Private eye Jim Rockford (James Garner) finds himself in more trouble with this week’s installment that sees two episodes from November 1974!

In the first episode In Pursuit of Carol Thorne, which aired November 8, and was written by Cannell off of a story by Roy Huggins, Jim is brought on to find a missing man, whose elderly parents think that his girlfriend, Carol (Lynette Mettey), a recent parolee is behind his disappearance.

The phone gag is a message from the phone message company, asking if he’d like to pay for the unit he’s using.

This one is fun and amusing especially as Jim decides that the best way to find out what happened is to woo Carol, though that may end up being more dangerous for him than he realizes!

Of the two episodes I watched this week, however, I prefered the second one, The Dexter Crisis, although it sadly doesn’t have Rocky (Noah Beery, Jr.) in it.

Airing on 15 November, and penned by Gloryette Clark, this one sees Jim hired by Charles Dexter (Buck Roger’s Tim O’Connor) to find his mistress, who seems to have disappeared.  As Jim sets out, looking for the missing co-ed, Susan (Lee Purcell), he decides to start with her roommate, Louise (Linda Kelsey).

Louise agrees to help, only if she can come along to make sure everything Jim is doing is in Susan’s best interest. Rockford reluctantly agrees, but things change when Louise reveals that she’s got the licence plate of someone she’s seen watching the missing woman. Running it down, Jim is perturbed to find that it belongs to another P.I., one he doesn’t get along with, Kermit Higby (Ron Soble).

The leads he runs down, take him and Louise to Vegas, where Jim finds Susan amongst the tables, changing chips with cash, sitting at a table for a while, and then cashing them in.

Rockford begins to suspect there’s more going on here than he knows about.

This one was a lot of fun, and as seems to be a recurring issue for our hero, getting screwed out of his bonus, and missing the chance to make some actual money as opposed to his $200/day and expenses.

This installment sees us at the halfway mark of season 1, and I can’t believe how much I still enjoy this show, and I’m starting see some of the influences that the show has had on me over the years…. My mouth, much like his, can get me into trouble sometimes…

He still remains very cool, and honestly, part of me thinks living in a trailer by the beach is a pretty sweet way setup.

I also find myself wishing I had the relationship with my father that Jim has with his, but I’m very happy I don’t get messed over as often as he does… not to mention the insurance rates on his car must be pretty high!

The phone gags, the attitude, the car, the dialogue, all of it holds up very well. Sure there are technological advances that have happened since then that would affect the way the story would happen today, but this was a very different time, one that I’m not quite nostalgic for yet, but this show is definitely fostering it…