List of Jim Rockford's answering machine gags

Jim Rockford's answering machine gags open every episode of the American television drama series The Rockford Files. The sequence, which always begin before the show's title sequence, involve a caller leaving a message on a Dictaphone remote Ansafone 660 belonging to the series' protagonist Jim Rockford. Numerous celebrities and well-known contemporary public figures were used in the recordings.

In total 122 different messages were created through the run of the original six series. The eight CBS TV movies (also referred to as season 8) feature a unique message. However episodes syndicated as James Rockford, Private Investigator use the same message; it was taken from episode 507, “A Three-Day Affair with a Thirty-Day Escrow”.

Style

Each message is a standalone gag that often provides a small amount of biographical detail about Rockford, the people he knows and the activities that occur in his life as a Private Investigator. Only extremely rarely (such as in episode #209, "Chicken Little is a Little Chicken", during which Rockford house- and cat-sits for an absent Beth) is the content of the answering machine message in any way connected to the plot or situations of the episode itself.

As the camera focuses on the telephone, it rings twice and then Rockford's recorded voice is heard providing the following greeting:

“

This is Jim Rockford. At the tone, leave your name and message. I'll get back to you. [Beep]

”

References

• Robertson, Ed. (2005). Thirty Years of "The Rockford Files": An Inside Look at America's Greatest Detective Series. Lincol, NE: ASJA Press. 497 pages. (Lists all of the answering machine gags).
• The Sandbox.net featuring messages from Rockford's answering machine - Accessed December 8, 2007.
• That Eric Alper - You can now download Jim Rockford’s Answering Machine Messages