Toss That Paper
I once had a meeting at Stephen J. Cannell's offices. I only met some underlings and nothing came of it, but it would have been nice to meet such a legendary TV producer. I'm not sure what I would have said to him--maybe I would have asked him to act out his logo:
He just died. I always associated him with low-rent action TV, but, to be fair, there's some stuff he put on that was a cut above.
The A-Team is probably his most famous show, and I think he made it intentionally over the top--it was always verging on comedy. (Too bad he lived long enough to see the movie.) Considerably better was Wiseguy, a show that would have season-long arcs as Ken Wahl, playing an undercover cop, infiltrated the workings of criminals played by actors like Ray Sharkey and Kevin Spacey. It was a smart show that led to the way to programs like The Sopranos.
When he was getting started, Canell helped create The Rockford Files, which was definitely fun. And soon after he did Tenspeed and Brown Shoe, a shortlived but clever show featuring Ben Vereen and Jeff Goldblum as a detective odd couple.
The guy was busy. Maybe too busy, when it comes down to it. But if you look at his best work, he put out an awful lot of good hours.
posted by LAGuy @ 12:30 AM
1 Comments:
I, too, once met someone at the Cannell offices (though in my case, it eventually resulted in me getting an agent), though, like you, I didn't meet The Man himself.
However, a few years later, I found myself sitting almost directly across the aisle from him at the Emmys. Before the show started, I screwed up some courage and went over to introduce myself.
And learned to be careful about meeting Icons in Stressful Situations.
He was, uh, not really interested in meeting a neophyte writer at the moment, even one who had some genuine praise to give. Instead, I could see he was preoccupied with the stage, where I think he thought he had a chance at winning his first Emmy since "The Rockford Files" (IMO, the show he's best known for) and therefore legitimizing some of his later, less critically admired work.
Wherein I learned my second lesson that evening: Even experienced producers can deceive themselves when it comes to awards (which is to say, he didn't have a prayer of winning).
In any case, while disappointed at the time, my takeaway is still great admiration for the guy: He was a true writer, cranking out scripts every morning when he could have easily coasted on a burgeoning TV empire.
And he was dyslexic!
R.P.I., Stephen J. Cannell.
[Sorry, Steve, couldn't resist.]
Todd
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