The creator of “The Rockford Files” and “The A-Team” was incredibly prolific:
Indeed, in the spring of 1986, he had six hourlong shows on in primetime: “The A-Team,” “Hunter,” “Stingray,” “Riptide,” “The Last Precinct” on NBC and “Hardcastle & McCormick” on ABC.
I remember watching “The Rockford Files” as a kid and being impressed with how smart and sophisticated it was, compared to the other programs of the time.
El Cid
The Rockford Files recently came out on DVD etc. Watching a few episodes, it was interesting to see that the characters were actually portrayed pretty realistically, though of course often being based around their role (i.e., slightly doddy old friend, etc.) Had a good theme song too.
Legalize
Rockford was my favorite show as a kid. I loved the title sequence and the theme song! I heard the song recently somewhere and a vision of a gold Firebird spinning around L.A. jumped into my head.
J.A.F. Rusty Shackleford
It never mattered how much shit the A-Team blew up, no one ever died.
arguingwithsignposts
@J.A.F. Rusty Shackleford:
Or how many rounds of ammo were fired by either side.
aimai
I adored stingray. It had this weird, funny, premise that the James Bond like mystery character “Ray” was sort of some karmic force, doing favors for people and calling in favors to help new people. In other words it was simply by connecting disconnected people along this chain of favors that he solved people’s problems. He had a very dry, dry, wit and much of the show seemed to be undermining the very notion of heroism.
aimai
geg6
Wasn’t he also responsible for one of my favorite shows of all time, “Wiseguy”? It only lasted two seasons, but it was awesome. Kevin Spacey, the villian in season 2, made his bones on that show as perhaps the creepiest villian evah, what with his psycho incestual relationship with his equally creepy sister. Love, love, love that show. Get it on Netflix if you can, both seasons. Once you get past the very ’80s wardrobes, it holds up fabulously.
geg6
And I’m being moderated for using the “i” word. FYWP
Warren Terra
Phil Nugent, who’s just been on fire lately, had a great essay memorializing Cannell over the weekend.
Keith
@J.A.F. Rusty Shackleford:
That’s a testament to the awesomeness of chromed machine guns.
For me, Cannell was the iconic end sequence to his shows that had him typing on a typewriter and the page flying out of it onto the screen. Classic, classic sequence that even Family Guy spoofed once.
PurpleGirl
Cannell was also the force behind 21 Jump Street, which featured Johnny Depp. My guilty pleasure was Renegade. Lorenzo Lamas was so-so but I loved his friend Branscombe Richmond and kept track of the earrings they had him wearing.
lol
Don’t remember the details exactly, but I remember finding a pretty slick remix of the Rockford Files theme with… NWA I think?
Jager
People who have never been to LA, drive north from Santa Monica on Pacific Coast Highway towards Malibu and when they pass Topanga Canyon Blvd, they think, “wow, have I been here before”? That section of PCH was the the opening shot of Rockford…
PTirebiter
Analogue answering machines, and a phone booth on every corner. I think James Garner and Noah What’shisname made the show.
klondike
Rockford had its charms, but anyone involved with Hunter has a LOT to answer for. Just clicking through it made me feel unclean. Try to watch an episode of that today and then ask yourself if Cannell earned a shout-out here …
PTirebiter
@Jager: Or take Sunset Blvd. to the beach and bang a right. Can you imagine the rent Rockford would be paying today?
JD Rhoades
@J.A.F. Rusty Shackleford:
I remember that if you knocked bad guys into the water, they’d come out unarmed and helpless.
aimai
Ohmygod–Hunter! If the guy’s ten year old face on a thirty year old body wasn’t creepy enough the sexual politics were even more horrific. And yet…I think you’d have had to be a young girl in those days to grasp how revolutionary it was for Hunter’s partner to get raped and have her life clearly not be “over.” Raped women at that time occupied much the same position as the “tragic mulatto” that is they could be used for a plot device so long as they died or disappeare before the send of the show.
aimai
Napoleon
Rockford may have been my favorite tv show of all time. James Garner made that show (and in a lot of ways one of my favorite movies, Grand Prix).
PTirebiter
@klondike: Was that the show with Freddy Dryer as the lead? He was great playing for the L.A. Rams.
