8.2/10326 votes#1 - Heartaches of a Fool
Season 5 Episode 1 - Aired 9/22/1978
Jim finds that a country music star, corrupt union boss and Chinese triad all have one thing in common with why Rocky ended in hospital after his rig was forced off the road: sausages.
Director: William Wiard
Writer: Stephen J. Cannell
7.7/10257 votes#2 - Rosendahl and Gilda Stern Are Dead
Season 5 Episode 2 - Aired 9/29/1978
A doctor's murder has direct connections to the Mob, and Jim comes to the assistance of hooker friend Rita Capcovik (Rita Moreno) when she finds herself entangled in it.
Director: William Wiard
Writer: Juanita Bartlett
8.1/10295 votes#3 - The Jersey Bounce
Season 5 Episode 3 - Aired 10/6/1978
Wrongly accused of beating a man to death, Jim discovers the best legal advice he can find is from disbarred lawyer John Cooper.
Director: William Wiard
Writer: David Chase
8.9/10418 votes#4 - 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
8.5/10282 votes#5 - 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
7.6/10258 votes#6 - The Empty Frame
Season 5 Episode 6 - Aired 11/3/1978
At a swank party, attended by some of LA's high society and police dept. VIPs, in honor of Angel's brother-in-law, Aaron, being made Chief of Police, a robbery takes place, while Lt. Doug Chapman is in charge of security. Desperate to get back into good graces with his superiors, Chapman swallows his pride and asks Rockford to help him.
Director: Corey Allen
Writer: Stephen J. Cannell
7.5/10238 votes#7 - Three Day Affair with a Thirty Day Escrow
Season 5 Episode 7 - Aired 11/10/1978
After being strong-armed by an Arab sheik and his goons, and getting no help from the police, Jim decides to track down the two people who caused his trouble: a soft-voiced gigolo and the sheik's naive daughter.
Director: Ivan Dixon
Writer: David Chase
8.4/10263 votes#8 - 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
8.1/10313 votes#9 - Black Mirror: Part 1
Season 5 Episode 9 - Aired 11/24/1978
A blind psychologist, who is being terrorized by an unknown stalker, turns to Jim for help.
Director: Arnold Laven
Writer: David Chase
7.7/10252 votes#10 - Black Mirror: Part 2
Season 5 Episode 10 - Aired 11/24/1978
Rockford's investigation of psychologist Megan Dougherty's stalker leads him to one of her patients who may have a split personality - one of which is a paid killer.
Director: Arnold Laven
Writer: David Chase
7.3/10241 votes#11 - A Fast Count
Season 5 Episode 11 - Aired 12/1/1978
Jim puts up his dukes and steps forward to help a boxing coach who has been framed with bribery and murder.
Director: Reza Badiyi
Writer: Gordon T. Dawson
7.3/10239 votes#12 - Local Man Eaten by Newspaper
Season 5 Episode 12 - Aired 12/8/1978
Jim could use some saintly guidance when he goes undercover on a scandal rag that is getting confidential medical information on a doctor's famous, and infamous, patients.
Director: Meta Rosenberg
Writer: Juanita Bartlett
8.1/10248 votes#13 - With the French Heel Back, Can the Nehru Jacket Be Far Behind?
Season 5 Episode 13 - Aired 1/5/1979
A fashion model friend of Jim is found dead on the ground below her balcony. The police believe it's suicide, but having gotten a desperate phone call from her, Jim believes it's murder.
Director: Ivan Dixon
Writer: Rudolph Borchert
7.2/10231 votes#14 - The Battle-Ax and the Exploding Cigar
Season 5 Episode 14 - Aired 1/12/1979
Ignorant that he's been driving a hot Cadillac with an illegal stash of guns in the trunk, leads Jim into rubbing shoulders with the FBI and the Company.
Director: Ivan Dixon
Writer: Rogers Turrentine
7.9/10227 votes#15 - Guilt
Season 5 Episode 15 - Aired 1/19/1979
Jim finds his guilty conscience being manipulated by a former fiancee, who asks him to find out who is threatening her life.
Director: William Wiard
Writer: Juanita Bartlett
7.7/10242 votes#16 - The Deuce
Season 5 Episode 16 - Aired 1/25/1979
Having Jim doing jury duty leads to a mistrial and his being hired to investigate the case of pedestrian hit by a drunk-driver that brought the accused to court.
Director: Bernard McEveety
Writer: Gordon T. Dawson
7.5/10265 votes#17 - The Man Who Saw the Alligators
Season 5 Episode 17 - Aired 2/10/1979
If having the IRS wanting to do an audit isn't bad enough, a gangster Jim helped put in prison is out on parole and wants a pound of his flesh in revenge.
Director: Corey Allen
Writer: David Chase
8.3/10252 votes#18 - The Return of the Black Shadow
Season 5 Episode 18 - Aired 2/17/1979
A gang of bikers beat up Jim and assault John Cooper's sister, leading Coop to seek vengeance by returning to a darker period in his past when he was in a biker gang.
Director: William Wiard
Writer: Stephen J. Cannell
8.7/10342 votes#19 - 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
7.7/10230 votes#20 - Never Send a Boy King to Do a Man's Job: Part 1
Season 5 Episode 20 - Aired 3/3/1979
Richie's father has been swindled by a man named Coombs. Jim assembles together a disparate group of con-artists in a complicated scheme using Coombs' anxieties, and even the "Curse" of King Tut, to save Mr. Brockelman from ruin.
Director: William Wiard
Writer: Juanita Bartlett
NaN/100 votes#21 - Never Send a Boy King to Do a Man's Job: Part 2
Season 5 Episode 21 - Aired 4/13/1979
Conclusion
Director: William Wiard
Writer: Rudolph Borchert
NaN/100 votes#22 - A Different Drummer
Season 5 Episode 22 - Aired 4/13/1979
While in hospital after a car accident, Jim stumbles across a black market for vital organs.
Director: Reza Badiyi
Writer: Rudolph Borchert
The Best Episodes of The Rockford Files Season 5
Every episode of The Rockford Files Season 5 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of The Rockford Files Season 5!
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 5 Ratings Summary
"Heartaches of a Fool" is the best rated episode of "The Rockford Files" season 5. It scored 8.2/10 based on 326 votes. Directed by William Wiard and written by Stephen J. Cannell, it aired on 9/22/1978. This episode is rated 0.5 points higher than the second-best, "Rosendahl and Gilda Stern Are Dead".