This Date in THE FBI History: Penny Fuller, William Smithers, and Viveca Lindfors star in “The Doll Courier,” airing Dec. 21, 1969. THE FBI DOSSIER now available from Black Pawn Press

Posted on December 21, 2025 by admin

  1. THE DOLL COURIER
    Original Airdate: Dec. 21, 1969

Synopsis. A Communist spy ring uses a rare, one-of-a-kind porcelain figurine of Marie Antoinette in its effort to smuggle information about a U.S. monitoring satellite system to its headquarters in Europe. The head of the doll contains microfilm with the stolen data. A photograph of the Antoinette antique leads Erskine to a doll shop in New York City, where he must determine whether the owner, Eva Bolan (played by Viveca Lindfors), is part of the ring before the doll and its courier leave the country.

LEARN MORE about “The Doll Courier”  in THE FBI DOSSIER, everything you wanted to know—and more—about the long-running ABC-TV series produced by Quinn Martin and starring Efrem Zimbalist, Jr.

THE FBI DOSSIER is available through Black Pawn Press, Amazon.com, and wherever books are sold online.

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This Date in THE FBI History: Steve Ihnat, Dabney Coleman, and Clint Howard star in “Incident in the Desert,” airing Dec. 20, 1970. THE FBI DOSSIER now available from Black Pawn Press

Posted on December 20, 2025 by admin

  1. INCIDENT IN THE DESERT
    Original Airdate: Dec. 20, 1970

Synopsis. After assaulting a New Mexico deputy sheriff at a roadblock near Albuquerque, a quartet of thieves, led by convicted bank robber John Elgin (played by Steve Ihnat), seeks refuge at an inn in Deacon Hill, a barren town in the desert of New Mexico. Elgin holds eight townspeople hostage while he plots his next move. A child’s ham radio message plays a pivotal role in Erskine’s effort to locate Elgin and rescue the hostages.

LEARN MORE about “Incident in the Desert”  in THE FBI DOSSIER, everything you wanted to know—and more—about the long-running ABC-TV series produced by Quinn Martin and starring Efrem Zimbalist, Jr.

THE FBI DOSSIER is available through Black Pawn Press, Amazon.com, and wherever books are sold online.

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This Date in ROCKFORD FILES History: Ned Beatty stars in “Profit,” Part 1 of the two-part episode “Profit and Loss,” airing Dec. 20, 1974. LEARN MORE about this episode in 45 YEARS OF THE ROCKFORD FILES, available in softcover paperback and now as an eBook through Black Pawn Press

Posted on December 20, 2025 by admin
  1. PROFIT AND LOSS (Part 1: PROFIT)
    Original Air Date:     December 20, 1974

    Synopsis. Computer programmer Alec Morris comes to Rockford for protection upon discovering that his employer, the powerful corporation Fiscal Dynamics, Inc., has been forging information on its annual report to carry off plans to purchase another corporate giant. Rockford witnesses two men abduct Morris—but after reporting the matter to the police, Jim not only finds Morris safe and sound, but faces a false report charge when Morris denies that anything ever happened. In addition, CEO Leon Fielder (played by Ned Beatty) threatens to sue Rockford for $10 million unless he stays out of FDI’s affairs.

    Noted character actor Ned Beatty (Deliverance, Network) makes the first of his two appearances on The Rockford Files. Beatty, who also played a former Army commander of Rockford’s in the third season episode “Return to the 38th Parallel,” later starred with James Garner in Streets of Laredo, the 1995 miniseries based on the novel by Larry McMurtry.

    LEARN MORE about this episode in the revised third edition of 45 YEARS OF THE ROCKFORD FILES, featuring more than sixty new pages of never before published information about both the original Rockford Files and the CBS reunion movies, including twenty new interviews and six new appendices. 25 percent of the net proceeds from the sales of 45 YEARS OF THE ROCKFORD FILES will be donated to The James Garner Animal Rescue Fund, a nonprofit organization dedicated to raising funds to help rescue organizations, shelters, individuals, fosters, and veterans with emergencies, evacuations, medical care, adoptions, training, pet supplies, shelter, rehabilitation, boarding, transportation, food, and other pressing needs. JGARF is one way for Garner fans to honor Jim’s memory and extend his legacy. Plus… if you order 45 YEARS OF THE ROCKFORD FILES directly from Black Pawn Press, you will receive an exclusive bonus gift. Go to Rockford45.com for more details

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This Date in MAVERICK TV History: William Reynolds stars in “A Cure for Johnny Rain,” airing Dec. 20, 1959. MAVERICK: LEGEND OF THE WEST: Revised Third Edition is now available both as an eBook and in softcover paperback through Black Pawn Press

Posted on December 20, 2025 by admin
  1. A CURE FOR JOHNNY RAIN
    Original Airdate: December 20, 1959


Synopsis. Johnny Rain (played by William Reynolds) is a hero to the townspeople of Apocalypse—the type of man who saves children from runaway horses, mends broken legs, and rides thirty miles through a blizzard to get a doctor for an ailing old woman. He’s also responsible for a series of stagecoach robberies totaling $45,000 (including $5,000 from Bret). Johnny, however, is a heavy drinker who suffers blackouts—he only robs while he’s drunk and has no recollection of what he’s done once he sobers up. Hoping to recover the stolen money (and collect a 25-percent reward for himself), Maverick prescribes a “cure-all” tonic—80 percent of which is alcohol!—so that Johnny can lead him to the money.

