Why Jim Harbaugh jumped at chance to live 'The Rockford Files' RV beach life
LOS ANGELES — Corduroy sports coats. Shiny disco shirts unbuttoned to mid-chest. Bell-bottom slacks. Muscle-bound goons with noses crooked as Mulholland Drive.
And unsolved capers lining the sun-splashed streets like palm trees.
That's how young Jim Harbaugh saw Los Angeles when he was growing up in Michigan.
"Laying on your stomach, hands on your chin, elbows on the floor, looking at the palm trees and mountains, sun, ocean," said Harbaugh, 60, new coach of the Chargers. "`Wow, I want to be there someday.' "
Now, here he is, in the land of "The Rockford Files," his all-time favorite show, which turned 50 last month. The series starred a square-jawed James Garner as Jim Rockford, who spent a couple of years in San Quentin (falsely accused) then scratched out a living cracking cases for $200 per day plus expenses. Garner died in 2014 at age 86.
"James Garner had all the things a leading man needs," said David Chase, a writer and producer on the show who later created "The Sopranos." "He was great looking. He was smart. He had a sense of humor. And he was also a really good guy."
For six seasons, from 1974 to 1980, legions of fans fell in love with the show — and L.A. — the Harbaughs among them.
From "Dragnet" to "Adam-12" to "Columbo," TV shows in those days highlighted a push and pull to the City of Angels, portrayed as a crime-ridden Eden. Sunshine and smog. Glistening wheels and gridlock. Sweltering days and cold cases. Glamour and grift.
There was even a
