Episode Archive

132 episodes of Two Hundred A Day since the first episode, which aired on December 23rd, 2016.

  • 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!

  • Episode 131: Murder and Misdemeanors

    February 25th, 2024  |  1 hr 50 mins
    1970s, 70s, 90s, buddha, composite, great score, james garner, jim rockford, john amos, p.i, rockford files, television, tv, tv movie

    Nathan and Eppy hit the streets of LA for the penultimate 90s TV Movie, Murder and Misdemeanors. A fellow ex-con-turned-PI, Booker Hutch (John Amos), cons Jim into taking his remaining caseload - and before he can even look over the files, Jim's fielding police harassment. There's an investigation into potentially dirty cops, a reporter hungry for a story (Isabel Glasser), some great goons, and Angel hovering to take advantage of Jim's sudden notoriety - a perfect mess for our friend Jim to untangle! Thankfully, he makes a good friend along the way. A very 70s-era feeling movie, this one isn't as ambitious as some previous 90s stories, but it certainly satisfies with Rockfordishness.

  • Episode 130: With the French Heel Back, Can the Nehru Jacket Be Far Behind?

    January 28th, 2024  |  1 hr 31 mins
    1970s, 70s, burial gown, couture, fashion, james garner, jim rockford, loan shark, p.i, rockford files, schneider, television, tv

    Nathan and Eppy hit the runway in S5E12 With the French Heel Back, Can the Nehru Jacket Be Far Behind? After a discussion of the very interesting life of director Ivan Dixon, we join Jim as he investigates the death of a model friend who called him for help. This quickly brings him to fellow-(former)-model Alta (Erin Gray) and then avant-garde designer Masters (Rene Auberjonois). Jim seems to be the only one who sees a connection between the deaths both of his friend and a high-profile socialite who ran in similar circles, and things escalate as he continues to push for the truth. Though we found the villains motivation to be a little vaguer than usual, it's a tight episode that was fun to watch!

  • Episode 129: Three Day Affair with a Thirty Day Escrow

    January 7th, 2024  |  1 hr 13 mins
    1970s, 70s, helicopters, james garner, jim rockford, ludes, p.i, psychobabble, real estate, rockford files, television, tv

    Nathan and Eppy join Jim as he faces off with a neurotic playboy, a real estate slimeball and Arabic culture clash in S5E7 Three Day Affair with a Thirty Day Escrow. Rousted out of bed by an angry Arabic patriarch to answer for a recent gig where Jim was looking for his daughter, Jim wants to get to the bottom of the situation. After tracking down his former client Sean, the two of them stumble over the body of the missing woman's husband, and things get weirder (and more dangerous) from there. We found this one chock full of Rockfordishness, but didn't love the trope-y inclusion of Middle Eastern culture as a source of othered menace.

  • Episode 128: The Prisoner of Rosemont Hall

    December 10th, 2023  |  1 hr 28 mins
    1970s, 70s, audio tapes, college, hazing, james garner, jim rockford, p.i, rockford files, taxes, television, tv, yum-yums

    Nathan and Eppy head back to school in S4E20 The Prisoner of Rosemont Hall. Jim has a friend whose son is going to Rosemont College, and who seemed to come to him for help... and then denies that anything is wrong. Jim wants to get to the bottom of it, placing him in a mysterious situation involving a fraternity, a hard-nosed campus security chief, an adjust professor of journalism and middle eastern goons. Content warning: there's some central narrative beats concerning framing Jim with false rape accusations, and we parse out how those hit us as modern viewers.

  • Episode 127: The Battle of Canoga Park

    November 26th, 2023  |  1 hr 25 mins
    1970s, 70s, cookie jar, explosions, grenades, james garner, jim rockford, p.i, rockford files, television, tv

    Nathan and Eppy don fireproof outfits for the explosive S4E3 The Battle of Canoga Park. Jim's stolen gun is used to murder a man he doesn't even know! While figuring out how to prove he didn't do it, he uncovers a paramilitary militia. From broken glasses to grenades to truckloads of dynamite, this romp of an episode manages to keep the stakes high without undercutting the fun of viewing, and gives us a strong dose of Every Character's a Character. A fun one!

