CANNON was off and running, and this premier episode is extremely violent. It begins with a payroll office full of people being killed by creepy clown thieves at a rodeo. Even by today's standards, fairly potent material for the early 70s.
Filmed at Salinas, California, the actual site of an annual rodeo competition. As the series progressed, the crew would travel quite a bit to some beautiful rural communities, showing off the scenery. This is a super example.
Ken Trevey wrote the story, associated with westerns, like the BIG VALLEY and LANCER. Trevey added an interesting twist here; one of the killers may be the estranged husband of Sharon Acker, who lives on a desert ranch with her son, well played by Vincent Van Patten. Vincent, who later became a tennis star, was so popular that this episode recorded over a million views on Youtube.
Cannon goes after the baddies lock, stock and barrel and just like MANNIX, it's a war of bruises. We kids loved it. It's obvious, writers on both shows began keeping tabs on each other. Cannon endures a grueling chase and he's shot, but the real tense moments come at the end, which is very clever. Creative writing 101.
There are some poignant moments between Frank Cannon and Van Patten's character, sort of a father and son relationship that grows. This would be a theme on the series, showing the tough, scowling detective as a fatherly figure, too. Even with adults. A very nice touch.
Canadian director George McCowan headed this episode, while directing MOD SQUAD at the same time. However, in all his years as a director at Warner Brothers/ABC and Columbia Pictures, William Conrad DID NOT direct a single episode. No doubt, he wanted to give work to others, and many from his WB years, which is commendable.
The opening is not for all tastes, but an excellent desert adventure nonetheless, thanks to Ken Trevey. September 1971 Episode 1. The official CBS dvd box set released in 2008.
TV LAND revived the series in the mid 1990s with a lot of hype after William Conrad passed. However, it took many years to get CBS to release all five seasons on dvd, including the two hour 1980 tv movie. Season 1 dvd box set comes in two volumes, 4 dvds each. The back color covers have some super photos. Thanks METV for bringing this show back.
Filmed at Salinas, California, the actual site of an annual rodeo competition. As the series progressed, the crew would travel quite a bit to some beautiful rural communities, showing off the scenery. This is a super example.
Ken Trevey wrote the story, associated with westerns, like the BIG VALLEY and LANCER. Trevey added an interesting twist here; one of the killers may be the estranged husband of Sharon Acker, who lives on a desert ranch with her son, well played by Vincent Van Patten. Vincent, who later became a tennis star, was so popular that this episode recorded over a million views on Youtube.
Cannon goes after the baddies lock, stock and barrel and just like MANNIX, it's a war of bruises. We kids loved it. It's obvious, writers on both shows began keeping tabs on each other. Cannon endures a grueling chase and he's shot, but the real tense moments come at the end, which is very clever. Creative writing 101.
There are some poignant moments between Frank Cannon and Van Patten's character, sort of a father and son relationship that grows. This would be a theme on the series, showing the tough, scowling detective as a fatherly figure, too. Even with adults. A very nice touch.
Canadian director George McCowan headed this episode, while directing MOD SQUAD at the same time. However, in all his years as a director at Warner Brothers/ABC and Columbia Pictures, William Conrad DID NOT direct a single episode. No doubt, he wanted to give work to others, and many from his WB years, which is commendable.
The opening is not for all tastes, but an excellent desert adventure nonetheless, thanks to Ken Trevey. September 1971 Episode 1. The official CBS dvd box set released in 2008.
TV LAND revived the series in the mid 1990s with a lot of hype after William Conrad passed. However, it took many years to get CBS to release all five seasons on dvd, including the two hour 1980 tv movie. Season 1 dvd box set comes in two volumes, 4 dvds each. The back color covers have some super photos. Thanks METV for bringing this show back.