TV producer, writer, creator Stephen Cannell (1941-2010)

The man who more or less defined crime television in the 1970s and '80s, Stephen Cannell, passed away Thursday due to complications from melanoma.

A prolific TV writer and producer, Cannell, 69, started as a writer for It Takes a Thief, Ironside and Columbo, then story editor for Adam-12. He went on to create or co-create nearly 40 series.

His credits include:
The Rockford Files (1974-1980, 1994-1999)
Baretta (1975-1978)
The Greatest American Hero (1980-1983)
The A-Team (1983-1987)
Hardcastle & McCormick (1983-1986)
Hunter (1984-1991)
Riptide (1984-1986)
21 Jump Street (1986-1991)
Wiseguy (1987-1990)
Booker (1989-1990)
The Commish (1991-1995)



In recent years, Cannell appeared as himself on Castle. This morning, Castle star Nathan Fillion‎ tweeted: "Stephen Cannell, For shaping my youth, influencing the pros around me, and participating in Castle, thank you. You will be missed."

Cannell was also a spokesman for the learning disorder dyslexia.

More links:
TV producer Stephen J. Cannell created 40 shows (Chicago Sun-Times)
Stephen J. Cannell dies at 69; TV writer, producer (Los Angeles Times)
Stephen J. Cannell 1941-2010 (Ain't It Cool News)

More from Crime TV:
Classic Stephen J. Cannell TV on DVD
Watch CASTLE on ABC
Watch 21 JUMP STREET free online!
Watch HUNTER episodes online free!
Opening Theme: BARETTA
Mystery TV Themes: THE ROCKFORD FILES
Crime TV Themes: NBC MYSTERY MOVIE (Columbo)
Opening Theme: IT TAKES A THIEF

LAW & ORDER on its way to the record books

Businessweek reports that NBC plans to order a 21st season of Law & Order, which would make the legal drama the longest-running prime-time drama in TV history. (Of course, while it may break Gunsmoke's record of 20 years, L&O has a ways to go before it breaks Gunsmoke's record of 635 episodes.)

The network also revealed its ordering a whopping 18 pilots this spring, including a remake of Rockford Files from House creator David Shore and a new spy thriller from Fringe creator and Star Trek director J.J. Abrams.

Meanwhile, Abrams' Trek screenwriters Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci are working on a remake of Hawaii Five-O for CBS, while ABC is reportedly eyeing a new Charlie's Angels.

Related links:
MONK goes out on top
Crime TV coming to DVD (Dec 29)
Opening Theme: Hawaii Five-O
Opening Theme: THE ROCKFORD FILES

Mystery TV Themes: THE ROCKFORD FILES

Spotlighting the great opening themes from mystery/crime TV shows ...

THE ROCKFORD FILES
Hailed by Thrilling Detective as "the best private eye series to ever grace the television screen, and arguably one of the greatest private eyes of all time," The Rockford Files (1974-1980) starred James Garner as private investigator Jim Rockford, who preferred to talk, rather than slug, his way out of a tight spot.

The breezy, whimsical theme to this classic series was a Top 10 hit co-written by Mike Post and Pete Carpenter. The duo first partnered in the late 1960s, and began working for producer Stephen J. Cannell when they wrote the theme to his cop show Toma in 1973. Their big breakthrough, the theme to The Rockford Files, won a Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Arrangement in 1975. Post, of course, has since been awarded four more Grammys, and created many singable themes, from Hill Street Blues to Greatest American Hero (a No. 1 hit) and Newsradio.

Watch episodes of THE ROCKFORD FILES free online at Hulu

Watch episodes free online at Netflix

Theme, episode guide and show info at fan site The Rockford Files Homepage.
More about Mike Post and about The Rockford Files at the Museum of Broadcast Communications.




More themes:
ALIAS
NBC MYSTERY MOVIE
GET SMART
KOLCHAK: THE NIGHT STALKER
DRAGNET

CLASSIC MYSTERY TV

According to MediaWeek Programming Insider, the Jan. 1 debut of new cable network Sleuth from NBC Universal Cable Entertainment will launch with the pilot episodes of The A-Team, Knight Rider, Simon & Simon, Karen Sisco, Homicide: Life on the Street and EZ Streets.

Dedicated to the crime, mystery and suspense genres, other shows airing on Sleuth will include Miami Vice (which will be featured in a seven-hour marathon on Jan. 3), Columbo, Magnum, P.I. and The Rockford Files.