I associate The Rockford Files so completely with James Garner's charm and the vibe of 70s California, I can't imagine anyone doing well in a modern remake.
I just want to know who's going to play Mariette Hartley in the inevitable Polaroid ads. I'm also not sure why I immediately thought of Stana Katic rather than Emily Deschanel (probably for the same reason I briefly thought Boreanaz was Canadian -- I seem to have mentally jumbled my Whedon-series leads.)
This episode of free-association brought to you by memories of watching whimsical camera commercials with my mother at a formative age and asking "Is that Mrs Rockford?"