Cannonball

I remember watching Cannonball in the early 60's on TV 9 CKLW out of Windsor, Ontario Canada. It was a great show about two good truckers that always helped everyone on the roadway as they transported cargo on their truck.

I never knew if this was a show from Canada or the states. The show was on every morning Monday through Friday. A great show to watch as a kid back then. I would love to see this show on again.

Thanks for printing the words to the theme song. As I read the words, I was reading it to the way the theme song was aired.

As I can remember, most of the shows always had snow on the ground and Jerry always wore a heavy black jacket..

I remember these shows best from when my local CBC-TV affiliate rebroadcast them on Saturday mornings in the early to mid 1970s. Growing up on a farm, I preferred spending rainy Saturday mornings in the summer watching "Cannonball" over throwing around bales of hay. The concept was easily summed up as being the continuing adventures of two long distance truckers.

The product of busy Normandie Productions (Canadian-based creators of "Hawkeye & Last Of The Mohicans" and "Tugboat Annie"), "Cannonball" starred American actors Paul Birch (Mike Malone) and William Campbell (Jerry Austin). The supporting cast was largely made up of Canadian thespians. Besides its Canadian run, the show was also syndicated to Britain, United States and Australia.

The show was hard for me to classify, because of how highly formulaic TV had become by the 1970s."Cannonball" wasn't a crime show, a comedy, a drama, wasn't news, current affairs, or soap opera, but it was watchable. As I recall the truck driven was marked as follows "C & A TRANSPORT - TORONTO - MONTREAL - WINNIPEG - NORTH BAY - NEW YORK". U.S. networks created the following shows that ripped off the concept: "Movin' On" (1974-76), "B.J. And The Bear" (1979-81) and "Lobo" (1979-81).

William Campbell gained notoriety later in life when he was implicated in the "Paul Is Dead" Beatles rumor of the late 1960s. Also Judith Exner, notorious ex-lover of both mob boss Sam Giancana and President John F. Kennedy, was wed to Campbell until 1958.

Oh How I remember this TV series as a Child( I think I was 5 or 6 years old) I use to try & sing the theme song every time it came on.I enjoyed the Adventures of the Two Truckers in this series & the Incredible Cab-over GMC,Tractor-Trailer Rig they Drove.GREAT SERIES.Was there any Merchandise available on this show??? Does anyone have Videos of any of the Episodes???? Will there ever be a DVD set available? I was told that there was a British Comic Weekly (TV Tornado) that had Cannonball Comic Strips in it??? Can anyone from ENGLAND or ???? Let me know? Thanks & You All Take Care,HAPPY HOLIDAYS Paul-SUPERCAR-Amato...Dec.12,06

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.

It was over 40 years ago but the theme was one that stuck in my mind. I can remember most of the words to the theme which went thus - Cannon b a a a l, Cannon b a a a l, In any kind of weather, On any kind of day, When the rig is ready, He'll be on his way, He'll carry any cargo, He'll go any where, Just name the destination and brother he'll be there, Cannon b a a a l, cannon b a a a l.

The show always went out late in the U.K. "about 10pm". It was usually the last programme before the little white dot appeared in the centre of the screen. I can remember my mum liked Jerry the co driver. I wish it was back on. If anyone gets hold of the theme I would love to hear it again. Thanks.