William Reynolds, whom we last saw in the second season’s “Holiday at Hollow Rock,” made his film debut as Laurence Olivier’s son in Sister Carrie. Earlier in 1959, he starred as a jazz concert player who doubled as an amateur detective in Pete Kelly’s Blues, a short-lived series produced by Jack Webb (and based on Webb’s 1955 film of the same name). In the 196os, he co-starred in series with two Maverick alumni: he played opposite Diane Brewster in The Islanders, then later joined Efrem Zimbalist Jr. on The F.B.I.

LEARN MORE about this episode in the revised third edition of Maverick: Legend of the West, featuring more than 100 pages of new information about the show that made James Garner a star. 25 percent of the net proceeds from the sales of the third edition will be donated to The James Garner Animal Rescue Fund, a nonprofit organization dedicated to raising funds to help rescue organizations, shelters, individuals, fosters, and veterans with emergencies, evacuations, medical care, adoptions, training, pet supplies, shelter, rehabilitation, boarding, transportation, food, and other pressing needs. JGARF is one way for Garner fans to honor Jim’s memory and extend his legacy. The revised third edition of Maverick: Legend of the West is available through Black Pawn Press, Amazon.com, and wherever books are sold online.
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This Date in THE FBI History: Monte Markham, Jessica Walter, and Arthur Franz star in “The Recruiter,” airing Dec. 19, 1971. THE FBI DOSSIER now available from Black Pawn Press

Posted on December 19, 2025 by admin

  1. THE RECRUITER
    Original Airdate: Dec. 19, 1971

Synopsis. After robbing the United States National Bank in Lincoln, Nebraska of $12,000, convicted bank robber James Devlin (played by Monte Markham) surfaces in Mount Vernon, New York, where he recruits a team of ex-cons to help him pull off the robbery of Asher-Dorman, a major department store in Manhattan.

LEARN MORE about “The Recruiter”  in THE FBI DOSSIER, everything you wanted to know—and more—about the long-running ABC-TV series produced by Quinn Martin and starring Efrem Zimbalist, Jr.

THE FBI DOSSIER is available through Black Pawn Press, Amazon.com, and wherever books are sold online.

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This Date in THE FBI History: Leslie Nielsen, Bruce Dern, and Malcolm Atterbury star in “Pound of Flesh,” airing Dec. 19, 1965. THE FBI DOSSIER now available from Black Pawn Press

Posted on December 19, 2025 by admin

  1. POUND OF FLESH
    Original Airdate: Dec. 19, 1965

Synopsis. At a U.S. Army garrison in Missouri, a hotheaded private (played by Bruce Dern) is the prime suspect of a brutal slaying. The victim is the wife of a popular chaplain (played by Leslie Nielsen). The private has a motive, while both a crusading newspaper columnist (played by Malcolm Atterbury) and Army and city officials want the Bureau to make a quick arrest. Erskine, however, believes the man is innocent.

LEARN MORE about “Pound of Flesh”  in THE FBI DOSSIER, everything you wanted to know—and more—about the long-running ABC-TV series produced by Quinn Martin and starring Efrem Zimbalist, Jr.

THE FBI DOSSIER is available through Black Pawn Press, Amazon.com, and wherever books are sold online.

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This Date in ROCKFORD FILES History: Blair Brown stars as “The Girl in the Bay City Boys Club,” airing Dec. 19, 1975. This was the only episode (or, for that matter, the only film of any kind) directed by James Garner. LEARN MORE about this episode in 45 YEARS OF THE ROCKFORD FILES, available in softcover paperback and now as an eBook through Black Pawn Press

Posted on December 19, 2025 by admin
  1. THE GIRL IN THE BAY CITY BOYS CLUB
    Original Air Date:     December 19, 1975

    Synopsis. A man named Phelps hires Rockford to determine if the weekly Thursday night poker game held at the Bay City Boys Club is fixed. Rockford doesn’t realize that his client is Burton Kimball, a prominent deputy district attorney heavily in debt to racketeer George Welles, who founded the club as a front to his operation. Kimball, who has been blackmailed by Welles into fixing cases, needs evidence against Welles to escape his grasp. When Kimball is later found dead, Jim deduces that the D.A. was close to obtaining the proof he needed. With the help of fellow investigator Kate Doyle (played by Blair Brown), Rockford tries to put Welles and the Bay City Boys Club out of business by determining how the game was rigged. 

