Stephen J. Cannell’s television works best when the people are worth returning to, even if the mystery is routine. We rate him chiefly as a writer and co-creator who gave actors room to make that happen.
Fi1m perspective
Jim Rockford does not need to impress us for an hour in his company to seem a good idea. In The Rockford Files (1974), James Garner makes the detective worth watching even when the investigation is ordinary. We enjoyed his company even when the mystery was routine, because the humour came from the characters. Stephen J. Cannell’s strongest work gives an actor that sort of opportunity, and The Rockford Files is our clearest example.
Cannell also has a writing credit on Columbo (1971), where Peter Falk’s patient questioning and the suspects’ misplaced superiority keep the familiar routine funny. Episodes can feel stretched, but the performance makes the wait worthwhile. That is praise for the series, not evidence that Cannell alone supplied its virtues. It is useful company for The Rockford Files: both make the investigator worth returning to before asking us to care about the investigation.
After leaving Universal in 1979 to establish Stephen J. Cannell Productions, he developed a broader action formula with Frank Lupo on The A-Team (1983). Wiseguy (1987), also co-created with Lupo, extended its undercover-police stories across episodes. Those two programmes matter here because they show that he did not simply keep remaking Rockford. The recurring interest was in unconventional protagonists, with police procedure less important than the people caught up in it.
Cannell was an occasional director on The Rockford Files, but our strongest case for him rests on the character he and Roy Huggins created. The character is a substantial achievement, though Garner deserves much of the credit for making him good company. Some of the mysteries lean on him harder than they should; the pleasure of his company cannot excuse every ordinary piece of plotting. Start with The Rockford Files if a companionable detective series appeals; accept that some cases will need Garner to get them through.
Biography
Stephen J. Cannell was an American television writer, producer and creator. After selling his first scripts to series including Ironside, he worked as story editor on Adam-12 and contributed episodes to Columbo.
He created or co-created numerous successful series, often in collaboration with Roy Huggins or Frank Lupo. These include The Rockford Files (1974), The Greatest American Hero (1981), The A-Team (1983), Hunter (1984), 21 Jump Street (1987) and Renegade (1992). He founded Stephen J. Cannell Productions and later The Cannell Studios.
Cannell also wrote more than a dozen novels, notably the Shane Scully series, and made occasional acting appearances. He received an Emmy Award for The Rockford Files and died in 2010.
