Authors and Creators
Stephen J. Cannell
(1941- --)

If he had never written a single book, television writer/producer Stephen J. Cannell would still rank a huge spot in the P.I. Hall of Fame. It's no mistake he was given the PWA Lifetime Achievement Award back in 1994.

Cannell's contributions to the crime genre, even before he started writing novels, are awesome. In his own way, Cannell helped modernize (and humanize) the private eye every bit as much as Ross Macdonald, Dennis Lynds, Bill Pronzini or Robert Parker, and paved the way for everyone from Paretsky to Mosley to Pelecanos, and also arguably the single biggest contributor to the TV eye genre ever (Roy Huggins also has dibs).

He may be best known for his beloved character Jim Rockford, played by James Garner in The Rockford Files for seven years, but he has created close to forty series (and written over 350 TV episodes), including The A-Team, 21 Jump Street and The Commish and such classic PI shows as City of Angels, Tenspeed and Brown Shoe, Sonny Spoon, The Duke, Hardcastle & McCormick, Riptide, J.J. Starbuck, Booker, Palace Guard, and Richie Brockelman, Private Eye.

He's done well enough, that he founded his own production company and studio, located in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Over the years, he's managed to appear in several of his own productions, in cameos and bit parts. His photo was used as the author's portrait of Mark Savage on the books Lionel devoured in Tenspeed and Brownshoe, and he's appeared recently in small parts in Renegade, Silk Stalkings and Scene of the Crime.

Over the course of his long and varied career, he's won an Emmy (for The Rockford Files), Edgars, a Writers Guild Award, and numerous international film and television awards.

Cannell was born in 1941 in Pasadena, California, but had a hard time with school, repeating several grades and flunking out of at least two schools, before he was diagnosed with dyslexia.

"I was a classic case," he's said. "A real slow learner. It took a lot of understanding and therapy to overcome my problems."

He did overcome them, though, and has since gone on to serve as National Chairperson for the Orton Dyslexia Society. And become involved in some of the ost loved television shows of the seventies and eighties. And no doubt his dyslexia, and the difficulties it caused, as far as reading went, helped him to develop a fondness for television.

During his teen years, having (finally) graduated from high school, he went to work for his father's interior design company, but rushed home to work on TV scripts. His first break was to sell "script ideas" to the producers of Mission Impossible. Desilu, the producers, felt he was "too young" to actually write scripts. Cannell kept at it, though, and eventually sold a script to It Takes a Thief. At this point, he quit the interior design racket, and decided to concentrate completely on his writing. His next sale was to Jack Webb's Adam-12. Webb was so impressed by the script, that he soon made Cannell head writer on the show.

Cannell soon gained a solid rep, and by the 1973-74 season, was working on two other cop shows, Chase and Toma. He was the creator of the first, and a producer and writer for the second. It was Toma, in fact, where he first worked with Roy Hugins, who was the producer, and it was a rejected script for a Toma episode that eventually became the pilot for The Rockford Files, which was co-created by Huggins and Cannell. Cannell also served as the supervising producer for the show.

With the wild success of The Rockford Files in 1974, and the creation of Baretta, Baa Baa Black Sheep and City of Angels in the next two years, Cannell was well on his way.

And, in 1995, he followed a boyhood dream of becoming a novelist, and has started churning out novels. His first, The Plan, involved the Mafia and politics, and he's since gone on to write several more, all dealing with crime in one way or another. King Con (1997), a reworking of The Sting, was about a con artist who teams up with a female DA to outcon the bad guys, would certainly appeal to fans of Rockford or Tenspeed. And in 2000, he introduced a series character, LAPD detective Shane Scully. But so far, Cannell has only written one actual private eye story, 2003's Runaway Heart, featuring Jake Wirta.

TELEVISION

• Private Eye Shows Stephen J. Cannell Was Involved In
  He has had a hand in both writing, creating and/or developing/producing a number of top-rated series, including (chronologically):
  .
• The Rockford Files
  (1974-1980, NBC; with Roy Huggins)
  
  
• City of Angels
  (1976, CBS; with Roy Huggins)
  
  
• Richie Brockelman, Private Eye
  (1978, with Steven Bochco)
  
  
• The Duke
  (1979, NBC)
  
  
• Tenspeed And Brown Shoe
  (1980)
  
  
• Hardcastle & McCormick
  (1983-86, with Patrick Hasburgh)
  
  
• Riptide
  (1984-86)
  
  
• Hunter
  (1984-91)
  
  
• J.J. Starbuck
  (1987-88)
  
  
• Sonny Spoon
  (1988)
  
  
• Booker
  (1989-1990)
  
  
• Palace Guard
  (1991)
  
  
• Other Shows, both crime and non-crime, that Cannell created
  (Not all of these are confirmed. Does anyone know?)
  .
• Madigan (1972-73)
  Co-created with Peter Allan Fields, a writer on Columbo, and starring Richard Widmark.
  .
• Chase (1973-74, NBC)
  Cannell created this one, about a special police unit dealing in unconventional crimes.
  
  
• Baretta
  (1975-78, ABC)
  Creator, writer of the pilot, produced by Roy Huggins
  
  
• Baa Baa Black Sheep (AKA Black Sheep Squadron)
  (1976-78)
  Tales of an American World War II bomber crew, starring Robert Conrad.
  
