GLEN A. LARSON vs. STEPHEN J. CANNELL

[Keon2005]

HI EVERYONE, I JUST WANTED AN OPINION OF SOME FOLKS, WHO WAS THE BETTER TELEVISION PRODUCER/CREATOR GLEN A. LARSON OR STEPHEN J. CANNELL. EVEN THOUGH I AM A MAJOR KNIGHT RIDER FAN, I THINK THAT STEPHEN J. CANNELL HAD THE BETTER SHOWS. GLEN LARSON'S SHOWS WERE BASED REALLY MORE ON FANTASY BUT SOMEWHAT CHEESY. WHILE CANNELL'S SHOWS WERE ACTION PACKED. WHAT DO YOU THINK LET ME KNOW

[CB2001]

First off, please turn off your caps lock. With your caps on, it indicates that you are yelling.

Second of all, who the heck is Stephen J. Cannel? If you don't at least list a few of his shows, people who don't know how cannot make any kind of comparision.

I'm sorry if it seems that this text is coming off as rude. It's not my intention. You have a nice day.

[Michael Pajaro]

Cannell was huge in the 80s.. he created The A Team, Hunter, Riptide... there was a joke that NBC got its name because it aired "Nothing But Cannell". Ironically, according to imdb Cannel did a show called "The Night Rider" in 1979.

I am biased of course, but I have to say that I think Larson is better. His shows were "bigger". With pretty much all of Cannell's shows, he created characters and put them in real-life situations. But Larson created entire alternate universes with some of his shows. And even with many of his more down-to-earth shows, there was still a stong fantasy element involved which is tough to do well. Cannell probably "aged" better though- his work in the 90s (and I had to look it up) had some well-respected shows. (Silk Stockings, Profit)

Larson did Quincy; Cannell did Rockford files.
Larson did Manimal; Cannell did Tenspeed and Brownshoe.

[Keon2005]

ok hows this, i wasnt yelling when i wrote my original message, and second Stephen J. Cannell produced/created shows such as:

The Rockford Files
The A-Team
Hunter
Riptide
Baretta
Hardcastle & McCormick
21 Jump Street
Greatest American Hero

When there were shows that were produced by Cannell's own production company (not by Universal City Studios), he was theguy you saw typing at the end of the closing credits, that through his typing paper up in the air that formed his "C" logo. You can tell it was a Cannell show because the music was always composed Mike Post and Pete Carpenter. Believe me you would recognize the music when you heard it.

[CB2001]

Oh, I remember that clip.

[Lyn]

I think both men have credibility, for I've seen shows created by both Mr. Larson and Mr. Cannell, but somehow, I'm pointing towards Mr. Larson, even if I thought the show "Riptide" was a really goofy show that had 3 guys and a goofy robot named Roboz, or somehting like that.
I remember the "Greatest American hero", too....

[Knight 52]

I think Glen A. Larson was the better producer.

I love Battle Star Galactica soo...... to me he's the better of the two.

Knight 52

[Fantine]

Aw, gee, I don't know if you can compare them really.

I mean, its a little like comparing fine desserts. Sometimes you are in the mood for chocolate lace pie; sometimes you are in the mood for triamisu. Both are fantastic, it just depends on the flavor of the day.

I loved Greatest American Hero as a kiddo. Such a great theme song too mean, I don't hum it while merging into traffic on the highway like I do *some* themes, but I still rather enjoy it.

[tkr9]

Glen A Larson. He was perhaps more innocent in his optimism, but I have to say that's what I like about him. As a disollusioned political scientist, I think we need more optimism, especially nowadays with Iraq and everything.

[Kirin]

HI EVERYONE, I JUST WANTED AN OPINION OF SOME FOLKS, WHO WAS THE BETTER TELEVISION PRODUCER/CREATOR GLEN A. LARSON OR STEPHEN J. CANNELL. EVEN THOUGH I AM A MAJOR KNIGHT RIDER FAN, I THINK THAT STEPHEN J. CANNELL HAD THE BETTER SHOWS. GLEN LARSON'S SHOWS WERE BASED REALLY MORE ON FANTASY BUT SOMEWHAT CHEESY. WHILE CANNELL'S SHOWS WERE ACTION PACKED. WHAT DO YOU THINK LET ME KNOW

Stephen J. Cannell by a MILE. Cannell blows away Glen Larson.

Not that Larson is a terrible writer or anything, but he is out of his league next to SJC. Cannell is a true writer, Larson is more of a good synthesiser, he takes various elements of fantasy and throws them together, then for some mysterious reason sits back while lesser talented writers take over his series and make a decent hour of sci-fi fun. And Larson's TV shows tend to be heavy on the cheese. Battlestar Galatcia, Buck Rogers, Manimal, etc... Magnum PI was a great show but Donald Bellasario seems more responsible for that then Larson. To give Larson credit on Knight Rider, he did write the finest and easily most mature episode of the series, which was the Pilot episode. Too bad he never showed up again after that. Even when Cannell ventured into more fantastical shows and cheese like The A-Team or The Greatest American Hero, they were still written with far more depth and maturity then most of Larson's campy outings. Greatest American Hero was cheesy in a good way. Where Glen Larson excels is in creating simple minded family fun, nothing too offensive but try not to think about it too much. He does the "Phoenix" theme a lot, which I really like, i.e....Steve Austin rising from the ashes, Michael Knight again rising from the ashes.

[chrisebourg]

[quote="CB2001"]First off, please turn off your caps lock. With your caps on, it indicates that you are yelling.

Second of all, who the heck is Stephen J. Cannel? If you don't at least list a few of his shows, people who don't know how cannot make any kind of comparision.

This was also my first question, who is Stephen Cannel!

[Kirin]

^Stephen J. Cannell is a prolific writer/producer and author. Cannell co-created The Rockford Files in the 70s as well as Barretta.

In the 80s he created or co-created The A-Team, Hardcastle & McCormick, The Greatest American Hero, Wiseguy, Hunter, Riptide, and 21 Jumpstreet. In the 90s he created such shows as Renegade, Silk Stalkings, The Commish and Profit. He has authored at least 10 best selling crime/police novels.

Compare that to what Glen A. Larson did. Buck Rogers, Battlestar Galactica, Six Million Dollar Man. And Larson only wrote the pilot episode for Knight Rider. A very good pilot it was though, he should have stuck around more for KR.

[walter h. anderson]

Definitely Glen.

I agree with Michael Pajaro. Glen's series had adventure, romance, and fantasy mixed together. Although I DO think "Battlestar Galactica" was a poor copy of "Star Wars" and "Automan" was a poor copy of "Tron", there was no way he could copy off of anybody for Knight Rider.

Copying isn't all that bad, either. George Lucas did it.