Rockford Files: 1978 wasn't around in 1974

[Guest Vetteman61]

I've been watching the first season of The Rockford Files on Netflix (it's on instant watch and it's been a savior during pneumonia). This show began in 1974, so this first season had to be in 74 or 75.

I watched the episode "The Case is Closed," and all of a sudden a scene of Rockford driving down the street in his 1978 Firebird shows up. The car was clearly edited in incorrectly.

I thought since loving old cars and old car movies/shows goes hand in hand, maybe someone has an explanation. I wondered why someone would go back through and reedit the episodes, and if they did, why they would insert footage from 4 years later into an episode that it clearly doesn't fit.

I can understand seeing the 74 firebird in later episodes, but to see the 78 show up in earlier episodes was a big surprise.

Brandon

[John_Maine]

I have seasons 1-3 on DVD - and am asking for more for my birthday next month - and have watched all of them. I did not notice the later model Firebird in at least the first two seasons and I'm pretty good at picking up on car swaps like this. I'm not sure about season 3. I'm wondering if the Netflix version is different from the DVD? Don't know why it would be. I'll have to go back and look. I know in the later seasons, they used fill in footage of the '75 Firebird. You'd see that driving down the street but Rockford would arrive in the '78. Hawaii 5-0 did the same thing with McGarrett's '68 Park Lane and later Grand Marquis.

[Rusty_OToole]

In Song of the Thin Man Nick and Nora depart in a 1947 DeSoto taxicab and arrive in a 1935 DeSoto taxicab.

[Dave@Moon]

That episode originally aired on 10/18/74.

It may have been edited for the DVD for any number of reasons. It's possible that there was a billboard in the background that they needed to pay rights to use in the DVD, someone recognizable in the shot may (years later) be undesirable, or (and this is common) a passing car may have had it's radio on with a recognizable song that needed the rights to paid fir DVD. (Song rights were a nightmare for the WKRP in Cincinnati DVD release. Every song had to be removed and replaced with generic music.)

It might also have been done simply due to unsatisfactory lighting that was O.K. for the first season of the show, but in retrospect wasn't desirable. Or else James Garner just didn't like how he looked in that shot and asked them to substitute it.

[Guest Vetteman61]

Hm, that's interesting.

"This Case is Closed," is a two part episode. It was in the first part of the episode.

I guess it could have been any number of a bunch of reasons. Guess it will be a mystery.

Brandon

[John_Maine]

It's always bugged me that TV series and some movies use stock footage with different cars in it than what the characters were driving. I remember one cop show when the cops left in a Dodge Diplomat, were shown driving down the street in a Crown Vic and arrived in a Caprice. Stuff like that always bugged me.

[Dave Mellor NJ]

I remember in "The A Team" there was a plymouth Valiant that went into a car wash that had paint coming out of the water nozzles. It not only was a different color but it was a Volare when it came out.