Cannon: Season One, Vol. 1 (1971)

The weekly adventures of Frank Cannon an overweight balding ex-cop with a deep voice and expensive tastes in culinary pleasures who becomes a high-priced private investigator. Since Cannon's girth didn't allow for many fist-fights and gun battles (although there were many) the series substituted car chases and high production values in their place.System Requirements:Running Time: 615 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS Rating: NR UPC: 097368924246 Manufacturer No: 892424 Product Description

The original Marshall Dillon

I'm glad Cannon is going to be out on dvd, I've been waiting for years to see this. Too Bad they don't want my money, I was willing to buy the full season. I guess it's good news for Netflix. May 11, 2008

the best is finally here

This is fantastic, finally the best detective show of them all.
Robert Conrad is wonderful as Cannon. His superior acting ability was able to keep your attention from beginning to end. I have waited for years for this to be released and I only hope all the entire episodes will be forthcoming. April 26, 2008

Good Viewing

The 120 hour-long episodes of the detective drama "Cannon" were originally broadcast on CBS from 1971-1976. There was also a two-hour pilot, which premiered on March 26, 1971 and a two-hour sequel broadcast on November 1, 1980. This DVD set includes on the first twelve regular episodes of the first season (no pilot). The episode titles, original broadcast dates, and notable guest stars are detailed below.

"Cannon" was probably the least pompous of the original entries in television's anti-establishment police/private-eye subgenre; setting the stage for "Harry-O" and "The Rockford Files". Rotund actor William Conrad played the title character; dubbed "Cannonball" in Mad Magazine's satire of the series. After years as the voiceover narrator of "The Fugitive" and "Rocky and Bullwinkle", Conrad finally was allowed to be on-screen and is said to have incorporated a lot of his own quirky characteristics into the Frank Cannon character.

Frank is a detective who only takes a case when he feels like it or his pressed for cash to maintain his expensive epicurean lifestyle (i.e. adventures in eating). Most of the action in the series is in the form of car chases; there is some fighting but almost no running. Lacking a handsome co-star "Cannon's" producers were obviously ceding most potential female viewers to the other networks during this time slot; which is generally a good thing for those in the target demographic as there are no compromises to expand the audience.

"Cannon" was a quality Quinn Martin production with logical situations, good suspense, and fast pacing.

Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

Episode 1 (14 Sept 71) "Salinas Jackpot" - Tom Skeritt, Sharon Acker; Episode 2 (21 Sept 71) "Death Chain" Episode 3 (28 Sept 71) "Call Unicorn" - Wayne Rogers; Episode 4 (5 Oct 71) "Country Blues - Clu Gulager, David Huddleston, Joan Van Ark; Episode 5 (12 Oct 71) "Scream of Silence"; Episode 6 (19 Oct 71) "Fool's Gold," L.Q. Jones; Episode 7 26 Oct 71) "Girl In the Electric Coffin" Kim Hunter; Episode 8 (9 Nov 71) "Dead Pigeon"; Episode 9 16 Nov 71) "Lonely Place to Die"; Episode 10 (23 Nov 71) "No Pockets in the Shroud," Roy Scheider, Linda Marsh; Episode 11 (30 Jan 72) "Stone, Cold Dead," Richard Anderson;
Episode 12 (7 Dec 71) "Death is a Double Cross" April 23, 2008

Cannon-The Gourmet P.I.

"Cannon" was one of the staple "gimmick" detective shows of the 1970's.
Cannon was overweight (and he used this fact on numerous occasions to escape from the bad guys), Columbo was dishevelled and drove a clunker car, Barnaby Jones was old and would order milk in a bar, Kojak was bald and sucked lollipops and McCloud was a cowboy in New York. Cannon was a Quinn Martin production and, in general, QM shows were not of the caliber of shows by those such as Bruce Geller, and Levenson & Link (Mannix, Mission: Impossible and Columbo) but Cannon was the exception. The show had top writers and its first season Associate Producer was Paul Playdon who, as a writer, wrote some of the finest episodes of Combat, Mission: Impossible and others, so a lot of hard work and talent went into this series as well. On top of it all, there was William Conrad's fine acting, making Cannon a character one can identify with.

My only complaint is that they are breaking up the first season into two separate packages whereas all the other shows of that era (which usually had something like 24 episodes per season unlike the early 1960's when it was over 30) have included entire seasons in one package. April 3, 2008

FINALLY!

I have waited for this for years to finally come to dvd.I have the series on old vhs tapes recorded from TV Land back in 1996.
I hope they release all seasons because i will buy them all!
Cannon is a great series from the early 70s!Thanks CBS for finally releasing this. April 2, 2008

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