Cannon: Complete Collection

Cannon was a TV show that ran for 5 seasons from 1971 to 1976. The star, William Conrad, played Frank Cannon, an ex-cop who became a private cop (detective) as Cannon would say. He often went at it alone but sometimes had help from law enforcement. He seems to have known a lot of people on various police forces. He had a reputation of being the best private detective in the business and highly sought after.The show ran on average from 49 to 51 minutes, the Pilot episode ran for 1 hour & 37 minutes. The show was produced by Quinn Martin who had a long history (over 20 years) of making hits. It was only in the 5th season of the show that we heard the familiar voice stating that it was a “Quinn Martin Production”.There were many guest starts on Cannon. Russell Johnson (the professor on Gilligan’s island) appeared on 2 episodes, and Tina Louise (Ginger on Gilligan’s Island) on 1 episode. There were many other guest stars, some taking on recurring roles.Frank Cannon drove different Lincoln Continentals during the show. For awhile it seemed like Frank, the Police and even the bad guys all drove Fords, but every once in a while we’d see a Chevy or Mercedes. Frank had a car phone in the car. Growing up in the 60’s and 70’s this seemed like such a cool thing. With on TV in the house and no way to record shows back then, this was not the show that was watched most of the time.The seasons had 24 episodes and each season is on 4 DVD’s (an average run time of just under 6 hours per disk). Season 1 is on the inside cover on a pair of spindles (2 per spindle), Season 2 & 3 share the 1st page, Season 4 and the first half of Season 5 on the 2nd page and the second half of Season 5 on the inside back cover. This is the first time I have seen spindles used and all I can say is that it’s different. I removed the disks as I watched each season and then replaced all 4 after I finished watching the season. I suppose it was a cost saving measure to ship each season on 4 disks vs. 6 disks (i.e. a total savings of 10 disks). See the attached photos.Personally, I found the show enjoyable to watch. Frank uses his wits and logic to solve cases. He knows he’s on the heavy side and seems to make fun of it himself as do others in the show. He loves good food and good wine. He also knows how to defend himself and often seen using Karate and/or Judo on those attacking him as well as a gun (snub-nose 0.38 special). The show also gives us an insight in what life was like in the early 70’s. The show was filmed in 4:3 and I watched it on a large screen CRT (tube) set that has a resolution of 480i. There were only 1 or 2 spots where there was some distortion in the last season that show up in 480i, (not sure what it would look like on a 1080p TV set), but for the most part it played well in SDTV format. We have a pair of 480i TV’s in the house that we use to watch old shows.There is a TV movie that came out in 1980 called “The Return of Frank Cannon” that I have to track down. It does not appear to be sold on Amazon or other sites. It’s too bad it was not included in this release. There is another “complete” set sold here on Amazon that includes TV movie along with the series released on 31 disks (see: https://www.amazon.com/Cannon-Complete-Collection-Episodes-Movies/dp/B014I4IUXC) but it sells for $49.99 as of this writing. To the best of my knowledge neither box set has been re-mastered. Cannon was shot in 35mm which could be made HD if someone took the time to do so. I suspect the “demand” is not there to do this yet. Plus the show was shot in mono and to make into passable 5.1 or 7.1 could be costly.

I was a little disappointed with the pilot episode and the first couple episodes after that, but once it finds its footing it’s a really entertaining show. The writing, plotting and pacing are all well done and I do love Cannon’s Lincoln Mark III in particular. If you like old movies and tv there are a ton of recognizable guest stars like David Soul, Vera Miles, Barbara Babcock, Richard Carlson etc. But the best thing about Cannon is its lead, William Conrad. Conrad radiates intelligence and charm and is extremely likable- every moment he’s on screen I’m engaged. The only downsides are that the transfer isn’t too great and there aren’t subtitles, but I consider this an excellent value for the money.

This is a great 70’s series to binge if you like detective shows. If you like original Hawaii 5-0 and Kojak and Barnaby Jones you will like this series. It is a great deal for a ton of episodes.

Cannon was a great detective show. This complete set is worth the money and it includes the first episode which tells you something about why he left the police force and became a private detective. I didn't know the reason though I was a fan of this show when it originally aired. If you like Cannon, check out the first season and first episode of Barnaby Jones for the crossover.

My husband and I love Cannon. We had all the seasons except the last two. Then this set came along at the same price (a little less, actually) than the two remaining seasons so we bought it. The quality is fine (we don't have a big screen, though, so I can't speak to that). Each disc has 6 episodes, so if you hit play all, it runs a long time. The only annoying thing is the music that comes on after the last episode ends. It's really loud, but that's not enough to mark it down. The stories are wonderful. I swear this show just got better with each passing year. The acting is fantastic and the settings are interesting (though it's hilarious that everyone in small cities is portrayed with a southern accent, even if the town in question is deep in southern, um, California. (That isn't unique to Cannon, though, it seems to be Hollywood code for scary non-urbanite.) This collection is excellent, and we are so glad to have it to enjoy again and again. I do have to add something about the packaging. The discs are tightly secured and stacked in pairs, which protects them from scratching during shipment, but, unfortunately, it is a little too hard to get them off their spindles.

Great series

Fast shipping, high quality item and packaging, from reputable label

Great product