Posted on 12/04/2022 7:30:37 PM PST by FLNittany
A compilation of all guest star introductions from the television series "Cannon"
The pilot and the TV-movie "The Return of Frank Cannon" did not use the show's standard credits sequence so they were not included.
The TV executives agreed with you. When ‘Gunsmoke’ was made into a TV show, William Conrad was considered to be too bulky to continue on as Matt Dillon. So James Arness got the role.
And here’s something else you might find interesting. The actor who played Doc on the radio show didn't get the Doc role on TV show. He ended up playing Floyd the Barber on ‘The Andy Griffith Show’ instead.
I think it was the first cellphone in a car I ever saw
She was so rich that she gifted Mar-A-Lago to the town of Palm Beach - who eventually sold it to PDJT (at a bargain price).
Yes, James Arness was perfect. Also, we females found him sooo attractive. Yes, I had a bit of a crush on him as a little girl. But I wanted him to marry Miss Kitty, lol.
Raymond Burr made a good Perry Mason. I rooted for him as a little kid, and hated Hamilton Burger. My parents kept telling me he was just doing his job, but as a little kid, all I could see was Bad Man. For some reason, I didn’t wonder why he didn’t marry Della Street. Kids! Go figure.
Nowadays, I suppose kids wouldn’t watch such shows, but we all did back then. The adult themes were done so they went over our heads, and the gunfights and brawls didn’t turn us into violent thugs.
Arness’ brother Peter Graves was perfect for his role in Mission Impossible as well.
I’ve started to collect 70s shows (mainly crime dramas) on DVD, especially those that aren’t an available to stream like The Streets of San Francisco and Vega$, Barney Miller and Night Gallery. All originally aired in the most part before I was born, but times seem simpler. Cannon is one show I look to buy soon.
Wow! Floyd played Doc? The folks who did the TV casting back then were very good. All the actors on all three shows were perfect.
I used to have a pink tee shirt with Floyd the Barber on it years ago, given to me by a TV rep. I wore it to charity fundraiser where part of the obstacle course involved my team having to climb a high wall. We almost lost, though, because one of my teammates started laughing and nearly let go of my hands while we were scaling the wall. Afterward, I asked him why. He said he suddenly “got it” at that moment — The Wall, Pink Floyd. Oh dear, maybe my little joke wasn’t such a good idea after all.
I didn’t watch it at the time either. I was more into the sitcoms at the time and there were some great ones in the early/mid 70’s.
I just remember laughing at the little blurb in our local paper’s entertainment section when it was all over. “CBS fires Cannon.”
Ah yes, I’d forgot they were brothers. You are right. He was great in that role. But my heart still belongs to Mr. Dillon. (I loved the way Chester said “Mr. Dillon”.)
It was always so fun when the tape recorder self-destructed. I guess nowadays people would snort and think it was just cheesy. We knew it was cheesy back then, but we thought cheesy could be fun. People seem to have become way too serious about themselves and snooty about stuff like that now. Which is sort of sad.
My name is Chester
I work for Matt Dillon
I make two dollars a day
I go see Miss Kitty
I play with her titty
She takes my two dollars away
Here’s an old publicity photo for ‘Gunsmoke’ the radio show. On the left is Howard McNear (Doc Adams there, Floyd the Barber later).
I don’t think Chester would find your little poem very amusing. But I’m sure Festus would like it. He’d probably even sing it as he strolled through town.
iirc john wayne suggested arness...
Howard McNear was a huge radio star, he is in just about all of the old time radio shows. None of the radio cast were converted or made it over to the television show. Parley Baer played Chester, and along with McNear, played on Andy Griffith, he was Mayor Stoner.
What was interesting, I’ve heard the period radio advertisements for the new television series on the old time radio episodes, they were narrated by Conrad. “We know you’re going to like it” etc. That must have been a hard pill to swallow for him to make those ads.
Georgia Ellis played Miss Kitty on the radio show, Amanda Blake has almost the same kind of speaking style so it isn’t too much of a stretch.
Oh my goodness! Doc is so Floyd-nice, unlike grumpy Doc on the TV show, Cannon looks more like a Judge Roy Bean than a Matt Dillon, and whoever is playing Miss Kitty is no Amanda Blake. How different the TV show would have been had they continued on! And what a loss for The Andy Griffith Show not to have him as Floyd.
That’s correct. Wayne introduced the first episode.
ROFL! I never heard that before. I guess the boys kept it to themselves. We girls missed out on all that fun stuff. I was grown before I knew the other words to LSMFT.
I am glad that we had one TV and my parents controlled it most of the time. I think that helped me to develop mature tastes. Those programs had talented writers who could tell good stories that could be enjoyed by anyone. I learned that there were things going on before I was born by watching westerns and the WW2 programs. Those old shows are still what I tune in today when I feel like a little TV.
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