Jim Rockford (television character) Jim Rockford (television character) James Scott Rockford is a fictional character on the television series "The Rockford Files". The character, played by James Garner, is a struggling private investigator operating in the greater Los Angeles area. Rockford is the principal character of the series, and Garner was the only actor to appear in every episode of the series. Unlike many other fictional "private eyes", he is an ex-convict, albeit one who was falsely imprisoned (at San Quentin Prison) and later fully pardoned. One episode tells that because of the carelessness of his parole officer, Rockford had to hire an attorney
The Rockford Files used. In total, 122 different messages were created through the run of the original six series. The eight CBS TV movies (also referred to as season 8) feature a unique message. However episodes syndicated as "James Rockford, Private Investigator" use the same message; it was taken from episode 507, "A Three-Day Affair with a Thirty-Day Escrow". Each message is a standalone gag that often provides a small amount of biographical detail about Rockford, the people he knows and the activities that occur in his life as a Private Investigator. Only extremely rarely (such as in episode No. 209, "Chicken Little