SBJules
I wasn’t a kid at the time, but The Rockford Files was my all time favorite series. It still stands as the best.
Jager
@PTirebiter:
A friend of ours is renting a “guest house” high above the beach, (when the wind is right you can piss on David Geffen’s roof) as she says “I pay $3,400 for the view, $100 for a place to sleep”! Somebody told me that Malibu RV Park is getting over $100 a night and they are very picky about what you drive, ie no 1993 Winnebagos allowed..
BobS
Count me as another Rockford fan.
Another cool detective show of that decade was Harry O.
timb
Riptide is an under-rated accomplishment, my 12 year old self screams. A nerd as a hero, a brainy alternative to the cheap stunts on the A Team
What can I say, I didn’t know much as a 12 year old
donnah
I read mystery novels for review, and last week I got The Prostitutes’ Ball in the mail. The very next day I heard that he had died. I was very surprised to hear it. The last time I saw him was his bit on Castle, playing himself.
RIP, Mr Cannell
Donna
Oh man. It’s been a bad year for mystery/thriller readers. First Robert Parker. Then Dick Francis. Now. Stephen J. Cannell.
I loved his TV stuff (Go Rockford!), but fell in love all over again when he started his Shane Scully series.
geg6
Well, since I can’t seem to get my original comment on this out of moderation, my personal favorite Cannell show was “Wiseguy.”
Just a totally awesome show. First season with Ray Sharkey as the villian, Sonny Steelgrave, blew my mind. And the second season made Kevin Spacey a star, with his portrayal of an international arms dealer, Mel Profitt, who was addicted to heroin and (maybe) sexual escapades with his sister (Joan Severance), was absolutely brilliant stuff. Rent it or stream it on Netflix. You won’t regret it.
And ladies, Vinnie Terranova (Ken Wahl) is seriously, seriously hot, hot, hot. Even with all the horrible 80s fashion.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiseguy
gogol's wife
@geg6:
Thank God. I couldn’t believe no one was mentioning “Wiseguy,” the most brilliant, absorbing, grand-operatic series ever made. What about the one where they had to re-enact “Mister Sardonicus” for the bad guy? There’s never been anything like it on television, and probably never will be. And along with Ken Wahl, I’d single out Jonathan Banks, the greatest sidekick ever.
Crusty Dem
Unbelievably Impressive, but I have to discount because “The A-Team”, “Hunter”, and “Hardcastle & McCormick” really only used one script.
geg6
@gogol’s wife:
Yup. Truly one of the most innovative and intelligent shows that I’ve ever seen. To think it came from the guy who brought us dreck like “The A-Team” is amazing.
And you’re right about Banks. But still, Ken Wahl was such a hottie. ;-)
Alien-Radio
@El Cid:
He also Produced Profit, witten by David Greenwalt (of Angel) and John Mcnamara It was so awesome it was cancelled after four episodes. (for some reason Network television was uncomfortable with a show where the protagonist was a pschopathic busines executive being blackmailed into sleeping with his smackhead stepmother)
uila
You people are old.
Also, Cole has a sad because no one mentioned Greatest American Hero.
Larkspur
A former employer of mine had been friends with Cannell since childhood, and remained close. I never met the guy, but I talked to him a couple of times on the telephone. He was calling from his ship while cruising the Mediterranean (my employer was a guest).
I loved Rockford, couldn’t bear to watch “Hunter”. It may be a rumor, but I heard that his female co-star quit the show when they proposed another story arc wherein she gets raped again.
The thing I kind of liked about Cannell was that he and his wife were married for 46 years. It’s pathetic for me to admire someone for not behaving badly, but still, that kind of loyalty and commitment means something. Imagine: staying with your partner out of love, even though she looks old.
Larkspur
@uila: O yes, very very old. “Greatest American Hero”: was that the one with William Katt, the beautiful ringlet-haired blond boy who was the first to die at Carrie’s prom?
uila
@Alien-Radio: I was surprised to see the Profit boxset available for purchase on Amazon. Four episodes and it gets a 3 disk set!
Then again, Jim Profit was raised in a box, so I guess it’s appropriate.
uila
@Larkspur: Why yes, yes it was.
Not to be confused with Katt Williams.
The Bobs
I loved “The Rockford Files”, my favorite show of the era. Three things I liked besides the great writing.
