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The Best Episodes of The Rockford Files

Every episode of The Rockford Files ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of The Rockford Files!

Cranky but likable L.A. PI Jim Rockford pulls no punches (but takes plenty of them). An ex-con sent to the slammer for a crime he...
Genres:CrimeDramaMystery
Network:NBC

Best Episodes Summary

"So Help Me God" is the best rated episode of "The Rockford Files". It scored 8.9/10 based on 382 votes. Directed by Jeannot Szwarc and written by Juanita Bartlett, it aired on 11/19/1976. This episode scored 0.0 points higher than the second highest rated, "White on White and Nearly Perfect".

  • So Help Me God
    8.9/10382 votes
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    #1 - So Help Me God

    Season 3 Episode 7 - Aired 11/19/1976

    Jim gets called before a grand jury where he promptly gets thrown into jail for contempt.

    Director: Jeannot Szwarc

    Writer: Juanita Bartlett

  • White on White and Nearly Perfect
    8.9/10418 votes
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    #2 - White on White and Nearly Perfect

    Season 5 Episode 4 - Aired 10/20/1978

    Handsome, charmed PI Lance White (Tom Selleck) may speak lines that sound like they're from a 1940s B movie, but everyone is so attracted to him they hang on his every word. That is, everyone except Jim.

    Director: Stephen J. Cannell

    Writer: Stephen J. Cannell

  • The Hammer of C Block
    8.7/10408 votes
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    #3 - The Hammer of C Block

    Season 2 Episode 14 - Aired 1/9/1976

    A friend (Isaac Hayes) from Jim's time in prison after getting out, needs help clearing himself from the crime he was put into prison for.

    Director: Jerry London

    Writer: Gordon T. Dawson

  • The House on Willis Avenue
    8.7/10360 votes
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    #4 - The House on Willis Avenue

    Season 4 Episode 21 - Aired 2/24/1978

    When a fellow P.I. is killed on the Ventura freeway, Jim and Richie Brockelman team up to find out if it really was an accident.

    Director: Hy Averback

    Writer: Stephen J. Cannell

  • A Material Difference
    8.7/10342 votes
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    #5 - A Material Difference

    Season 5 Episode 19 - Aired 2/24/1979

    Jim finds himself being dragged into a complicated situation when Angel's con job as a hit man for hire goes awry.

    Director: William Wiard

    Writer: Rogers Turrentine

  • Paradise Cove
    8.7/10314 votes
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    #6 - Paradise Cove

    Season 6 Episode 1 - Aired 9/28/1979

    Jim's Malibu neighborhood becomes the site of a treasure hunt for a stash of gold bullion, stolen fifty years earlier.

    Director: Stephen J. Cannell

    Writer: Stephen J. Cannell

  • Love Is the Word
    8.7/10368 votes
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    #7 - Love Is the Word

    Season 6 Episode 6 - Aired 11/19/1979

    Jim reconnects with Dr. Megan Dougherty and discovers she is engaged to another man. When she believes he is missing Jim agrees to help her, despite the fact he disapproves of her engagement and for his feelings for Megan.

    Director: John Patterson

    Writer: David Chase

  • A Portrait of Elizabeth
    8.6/10333 votes
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    #8 - A Portrait of Elizabeth

    Season 2 Episode 16 - Aired 1/23/1976

    A client of Beth's hires Jim misleadingly to check on his company.

    Director: Meta Rosenberg

    Writer: Stephen J. Cannell

  • There's One in Every Port
    8.6/10335 votes
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    #9 - There's One in Every Port

    Season 3 Episode 12 - Aired 1/7/1977

    After being conned by friends Jim sets them up to settle the score and save himself.

    Director: Meta Rosenberg

    Writer: Stephen J. Cannell

  • Dirty Money, Black Light
    8.6/10287 votes
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    #10 - Dirty Money, Black Light

    Season 3 Episode 22 - Aired 4/1/1977

    Jim becomes very concerned when Rocky starts receiving thousands of dollars through the mail.

    Director: Stuart Margolin

    Writer: David Taylor

  • The Competitive Edge
    8.6/10315 votes
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    #11 - The Competitive Edge

    Season 4 Episode 19 - Aired 2/10/1978

    Jim winds up in a funny farm when he gets too close to the truth about an elite health club.

    Director: Harry Falk

    Writer: Gordon T. Dawson

  • The Farnsworth Stratagem
    8.5/10390 votes
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    #12 - The Farnsworth Stratagem

    Season 2 Episode 2 - Aired 9/19/1975

    Becker and a young writer ask for Rockford's help after they purchase a share in a condominium and discover they only own part of the lobby.

    Director: Lawrence Doheny

    Writer: Juanita Bartlett

  • Chicken Little Is a Little Chicken
    8.5/10359 votes
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    #13 - Chicken Little Is a Little Chicken

    Season 2 Episode 9 - Aired 11/14/1975

    A good deed for Angel makes Rockford the target of a mobster.

