Modern television for better or worse wouldn’t be the same without this guy. Glad to know from his obit that he wrote/created shows I liked (The Greatest American Hero, Black Sheep Squadron) which cancel out the ones I hated (The A-Team, Hardcastle and McCormick). He also didn’t mind doing scripts for programs he didn’t create, rather amazing not only for the ego factor but when did he have the time? Most producers at his level kick back, rake in the money and let underlings do the grunt work. This man probably saw himself according to the (paraphrased) rule my gaming sensei taught me: Cannell saw himself as a guy who wrote television shows for a living, not a guy who’s a television writer.
His greatest contribution to Pop Culture will always be The Rockford Files. One of the best shows about a private detective getting by in Los Angeles during the Seventies. Cannell certainly found a way to immortalize James Garner and his wiseass demeanor.
Even if you found Cannell’s style to be pure cheese and/or formulaic. You have to respect him for writing more than 1000 different episodes over a period of 40 years; overcoming dyslexia (making him a “terrible” student all his life); and continuing to spend at least two hours a day at his trade. He just loved to write. I’m going to miss him more than I expected because Stephen Cannell lived a dream many intelligent people never get to fulfill.