Stephen J. Cannell
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 Stephen J. Cannell interviewed for Season 2 DVD of The Rockford Files |
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| Born: | February 5, 1941 (age 66) Los Angeles, California, USA |
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| Occupation: | Writer, Producer |
Stephen Joseph Cannell, known professionally as Stephen J. Cannell (born February 5, 1941), (IPA pronunciation: ['kænəl]), rhymes with "channel", is an Emmy award winning American television producer, writer, novelist and occasional actor from the United States. Born in Los Angeles, California, his father owned an interior design business. He is married to Marcia and has three children.
Noted for sophisticated, character-driven writing within genre formats, Cannell has created or co-created nearly 40 different shows, including The Rockford Files, The Greatest American Hero, The A-Team, Wiseguy, 21 Jump Street, Silk Stalkings and The Commish. In the process he has scripted more than 350 episodes, and produced or executive produced in excess of 1,500 episodes.
Cannell has also acted occasionally, including a regular supporting role on his series, Renegade. He also took a turn in an episode of Silk Stalkings, in which the script called for one character to tell him, "You look just like that writer on TV," to which Cannell's character responds, "I get that all the time."
In an effort to lower production costs, Cannell opened a major studio facility in Vancouver, British Columbia toward the end of the 1980s. One of the first series shot there was 21 Jump Street, the highest-rated show of the new Fox network's first season. Scene of the Crime, a mystery anthology series for CBS's late-night schedule, was also filmed in Vancouver and was hosted by Cannell himself . He currently heads the Cannell Studios .[1]
In recent years, Cannell has turned his attention to novels. As of 2006, he has written 11 novels, most of which have featured the character of Shane Scully of the LAPD.
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[edit] Television
Cannell has worked on numerous TV projects, some of which are listed below:
- Adam-12
- Chase
- The Rockford Files
- Tenspeed and Brown Shoe
- The A-Team
- The Greatest American Hero
- Hardcastle and McCormick
- Stingray
- 21 Jump Street
- Hunter
- Silk Stalkings
- Renegade
- Wiseguy
- Baa Baa Black Sheep
- Baretta
- The Commish
- The Duke
- The Quest
- Quincy, M.E.
- Riptide
- Sonny Spoon
- Stone
- The 100 Lives of Black Jack Savage
- Profit
His production company was acquired by New World Communications in 1995.
[edit] Bibliography
[edit] Shane Scully series
- The Tin Collectors (2001)
- The Viking Funeral (2002)
- Hollywood Tough (2003)
- Vertical Coffin (2004)
- Cold Hit (2004)
- White Sister (2006)
[edit] Other novels
- The Plan (1996)
- Final Victim (1997)
- King Con (1998)
- Riding The Snake (1999)
- The Devil's Workshop (2000)
- Runaway Heart (2003)
[edit] Film
Cannell is working on several projects in this area, most notably The A-Team, a film based on the 1980's TV show, although this project has been rumoured and had a very on-off status for over a decade now. It is currently rumoured to be in the pipeline for a 2008 release.
[edit] Trivia
- The closing logo of his production company features him typing, before throwing the sheet from his typewriter whereupon it animates to become his company logo against a black screen. It was updated often, the main differences being Cannell's clothes, sometimes new awards in the background and (rarely) a new office for the live-action part. Early examples are also notable for Cannell smoking a pipe as he types.
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- This is parodied in an episode of The Simpsons called "The Front", featuring Bart and Lisa watching the "Itchy and Scratchy" episode that they wrote, followed by the cartoon's closing logo with a version of Cannell's typewriting, but instead Itchy and Scratchy throwing the piece of paper away to signal the end of the episode, and "Itchy and Scratchy Productions" appears.
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- The closing logo is also parodied in an episode of Family Guy titled "The Story on Page One", in which protagonist Peter Griffin is typing a story about Luke Perry for daughter Meg. After completing the page, he throws the paper and the rest of the parody is true-to-form.
- Cannell is dyslexic, and is a spokesperson on the subject. According to an episode of Paul Harvey's The Rest of the Story, Cannell frequently has to dictate ideas or even complete scripts to a personal secretary.
- Cannell graduated from the University of Oregon in 1964 with a Bachelor of Science in journalism. At Oregon he joined the Sigma Chi Fraternity.
- Continues to write on an old-fashioned typewriter (an IBM Selectric currently) and only uses a computer for research purposes.
- Has said how he wants to make film adaptations of many of his old television series.
- His office for many years was at Paramount Studios in Hollywood, though his shows were almost always distributed by Universal Studios (with the exception of Hunter).
