Episode Archive

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

  • 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.

  • 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!

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    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.

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    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!

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    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!