Stephen J. Cannell, 1941-2010

“You don’t make television by yourself. It’s a collaborative art form-if it’s an art form at all; a craft?-and it really comes down to how good the people are that you accumulate around you. And I expect that a lot of my success is from the fact that I had really good actors working with me, I had really good directors working with me, I had great writers that were on my staff that helped me keep those shows fresh and alive. And I’m a fairly diligent writer. I think if you write for five hours everyday, Saturday and Sunday included, for 40 years, you’d be surprised by how much you can write!”
-Legendary television writer/producer Stephen J. Cannell (“The A-Team,” “The Greatest American Hero,” “The Rockford Files” and “21 Jump Street” among many others) passed away yesterday. He spoke with Logan Sachon last summer about how he managed to do everything in an impossibly busy career. Cannell was 69.