    “The Girl in the Bay City City Boys Club” marked the directorial debut of James Garner. The episode asked a great deal of the actor (particularly when it came to staging the complicated foot chase near the end of the episode), and he acquitted himself well. Nevertheless, Garner chose not to direct again.LEARN MORE about this episode in the revised third edition of 45 YEARS OF THE ROCKFORD FILES, featuring more than sixty new pages of never before published information about both the original Rockford Files and the CBS reunion movies, including twenty new interviews and six new appendices. 25 percent of the net proceeds from the sales of 45 YEARS OF THE ROCKFORD FILES will be donated to The James Garner Animal Rescue Fund, a nonprofit organization dedicated to raising funds to help rescue organizations, shelters, individuals, fosters, and veterans with emergencies, evacuations, medical care, adoptions, training, pet supplies, shelter, rehabilitation, boarding, transportation, food, and other pressing needs. JGARF is one way for Garner fans to honor Jim’s memory and extend his legacy. Plus… if you order 45 YEARS OF THE ROCKFORD FILES directly from Black Pawn Press, you will receive an exclusive bonus gift. Go to Rockford45.com for more details

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This Date in THE FBI History: Suzanne Pleshette and Charles Korvin star in “List for a Firing Squad,” airing Dec. 18, 1966. THE FBI DOSSIER is now available from Black Pawn Press

Posted on December 18, 2025 by admin

  1. LIST FOR A FIRING SQUAD
    Original Airdate: Dec. 18, 1966

Synopsis. Two fatal shootings in a New York bar put Erskine on the trail of Istvan Sladek (played by Charles Korvin), a resourceful yet reclusive agent for a Communist Soviet nation who has obtained a coded list of opposition leaders in his country. With the FBI, local police, and agents from his own country all after him, Sladek knows that list is his only guarantee of obtaining safe passage out of the United States.

LEARN MORE about “List for a Firing Squad”  in THE FBI DOSSIER, everything you wanted to know—and more—about the long-running ABC-TV series produced by Quinn Martin and starring Efrem Zimbalist, Jr.

THE FBI DOSSIER is available through Black Pawn Press, Amazon.com, and wherever books are sold online.

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This Date in MAVERICK TV History: Arthur Shields and Arch Johnson star in “The Bold Fenian Men,” airing Dec. 18, 1960. MAVERICK: LEGEND OF THE WEST: Revised Third Edition is now available both as an eBook and in softcover paperback through Black Pawn Press

Posted on December 18, 2025 by admin
  1. THE BOLD FENIAN MEN
    Original Airdate: December 18, 1960


Synopsis. The Irish Revolutionary Brotherhood, also known as the Fenians, are trained soldiers sworn to free Ireland from British rule. The Fenians have gathered in Dakota City (under the banner of the First Annual Convention of the Sons of the Shamrock Chowder and Marching Society) to plan a march into Canada—they want to hold a small part of that British property hostage in exchange for Ireland’s freedom. After England pressures the United States to intervene, a shrewd Army colonel “blackmails” Beau Maverick into infiltrating the Fenians’ ranks.

The Fenians really existed. “They came to the United States at the time of the Civil War,” Maverick producer Coles Trapnell said in an interview for Maverick: Legend of the West. “They fought on both sides—some for the Confederacy, some for the Union. After the war, they drifted up to the Northeast United States, and hatched their plot to take over Canada. The U.S. Secret Service nipped it in the bud, arrested all the Fenians, and deported them back to Ireland.”

LEARN MORE about this episode in the revised third edition of Maverick: Legend of the West, featuring more than 100 pages of new information about the show that made James Garner a star. 25 percent of the net proceeds from the sales of the third edition will be donated to The James Garner Animal Rescue Fund, a nonprofit organization dedicated to raising funds to help rescue organizations, shelters, individuals, fosters, and veterans with emergencies, evacuations, medical care, adoptions, training, pet supplies, shelter, rehabilitation, boarding, transportation, food, and other pressing needs. JGARF is one way for Garner fans to honor Jim’s memory and extend his legacy. The revised third edition of Maverick: Legend of the West is available through Black Pawn Press, Amazon.com, and wherever books are sold online.
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This Date in THE FBI History: Michael Callan, John Larch, and Alex Rocco star in “The Outcast,” airing Dec. 17, 1972. THE FBI DOSSIER now available from Black Pawn Press

Posted on December 17, 2025 by admin

  1. THE OUTCAST
    Original Airdate: Dec. 17, 1972

LEARN MORE about “The Outcast” in THE FBI DOSSIER, everything you wanted to know—and more—about the long-running ABC-TV series produced by Quinn Martin and starring Efrem Zimbalist, Jr.

THE FBI DOSSIER is available through Black Pawn Press, Amazon.com, and wherever books are sold online.

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