NBC Just Dropped a First Look at Its 70s Detective Reboot — And It Reveals David Boreanaz’s SEAL Team Successor

David Boreanaz is heading back to the small screen for the first time since 2024, a comeback for a primetime fixture who first sank his teeth into stardom as Angel on Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

David Boreanaz is clocking back in. After wrapping SEAL Team in 2024 and taking his longest breather in more than 25 years of near-constant TV work, he is jumping into a very specific kind of comfort food: a modern remake of a 1970s cult favorite for NBC. And yes, the first-look photos are out.

The gig: The Rockford Files, now with Boreanaz

Boreanaz will headline NBC's reboot of The Rockford Files as James Scott 'Jim' Rockford, the wry private eye originally played by James Garner. The classic series ran from 1974 to 1980 and built its reputation on a different kind of TV detective: a guy who had been wrongfully convicted, later pardoned, and then hustled for work out of a beat-up mobile home parked by the beach. He preferred talking his way out of trouble, avoided hospital bills whenever possible, and stashed a Colt Detective Special in a cookie jar. It was laid-back, sun-baked, and quietly sharp.

What the new version changes (and what it keeps)

"Newly paroled after doing time for a crime he didn’t commit, James Rockford (Boreanaz) returns to his life as a private investigator using his charm and wit to solve cases around Los Angeles. It doesn’t take long for his quest for legitimacy to land him squarely in the crosshairs of both local police and organized crime."

That one sentence tells you a lot. Unlike the original, this Rockford is not a free man; he is on parole. That adds a real ankle monitor to the storytelling: every case potentially risks sending him back to prison, and every move has to thread the needle of his parole conditions. The early photos also suggest we are not getting the exact same penny-pinching setup from the 70s show — he does not look like a guy operating out of a crumbling beach trailer. The Los Angeles setting is intact, though, and so is the idea that he leans on charm and brains before fists.

• Status shift: then pardoned, now paroled — higher stakes, cleaner engine for ongoing stories.
• Tone tweak: still witty and resistant to brawls, but the legal leash tightens the tension.
• Vibe update: the first-look images point to a lifestyle upgrade over the original's shoestring living.
• Same playground: cases around Los Angeles, with heat from both cops and organized crime.

Cast, crew, timing

Alongside Boreanaz, the series features Michaela McManus, Felix Solis, and Jacki Weaver. The pilot comes from writer Mike Daniels and director Greg Mottola. Both Daniels and Mottola executive produce, joined by Carl Beverly, Sarah Timberman, and Chris Leanza. NBC has it slotted as a midseason drop, likely early 2027.

Why this is a smart match for Boreanaz

Boreanaz has quietly been one of TV's steadiest leads since the late 90s: the Buffy and Angel years (Angel ran 1999–2004), straight into a long Bones run (2005–2017), then SEAL Team (2017–2024). Rockford lets him blend the easygoing charm of his Bones era with the grit and leadership he flexed on SEAL Team. And grounding it in a parole framework gives the show a built-in fuel source beyond just the case-of-the-week.

If NBC sticks the landing, this could feel like a modern throwback: sunlit mysteries, a lead who talks first and punches last, and just enough danger to keep the engine humming.