60 free The Rockford Files trivia questions with answers — entertainment quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
The Rockford Files ran on NBC from 1974 to 1980 and is still the private-eye show other private-eye shows get compared to: a hero who would rather talk than fight, a trailer in a Malibu car park, a gold Firebird that got wrecked and rebought every week, and an answering machine gag that opened every episode. This Rockford Files trivia quiz covers the whole series and the eight CBS reunion movies, from the pilot with a different Rocky to the never-aired 2009 remake. There are questions on the cast (James Garner, Noah Beery Jr., Joe Santos, Stuart Margolin, Gretchen Corbett), the guest players who became famous (Tom Selleck's Lance White, Isaac Hayes, Rita Moreno, a young Louis Gossett Jr.), the writers who went on to bigger things (Stephen J. Cannell, David Chase), Mike Post's Grammy-winning theme, and the small details fans argue about: the licence plate, the fee, the phone number, the pistol in the cookie jar. Difficulty runs from easy questions any viewer knows to expert ones about backdoor pilots and Roy Huggins's pen name. Every answer was checked against reference pages before publishing, and each question carries a citation.
30 of 60 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01On which network did The Rockford Files originally air, from 1974 to 1980?
NBC
The eight reunion TV movies of the 1990s moved to CBS.
Q 02Which prolific TV producer co-created The Rockford Files with Roy Huggins and wrote its pilot?
Stephen J. Cannell
Cannell had written for Jack Webb's Adam-12 and went on to write 36 episodes; Huggins had created Maverick, Garner's breakthrough series.
Q 03Rockford was conceived as a modern-day version of which earlier James Garner character?
Bret Maverick
The idea was to swap the Old West gambler for a Los Angeles investigator.
Q 04Where had Jim Rockford served five years before being pardoned?
San Quentin
The distinction that he was pardoned rather than paroled comes up repeatedly in the plots.
Q 05For most of the series, Rockford's trailer sits at which Malibu location?
Paradise Cove
The address was 29 Cove Road, next to a pier and the Sand Castle restaurant; early season-one episodes put it at 22878 Pacific Coast Highway.
Q 06What was Rockford's oft-quoted daily fee during the original series?
$200 a day plus expenses
By the 1990s reunion movies it had risen to $450 a day; a running gag was that he rarely collected the full amount.
Q 07Where does Rockford usually keep his rarely used revolver?
In a cookie jar
It is a Colt Detective Special for which he has no permit; he prefers to talk his way out of trouble.
Q 08Who played Rocky, Jim's father, for the run of the series?
Noah Beery Jr.
Robert Donley played the part in the 1974 pilot, where Rocky was written as more of a small-time grifter.
Q 09What had Rocky Rockford done for a living before retiring?
Truck driver
He was also an ex-Seabee, and spent much of the series urging Jim to follow him into trucking.
Q 10Who played Sergeant Dennis Becker, Jim's friend on the LAPD?
Joe Santos
Becker was promoted to lieutenant in season five and appears in 89 of the 123 episodes; Santos earned a 1979 Emmy nomination.
Q 11Stuart Margolin played Angel Martin, who knew Jim from where?
Prison
Angel works as a filing clerk at a newspaper his brother-in-law owns, a condition of his parole; Margolin won two Emmys for the role.
Q 12What is Angel Martin's actual first name?
Evelyn
He is a pathological liar and con artist whose schemes constantly land Jim in trouble, yet Jim keeps him as a friend.
Q 13How many Emmy Awards did Stuart Margolin win for playing Angel?
Two
Both were for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series; he later picked up two more nominations as a director.
Gretchen Corbett played Beth Davenport, who was Jim's what?
Q 21Which Rockford writer went on to create The Sopranos?
David Chase
He wrote or co-wrote 20 episodes, including 'The Jersey Bounce', whose wannabe New Jersey mobsters foreshadow his later series.
Q 22Under what pen name did co-creator Roy Huggins take 'story by' credits during the first season?
John Thomas James
His creative involvement ended mid-season after he sent a rewrite straight to the set without telling Cannell; Garner then made Cannell the final word on scripts.
Q 23How many episodes did James Garner himself direct?
One
'The Girl in the Bay City Boys' Club' in season two was the only directing credit of his whole career; he took it because the scheduled director dropped out.
Lawyer
She and Jim had dated before the series began; Corbett left after season four amid a contract dispute between Universal and Garner's company.
Q 15Which future Magnum, P.I. star appeared twice as the glamorous, lucky private eye Lance White?
Tom Selleck
Cannell based White on 'Waco Williams', a polished character from a 1958 Maverick episode.
Q 16Isaac Hayes played Gandolph 'Gandy' Fitch, who always called Jim by what nickname?
Rockfish
Fitch was a violent acquaintance from Jim's time inside; Jim helped prove he was innocent of the crime he had been jailed for.
Q 17Which future Oscar winner played the boastful, chauffeur-driven P.I. Marcus 'Gabby' Hayes?
Louis Gossett Jr.
He first appeared in 'Foul on the First Play' in a full wig with sideburns, and without it the next season.
Q 18Rita Moreno's recurring character Rita Capkovic had what profession?
Call girl and police informant
Moreno won the 1978 Emmy for the role, one of the four awards that make up her EGOT.
Q 19Rita Moreno's 1978 Emmy for The Rockford Files came a year after she won one for which programme?
The Muppet Show
She is one of the few performers with an EGOT: Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony.
Q 20Dennis Dugan's young private eye Richie Brockelman was spun off into his own series that ran how long?
Five episodes
The show ran in Rockford's time slot in March and April 1978, right after Brockelman was introduced in 'The House on Willis Avenue'.
Q 24Which of Garner's Great Escape co-stars directed an episode?
James Coburn
Coburn had also worked with Garner on The Americanization of Emily; Jackie Cooper and Richard Crenna directed episodes too.
Q 25What make and model of car did Jim Rockford drive?
Pontiac Firebird Esprit
The cars were actually higher-performance Formulas rebadged to look like the cheaper Esprit that Rockford could afford.
Q 26What was the licence plate on Rockford's Firebird for most of the series?
853 OKG
Some early episodes showed 835 OKG; Garner believed the letters stood for his home state and surname but never learned where the number came from.
Q 27The reverse-into-a-spin driving move Rockford used so often is known by which nickname?
The J-turn or moonshiner's turn
Garner said he did the stunt himself for the whole series: reverse at 35 mph, hard left, yank the handbrake, then hit the gas.
Q 28Why was no Firebird newer than the 1978 model used on the show, even though it ran into 1980?
Garner disliked the restyled front end
An answering-machine message in the final season nonetheless claimed his car was a '79.
Q 29What did Rocky Rockford drive?
A GMC Sierra Classic pickup
It was customised by off-road racer Vic Hickey with a winch, brush guard and CB radio, and Jim borrowed it whenever the Firebird was wrecked or 'hot'.
Q 30Who composed the show's theme with Pete Carpenter?
Mike Post
The single reached number 10 on the Hot 100 in August 1975 and won a Grammy for Best Instrumental Arrangement.