Stephen J Cannell Dies

If you were a teenage kid who watched too much TV during the 1980s and early 1990s, you will no doubt have viewed many hours of stories conceived by Stephen J Cannel. You probably remember this vanity tag from the end of a lot of shows...

For 30 years, beginning in the early 1970s and extending through the 1990s, television viewers could hardly go a week without running into a show written by Mr. Cannell. His writing credits include more than 1,000 episodes of various series, primarily crime dramas, and he is listed as the creator of almost 20 series — some long-running hits like “The Rockford Files,” and “The Commish,” others quick flame-outs like “Booker. ” At one point in 1989, Mr. Cannell’s company was producing five series on three networks.

The New York Times - Stephen J. Cannell, Prolific TV Writer, Dies at 69