Original Air Date: September 16, 1977
Starring: James Garner, Noah Beery Jr., James Whitmore Jr.
Directed by: Stephen J. Cannell

Synopsis: Jim Rockford (James Garner) cuts his vacation short (due to lack of funds) and returns home only to find that someone has stolen his identity and is living in his home, booking clients under his name and racking up credit card debt buying detecting equipment.

Kitty Cameo: Early in the episode a woman pulls up to Rockford’s mobile home in her car.  The scene is shot from beneath the home where a cat is watching her exit the car and approach the door.

When the woman reaches the door, the cat emerges and looks up at her.

The woman is Monica Steel (Bibi Besch) and when the door opens it’s not Rockford but the man who has stolen his identity.  The man allows the cat to enter the home and then when he leaves with the woman she asks if he’s going to leave the cat inside.  He does.

When Rockford returns home he is realizing something strange is going on and discusses the wrecked state of his car and the odd messages on his answering machine with his father (Noah Beery Jr.)  It’s then the cat jumps up on his desk and he asks what the cat, whose name is Valentino, is doing inside.  Valentino appears to be a stray cat which Rockford cares for although it seems this is the only episode in which he actually apears.

Final Mewsings: Rockford probably found more surprises in his home from when Valentino was locked in!

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