Shark Bytes

The karate chop is the bomb!!!

Best classic detective show ever. Period.

I am surprised this show didi so well. I am watching the pilot episode and it is so convoluted and boring I am tempted to quit watching.

I loved it when Cannon, all 300 pounds of him, would jump out of his car, chase and capture (!!!) some trim, athletic suspect.

Best classic cop/detective show. Period.

Someone wrote: "Cannon jumped the shark in it's very first episode, which featured two rodeo clowns committing a robbery/murder. I was struck at the time at how badly the show was written and acted, and it never got much better."
Since a show can't jump the shark the first episode, it can get better or worse; if it didn't get much better, it pretty much stayed the same; meaning it never jumped the shark. It was a good show, relatively well acted by a great radio performer (Bill Cannon reportedly performed in more radio episodes than any other person, and definitely was in more diverse roles and shows). The acting and the writing was on par for its time. It might not be in a class with The Rockford Files, but it's in the same school house.

To John France-people on ludes shouldnt post comments! And yes, Cannon was such a hunk-oh yeah, he was a BIG hunk! At one time, the biggest guy in TV, and all of Hollywood for that matter! You could even throw in West Hollywood, Burbank, the San Fernando Valley, Southern California, and the entire West Coast,lol! Only kidding William, RIP to the GREAT Cannon!
PS-Is he dead? If not, I'm sorry, if so, Rest in Pizza

Dear previous poster:

WHAT?!?

Kidding,Conrad showed how to fit thru a crowd of people hips
turned so narrow or a ticket gate overweight.
A Chuck Connor's of a detective could use him as in most kidnappings when
victim's family warned not to contact
FBI by ransom note should it arrive.
Still say see Marilynn Monroe
portrait when leaning against piling in subway station,she married Joe DeMaggio right,and played with Hudson and Gable in Giant and Misfits but how is that relevant to finding a runaway Diva?So now tonight I drew a picture of Cannon leaning on a table as a player in the game Clue pondering Colonel Mustard in the library with a wrench or Miss Green in the parlor with "cyanide";
retrospect Peter Sellers 2004.Nick Nolte and Eddy Murphy in Hollywood Cop.

What killed the show was a guest appearance by that awful Dawn Lyn. (Dodie from My Three Sons). That dirty child looked like a pug dog wearing a wig.

Loved that big gun-boat,460 cid Lincoln.....

I loved this show!!! Does anyone remember "Jake and the Fatman"? I was only 9 when it was on, but that was during the days of all those cheesy cop shows. Sure, William Conrad might not have been a looker, but he had a great voice:

Cannon never jumped, in fact, it was still doing relatively well in the ratings when it was cancelled five years into its run. The show was hurt in its second season by a CBS edict that instituted strict rules about violence, (which affected all CBS shows). Thus, trapping Cannon in a fire substitued for a fistfight, and "point of impact" of a gunshot (lots of gunshooting on TV in the '70s) was not to be shown. These rules lessened after season two, thankfully. Excellent guest stars, (courtesty of Conrad's hollywood connections!), NO YOUNG SIDEKICK, and continuous exterior/on location shooting were hallmarks of this now underappreciated series, which in these respects was miles away from much of what was on the air. Cannon, (like most 70s crime shows), did not age well, primarily owing to attitudes of the times, and its depiction of drugs/sexual mores, etc. Typical was the portrayal of the crazed criminal as a victim of (un-named) Vietnam post traumatic stress syndrome. This didn't fly even as early as the 80s. This is the main reason these programs are never recycled today, and it is a shame!

This show never jumped. Cannon's bulk was his schtick, it made the show more enjoyable. The writer who referred to the "gimmick P.I." thing is right on the mark. All were enjoyable shows, too, certainly more so than lots of 70s entertainment. Conrad was a great actor and the scripts were literate.

Cannon was a great private detective series and never jumped the shark. However, the late, great William Conrad once commented on his former detective series, in that marvelous stentorian voice of his, saying simply: "Cannon was crap!" Requiem aeternam, Mr. Conrad!