Almost from day one, we here at CC have been rather skeptical about the idea of remaking THE ROCKFORD FILES. Jim Rockford was James Garner and that is that. Dermot Mulroney may be a nice guy, but he just does not seem like Jim.
Now word comes that the pilot is not exactly wowing those that see it. NY magazine has an article that says things are not looking good:
What went wrong? NBC isn’t talking, but two people familiar with the situation said Rockford turned out to be more rehash than reinvention. The insiders place most of the blame on pilot director Michael Watkins (a TV-drama veteran who has helmed episodes of everything from Quantum Leap to NYPD Blue to Justified), saying he severely weakened a solid script with lackluster, even listless direction.
“The pilot looked like it was shot in the seventies,” said one person familiar with NBC’s response, claiming everything from the lighting to the pacing looked dated — and not in a cool, retro way. “You didn’t even know it was the current day until Jim pulled out his cell phone. It looked like Stephen J. Cannell directed it himself.”
While much of the criticism of the Rockford pilot seems to center around the direction, there have been complaints about Mulroney’s take on Rockford. Some people who’ve seen the pilot praise his work — “Dermot’s adorable,” said one viewer — while others suggest he simply didn’t pop.
If things are that bad right off the bat, best thing for all involved is to drop this puppy and focus on other, more promising projects. If not, it may be time to bring in new creative forces and redo the pilot completely. But that will take money and, unless they have given the stars guarenteed money, most networks are not looking to throw good money after bad.
Type rest of the post here
