The Rockford Files Trivia
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56 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 56 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01The Rockford Files ran from September 1974 to January 1980 on which network, before 1990s reunion movies moved elsewhere?
NBC
NBC aired the original run from 1974 to 1980; the 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
Stephen J. Cannell had written for Jack Webb's Adam-12 before co-creating the series with Roy Huggins and scripting the 1974 pilot, 'Backlash of the Hunter'.
Q 03Rockford was conceived as a modern-day version of which earlier James Garner character?
Bret Maverick
Huggins conceived Rockford as a modern Bret Maverick, trading the Old West gambler he had created for Garner in 1957 for a Los Angeles private investigator.
Q 04Where had Jim Rockford served five years before being pardoned?
San Quentin
Rockford served five years in San Quentin for a crime he did not commit and was pardoned, not paroled, a distinction the plots repeatedly stress.
Q 05For most of the series, Rockford's trailer sits at which Malibu location?
Paradise Cove
The trailer sat in the Paradise Cove parking lot at 29 Cove Road, beside the pier and the Sand Castle restaurant; early season-one episodes placed it at 22878 Pacific Coast Highway.
Q 06What was Rockford's oft-quoted daily fee during the original series?
$200 a day plus expenses
Rockford's standard rate was '$200 a day plus expenses', a line he quotes to nearly every client; a running gag was how rarely he collected it.
Q 07Where does Rockford usually keep his rarely used revolver?
In a cookie jar
Rockford keeps his .38 revolver in a cookie jar in the trailer's kitchen; he has no permit for it and prefers talking his way out of trouble.
Q 08Who played Rocky, Jim's father, for the run of the series?
Noah Beery Jr.
Noah Beery Jr. took over from Robert Donley, whose pilot Rocky was written as more of a small-time grifter.
Q 09What had Rocky Rockford done for a living before retiring?
Truck driver
Rocky was a retired truck driver who spent much of the series urging Jim to quit investigating and take up trucking instead.
Q 10Who played Sergeant Dennis Becker, Jim's friend on the LAPD?
Joe Santos
Joe Santos played Sergeant Dennis Becker, the harried LAPD detective who reluctantly helps Jim; Becker was promoted to lieutenant in the later seasons.
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
Angel's given name is Evelyn, a detail played for laughs; the pathological liar and con man's schemes constantly land Jim in trouble.
Q 13How many Emmy Awards did Stuart Margolin win for playing Angel?
Two
Stuart Margolin won two Emmys for Angel, Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in both 1979 and 1980.
Gretchen Corbett played Beth Davenport, who was Jim's what?
Q 21Under what pen name did co-creator Roy Huggins take 'story by' credits during the first season?
John Thomas James
Huggins took story credits as 'John Thomas James', a name built from his three sons' first names; his hands-on involvement ended during season one.
Q 22How 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.
Q 23Which 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.
Lawyer
Beth Davenport was Jim's lawyer and occasional girlfriend; Gretchen Corbett left after season four amid a contract dispute between Universal and Garner's Cherokee Productions.
Q 15Isaac Hayes played Gandolph 'Gandy' Fitch, who always called Jim by what nickname?
Rockfish
Gandy Fitch, Jim's hulking ex-cellmate, always calls him 'Rockfish'; in 'The Hammer of C Block' Jim helps clear Fitch of the murder that had put him in prison.
Q 16Which future Oscar winner played the boastful, chauffeur-driven P.I. Marcus 'Gabby' Hayes?
Louis Gossett Jr.
Louis Gossett Jr., later an Oscar winner for An Officer and a Gentleman, played Gabby Hayes, first appearing in 'Foul on the First Play' in season two.
Q 17Rita Moreno's recurring character Rita Capkovic had what profession?
Call girl and police informant
Rita Capkovic was a call girl and police informant whom Jim befriends; Moreno won the 1978 Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress for a Single Appearance in the role.
Q 18Rita Moreno's 1978 Emmy for The Rockford Files came a year after she won one for which programme?
The Muppet Show
Moreno won her first Emmy in 1977 for a guest spot on The Muppet Show, memorably singing 'Fever' while Animal thrashed on drums.
Q 19Dennis Dugan's young private eye Richie Brockelman was spun off into his own series that ran how long?
Five episodes
Richie Brockelman, Private Eye lasted just five episodes, airing in Rockford's time slot in March and April 1978 after his introduction in 'The House on Willis Avenue'.
Q 20Which Rockford writer went on to create The Sopranos?
David Chase
David Chase wrote and produced for Rockford before creating The Sopranos; his episode 'The Jersey Bounce' pits Jim against wannabe New Jersey mobsters.
Q 24What make and model of car did Jim Rockford drive?
Pontiac Firebird Esprit
The gold Pontiac Firebird Esprit was really a higher-performance Formula rebadged to look like the cheaper Esprit Rockford could afford.
Q 25What 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 26The reverse-into-a-spin driving move Rockford used so often is known by which nickname?
The J-turn or moonshiner's turn
The move is the J-turn, or moonshiner's turn: reverse fast, crank the wheel, and swing the nose around to speed off forward; Garner performed it himself.
Q 27Why 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 28What did Rocky Rockford drive?
A GMC Sierra Classic pickup
A GMC Sierra Classic pickup, customised by off-road racer Vic Hickey with a winch, brush guard and CB radio.
Q 29Who composed the show's theme with Pete Carpenter?
Mike Post
Mike Post and Pete Carpenter wrote the theme; the single reached number 10 on the Hot 100 in August 1975 and won the Grammy for Best Instrumental Arrangement.
Q 30Which then-unusual instrument features in the refrains of the Rockford Files theme?
Minimoog synthesizer
It was one of the first hit records to feature a synthesizer, alongside a blues harmonica solo and dobro.