hooker because you're a hooker. mp3 download

This week's title?  Oh I'd give it about a 6.75/10. The hicks from the lick. The episode itself is much better than that. Some strong guest stars this week, including Priscilla Barnes. Some WW2 callbacks. Somehow I think this is much closer to how most planned contract killings actually go than what we normally see on TV. It's a Lt. Chapman episode so his exasperation is always entertaining. Oh we've got Dennis as well. Oh and we get a lovely little Angel scam near the end! You could have called this episode 'The Mayor's Committee From Dunning Kruger Falls'. This is our most Fonda heavy episode. mp3 download

Well, we had a cameo from Jon on a plane crash and, burying the lead here, we also had a guest host!  It's Rick Brooks from Battle of the Network Shows! You may have heard of Battle of the Network Shows when we had Mike from the very same podcast/site on for Episode 48. Well this week we have, NAZI GOLD! You have to remember that WW2 was the same distance in time from this episode as 1993 is to now.  So umm, we're old. Star Trek connection this week. Wait, there are two guys from the Abwehr in this episode. Jon gives us a cameo with a plane crash report. Lt. Chapman actually speaking French! Hey the French guys are actual French guys! This new person, the grad student, was she intended to be on for more than this one episode?  I know of liked her, but I have a soft spot for grad students. Göring plays an important role in this story.  Yes that Hermann Göring. Thanks Rick! mp3 download

Yes it has been a while.  We both have had things. I am proud of this title. This one is funny. This one has Jan Curtin's cousin Valerie, who does a pretty good job.  Oh she also co wrote the script for And Justice For All.  So 'I'm out of order, you're out of order', that's her line.  OK, we don't know if it is hers or Barry Levinson, to whom she was married at the time, but I'm giving it to her. Karma is way more complicated than people think. 'Are you here for pre death'? Gordon looks like a VP academic. Steve and I both have mixed feelings on this one. I don't think we've seen a many months later flash forward like this. mp3 download

I'm rather proud of this week's title. This one has almost everything. Recurring actors in different roles,  A mobbed up comedian. A guest star from Petticoat Junction! A guest star from Right Guard ads. Could you ask for anything more? It also has a serious discussion about coming out and being closeted.  It's handled pretty well, especially for a tv show from 1977.  The scene, near the end of the episode, is one of the most powerful things either of us have seen on the show up to this point, It even has Lt. Diehl!  It's the last time we will see him until one of the reunion movies. mp3 download

Last week's title was awful, this one wrote itself. Did we remember to do the Spotlight?  Listen and fine out. Lots of psychology content in this one. I would have preferred Dr Robert Hartley. Angel is fun this week. The Firebird flies at one point this week too! Some nice commentary about the surveillance state in this one.  Though it shows that state as at best inept. For some reason 'feed you buckwheats' stuck with me since 1977. David Chase is testing out Sopranos material, I swear. DRAMATIC IRONY! mp3 download

OK, that title is better. Burying the lede here, DIONNE WARWICK! Also GANDY IS BACK. I will stop using so many capitals shortly. We get a Star Trek connection with Malachi Thorne. Nobody cuts a demo. Nobody lays down tracks. (Thanks to my co host Dan on We Have the Technology, also my brother). The payoff in the final seen is gold. Some political stuff this week as well. mp3 download