There might be a few too many car chases padding some of the episodes, since that was a big selling point in the '70s, but it's the dialogue and delivery that make this show so watchable even now.
Humor hasn't yet overtaken the drama, as would happen later with Magnum P.I. and Remington Steele, but in [James] Garner's irrepressible, eventually Emmy-winning shamus, The Rockford Files remains as timeless as a blackjack to the back of your skull.