Customer Reviews

Cannon - Season One, Vol. 2

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I had been waiting for years for the release of Cannon on dvd. William Conrad is an affable, yet tough connoisseur / detective. In the series, he is always underestimated by the villains. They inevitably learn, too late, that, while, short in stature and stout in figure, he will work through the case and come out on top. By the way, it is great that he got this gig, because, after playing a terrific Matt Dillon on the radio series for many years, he was rejected for the television role (Gunsmoke) because of his appearance. Anyway, great, well crafted detective series that will be worth the price.

Cannon season one print quality was not remastered by Paramount/CBS, who did a superb job on The Streets Of San Francisco, another early '70's Quinn Martin series, when it was presented on DVD. Cannon itself had progressed, with better stories and acting for volume 2, then was seen in volume 1.

William Conrad, got his first lead in a television series in 1971, as an ex-LA cop turned private eye, Frank Cannon. At the time, police and crime dramas were big, and were about to explode in popularity. Following in the wake of late 60's programs like Dragnet, Mannix, Colombo, The Mod Squad, Adam-12, and Ironside (just to name a few), Cannon was part of the early wave of a genre that would soon flood the airwaves in the 70's. A Quinn-Martin Production, the program has the familiar basic packaging of the company's previous prime time successes, The Fugitive, The FBI, and The Invaders.

Bill Conrad was a big man, an obvious fact that the series' writers made a point of emphasis, and humor, for the character Frank Cannon. They put Conrad's obesity out in the open, with frequent references his size and weight, or being on a diet. Cannon blames himself for his weight problem, and being something of a gourmet cook, doesn't make things any easier. It all seems unkind, but this was a different era, and Bill Conrad appears to have taken it all in stride. He may not have had the ideal body type, but Conrad was certainly up to the physical demands of being the lead in an action series. There are plenty of fights, chases, shootouts, and car crashes, and Mr. Conrad proves to be very light on his feet, and quite a scrapper, with the muscle power to fling attackers around with ease.

Among the highlights in the second half of the first season, are `A Flight of Hawks", where Cannon is hired by an insurance company to look into the death of a man killed in a car wreck. The investigation leads to a group of mercenaries. Cannon is quite impressive, assembling and firing a machine gun, then challenging a P51 Mustang fighter plane. It's not realistic, but it sure is fun. In `The Torch', Cannon investigates a fire that claims a life. Anthony Zerbe impresses playing a high tech expert in arson, who gets tangled up in murder. `The Island Caper' provides a change of pace, as Cannon is sent to a tropical island to check into the security of a bank. In `Flight Plan', Cannon is hired by a devious and ruthless criminal (Cesare Danova), who wants to disappear, and nearly falls victim to his own ingenuity.

Smart, capable, tough as iron, and big of heart, Frank Cannon is a true pro, who operates with a unique flair. Conrad brings humanity and warmth to the character, which is a plus, as the writing is generally adequate, rather than outstanding, and Conrad's ability to win the audience over with charm and humor helps make some of the weaker stories still pretty enjoyable.

William Conrad, who had a long career in films and television as an actor, director, and producer, got his start in radio. With a powerful and distinctive voice, he was Marshall Matt Dillon on the long running radio serial version of Gunsmoke, and appeared in thousands of other radio dramas. He also did narration for numerous films, and television productions like The Fugitive, as well as voice work for cartoons like Rocky and Bullwinkle. He was posthumously elected to the Radio Hall of Fame, in 1997. Besides Cannon, Conrad also starred in the television series Nero Wolf, and Jake and the Fat Man. This very talented man, passed away in 1994 at the age of 73.

This is a great old show. I can't wait for the rest of the seasons to be released. These shows were written at a time when they really wanted to entertain you. They have simple but good plots and William Conrad is a likable character. I hope that they will release the rest of the seasons soon.

I enjoy all the old TV shows. They were great then and are great now. I look forward to them being released. Cannon is right there with them.

In this 1971-76 crime drama, William Conrad (Marshall Matt Dillon on "Gunsmoke" and narrator for TV's "The Fugitive" and "Rocky & Bullwinkle") plays moustache, rotund, pipe smoking private investigator Frank Cannon. The 13 episodes in this 4 disc set include "To Kill a Guinea Pig" with Vera Miles as a doctor being intimidated into accepting a prison inmate she formerly rejected for a medical research experiment. The intimidation includes the horrifying discovery the villains have killed a monkey by hanging. The gruesome scene is shown in silhouette. John Rubinstein, son of Classical concert pianist/composer Arthur Rubinstein, plays a cult leader in "A Deadly Quiet Town". Martin Sheen is a disable ex-cop in "Devil's Playground", a role he later reprises in "A Flight of Hawks". Frank Cannon was not only a detective, he was also a food connoisseur. In "The Island Caper", Cannon uses an electric fan to aid in preparing Peking duck. 1970's TV detective buffs should fare quite well with this DVD set.

I don't know why everyone makes a big deal about Frank Cannon's weight. Sure back in the day he might have been considered heavy, but in modern times he'd blend in just fine. Seriously, have you been to Milwaukee lately? How about Indianapolis, Minneapolis, Chicago or anywhere they sell "real"(as in cooked with lard) grits? This poor guy was a drop in the fry grease bucket compared to what we got walking around out there nowadays. There should be more Frank Cannon spin-offs on TV now than there are for CSI or Law & Orders!

I liked old Frank. I especially liked how, to compensate for the fact that he was never gonna chase anyone on foot, the writers would add in a chase scene where a criminal on foot is chased down by Cannon in his huge monster car. Then instead of tackling the bad guy he smacks him with the car door, or on a good night, actually runs the bad guy down! WHEEEEOOO! That was fun! And remember how they had to imply the love scenes with the ladies, cuz nobody wanted to see THAT, and even though it was only hinted at the actresses still looked really uncomfortable. It's hard to believe that when he shot this show he was a mere 22 years old.

I really appreciated this show because at the time I was a bit of a stout lad myself and it was nice to see someone like me up there on the small screen. Frank never let his weight get in his way (except when he was looking for his weener) and that was something I admired. Where are the heroic, smart chubbies of today? We don't have any. Instead one of our most popular TV shows is about real life fatties who need to make a public spectacle of themselves to lose weight! They sit there and bawl for an hour while an angry she-male yells at them.

We need more shows like this one. Well written dramas, whether they are detective, doctor, lawyer or anything else are like the canaries in the mine shaft. Once they start disappearing the industry is in big trouble.

I love this show, William Conrad as Frank Cannon is Excellent. I'm looking forward to Remainder of the Series to come out on to DVD.

ENJOYED THIS SERIES ON TV AND GLAD TO BE ABLE TO ENJOY IT ON DVD.

Really enjoying seeing these old shows again. My grandfather and I used to watch Cannon together and when I saw the first volume of Season 1 become available I put it in my wishlist and my son bought it for me for Christmas last year. I then ordered the 2nd volume a month or so later.

My only complaint is that I wish the studios would put ALL of Season One in ONE set vs. breaking them into 2 volumes -- just because NOW we only get 10-12 episodes of a show in one entire season doesn't mean we've "forgotten" the good old days of 30-35 episodes in a season....would rather pay a bit more to get full seasons, than have to order 2 different sets (and it takes up more space on the DVD shelf).