When Rockford's old mentor, private detective Joe Tooley (Paul Fix) is killed in a freeway accident, Jim is suspicious. Tooley never drove on freeways and certainly not without his glasses. Young P.I. Richie Brockleman (Dennis Dugan) is also suspicious and teams up with Rockford in what is essentially the second pilot to the "Richie Brockleman" series.
Dugan and Garner make a pretty good team. Dugan's boundless enthusiasm and optimism make a good contrast to Garner's realistic cynicism. Maybe they needed to team him with an older partner to make his series work. Cannell gives them a couple of good scenes together as they con their way into a credit company's computer. I actually prefer his next appearance on the Files in "Never Send a Boy King..." but he's good here too.
Simon Oakland returns as the bombastic private investigator Vern St. Cloud and has a great scene where he is questioned "by an Italian car". He's loud, he's gruff and he's dumb. But he's pretty amusing too. Maybe he should have teamed with Brockleman.
Old hands like Jackie Cooper (who earlier appeared on the series as Captain Highland) and Pernell Roberts (who appeared with Garner 20 years earlier in an episode of "Sugarfoot") as the head of a security agency and his top operative stand out with strong characterizations.
This was originally a made for TV movie. In syndication it is split into two episodes, part one and two.
Dugan and Garner make a pretty good team. Dugan's boundless enthusiasm and optimism make a good contrast to Garner's realistic cynicism. Maybe they needed to team him with an older partner to make his series work. Cannell gives them a couple of good scenes together as they con their way into a credit company's computer. I actually prefer his next appearance on the Files in "Never Send a Boy King..." but he's good here too.
Simon Oakland returns as the bombastic private investigator Vern St. Cloud and has a great scene where he is questioned "by an Italian car". He's loud, he's gruff and he's dumb. But he's pretty amusing too. Maybe he should have teamed with Brockleman.
Old hands like Jackie Cooper (who earlier appeared on the series as Captain Highland) and Pernell Roberts (who appeared with Garner 20 years earlier in an episode of "Sugarfoot") as the head of a security agency and his top operative stand out with strong characterizations.
This was originally a made for TV movie. In syndication it is split into two episodes, part one and two.