8.0/10328 votes#1 - The Fourth Man
Season 3 Episode 1 - Aired 9/24/1976
Jim helps a friend who works in the airline industry, who's apparently being pursued by a hit man, and she's no idea why she's being targeted.
Director: William Wiard
Writer: Juanita Bartlett
8.1/10321 votes#2 - The Oracle Wore a Cashmere Suit
Season 3 Episode 2 - Aired 10/1/1976
Rockford finds himself getting unwanted attention from the media and police, when a popular psychic fingers him as having important information on the disappearance of two people.
Director: Russ Mayberry
Writer: David Chase
8.1/10308 votes#3 - The Family Hour
Season 3 Episode 3 - Aired 10/8/1976
Jim and Rocky find an abandoned young girl that leads to Jim finding and helping her father.
Director: William Wiard
Writer: Gordon T. Dawson
7.7/10295 votes#4 - Feeding Frenzy
Season 3 Episode 4 - Aired 10/15/1976
Jim helps a friend who wants to pay back money he stole three years earlier when his daughter then gets kidnapped leading to problems for Jim with the kidnappers and the police.
Director: Russ Mayberry
Writer: Stephen J. Cannell
8.4/10342 votes#5 - 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
8.0/10282 votes#6 - Coulter City Wildcat
Season 3 Episode 6 - Aired 11/12/1976
Rocky is forced to sign oil lease rights he owns away, leading Jim to investigate who and why someone wanted Rocky's seemingly worthless leases so badly.
Director: Russ Mayberry
Writer: Don Carlos Dunaway
8.9/10386 votes#7 - 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
7.8/10285 votes#8 - Rattlers' Class of '63
Season 3 Episode 8 - Aired 11/26/1976
Angel is working a con involving the sale of a landfill, and unknown to him or Jim, it happens to be the location of a dead body from an unsolved case from twelve years before. The people who put it there don't want it found.
Director: Meta Rosenberg
Writer: David Chase
7.6/10261 votes#9 - Return to the 38th Parallel
Season 3 Episode 9 - Aired 12/10/1976
Jim gets used by an old Army buddy in an insurance recovery case.
Director: Bruce Kessler
Writer: Walter Dallenbach
7.9/10272 votes#10 - Piece Work
Season 3 Episode 10 - Aired 12/17/1976
While investigating an insurance claim Jim accidentally stumbles into a gun smuggling operation.
Director: Lawrence Doheny
Writer: Juanita Bartlett
7.6/10281 votes#11 - The Trouble with Warren
Season 3 Episode 11 - Aired 12/24/1976
Beth's nerdy cousin Warren drags Jim into his mounting troubles.
Director: Christian I. Nyby II
Writer: Juanita Bartlett
8.6/10337 votes#12 - 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
8.5/10319 votes#13 - 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
8.5/10332 votes#14 - 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
8.4/10304 votes#15 - 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
8.1/10294 votes#16 - The Becker Connection
Season 3 Episode 16 - Aired 2/11/1977
Rockford's newest case is to clear his friend Dennis Becker, who is suspected of selling drugs to deal with his financial problems.
Director: Reza Badiyi
Writer: Juanita Bartlett
8.3/10320 votes#17 - Just Another Polish Wedding
Season 3 Episode 17 - Aired 2/18/1977
Jim gets Gandy (Isaac Hayes) a job with his P.I. buddy Marcus Hayes (Louis Gossett Jr.) who promptly then tries to steal the case.
Director: William Wiard
Writer: Stephen J. Cannell
7.5/10261 votes#18 - New Life, Old Dragons
Season 3 Episode 18 - Aired 2/25/1977
Jim is hired by a Vietnamese refugee to find her missing brother.
Director: Jeannot Szwarc
Writer: David Taylor
7.9/10286 votes#19 - To Protect and Serve: Part 1
Season 3 Episode 19 - Aired 3/11/1977
Rockford is hired to find a missing woman, only to discover that she is also being sought by a New York crime family.
Director: William Wiard
Writer: David Chase
8.1/10263 votes#20 - To Protect and Serve: Part 2
Season 3 Episode 20 - Aired 3/18/1977
Rockford tries to keep a woman on the run out of the hands of two Minette hoods (and her revenge minded ex-fiancé) but the bungling interference of a disturbed police groupie threatens to get them both killed.
Director: William Wiard
Writer: David Chase
8.3/10284 votes#21 - Crack Back
Season 3 Episode 21 - Aired 3/25/1977
Beth turns to Jim for help when she finds herself being mentally harassed by a mysterious man while trying to win an important trial.
Director: Reza Badiyi
Writer: Juanita Bartlett
8.6/10291 votes#22 - 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 Best Episodes of The Rockford Files Season 3
Every episode of The Rockford Files Season 3 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of The Rockford Files Season 3!
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
Season 3 Ratings Summary
"The Fourth Man" is the best rated episode of "The Rockford Files" season 3. It scored 8/10 based on 328 votes. Directed by William Wiard and written by Juanita Bartlett, it aired on 9/24/1976. This episode is rated 0.1 points higher than the second-best, "The Oracle Wore a Cashmere Suit".