  
• Stone
  (1980)
  Dennis Weaver as a Joseph Wambaugh-type homicide cop/writer.
  
  
• The Greatest American Hero
  (1981-1983)
  A spoof of superheroes.
  
  
• The Quest
  (1982)
  
  
• The Rousters
  (1983-84)
  Another barely remembered, series. Chad Everett starred as Wyatt Earp, a modern-day bounty hunter who works for a circus.
  .
• The A-Team
  (1983-87)
  Ah, who knows what those whacky , fun-loving mercenaries will do next?
  
  
• Rolling Thunder
  (1983)
  
  
• The Last Precinct
  (1986)
  
  
• Stingray
  (1986-87, NBC)
  
  
• Werewolf
  (1987-89)
  
  
• 21 Jump Street
  (1987-92)
  Mod Squad meets Tiger Beat! Cute young cops battle crime. This begat Booker, which was 77 Sunset Strip meets Tiger Beat.
  
  
• Wiseguy
  (1987-90)
  A Fed goes undercover-way, way, way undercover) to bust the mob. This was a huge, huge success. Of course, I completely missed it.
  
  
• Top of the Hill
  (1989)
  
  
• UNSUB
  (1989)
  This was simply one of the best things Cannell ever did, about a team of forensic specialists called in on some of the most grisly of crimes. It predated the entire forensic craze, including Patricia Cornwell, Silence of the Lambs, and the exceeedingly lame CSI and its endless spin-offs. But, in its dark, moody quick-cutting tone, it may have helped insire the first few seasons of Homicide: A Life on the Streets. I may have been the only one who saw this.
  
  
• The Commish
  (1991-95)
  A big city cop become police commisioner for a small, but rapidly growing town. An appealing mixture of crime and domesticity.
  
  
• Silk Stalkings
  (1991-?)
  
  
• Renegade
  (1992-97, syndicated/USA)
  
  
• The Hat Squad
  (1992)
  
  
• Cobra
  (1993-94
  
  
• Marker
  (1994)
  
  
• Profit
  (1996)
  .
• Two
  (1997)
  .
• As an actor...
• Scene of the Crime (1992; as 'the host')
• Renegade (1992-97; as Lt. Donald "Dutch" Dixon)
• Silk Stalkings (1991)
  
  
• Other Shows that Cannell, or Stephen J. Cannell Productions, was affiliated with:
  .
• Mission Impossible
  (writer)
  Reader Alex Garcia notes, though, "I've often seen this credit, but I don't remember ever seeing him credited in an episode guide or on screen credits - could be he sold a script that was never used, or something like that." As it turns out, Alex is right. Cannell only sold them "script ideas.' The producers, Desilu, felt he was too young to actually sell them scripts.
  
  
• It Takes a Thief
  (1968-70 ; writer)
  This show was the first one to actually buy a script from Cannell.
  
  
• Adam-12
  (as a writer)
  
  
• Toma
  (writer)
  
  
• The 100 Lives Of Black Jack Savage
  
  
• Columbo
  (wrote one episode : "Double Exposure", aired December 16, 1973)
  
  
• Chase
  (1973 , writer & producer)
  
  
• Murder, She Wrote
  (1983-95; writer)
  "I'm missing a lot of writer credits for this one, so I can't be 100% sure, but I highly doubt he worked on it..." (Alex again)
  
  
• Scene of the Crime
  (1992, producer)
  
  
• Broken Badges
  (executive producer)
  
  
• Jake Lassiter: Justice on the Bayou
  (1995, TV movie)
  This 1995 NBC movie was an unsuccessful pilot for a series about Paul Levine's ex-linebacker turned rough-edged criminal lawyer. A Stephen J. Cannell Production.
  
  
• Also, Cannell possibly has connections with these shows, although I'm not clear in what capacity:
  
  
• Street Justice (Distributor only?)
• Missing Persons (1992)
• Traps (1994)
• Hawkeye: The First Frontier (1995)

NOVELS

• The Plan (1995) ..Buy this book
• Final Victim (1996) ..Buy this book
• King Con (1997) ..Buy this book
• Riding the Snake (1998) ..Buy this book
• The Devil's Workshop (2000)..Buy this book
• The Tin Collectors (2000; 1: Shane Scully) ..Buy this book
• The Viking Funeral (2002; Shane Scully)..Buy this book
• Hollywood Tough (2003; Shane Scully)..Buy this book
• Runaway Heart (2003; Jake Wirta)..Buy this book
• Vertical Coffin (2004; Shane Scully)..Buy this book
• Cold Hit (2005; Shane Scully)..Buy this book
• White Sister (2006; Shane Scully)..Buy this book

RELATED LINKS

• Stephen J. Cannell
  Cannell's official web site, maintained by Michael Allen. Also home of Stephen J. Cannell's Free Online Writing Seminar, wherein Rockford's creator lets us in on his secrets. If you've ever dreamed of writing novels or screenplays, here's your chance to learn from the best. Cannell is offering free online writing classes which will be updated bi-weekly. You'll learn how to create memorable characters, a three act structure and techniques to keep your audience on the edge of their seats.
  

Respectfully submitted by Kevin Burton Smith. Thanks to Alex Garcia for his help with his page, and trying to keep me honest. Check out his Web Headquarters.