Cannon: Season One, Vol. 1

William Conrad was no stranger to audiences when Cannon joined the Quinn Martin stable of television dramas. In fact, most folks knew his voice before they got to know his trademark girth. Conrad was the original Matt Dillon when Gunsmoke was a radio drama. When the drama entered the visual medium of television, even Conrad admitted later that the audience, who thought of him as tall and handsome, would have been disappointed. His voice lent authority to any role he played, and on radio his size was never an issue. He was famous as the voice of the stern narrator in the Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoons who often crossed the laws of the trade and interacted with the titular characters. He was also the voice that narrated the struggles of Dr. Richard Kimble on The Fugitive, another Quinn Martin Production. He continued to narrate series intros even after his own success. He gave us the informative opening dialog in Buck Rogers In The 25^th Century. As a voice, Conrad, was one of the bes, but when CBS approached Quinn Martin asking for a television vehicle for Conrad, it was a huge gamble. The gamble, of course, paid off… well… huge, and Cannon became an iconic figure in television. Cannon was so popular he was showing up on other shows as well. He appeared on the pilot for Barnaby Jones. The show ran 5 seasons and returned with appropriately enough The Return Of Frank Cannon tele-film in 1980. It is also interesting to note that Conrad, while greatly overweight, lived to be 74.

Frank Cannon was unlike any detective we’d ever seen on television before, or since. He was known as a high priced PI with a taste for the finer things in life, particularly fine food. His appearance was counter to all of the rules about rock-jawed handsome detectives who ran around shooting it out and beating up the bad guys. Cannon was a big man and wasn’t about to do much running and fighting. He wasn’t totally different, however. Cannon had a lead foot and could run a car chase with the best of them. He was smart and often a bit flashy in his technique if not in his appearance. It was also rare for a series to have a lone regular to carry the … um… weight. Conrad was up to the task and made the show and the character a permanent part of our pop culture.

These first 11 episodes form yet another one of Paramount’s money grab half season releases. Check out some other reviews for my feelings on that score. The episodes are solid and worth a watch even if you have been living under a rock and never heard of Frank Cannon. The pilot starts out unlikely enough by showing us that Cannon once had a girlfriend. Looks aren’t everything, after all. In the pilot he is asked to clear her of killing her husband. The case leads him to the wife of a local deputy who has a nasty habit of turning up a widow. In Salinas Jackpot, Cannon discovers that a team of rodeo clowns are responsible for killing 6 people when they robbed the rodeo. This episode is great for setting up the tenacious character of Frank Cannon as he obsesses over a strip of home movies taken to uncover the culprits. PI’s are getting murdered, and Cannon connects it to a series of truck hijacks in Call Unicorn. Cannon’s an ex-cop and has to clear a cop of murder in Dead Pigeon. In the collection’s final episode, Stone Cold Dead, Cannon tried to clear a Vietnam vet of murder. In a rather amusing coincidence, the soldier is played by an actor named Dack Rambo. Other guest stars in this set include: Roy Scheider, Harold Gould, James Wainwright, Kim Hunter, Andrew Prine, Max Gail, Clu Gulager, Wayne Rogers, Tom Skerritt, Vincent Van Patten, Vera Miles, Ellen Corby, and a young Mark Hamill.

Video

Each episode of Cannon is presented in its original broadcast full frame format. The early 70’s nature of the series is unmistakable here. Unfortunately the transfer has plenty going wrong for it. Colors are unstable and everything is rather soft. There are also signs of compression artifact. Black levels are poor. This is likely as good as it will get, however.

Audio

The Dolby Digital Mono track delivers exactly what you are looking for and nothing more. The dialog is clear, and that’s all you’re going to get out of this minimalist presentation.

Special Features

Each episode gives you the option of watching a very short network promo.

Final Thoughts

It’s interesting that both Cannon and Jake And The Fatman have come out on the same day. I suspect Paramount has hopes that fans of Cannon will migrate over to the other show as an impulse buy. That’s not likely. Cannon is a far superior series, and about the only thing it has in common with Fatman is William Conrad, who is nowhere near as dynamic in the later role. I am looking forward to Conrad’s go as Nero Wolfe. Cannon took the detective mold and broke it. It works because it’s different and because Conrad makes you believe you’re watching “the best PI around”.