Cannonball

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.

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.

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.

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!