The Rockford Files (theme) The Rockford Files (theme) "The Rockford Files" is a 1975 instrumental by Mike Post and co-composer Pete Carpenter. The song is the theme from the TV series "The Rockford Files" starring James Garner. It appears at the opening and ending of each episode with different arrangements. Throughout the show's tenure, the theme song went through numerous evolutions, with later versions containing a distinct electric guitar-based bridge section played by session guitarist Dan Ferguson. The song spent four months on the charts and in August 1975 became a Top 10 hit in the U.S. (#10, for two weeks) and in Canada
The Rockford Files pilot aired on NBC March 27, 1974, as a 90-minute made-for-television movie. In the pilot, Lindsay Wagner also starred and later made a return appearance. The pilot was titled "Backlash of the Hunter" for syndication. Four written but unproduced Season 6 episodes were referred to in "Thirty Years of the Rockford Files" by Ed Robertson (2005). There is no mention of these episodes being filmed. This would appear to be the source of the unsubstantiated rumor that four filmed but unaired "Rockford" episodes were destroyed in a fire in 1980. The Pilot Season 1 Season 2 Season 3 Season 4