Cannonball

Although I am still trying to track down the male singer of the theme song I have a music sheet from ITC and the song was written by Joe and Marilyn Hooven. All credits list Merle Haggard as composer and singer. He had not started his singing career till 1962, however 20 years later he did write and sing the title song to the similar truck driving series "Movin' On"(74-76). Raoul Kraushaar appears in the end credits on some end credits, but no mention of the song. The series was very good for it's time and covered various issues. It's a shame it hasn't been issued on DVD along with "Hawkeye" etc. Anyone remember who actually sang the song to "Cannonball"?

I remember watching the series as I was growing up in El Paso. The series seems now to be a roving trucker's plot, sort of in the vein of "Route 66," only from a Canadian point of view. I was a small girl so I didn't really see Canada in the show. The U.S. Southwest was my point of reference. I would love to see the series come out on DVD. My husband remembers the show, too, and he says the series almost influenced him into becoming a trucker like his grandfather. "Cannonball" has the rudimentary set of screenplay constructs that could help aspiring writers understand the makeup of camera cutaways, acting interaction and time constraint editing. It also is a great little piece that extols the virtue of the old GMC round snout cab, the Trailways aerodynamic trailers and the road lifestyles back in the '50s. Perhaps the owners of the copyright will see fit to reintroduce the show in DVD form.

Thanks for your memories, Andrew. This is one show I really would like to see again. All I have are the two versions of the theme on reel to reel tape, circa 1961. Did the boys operate between Canada and the US? I just can't remember, alas.

Another one of those great 1950s tv series which have never been seen in syndication. A whole host of adventures (usually surrounding the rold of friendship) of the main characters (Mike and Jerry) helping their friends, the authorites, and each other. One episode stands out in my distant mind; during a power failure Mike and Jerry transport in their rig a polio victim dependent on an iron lung for survival, to a hospital for treatment. All the while, Jerry is in the back of the truck manually operating the iron lung machine until the girl is safe. Another example of wholesome 1950s entertainment.

I am another who watched this show as a youngster and I was entranced with it. Another reviewer compared it to "Route 66," and I agree. Being a half-hour show, it did not, of course, have the time to develop stories with much depth, but they were very human stories, and that is the kind of television I have always enjoyed.

The protagonists being truckers gave the series the latitude to visit a variety of places in the stories, and meet a variety of people. That broad range of encounters via the open road -- its clear resemblance to "Route 66" -- enabled the show to tell stories of all sorts and conditions of people. That was its strength, that and the two main actors, Paul Birch and William Campbell. It was wonderful entertainment for all ages, but particularly appropriate for young people. I also would love for this series to be released on DVD.

Years later, I was on a "Star Trek" cruise on which William Campbell was a guest. I encountered him just outside a shop in Cozumel, and told him that I had enjoyed watching "Cannonball" when I was young. I said the show looked like it must have been fun for him to work on, and he beamed broadly and exclaimed, "Yes, it was! Bless 'Cannonball!'" Bless "Cannonball," indeed!