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Cannonball (TV series)

{{Short description|British/Canadian TV adventure series (1958–1959)}}

{{about|the dramatic television show|other television shows named Cannonball|Cannonball (Australian game show)|Cannonball (British game show)|Cannonball (American game show)|other uses|Cannonball (disambiguation)}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

{{Infobox television

| image =

| caption =

| alt_name =

| genre = Adventure/Drama

| creator =

| developer =

| writer =

| director = Harry Keller
Lesley Selander
Les Goodwins

| creative_director =

| presenter =

| starring = Paul Birch
William Campbell

| theme_music_composer =

| opentheme = Cannonball theme song

| endtheme =

| composer =

| country = {{plainlist|

  • Canada
  • United Kingdom
  • United States

}}

| language = English

| num_seasons = 1

| num_episodes = 39

| list_episodes = Cannonball (TV series)#Episode list

| executive_producer =

| producer =

| editor =

| location = Bolton, Ontario, Canada

| cinematography =

| camera =

| runtime = 22 minutes

| company = Incorporated Television Company

| channel = {{plainlist|

}}

| first_aired = {{Start date|1958|10|06}}

| last_aired = {{End date|1959|07|13}}

}}

Cannonball is a British/Canadian adventure drama series starring Paul Birch and William Campbell, and aired on CBC Television in Canada, ABC Weekend TV in the United Kingdom, and in syndication in the United States.{{cite book|last1=Tate|first1=Marsha Ann|title=Canadian Television Programming Made for the United States Market: A History with Production and Broadcast Data|date=2007|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-0-786-42745-1|page=25}}{{cite book|last1=Erickson|first1=Hal|title=Syndicated Television: The First Forty Years, 1947-1987|date=2001|publisher=McFarland Classics|isbn=0-786-41198-8|page=22}} Produced by Normandie Productions and ITC Entertainment, the series' interiors were filmed at Canadian Film Industries Limited, a studio in Canada. Exteriors were shot in and around Toronto.{{cite book|last1=Aaker|first1=Everett|title=Encyclopedia of Early Television Crime Fighters: All Regular Cast Members in American Crime and Mystery Series, 1948-1959|date=2006|publisher=McFarland|isbn=0-786-42476-1|page=57}}

The series is one of the few ITC productions to air on ABC Weekend TV in the UK. Because Associated TeleVision (ATV) owners of ITC, also ran the London weekend and Midlands weekdays ITV companies, they tended to hold the rights for ITC series in order to show each one in the Midlands (where ABC was the weekend operator) during the week. The series aired from October 6, 1958 to July 13, 1959, for 39 episodes in black-and-white.

Synopsis

The series follows the adventures of Mike Malone (Paul Birch), whose nickname is 'Cannonball', and Jerry Austin (William Campbell), two truckers who haul cargo across the US and Canada for the fictitious Toronto-based C&A Transport Company Ltd. The truck depicted is believed a GMC Model 950 COE (cab-over engine) diesel tractor built and sold in the same decade by General Motors. The supporting cast includes Beth Lockerbie as Mary Malone, Mike's wife, and Beth Morris as Ginny Malone and Steve Barringer as Butch Malone, the couple's two children. Howard Milsom appears as C&A Transport Company Ltd.'s dispatcher Harry Butler.

The duo's adventures come to an end in the series's final episode, "Tunnel Eyes". Austin, who is Malone's co-driver on the truck, has an opportunity to go back and finish college. Malone knows this but realizes Austin will not take the opportunity because it will break up their partnership. In his yearly medical check up, Malone pretends to have tunnel vision (lack of peripheral vision) which means he no longer qualifies to drive trucks. This frees Austin who is able to finish his college education.

Main cast

Episode list

The original production order appears to be lost and all that remains is a partial list based upon Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and ITV air dates. As titles were not shown on-screen, these titles may be speculative.

{{col-begin}}

{{col-3}}

  • "The Runaway Truck"
  • "Pills"
  • "Nitro Haul"
  • "Small Cargo"
  • "The Big Ambulance"
  • "Mark Time"
  • "The Necklace"
  • "Shock"
  • "The Attack"
  • "The Girl Reporter"
  • "Butch"
  • "Little Old Man"
  • "Sauce for the Goose"

{{col-3}}

  • "The Girl at Joe's Place"
  • "Nanette"
  • "Lil's Cafe"
  • "The Hostage"
  • "Fallout"
  • "Marooned"
  • "Undercover"
  • "Vendetta"
  • "The Has-been"
  • "The Flying Dutchman"
  • "Rodeo"
  • "Trip to Buffalo"
  • "Wild Party"

{{col-3}}

  • "Driving School"
  • "Eyewitness"
  • "Ginny"
  • "Racket"
  • "Green-eyed Monster"
  • "Sights on Safety"
  • "Moose Hunt"
  • "Big Buck"
  • "Willy"
  • "The Dog"
  • "Snake Eyes"
  • "The Iron Lung"
  • "Tunnel Eyes"

{{col-end}}

Theme music

The Cannonball TV series had a theme that opened and closed each episode composed by Joseph Hooven, Marilyn Hooven, and music packager Raoul Kraushaar.Though IMDb claims the words and music were written and performed by the American country artist Merle Haggard{{Citation|title=Cannonball (TV Series 1958– ) - IMDb|url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0143030/soundtrack|access-date=2020-11-12}} the singer was incarcerated in San Quentin State Prison from 1957 to 1960 and would have been unavailable to work on the series.[https://sanquentinnews.com/merle-haggard-san-quentin-parolee-music-icon/ Thomas Winfrey, Merle Haggard: San Quentin Parolee, Music Icon, San Quentn News, May 1, 2016]

References

{{reflist|30em}}

External links

{{Portal|Television|Canada}}

  • [http://www.tv.com/cannonball/show/13860/episode_guide.html TV.com entry]
  • [http://ctva.biz/Canada/Cannonball.htm Classic TV Archive information]
  • [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umvbqPUMoKg Cannonball Intro]
  • {{IMDb title|id=0143030|title=Cannonball}}
  • [http://www.broadcasting-history.ca/programming/television/cannonball Cannonball] - Canadian Communication Foundation
  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20150924012734/http://www.film.queensu.ca/CBC/CBC.html Queen's University Directory of CBC Television Series: Cannonball]
  • [https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=cannonball+tv+series+1958 Episodes of Cannonball on YouTube-Starring Paul Birch and William Campbell]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cannonball (Tv Series)}}

Category:1958 British television series debuts

Category:1959 British television series endings

Category:1958 Canadian television series debuts

Category:1959 Canadian television series endings

Category:1950s British drama television series

Category:1950s Canadian drama television series

Category:British adventure television series

Category:Canadian adventure television series

Category:Black-and-white British television shows

Category:Black-and-white Canadian television shows

Category:CBC Television original programming

Category:British English-language television shows

Category:First-run syndicated television programs in the United States

Category:Television shows filmed in Toronto

Category:Television shows produced by ABC Weekend TV

Category:Television series by ITC Entertainment

Category:Works about trucks