RIP Stephen J. Cannell

Dies at age 69:

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jCbXxTpfoxnTym-lsatmoYMBzJcAD9IJ1I1O3?docId=D9IJ1I1O3

If you watched TV in the '70s or '80s, you watched TV he made: Rockford Files, Greatest American Hero, The A-Team, and more.

 

Starman will be at half-mast all day

 

Cannell, of course, actually took over "Rockford" from Roy Huggins, Jr., who died in 2002.

But he certainly was a major force in its direction, along with Garner.

 

Greg Giraldo, Eddie Fisher, Tony Curtis, and Stephen J. Cannell.

Damn you Abe Vigoda.

Seriously, Cannell make it worth staying at home and watch TV in the 70's and 80's. The scene of him typing away at his typewriter, pulling out the sheet and turns into a "C" as part of the end credits to his show was an indelible stamp on television.

 

As a kid, Greatest American Hero was probably my favorite show. And I've recently seen a few episodes on DVD and it still holds up.

RIP, Mr. Cannell.

 

Deserves praise for Rockford and Wiseguy alone.

Put out a bunch of crap too, but entertaining crap. RIP.

 

Wiseguy was true greatness. It's too bad that all the episodes aren't available. The Dead Dog Records arc, one of the best stories, isn't available because of music licensing problems

 

Never really watched his shows, but enjoyed his Shane Scully novels.

 

Enjoy the shows he created, and really like his recent appearances on Castle as part of the writers poker game.

RIP.

 

Wiseguy was an absolutely incredible show. To me, Kevin Spacey will always be the freak boinking his sister. And how about Ray Sharkey, who was one of the best villains in TV history--Sonny Steelgrave.

Big fan of Cannell's stuff, would have guessed he was far older than 69. I also often mix him up with Glen A. Larson (The Hardy Boys, Knight Rider).

 

Even though no one will ever accuse him of being high-brow, a lot of his shows endured because he knew how to develop characters people wanted to spend an hour with each week.

 

I'm going to pull a piece of paper out of my typewriter and toss it in the air in remembrance.