...Janet MacLachlan and...James McEachin worked on [the Rockford Files] in parts that were about character, not race...Rita Moreno elevated the heroic call girl stereotype in her recurring role...Maybe one reason is that the decision makers on “Rockford” reflected life, as well. Behind the camera, actor-director Ivan Dixon directed a chunk of episodes, and African American actor-producer Chas. Floyd Johnson was a longtime part of the production team. It all seemed no big deal in the Rockford/Garner world, one that was written, it can be noted, not only by David Chase, who obviously learned lessons he would later bring to “The Sopranos,” but also by Juanita Bartlett, who wrote many of the show’s best episodes and was story consultant.
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