Jeff Heller
NBC has announced that the new The Rockford Files will get a special premiere Saturday, Jan. 2, 2027, at 8 p.m. ET, following the network’s NFL broadcast. The series will then move into its regular Thursday night time slot beginning Jan. 7 at 8 p.m. ET. Episodes will also be available to stream the following day on Peacock.
Boreanaz stars as James “Jim” Rockford, the private investigator famously played by James Garner in the original NBC series. The contemporary update finds Rockford newly paroled after serving time for a crime he didn’t commit. Back in Los Angeles, he resumes working as a private investigator, relying on his charm and instincts to solve cases while attempting to rebuild his reputation. His efforts soon put him at odds with both law enforcement and organized crime.
The series also stars Michaela McManus, Ilfenesh Hadera and Jacki Weaver. Mike Daniels serves as writer and executive producer, with Carl Beverly, Sarah Timberman and David Hudgins also executive producing. Universal Television produces the series.
NBC is also bringing back one of the original show’s most memorable trademarks: Rockford’s answering machine. The network has launched a working Jim Rockford hotline inspired by the messages that famously opened episodes of the original series. Fans who call (760) JIM-ROCK can hear a message from Boreanaz as Rockford and sign up to receive text updates about the new show.
The answering-machine gag became an integral part of the original Rockford Files. Episodes typically began with Rockford receiving a message that ranged from creditors and acquaintances to wrong numbers and other mundane annoyances, adding another layer of humor to the character before the episode’s story even began.
Created by Roy Huggins and Stephen J. Cannell, the original The Rockford Files premiered on NBC in 1974 and ran for six seasons, ending in 1980. Garner played Rockford as a very different kind of television detective: a former prison inmate living in a trailer in Malibu who preferred talking his way out of trouble rather than getting into a fight.
The series became one of Garner’s signature roles and earned him five Emmy nominations for playing Rockford, including a win for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series in 1977. The character later returned in eight television movies produced between 1994 and 1999.
Boreanaz’s breakthrough role was on Buffy the Vampire playing Angel, the on again/off again love interest of Sarah Michelle Gellar’s titular Buffy. Boreanaz’s take on the tortured vampire with a soul was hit a hit with fans, leading to his own spinoff series, Angel, which ran for five seasons on the WB.
Boreanaz followed up his run in the Buffyverse with the CBS police procedural drama, Bones, on which he portrayed FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth opposite forensic anthropologist Temperance “Bones” Brennan (Emily Deschanel). The series was a huge hit for the network, running for an impressive 12 seasons. Staying with the Tiffany Network, Boreanaz then went on to star in the hit military drama SEAL Team, which ran for a total of seven seasons, though it moved over to Paramount+ during its fifth season.
Given Boreanaz’s track record of carrying long-running dramas, The Rockford Files seems to be starting on a solid foundation for NBC. Combined with the enduring popularity of the original series, the reboot has the potential to appeal to longtime fans while introducing Jim Rockford to a new generation of viewers.
The Rockford Files premieres Jan. 2, 2027, on NBC before moving to its regular Thursday night time slot on Jan. 7. Episodes will stream the following day on Peacock.
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