    Director: Lawrence Doheny

    Writer: Stephen J. Cannell

  • Sticks and Stones May Break Your Bones, But Waterbury Will Bury You
    8.5/10317 votes
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    #14 - Sticks and Stones May Break Your Bones, But Waterbury Will Bury You

    Season 3 Episode 13 - Aired 1/14/1977

    When several of Jim's fellow P.I.'s lose their licenses under circumstances that are suspiciously similar, he begins to suspect that someone is targeting independent investigators and systematically putting them out of business.

    Director: Jerry London

    Writer: David Chase

  • The Trees, the Bees and T.T. Flowers: Part 1
    8.5/10329 votes
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    #15 - The Trees, the Bees and T.T. Flowers: Part 1

    Season 3 Episode 14 - Aired 1/21/1977

    Jim helps a friend (Strother Martin) of Rocky's who's being forced off his property.

    Director: Jerry London

    Writer: Gordon T. Dawson

  • Kill the Messenger
    8.5/10282 votes
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    #16 - Kill the Messenger

    Season 5 Episode 5 - Aired 10/27/1978

    When an already overly stressed Dennis Becker is lumped with the unwelcome task of finding out who murdered Deputy Chief Towne's unfaithful wife, Jim decides to lend a hand in the investigation.

    Director: Ivan Dixon

    Writer: Juanita Bartlett

  • Profit and Loss (1)
    8.4/10394 votes
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    #17 - Profit and Loss (1)

    Season 1 Episode 12 - Aired 12/20/1974

    Jim investigates a large corporation when one of its executives is kidnapped and the wife of another executive claims the company murdered her husband.

    Director: Lawrence Doheny

    Writer: Stephen J. Cannell

  • Profit and Loss (2)
    8.4/10355 votes
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    #18 - Profit and Loss (2)

    Season 1 Episode 13 - Aired 12/27/1974

    Rockford discovers the investment firm Fiscal Dynamics is a financial fraud and its president Leon Fielder will do anything to prevent him from destroying his company.

    Director: Lawrence Doheny

    Writer: Stephen J. Cannell

  • The Great Blue Lake Land and Development Company
    8.4/10336 votes
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    #19 - The Great Blue Lake Land and Development Company

    Season 2 Episode 6 - Aired 10/17/1975

    When a client's bail money disappears in a desert town, Rockford uncovers a major land swindle.

    Director: Lawrence Doheny

    Writer: Juanita Bartlett

  • Pastoria Prime Pick
    8.4/10355 votes
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    #20 - Pastoria Prime Pick

    Season 2 Episode 11 - Aired 11/28/1975

    A farming hub has more business than it can handle, including giving Rockford the business. The PI's car breaks down near the boomtown, after a source Rockford contacts in a divorce case steers Rockford there. While his car is being worked on, Rockford is quickly entangled between an underage motel worker and her jealous cop boyfriend, and in a double-cross over a narcotics deal. Is it just another tricky day for unlucky Jim, or is bucolic New Pastoria a sunny sin city ?

    Director: Lawrence Doheny

    Writer: Gordon T. Dawson

  • Drought at Indianhead River
    8.4/10338 votes
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    #21 - Drought at Indianhead River

    Season 3 Episode 5 - Aired 11/5/1976

    Jim finds out there's a hit out on Angel and runs into trouble with the mob bailing him out.

    Director: Lawrence Doheny

    Writer: Stephen J. Cannell

  • The Trees, the Bees and T.T. Flowers: Part 2
    8.4/10304 votes
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    #22 - The Trees, the Bees and T.T. Flowers: Part 2

    Season 3 Episode 15 - Aired 1/28/1977

    Jim helps a friend of Rocky's who's being forced off his property.

    Director: Jerry London

    Writer: Gordon T. Dawson

  • A Good Clean Bust with Sequel Rights
    8.4/10263 votes
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    #23 - A Good Clean Bust with Sequel Rights

    Season 5 Episode 8 - Aired 11/17/1978

    Jim is forced to babysit Chicago ex-cop, now celebrity, "Frank Falcone," who has a television show and toy line. Falcone isn't easy to babysit, and things get dicey when some old Chicago "friends" of Falcone show up to complicate things.

    Director: William Wiard

    Writer: Rudolph Borchert

  • Counter Gambit
    8.3/10361 votes
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    #24 - Counter Gambit

    Season 1 Episode 16 - Aired 1/24/1975

    Two former cons hire Rockford to find an old girlfriend. They actually want her valuable pearl necklace and implicate him as the thief. With Angel's help, he'll get the pearls back and square himself with the police.

    Director: Jackie Cooper

    Writer: Juanita Bartlett, Howard Berk

  • Gearjammers (2)
    8.3/10302 votes
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    #25 - Gearjammers (2)

    Season 2 Episode 4 - Aired 10/3/1975

    Killers pursue Rocky, as Becker and Rockford investigate a hijacking operation.

    Director: William Wiard

    Writer: Don Carlos Dunaway