"Cannon" (1971) TV series 1971-1976

Directors:

E. Arthur Kean
Jimmy Sangster

Writer:

George McCowan (writer)

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

Release Date:

14 September 1971 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Mystery | Drama

Plot:

The cases of a fat private detective.

Plot Keywords:

Detective | Private Detective | Private Eye | Fat Man | Character Name In Title

Awards:

Nominated for 3 Golden Globes. Another 1 win & 3 nominations

Cast

William Conrad

...

Frank Cannon (120 episodes, 1971-1976)

Runtime:

60 min (120 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Quinn Martin Productions (QM)

Trivia:

The license plate for Frank Cannon's "Cannonmobile" was "963-XUJ"

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Life on Mars: Out Here in the Fields (#1.1)" (2008)

Frank Cannon; large and in charge.

Once upon a time you weren't a real TV detetctive unless you had a gimmick; Banacek was Polish, Barnaby Jones was old, Pepper Anderson was a "Police Woman," Ironside was in a wheelchair, Longstreet was blind, McCloud was a cowboy, Kojak was bald, Starsky and Hutch were "cool" (I HATE that word!), Columbo was polite and persistent...

Cannon, who left the force after his wife and child were killed (a plot thread tied up in one of the later episodes), was fat. And like Sammo on "Martial Law" nearly thirty years later, he didn't let his excess avoirdupois hinder his getting results. Unlike Sammo, however, he was hopeless when it came to the rough stuff - watching him get physical is embarrassing, and you suspect he and everyone else involved knew it, which is why hand-to-hand fight scenes were kept to a minimum throughout. (Scenes of him scuba-diving were also kept to a minimum of one episode of the entire run - William Conrad in a wetsuit is not something you want to see.)

The series was more reliant on stories than gimmicks, however, and it was William Conrad's show. No sidekicks, no best buddies, no revolving-door love interests, no down-at-heel stuff for him; he was good value, and so was the series.