Summer of 2000: Paradise cove and A&E!!

It was the summer of 2000. The CBS Rockford Files reunion movies we're still airing as repeats over the course of the season, A&E had just broadcast James Garner's offical Biography episode, and I was on my way to 'Jimmy's' home while on a job interview in LA!



I stopped in to visit Paradise Cove after my job interview looking for James Rockford and ended up meeting James Bond!!




In the Spring of 2000 I was watching an episode of A&E's popular series 'Biography', when I realized there hadn't been an episode of James Garner's life and career. I found that odd as he was on the cover of the first A&E monthly magazine. I went to my computer and emailed someone at A&E online to complain. I stated a brief overview of his career, him being the only actor to sue 2 major Hollyowood studios and win, etc etc, and as a joke I said something to the effect of " When will you be doing Mr.Garners episode? Or were you waiting for production of the bio of 'Mr.Ed the horse' to wrap first!??"

I fired it off into cyberspace thinking no one would read it or respond.

They did.

About 2 days later I recieved a response email from someone from 'Biography'asking me for more info on Mr. Garner, as they were also 'surprised his bio hadn't been done yet with him being such a popular star and because he was on the magazine cover". They also asked me for anyone else they could talk to regarding info on his life. I suggested Mr. Ed Robertson, who had written 2 books on Garner: 'Maverick:Legend of the West' and 'The Rockford Files'. I also scanned in the covers of my TV guides and attached those to the email to show how many times he'd been on it, proving his enduring popularity ( see my previous posts)

I sent that email out and I again thought I'd never hear back from them.

I did.

2 days later I got another email saying they were going 'greenlite' a James Garner Biography episode. At that time James Garner was in the news again having just finished a high-profile acting turn with Paul Newman ( Twilight , and had just signed to star in Clint Eastwoods' next movie (Space Cowboys). A&E stated that hopefully the Biography episode would be done in time for that films release. They also had contacted Ed Robertson and told me he agreed to help contribute to the Biography. A&E thanked me for bringing all this to their attention, and asked for my address.

I responded saying I was excited and to let me know when it was to air.

They did better than that...

About 3 months later, in mid July I recieved a package in the mail. It was a copy of the finished A&E BIOGRAPHY on VHS! The episode was not scheduled to be broadcast until August to coinicide with the 'Space Cowboys' release date, so I was able to view it before most of the world.

That was pretty cool, and ever since then I have remained in contact with, and have become friends with the great Ed Robertson. ( More on him later)

To this day I don't know, and cannot prove that the TV Guide covers they show within the Garner Biography episode are mine that I sent via email, but I like to think they are!

D

More of my Firebird pics!

All taken in the summer of 2000!

Summer 2000 - The ultimate Rockford memoralbilia!

2000 was a great summer, and it was about to get even greater with the addition of the 'Rockfordmobile'!

I stumbled across a 1979 Pontiac Firebird sitting in a field in London, Ontario. It needed a paint job and some interior work, but I wanted my very first car to be memorable and special...so what better to have as my first car than Jim Rockford's car of choice! I dropped 900 bucks on it and drove it away!



A base model Firebird is very hard to find as not many people kept those in good condition because the highly prized, and souped up 'Trans Am' version was the car to get back then. 'Smokey and the Bandit' immortalized that car but James Garner felt that even though the Trans Am was cooler, Jim Rockford would probably only be able to afford the Firebird.



Even better still, for my birthday that year my girlfriend at the time did some inspired gift research and discovered that Jimbo's famous plate number '853 OKG' was not taken in Canada and secured it for me! It's now the ultimate Rockford Firebird!

I've even had one guy follow me home and when I get out of the car to see what he wanted, he was like " dude....is that Jim's plate number?" When I said said yes, and that he had a great memory, he smiled and said " HA! I knew it! I Love that show, and I love you're car man!"

Some other Rockford/Garner items of interest...

The Kaiser Aluminum company sponsored Maverick during it's hottest years on the air. Since Bret Maverick always wore a 1000 dollar bill pinned inside his vest for good luck, these phoney bills and coins were made for kids that pitched Kaiser products on the reverse.


Extremely rare! The signatures of all the Cowboy stars from each Warner Bros. tv show on the air in 1957. This postcard would be mailed in response to any kids who wrote fan mail to the studio.


In 1957, Maverick's bolo tie was a hot item for kids


The Rockford files theme was a Top 10 music hit in the summer of 1975, and I found a 45prm record single of it.

As I searched for Rockford related items I stumbled upon some really cool, and rare, items of interest. A few of these are really hard to find as they are almost 50 years old!

Tv Guides from Ebay ( 1999 -2000 )

Ebay is awesome. I found these rare TV Guides all featuring James Garner, and collected them slowly over the course of 2 years. Many people collect old Tv Guides, but I was only interested in tracking down copies that either featured " The Rockford Files", or James Garner. These are all the issues James Garner has appeared on the cover (so far) in his 50 year career. It's kinda neat to read thru these copies and see what shows' were popular in those years.

My Autograph collection Part2 (1999 -2000)

1994 Maverick Movie card
James Garner's autograph (1996)

1994 CBS movie autograph of Stuart Margolin (Evelyn "Angel" Martin)



More Autographs I collected throughout the years 1999 and 2000

My Autograph collection Part1 (1998 -1999)

Stephen J. Cannell - Co-Creator of "the Rockford Files"

Jack Lemmon and James Garner ( My Fellow Americans )

1994 CBS Reunion movies cast photo 1

Very RARE - Noah Beery Jr. ( Joseph "Rocky" Rockford )

1995 CBS Reunion cast Autographs

Golf ball autographed by James Garner

James Garner as ' Nichols '

With the invention of Ebay and my new interest in Autograph collecting, 1998-1999 was to be two of the best years in my Rockford fanhood. The reason? Well, the tv Re-union movies were still being produced and were airing throughout the year, and the activity on the Yahoo Rockford site was very busy with fans. I had also completed " the Rockford Files Soundtrack" for myself, and again through Ebay, I was about to meet my first real link to James Garner himself. (more about that in future posts) Enjoy!