The Dog and Pony Show

The beginning of the episode is confusing. Jim and Angel are in court due to Angel being a dishonest jerk. Now here's the part that made no sense...where is Beth, Jim's lawyer?! Jim Rockford wouldn't go to court without representation and it looked as if the folks making the show just didn't want to pay her for a guest appearance! In addition, later in the show it REALLY needed Beth again...but the episode is Beth-less.

Regardless, the judge sentences the two to get therapy and soon they both end up in group treatment together. Angel is defensive and disengaged. Jim actually seems to be trying to make the best of it. However, when a woman (Joanne Nail) in the group learns he's a private eye, after one of the sessions she tells him about a problem she's having. Jim doesn't seem to think it's serious and tells her so...and, of course, it's VERY serious! How serious? Watch and find out for yourself.

This episode features a great driving stunt as well as a very interesting plot. However, once again, you wonder WHY Rockford would spend more than a second with Angel...a major weakness in many of the Angel episodes. I am knocking off a point due to the episode not making much sense at the beginning.

Poor Jim Rockford gets busted along with Angel for having some stolen property in his vehicle. But the judge orders group counseling for both of them. In which they meet Joanne Nail who is a young who everyone dismisses as paranoid when she says she's being followed. When she was in another mental asylum, a high priced one she met Ed Lauter who is making all kinds of extravagant claims.

Before things are done both the National (Central) Intelligence Agency and a prominent Mafia crime family is involved due to the ravings of Ed Lauter and what kind of things he's spouting. Walter Brooke as the field office head of the NIA and George Loros of the crime family are an interesting pair of adversaries for Rockford. Loros especially, you feel sorry for him. Lauter is his brother-in-law and his father wants him killed, but his sister says spare him. That's why he's in the asylum in the first place.

Once again Stuart Margolin comes through for James Garner even though he has to be dragged kicking and screaming. It's the way it is for Rockford and Angel, can't live with him, can't live without him.

This episode highlighted the quirky relationship between the men, and how they really need each other when trying to solve a case. The show begins with a judge sentencing them both to community service, and I don't recall the exact reason they're in court, but they somehow wind up in a group therapy session, and a reluctant Rockford is hired by a woman there to find out who's been following her; she(Joanne Nail)has a history of mental illness and others think she's only paranoid. I thought her performance was perhaps average, and could've added more to the show. George Loros, on the other hand, gives a great performance as the confused mobster Tommy, as the scenes with him and Rockford at the mobster's house is riveting, especially when Tommy smashes a table right in front of Jim before deciding to kill him. Ed Lauter makes a small appearance, but I wished he had more screen time as the delusional Joseph Bloomberg, plus I recognized Al Ruscio playing the part of Vic. There is a cool chase scene with the Firebird running from Tommy's car, and we also get to see Rockford driving Rocky's truck. Rocky and Dennis have important scenes, and I had to chuckle when Jim pinches Dennis' cheek at the station. The real star for me though is the performance of Angel by Stuart Margolin, as he gets the majority of screen time and has several memorable scenes, especially in Rocky's house for dinner, and when he helps Jim distract a security guard. I also really liked how Jim uses Vic's gun to hit a fire alarm in order for the authorities to rush to the factory where Jim and a few agents were being held. This was a terrific episode, and keep an eye on the performance of Angel, who gets the award this time around.