The world just ain't the same without "Jimbo"...Remembering James Garner - By Darin Bristow

Bit of a stretch between posts, my first in almost 7 years, but I decided that in the light of James Garner's passing, it seemed fitting to put my thoughts on this blog, which I created as a tribute to him, and all things 'Rockford'. This is meant for fans as I think only fans will truly get this. Hope you enjoy...

With the passing of TV and Film legend James Garner- who had a huge influence on me- I’ve realized it is indeed the end of an era.  He was a towering giant over Televisions's 1950’s and 1970’s golden ages, the likes of which we’ll never see again. He defined and refined not one, but two of TV’s largest genres,  the Western and the Detective series, and turned them both inside out.

And now he's gone. 

I watched a few 'Rockford' episodes yesterday, and they looked different.  Older.  Distant. Somehow farther away. Knowing James Garner had passed on made me view the episode with different eyes and I realized my life has 2 parts now: There’s my life before Garner’s passing, and my life afterwards.  Is it just me who feels this way? Didn't it seem like he'd be around forever? Before his passing the world seemed a safer, warmer, and friendlier place, and that life as we know it was still ok.  This may sound silly to say out loud- but in reading all the facebook posts since his passing- many have said the same.  "Jim represented a constant in an ever-changing world". To think that James Garner, Maverick, or Jim Rockford were still out there- somewhere, keeping an eye on us-was somehow reassuring.  Garner seemed indestructible, and much like Rockford, he'd just keep coming back. A TV movie, feature film, a commercial, we knew he was out there and somehow that fact kept the world in balance. (or my world at least) Old fashioned values would remain and if we “kept calm and Garnered on” it would all work out. In an ever increasing world of violence, chaos, and complication, having Garner pop by every now and then made it somehow seem ok, and that everything was going to work out.  But sadly he's gone and the world just ain't the same. Now the world now seems just that much colder, that much more frightening, and those warmer days at Paradise Cove are that much more distant.  I too feel instantly older. To watch  “A Material Difference” in this new world, with my new eyes, knowing our beloved "Jimbo" isn't out there- the episode somehow seems to have lost a bit of it’s light or it's soul, and it too seemed a bit older- overnight. 

It’s the end of an era folks.  We know it. TV’s struggling, ratings are fragmented, and 'the truth' is gone. James Garner was the truth. No one can replace him, although many have tried, but no one ever will.  Who do we really have left from his era can we now count on? Anyone current who remotely has his appeal is just a faded copycat. Who else could take an average line and redeliver it as a sardonic gift? Who else could steal an entire movie with one scene- like Jim did in ‘The Notebook”?  No one- and we know it. Only Jim could bring that genuine class, warmth, and charm to that movie. It was reacting at it’s finest. He was one of the true greats, the real deal- the truth- and there is no one better onscreen or off anymore.

 

He was- and is- a true legend- and we are all that much lesser without him. Say it with me folks - "James Garner was the truth".

He was even old school in his passing! When's a more fitting time for a TV icon of Garner’s stature to go than Saturday Night at 8pm- a prime-time spot in the era when TV mattered most. 

Darin J. Bristow