About the show
Two Hundred a Day is a podcast by Nathan D. Paoletta and Epidiah Ravachol. We are exploring the intensely weird and interesting world of the 70s TV detective show The Rockford Files. In each episode of Two Hundred a Day, we watch an episode, recap and review it as fans of the show, and tease out specific elements that hold lessons for writers, gamers and anyone else interested in making better stories.
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Episodes
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Episode 143: If It Bleeds... It Leads
September 29th, 2024 | 1 hr 59 mins
1970s, 1990s, 70s, hal linden, james garner, jim rockford, p.i, rita moreno, rockford files, television, the media is the real villain, tv, tv movie
Nathan and Eppy bid a bittersweet farewell to Rita with the final Rockford Files TV Move: If It Bleeds... It Leads (1999). This was a hard one! Rita's husband, schoolteacher Ernie (Hal Linden) is falsely accused of a series of child sexual assaults, and while Jim helps to clear his name, it's not enough to prevent a series of tragedies. While this one has wonderful performances and some great spots of the Rockfordishness we always love, the content and tone made it tough to say we "enjoyed" it. It did give us great closure on "Rita and Jim, their whole thing" but, unfortunately, was not the warm victory lap to bid farewell to our friends that we kinda wanted. Content Warnings: the plot is about a child rapist, scenes include child endangerment and there is a (relatively) graphic suicide.
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Episode 142: Speculative Episode Draft Special!
September 15th, 2024 | 1 hr 19 mins
1970s, 70s, draft, james garner, jim rockford, p.i, rockford files, rockfordishness, special, television, tv
It's a special episode! Nathan and Eppy are drafting elements from The Rockford Files to construct two pitches for Rockford Files episodes that never were. It's a great excuse to talk a little bit about our favorite bits of the show, and we have some great Patron suggestions to help us along.
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Episode 141: No Fault Affair
August 25th, 2024 | 1 hr 55 mins
1970s, 70s, barbecue, goofy, james garner, jim rockford, p.i, rita moreno, rockford files, television, tv
Nathan and Eppy get re-acquainted with national treasure Rita Moreno in S6S8 No Fault Affair. After Jim's friend Rita, a sex worker, gets beat up badly by her pimp, he nurses her back to health - and she falls for him in the process. He has to navigate her emotions while she's trying to get out of her current life, but of course it's not going to be quick or easy. This is the last "regular" episode of the show for us, and we're really glad it fell here. It gives us almost all of our favorite things in the Rockford Files, and we have a lot to talk about!
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Episode 140: Paradise Cove
August 18th, 2024 | 1 hr 19 mins
1970s, 70s, buried treasure, grind your sombrero, james garner, jim rockford, mariette hartley, p.i, rockford files, television, tv
Nathan and Eppy take a little tour through Malibu in S6E1 Paradise Cove. Mariette Hartley joins James Garner in this final season premier episode as Althea, a court-appointed adjuster sent to audit Jim in the wake of a lawsuit he lost to fellow Cove resident C.C. Calloway. Calloway wants to get Jim, or at least his trailer, out of the way because of a 50-year search for literal buried treasure, and once Jim figures that out he's able to get Althea on his side of the treasure-hunt. A Stephen Cannell written, produced and directed episode, it's a Rockfordlishess romp - highly recommended!
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Episode 139: Forced Retirement
July 28th, 2024 | 1 hr 39 mins
1970s, 70s, james garner, jim rockford, jimmy joe meeker, kelp, p.i, rockford files, silverfish, stetsons, submersible, television, tv
Nathan and Eppy revisit the first of our "lost episodes" with S4E11 Forced Retirement. An old college friend of Beth's is involved with a secretive undersea submersible project, and after Beth surprises an intruder in her apartment, Jim offers to look into it. He calls in his Jimmy Joe Meeker persona to pose as an investor, kangaroo-skin boots and all; but when the inventor's plane blows up, Jim and Beth have to figure out what's going on before someone else dies. It's a good one!
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Episode 138: New Life, Old Dragons
June 30th, 2024 | 1 hr 27 mins
1970s, 70s, james garner, jim rockford, language barrier, lj, p.i, paint the trailer, rockford files, television, tv, vietnam
Nathan and Eppy close out Season Three with S3E18 New Life, Old Dragons. Jim is hired by a Vietnamese refugee to find her missing brother, but as he (reluctantly) pursues the case, it becomes clear that he doesn't know the whole story. When Rocky takes a beating, it turns personal, and Jim needs to figure out where the danger is coming from - the kidnappers, or his own client! Also, Rocky wants to paint Jim's trailer. It's an unusual episode in a lot of ways, and we discuss the assumptions we brought into our viewing, and how the episode subverts them.
