The Rockford Files Reboot Casts David Boreanaz

The bones of NBC’s “The Rockford Files” reboot pilot are good.

“Bones” star David Boreanaz will lead a potential series update of the 1970s detective drama, Deadline reports. He’ll play Jim Rockford, the beleaguered, regular-guy detective portrayed by James Garner in the original series. 

The new “Rockford,” from Mike Daniels (“Sons of Anarchy”), is billed as “a contemporary update on the classic series of the same name.” The potential reboot will find James Rockford “newly paroled after doing time for a crime he didn’t commit” and returning to his life as a private investigator “using his charm and wit to solve cases around Los Angeles,” per the official description. “It doesn’t take long for his quest for legitimacy to land him squarely in the crosshairs of both local police and organized crime.”

The original “Rockford Files” ran six seasons on NBC, from 1974 to 1980, and won Emmys for best drama series (in 1978) and best lead actor in a drama (Garner in 1976). Garner also returned for a bunch of “Rockford Files” movies that aired on CBS in the mid-1990s. 

Boreanaz’s breakout role was as the soulful vampire Angel in “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” a role he later played on the spinoff “Angel.” He later played FBI Agent Seeley Booth for all 12 seasons of “Bones” and Master Chief Jason Hayes for all seven seasons of “Seal Team.” 

Boreanaz was a popular choice for the role among TVLine readers when we asked who you’d like to see in the role — great job, armchair casting directors!

“The Rockford Files” is set in Los Angeles; the pilot will shoot in Atlanta.