Stephen J. Cannell
Birthday: 5 February 1941, Los Angeles, California, USA
Birth Name: Stephen Joseph Cannell
Height: 185 cm
Stephen J. Cannell was raised in Pasadena, California. His father ran an interior design firm. From an early age, Stephen suffered from undiagnosed dyslexia, which made it nearly impossible from him t ...Show More
Most of my things strike to me the same theme which is not to take yourself so seriously that you ca Show more
Most of my things strike to me the same theme which is not to take yourself so seriously that you can't grow. Hide
Because I was a private company, I always looked long-term. And our meetings at the Cannell company Show more
Because I was a private company, I always looked long-term. And our meetings at the Cannell company had a theme... It wasn't about doing what was in our best interest, it was about doing what was right. We were one of the first companies to hire an 'assistant location manager' onto our productions with sole purpose of making sure the locations we rented were never 'burnt'. The job description in the ALM manual was simply to make sure the people who owned the property had a good experience with a Cannell project and would welcome us back.And when the television market crashed in the mid-80s and the economics were bad, I was one of few who saw the signs and got out of town. Many of the other television companies went bankrupt...I went to Canada and was able to stay in business. Hide
On the Writer's Guild strike 1987: I called up the then President of the Guild and said: 'Listen, I' Show more
On the Writer's Guild strike 1987: I called up the then President of the Guild and said: 'Listen, I'm a writer and a Producer. How can we make this work'? I told him I'd open the Cannell books to him so he could see there wasn't more money and the Networks were just as stretched... As a Guild member, the Guild didn't want to hear what I had to say and they never took me up on the offer to see the bottom-line. ...I think they were scared of what they might have seen. Hide
Cable is the way to go in the future. It gives writers a lot more freedom and flexibility to try new Show more
Cable is the way to go in the future. It gives writers a lot more freedom and flexibility to try new things. Channels like HBO, Showtime, USA and TNT, among others, are producing high quality entertainment that never would have hit the screen 20 or so years ago. I think it's a great time to be a writer in the TV industry. Hide
But I do know it's easier to think of me simply as the guy who wrote The A-Team (1983). So they do.
But I do know it's easier to think of me simply as the guy who wrote The A-Team (1983). So they do.
It's flattering in a way that people want to see new versions of The A-Team and 21 Jump Street. I th Show more
It's flattering in a way that people want to see new versions of The A-Team and 21 Jump Street. I think it's nostalgia of how simple and innocent the shows were. It takes people back to a time when things weren't so complicated. Hide
The only time I had to get rough with a Network was during production on one of my shows. What had h Show more
The only time I had to get rough with a Network was during production on one of my shows. What had happened, was, the budget we agreed upon wasn't working, so I called the Network chief and said: listen, either increase the budget or I'm delivering a show that looks really cheap... Well, he was upset but told me he'd readjust the numbers - quietly - but he could only do it at the end of the first season ... So I got my team in the meeting room and we agreed there was no reason to distrust this guy and we'd take his word he'd come-through with the increased license fee ... And he did. Hide
Novel writing gives me a different satisfaction that I never found with TV writing. Every word, ever Show more
Novel writing gives me a different satisfaction that I never found with TV writing. Every word, every story, every description, is mine. In TV writing, you have to make sacrifices and compromises to appease the producers and executives. It's much more collaborative. At this point in my career, I want to do things on my own terms and pace. Hide
Whenever something unfortunate happens in my business dealings I never sit there and observe it as a Show more
Whenever something unfortunate happens in my business dealings I never sit there and observe it as a problem... The first thing I do when something goes wrong is say: 'hey, I can use this!...' Hide
So I thought, television, my gawd! There's a thousand episodes of this written each year. I otta' be Show more
So I thought, television, my gawd! There's a thousand episodes of this written each year. I otta' be able to get in there, and if I grin -- I was a good salesman -- I otta' be able to pick-off one or two assignments. It was the only way I figured I could afford a family. Hide
21 Jump Street (1987) ...Johnny was signed-up to do another season of the show ... But I released hi Show more
21 Jump Street (1987) ...Johnny was signed-up to do another season of the show ... But I released him from his contract early so he could go make movies, I wasn't going to hold him back. Because, by then, he was a Star. Hide
Culture changed, and as that happened so did our need for a hero. That square jawed good guy began t Show more
Culture changed, and as that happened so did our need for a hero. That square jawed good guy began to look like an idiot to us. Hide
Having a support system is huge for writers. My parents were always encouraging and told me they wer Show more
Having a support system is huge for writers. My parents were always encouraging and told me they were behind me, whether or not I made it in the business. My wife was always there for my successes and failures. It's easy to find hundreds of reasons to quit writing. Surrounding yourself with people that want you to succeed helps you to write on. Hide
I'm a very conservative business-man. I don't work on credit. My father was the guy who taught me ho Show more
I'm a very conservative business-man. I don't work on credit. My father was the guy who taught me how to think straight, not to delude myself and think I was larger than I was. I never bought a new car until I was 45-years old...I bought used because my father always said: 'why do you want to buy a car, drive it around the block and lose thirty percent of its value'? ...Don't get me wrong, I had great used cars: XKEs, Jags... But they were all used. All my friends were out leasing new Mercades and other high-end cars...and there I was buying used; and writing a check for it! "There! give me the car"! That was all my dad's thinking and I ran the company that way. Hide
I'm generally a very happy guy, because I'm doing what I want. I'm willing to tell you that there ar Show more
I'm generally a very happy guy, because I'm doing what I want. I'm willing to tell you that there are people who are much better than I am in writing. I don't have to be the fastest gun in the West. Hide
We knew he was going to be a superstar from the beginning. He had a spirit about him that just attra Show more
We knew he was going to be a superstar from the beginning. He had a spirit about him that just attracted attention. I'm very happy of the tremendous success Johnny (Depp) has had in his career. He deserves it. Hide
...Even though I was flunking English because I couldn't spell; in my high school year book under am Show more
...Even though I was flunking English because I couldn't spell; in my high school year book under ambitions I had written 'Author'. When I went off to college I ran into a guy at the University of Oregon named Ralph Salisbury who was my first creative writing instructor and he turned all the lights on for me. He was the first teacher in all my years who actually said I had talent. Some people don't know this, but I have dyslexia. Hide
I never waited for my Irish Cream coffee to be the right temperature, with a storm happening outside Show more
I never waited for my Irish Cream coffee to be the right temperature, with a storm happening outside and my fireplace crackling ... I wrote every day, at home, in the office, whether I felt like it or not, I just did it. Hide
Stephen J. Cannell's FILMOGRAPHY
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as Actor (62)
as Creator (5)
Stephen J. Cannell'S roles
