Editing James Garner (section)

===1980s===
[[File:James Garner 1987.jpg|left|thumb|upright|Garner in 1987]]

====''Bret Maverick'' (1981–1982)====
After the abrupt disappearance of ''Young Maverick'' two seasons earlier, an attempt to make a "Maverick" series without Garner, he returned to his earlier TV role in 1981 in the revival series ''[[Bret Maverick]]'', but NBC unexpectedly canceled the show after only one season despite reasonably good ratings. Critics noted that the scripts did not measure up to the [[List of Maverick episodes|episodes]] starring Garner in [[Maverick (TV series)|the first series]]. Jack Kelly ([[Maverick (TV series)#Jack Kelly as Bart Maverick|Bart Maverick]]) was slated to become a series regular had the show been picked up for another season. Kelly was presented with a stack of finished scripts featuring Bart Maverick for the upcoming second season, and he appeared in the last scene of the final episode in a surprise guest appearance.

====TV movies====
During the 1980s, Garner played dramatic roles in a number of television films, including ''[[Heartsounds]]'' with [[Mary Tyler Moore]] featuring the true story of a doctor (played by Garner) who is deprived of oxygen for too long during an operation and wakes up mentally impaired; ''[[Promise (1986 film)|Promise]]'' with [[James Woods]] and [[Piper Laurie]], about dealing with a mentally ill adult sibling; and ''[[My Name Is Bill W.]]'' with James Woods, in which Garner portrays the founder of [[Alcoholics Anonymous]]. In 1984, he played the lead in [[Joseph Wambaugh]]'s ''[[The Glitter Dome (film)|The Glitter Dome]]'' for [[HBO Pictures]], which was directed by his ''Rockford Files'' co-star [[Stuart Margolin]]. The film generated a mild controversy for a bondage sequence featuring Garner and co-star [[Margot Kidder]].<ref>{{cite news| url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/19963/The-Glitter-Dome/overview | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071109094021/http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/19963/The-Glitter-Dome/overview | url-status=dead | archive-date=2007-11-09 | department=Movies & TV Dept. | work=[[The New York Times]] | first=Hal | last=Erickson | author-link=Hal Erickson (author) | date=2007 |title=The Glitter Dome}}</ref>
In 1984 he also starred in the movie ''[[Tank (film)|Tank]]'', about a soon-to-be retiring US Army Command Sergeant Major named Zack Carey who butted heads with a corrupt local sheriff after an incident with one of his deputies off base and used a privately owned [[M4 Sherman|Sherman tank]] to exact justice.

====''Murphy's Romance'' (1985)====
Garner's only [[Academy Awards|Oscar]] nomination was for [[Best Actor in a Leading Role]] for the film ''[[Murphy's Romance]]'' (1985), opposite [[Sally Field]]. Field and director [[Martin Ritt]] had to fight the studio, [[Columbia Pictures]], to have Garner cast, since he was regarded as a TV actor by then despite having co-starred in the box office hit ''[[Victor/Victoria]]'' opposite [[Julie Andrews]] two years earlier. Columbia did not want to make the movie, because it had no "sex or violence" in it. But because of the success of ''[[Norma Rae]]'' (1979), with the same star (Field), director, and screenplay writing team ([[Harriet Frank Jr.]] and [[Irving Ravetch]]), and with Field's new production company (Fogwood Films) producing, Columbia agreed. L wanted [[Marlon Brando]] to play the part of Murphy, so Field and Ritt had to insist on Garner.<ref>Cameron, Julia. – "Garner Fits Romantic Role, Not Hollywood Pigeonhole." ''[[Chicago Tribune]]'' (January 19, 1986)</ref><ref>Laurence, Robert P. "Garner doesn't go by the book in role in 'Breathing Lessons.'" ''[[San Diego Union-Tribune]]'' (February 6, 1994)</ref><ref>Rosenthal, Phil. "Garner Remains TV's Class Act." ''[[Daily News of Los Angeles]]'' (February 6, 1994). Retrieved on August 3, 2008</ref> Part of the deal from the studio, which at that time was owned by [[The Coca-Cola Company]], included an eight-line sequence of Field and Garner saying the word "Coke," and also having Coke signs appear prominently in the film.<ref>Baltake, Joe. "The Packaging of Hollywood of Advertising."
''[[Sacramento Bee]]'' (May 13, 1990)</ref><ref>"Blowing Smoke – They've Coma a Long Way, Baby, In pushing Cigarettes on Screen. ''[[Sacramento Bee]]'' (January 14, 1996). Retrieved on August 3, 2008</ref> In [[A&E Network|A&E]]'s ''[[Biography (TV series)|Biography]]'' of Garner, Field reported that her on-screen kiss with Garner was the best cinematic kiss she had ever experienced.<ref name=A&E-Biography-JGHM>Nelson, Ted.  "James Garner: Hollywood Maverick." ''A&E Biography'' (2000). New York: A & E Home Video; {{ISBN|978-0-7670-3361-9}}</ref>

====''Sunset'' (1988)====
Garner played [[Wyatt Earp]] (whom he physically resembled) in two very different movies shot 21 years apart, [[John Sturges]]'s ''[[Hour of the Gun]]'' in 1967 and [[Blake Edwards]]'s ''[[Sunset (1988 film)|Sunset]]'' in 1988. The first film was a realistic depiction of the [[Gunfight at the O.K. Corral|O.K. Corral shootout]] and its aftermath, while the second centered around a comedic fictional adventure shared by Earp and silent movie cowboy star [[Tom Mix]]. Earp had actually worked as a consultant for Western films during the [[silent film]] era toward the end of his life. The movie features [[Bruce Willis]] as Mix in only his second movie role. Although Willis was billed over Garner, the film actually gave more screen time and emphasis to Earp.{{citation needed|date=May 2017}}

For the second half of the 1980s, Garner also appeared in several of the North American market [[Mazda]] television commercials as an on-screen spokesman.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-02-10-fi-2280-story.html|title=Mazda Drops Garner to Try New Route in Commercials|last=Horovitz|first=Bruce|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=February 10, 1989|access-date=July 22, 2014}} "four-year stint as a spokesman for Mazda... contract expires in March" (i.e. March 1985–89)</ref>