  • Episode 126: Aura Lee, Farewell

    November 12th, 2023  |  1 hr 24 mins
    1970s, 70s, brass cupcake, jackie cooper, james garner, jim rockford, lindsay wagner, p.i, poe, robert webber, rockford files, soup, television, tv

    Nathan and Eppy say goodbye to Jackie Cooper (as a director) in S1E14 Aura Lee, Farewell. Jim is asked by sometime-girlfriend-and-previous-client Sara to look into the so-called overdose death of her friend Aura Lee. Once his investigation turns up a State Senator and a slick bunko artist, things get really intense. This is a tight episode with lots of our favs (Robert Webber! Dennis getting mad! Soup!), and we enjoyed both the story and showcase of how it's actually pretty hard to date Jim, when you get right down to it.

  • Episode 125: Say Goodbye to Jennifer

    October 22nd, 2023  |  1 hr 38 mins
    1970s, 70s, big fish, hector elizondo, james garner, jim rockford, noir, p.i, red turtleneck, rockford files, television, tv

    Nathan and Eppy join Jim as he travels to the morgue, the dentist and Seattle in S1E18 Say Goodbye to Jennifer. Hector Elizondo guest stars as Mitch, a Korean War buddy of Jim. It looks like the woman he's infatuated with, Jennifer, died in a car accident, and Jim has little patience for Mitch's insistence that she's alive. But once a mobster starts threatening him for sniffing around, he takes up Mitch's offer to look for Jennifer in Seattle - and then things get really intense. This noir-inspired episode is atypical in style, and also stands out as a tight story with great performances!

  • Episode 124: William Wiard Retrospective Rewind

    August 27th, 2023  |  1 hr 46 mins
    1970s, 70s, best of, james garner, jim rockford, p.i, retrospective, rockford files, television, they're all good episodes, tv, william wiard

    Nathan and Eppy end our Summer of Wiard by rewinding back through the entire Wiard Rockford Filesography. This excuse gives us a good way to chat about some of the show's most standout episodes, and we assemble a Recommended Viewing list of our 6 most recommended Wiard-directed episodes, one from each season. A fun conversation! We also go to our answering machine to field questions and comments from listeners on recent episodes.

  • Episode 123: Only Rock 'n Roll Will Never Die

    August 14th, 2023  |  2 hrs 7 mins
    1970s, 70s, bowling shirts, george loros, james garner, japanese country and western, jim rockford, mercedes 450, p.i, rock n roll, rockford files, television, tv

    Nathan and Eppy complete the Wiard World Tour with this two-parter, episodes 3 and 4 from season 6: Only Rock 'n Roll Will Never Die. Show favorite George Loros guest stars as Eddie, a prison buddy of Jim's now working for rock star Tim Ritchie. He reaches out to Rockford to find a missing member of Ritchie's entourage, but the mystery of what happened mostly backgrounds the (anti) romance of Eddie with reporter Whitney Cox. Jim navigates Eddie's neuroses, an on-going court case, the mob and the whims of a rockstar who has it all in this two-parter that we find almost too relaxed in its storytelling (even though the character stuff is Very Good).

  • Episode 122: Claire

    July 30th, 2023  |  1 hr 23 mins
    1970s, 70s, dummy theft, j-turn, jackie cooper, james garner, jim rockford, linda evans, p.i, rockford files, television, tv

    Nathan and Eppy head back to the first season to meet another of Jim's old flames in S1E17 Claire. After a rough breakup and years of separation, Claire calls Jim for help. Of course he agrees to do what he can, but she isn't being straight with him and he needs to figure out who's life is in danger and why before it's too late. Co-starring Linda Evans and Jackie Cooper, this episode hits a lot of our "classic" themes, though maybe lacking a little something to make it stand out from similar plots.

  • Episode 121: Heartaches of a Fool

    July 16th, 2023  |  1 hr 28 mins
    1970s, 70s, a real one, james garner, jim rockford, p.i, rockford files, sausages, television, triads, tv, willie nelson

    Nathan and Eppy continue to tour the William Wiard-verse with S5E1 Heartaches of a Fool. After a truck accident lands Rocky in the hospital, Jim is determined to find out who caused it and hold them accountable. His quest leads to a country music star, a sausage-smuggling operation and a brewing war between corrupt union officials and a Chinese gangster. This might be the perfect episode for our show, even without considering the two Willie Nelson songs on the soundtrack. Highly recommended!