The Rockford Files - Season 5

First aired: 9/22/1978 22 episodes

Episodes

1. Heartaches of a Fool

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.

2. Rosendahl and Gilda Stern Are Dead

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.

3. The Jersey Bounce

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.

4. White on White and Nearly Perfect

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.

5. Kill the Messenger

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.

6. The Empty Frame

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.

7. Three Day Affair with a Thirty Day Escrow

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.

8. A Good Clean Bust with Sequel Rights

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.

9. Black Mirror: Part 1

Aired: 11/24/1978

A blind psychologist, who is being terrorized by an unknown stalker, turns to Jim for help.

10. Black Mirror: Part 2

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.

11. A Fast Count

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.

12. Local Man Eaten by Newspaper

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.

13. With the French Heel Back, Can the Nehru Jacket Be Far Behind?

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.

14. The Battle-Ax and the Exploding Cigar

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.

15. Guilt

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.

16. The Deuce

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.

17. The Man Who Saw the Alligators

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.

18. The Return of the Black Shadow

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.

19. A Material Difference

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.

20. Never Send a Boy King to Do a Man's Job: Part 1

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.

21. Never Send a Boy King to Do a Man's Job: Part 2

Aired: 3/3/1979

Conclusion

22. A Different Drummer

Aired: 4/13/1979

While in hospital after a car accident, Jim stumbles across a black market for vital organs.