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Episode 137: This Case Is Closed
June 16th, 2024 | 1 hr 47 mins
1970s, 70s, feds, james garner, jim rockford, newark, p.i, professional ethics, rockford files, snacking, television, tv
Nathan and Eppy finish the main tour through the first season with the 90-minute S1E6 This Case Is Closed. Jim's client sends him to Newark to check up on a soon-to-be son-in-law, and Jim starts getting heat from the mob, the cops and the feds - and he doesn't know why! With an unconventional narrative structure, plenty of good car chases and lots of Cannell-written memorable dialogue, this Roy Huggins script delivers a solid early-series Rockford experience.
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Episode 136: In Pursuit of Carol Thorne
May 26th, 2024 | 1 hr 26 mins
1970s, 70s, bookies, con men, cons, corned beef, james garner, jim rockford, p.i, rockford files, television, tv
Nathan and Eppy take a road trip in S1E9 In Pursuit of Carol Thorne. Jim is hired to keep an eye on a newly-released-from-prison Carol Thorne - but he's not the only one! Carol takes a hike and Jim pursues her to Nevada, only to find that he's being used by a conman to get Carol to find another member of his old gang who's sitting on a million-dollar score. Not really a con game episode, we enjoyed the con characters as part of a fun, easy-to-watch season one romp. Recommended!
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Episode 135: Find Me If You Can
April 21st, 2024 | 1 hr 32 mins
1970s, 70s, always be prepared, james garner, jim rockford, p.i, rockford files, spare ribs, stand-off, starsky, television, tv
Nathan and Eppy join Jim for one of his most unique challenges in S1E8 Find Me If You Can. His client has hired Jim to find... her. While the money is good, the mystery surrounding why Barbara (Joan Van Arc) is trying to stay un-discoverable concerns Jim, and his search for answers takes him to the mob boss of Denver, played by Paul Michael Glaser. Jim needs to navigate some complicated emotions and truly dangerous people in this noir-flavored early season episode. It's a lot of fun!
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Episode 134: Star Trek: First Contact
April 1st, 2024 | 2 hrs 8 mins
1970s, 70s, ahab, dixon hill, end program, fifth contact, first contact, james garner, jim rockford, next generation, p.i, rockford files, star trek, television, tv
Welcome to Twenty Dollars a Day, the podcast where we explore our favorite holodeck adventures in the Star Trek universe! Nathan and Eppy are bidding a fond farewell to this podcast with our final episode: the second Next Generation movie, First Contact. Look, it has a Dixon Hill holodeck appearance, so it counts enough for us to talk about it - and it's a great movie! Thanks for trekking through all the holodecks, holosuites and photonic landscapes over the years. End program.
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Episode 133: Piece Work
March 24th, 2024 | 1 hr 17 mins
1970s, 70s, gym, james garner, jim rockford, lousy mackerel, michael lerner, p.i, rockford files, television, threads, tv
Nathan and Eppy hit the gym in S3E10 Piece Work. Jim's insurance investigation gig happens to intersect with flashy dresser Murray Rosner (Michael Lerner), a freelancer for the feds who's getting a gun buy together. After a series of paranoid assumptions, Jim takes a beating from the gun-running goons, uncovers the scheme and brings in Dennis for a bust that doesn't happen. Between Chapman threatening to pull his license and Murray's conviction that Jim is trying to take over the operation, Jim has a lot to handle! This fun romp of an episode gives us a memorable character and a lot of great Rockfordishness, a great watch!
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Episode 132: Rattlers' Class of '63
March 10th, 2024 | 1 hr 24 mins
1970s, 70s, angel, david chase, dump, james garner, jim rockford, p.i, red barn con, rockford files, television, tv, wedding
Nathan and Eppy make a trip to the dump in S3E8 Rattlers' Class of '63. Angel is getting married! Jim is surprised but supportive - until he learns that it's Angel's way of ducking the fallout from a "Red Barn" con gone wrong. His new brothers-in-law are trying to sell a landfill, but once one of them is found dead, Angel and Jim look good for the murder. They need to find the real killer before Chapman can build a case, which sends Jim on a search for the deadly secret buried under the trash. Our last episode written by David Chase, it's a good one even before getting to a top-five finale scene!