Robert Donley portrayed Joseph "Rocky" Rockford only in the pilot. Noah Beery Jr. would pick up the role for the duration of the series. Donley's portrayal was shown to be slightly seedy, as demonstrated by allowing his son to be the victim of an attempted shakedown by his Records Clerk acquaintance.
Originally shown as a stand-alone TV movie, representing the pilot to a series that would debut six months later. Now numbered as episode '0', this was not part of the original numbering of the series. When the show was cancelled during the sixth season after only 16 episodes had been completed, this TV movie (originally titled simply as The Rockford Files) acquired the title "Backlash of the Hunter" and added to the sixth season reruns as a two-part episode, numbered as episode '0' in syndication.
Bill Quinn, who plays the drunk who gets murdered, also appears in three other Rockford episodes; two as a judge: Pastoria Prime Pick (1975) and The Dog and Pony Show (1977); one as a tycoon who hires Rockford on White on White and Nearly Perfect (1978). NOTE: Quinn is Bob Newhart's father-in-law.
This episode showcases a rare filmed sequence inside the actual trailer, where you can see how difficult it is to adequately light the interior for filming due to the brightness outside.
Rockford's Yellow Pages ad for The Rockford Agency is seen at the beginning of this pilot episode. Jim's address is given as 2354 Ocean Blvd., Los Angeles--an address that does not correspond to either of the two addresses used for Rockford for the remainder of the series. The trailer was located at 29 Cove Road, Malibu, after the first season.