Let's be clear here: we have nothing against
Dermot Mulroney. We can't actually can't remember anything he was in, except maybe
The Family Stone and a couple of romantic comedies. Still, we're sure he's a perfectly nice guy. But ... Jim Rockford?
There is only one Jim Rockford. There were always only be one Jim Rockford. And he's not making TV shows or movies anymore. He's in graceful, modest retirement in his mobile home down in Crystal Cove, and we should just leave him alone.
Sure, there's an attempt to treat this "property" - ew! -- with respect. Alan (Dollhouse, Firefly, V) Tudyk will impersonate Dennis Becker; Beau (Do we even have to list them?) Bridges will stand in for the late Noah Beery, Jr. as Jim's dad, but it doesn't matter. There are certain stories that are unique to their times, intimately and irrevocably connected to a special time and place -- and a special face. James Garner and the folks who created the original show deserve to have that artifact left undisturbed. There are plenty of new ideas, plenty of "properties" that haven't been done or were done poorly the first time around. Go find them. Expand the world. Just don't mess with one of the brightest spots in 70's TV. Garner deserves better. Hell, Mulroney deserves better.
Let Jim Rockford alone.