1.) Rockford frequently lost fights and got beat up.
2.) If he punched somebody in the face, he hurt his hand.
3.) Tires never squealed on dirt roads.
PurpleGirl
Crusty Dem: Unbelievably Impressive, but I have to discount because “The A-Team”, “Hunter”, and “Hardcastle & McCormick” really only used one script.
Picky, picky, picky. We’re talking genre here; this is a feature, not a bug.
Tom Hilton
The Rockford Files was great. A lot of that was Jim Garner, of course (watch Maverick to see roughly how much), but the writing was consistently sharp as well.
And for all of the folks who loved Rockford Files, check out Terriers on fX. Similar feel, really well-written, funny and smart and highly enjoyable. (Jody’s reaction: “this is really good–dammit, it’s going to be cancelled.”)
ThresherK
@PTirebiter:
Xander: Yes, Stan–two-time Pro Bowler Fred Dryer!
Stan: You mean, TV’s Hunter?
Xander: He was Hunter?! That’s like finding out Jesus knew karate!”
ruemara
Man, as a child, I adored Rockford Files reruns, almost as much as I adored MASH. Spent many hours being stupefied by A*Team, Riptide, Stingray & Hardcastle & McCormick. Could not take Hunter, even an 11 year old gets the creepy undercurrent of misogyny on that show-they had the rape of his partner story 2 times. Couldn’t stand it.
And Profit was amazing, I couldn’t believe they killed it after 4 eps.
Short Bus Bully
Rockford was way legit. A very different show where the hero was not uber and all knowing. Garmer made that show go. Terrific theme song. I’m going to have to Netflix it now…
Chris
@El Cid:
By Mike Post, who also did the Law and Order theme.
Duane
Just a follow up to the Wiseguy fans…..I am huge fan as well…..and it lasted a lot longer than 2 seasons….though some of the seasons we may want to forget. How can you forget the Fred Thompson as the white supremacy group leader, and gleen frye with Dead Dog Records and the Rag Trade, the trip out west…..the season with Anthony Dennison filling in after Wahl broke his leg whoops on this… it was Steven Baurer and it was a big time dispute with Wahl and he was off the show….. they also did a follow up movie…..good times……
Brachiator
@geg6:
I didn’t realize that Cannell was one of the people behind Wiseguy. You’re right that this was one of the creepiest (and well-cast) shows in television.
What also amazes me here is not just Cannell’s volume of work, but also it’s diversity compared to someone like, for example, Aaron Spelling, who recycled some of his scripts over and over again.
But Cannell was also very smart in picking his collaborators. TV veteran Roy Huggins (The Fugitive, Maverick), was another of the creators of The Rockford Files. And Frank Lupo collaborated with Cannell on The A-Team and Wiseguy.
I also am just knocked out by the fact that Cannell struggled with dyslexia in school, and found a way to kick ass as a writer.
jmm
Rockford frequently had nifty legal puzzles, along with the driving around. Things like mineral leasing rights on federal lands, or ability to drill an oil well in the middle of a condominium complex, or attorney-client privilege, or maritime law, or trucking regulations. This made it a more intelligent show.
And it was typical for the hero not to get paid, or to be beaten up, or to have his trailer repossessed.
Angel Martin was a great character too — it’s not often that a cowardly weasel is a featured player on the “good guys” side. Agree with the theme song – one of the greats.
James Garner was quoted somewhere as saying that the car was his co-star. Definitely true.
What’s really strange about seeing the show on DVD is just how empty the LA streets and freeways look.
Bobby Thomson
My favorite episode was the one where Jim got his ass kicked after Angel left him holding the bag, and then Rocky got kidnapped.
Oh, wait, that happened every week. Still outclassed everything else on TV, though.
All kidding aside, my favorite episodes were the ones where Harry Gould ran the big con with Jim’s ex.
Kevin T. Keith
A grad-school professor I knew – a JD by training – loaned me a tape of a “Rockford Files” episode that he used in his classes. It’s one where Jim gets called as a grand jury witness and is endlessly harassed and abused over what turns out to be a simple misunderstanding. The episode has a title card at the end explaining that everything seen on the show is legal under the rules for grand juries – an interesting case of the show making its messages less subtle than usual.