The Rockford Files

The Rockford Files
Title card with Noah Beery, Jr., answering machine
Created by	Roy Huggins Stephen J. Cannell
Starring	James Garner Noah Beery, Jr. Joe Santos Gretchen Corbett Stuart Margolin
Theme music composer	Mike Post Pete Carpenter
Composer(s)	Mike Post Pete Carpenter (co-composer with Post) Artie Kane (two episodes) Dick DeBenedictis (one episode)
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	6
No. of episodes	122 (+ 8 TV movies) (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Stephen J. Cannell Meta Rosenberg
Running time	60 minutes
Production company(s)	Roy Huggins-Public Arts Productions Cherokee Productions Universal Television
Distributor	NBCUniversal Television Distribution
Release
Original network	NBC
Original release	September 13, 1974 – January 10, 1980

The Rockford Files is an American television drama series starring James Garner that aired on the NBC network between September 13, 1974, and January 10, 1980, and has remained in syndication to the present day. Garner portrays Los Angeles-based private investigator Jim Rockford with Noah Beery, Jr., in the supporting role of his father, a retired truck driver nicknamed "Rocky".

The show was created by Roy Huggins and Stephen J. Cannell. Huggins created the television show Maverick (1957–1962), which starred Garner, and he wanted to recapture that magic in a "modern day" detective setting. He teamed with Cannell, who had written for Jack Webb productions such as Adam-12 and Chase (1973–1974, NBC), to create The Rockford Files.

The show was credited as "A Public Arts/Roy Huggins Production" along with Cherokee Productions in association with Universal Television. Cherokee was owned by Garner, with partners Meta Rosenberg and Juanita Bartlett, who doubled as story editor during most of The Rockford Files run.

The series theme music by composers Mike Post and Pete Carpenter was released as a single and went to #10 on the Billboard Hot 100, remaining on the chart for 16 weeks. and won a Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Arrangement for 1975.