When an old friend is accused of murdering her husband, Cannon attempts to uncover the true killer's identity.
Tom Skerritt plays Dude Donaldson: dressed as rodeo clowns, he and an accomplice rob a rodeo (rather brutally, killing half-a-dozen people). Cannon is summoned to figure out what's going on, after authorites spend 6 weeks and come up with nothing. There's a home movie taken at the time of the robbery, in the vicinity of the buliding... Cannon and the others watch this film over and over, like the Zapruder film, and eventually it dawns on Cannon that the clowns may be involved. He tracks a clown suit to a Texan who died in Vietnam the previous winter... the man's widow (Sharon Acker) is less than forthcoming... though her young son (Vincent Van Patten) gives Cannon some leads... Skerritt took the suit from the widow's barn and used it in the robbery. Skerritt goes to Acker's house and threatens her and her son against saying anything to Cannon...Cannon senses what's going on, and after almost being snipered by Skerritt...finally subdues him with a bear hug.
If it isn't one thing, it's another: a bank manager's mistress is killed, and Cannon finds that's not the end of it.
Unexpected overhead in the trucking business as costly loads are hijacked, and private detectives murdered.
A wry tale with a twang and a twist: was the country singer's plane crash accidental or not?
The son of a gubernatorial candidate is kidnapped.
A deceptive premise: small town citizens harbor a thief on the promise of a cut.
The latest thing is a runaway on the lam.
A perfect frame for a cop.
A murder is witnessed, but the body disappears.
A newly-discovered heir comes home, and finds you can't get blood from a stone, and you can't take it with you.
A closed case gets reopened and leads to further consequences.
A bridegroom's father-in-law suspects him.
Should the weapons manufacturer be judged by its bookeeper?
Cannon helps a supposed political refugee.
A policeman injured in a payroll robbery asks Cannon for help.
A bad day at the track leaves a race car driver with a taste for vengeance.
Mike Tampa owns a vineyard in northern California... his land alone is worth $2 million, but he loves wine-making and is not considering selling. His father started the vineyards, handed them down to him, and he hopes that his son Johnny Tampa will be the third generation. Mike Tampa, however, has been the victim of three murder attempts—in the last one, his brakes were tampered with, and he barely survived when he took his car down a mountain road. At this point, his secretary calls on Cannon—secretly, because the stubborn Mike has refused to do anything. Cannon is brought in to investigate. We learn that Johnny Tampa had only been re-united with Mike two years ago... after not having seen him for 20 years (Mike and his wife went through a bitter divorce 22 years prior and she took their son down to San Francisco). Cannon suspects that Johnny may be pulling a con and that he is not really Mike's son. The winery accountant says that they had Johnny checked out by a PI down in SF n
Prison doctor and experimental pressures.
An ex-con is blackmailed into crime.
Larry Bolinger, a charismatic young man, cons the youth of a quiet town into his cult.
A pilot's apparent suicide leads to plans for a military putsch by a predatory flock.
Heat and light: a textile manufacturer is suspected of arson and murder in the death of his wife and the destruction of his factory.
Murder will out; an under-the-counter arms merchant is unmasked.
A young prisoner is forced to do the bidding of a gang boss.
That's about as unlucky as you can get. An assistant DA investigating a car theft ring is framed for his wife's murder.
Cannon seeks the only witness to the murder of a trade union boss: a draft dodger on his way to the Yukon.
Hired to find a missing husband, Cannon infiltrates a paramilitary gang that's planning a major heist.
Cannon is hired to protect a lawyer who has received death threats after defending her clients, two small-time crooks, suspected of a safe-cracking at a charitable foundation.
A girl wounded during a bar robbery denies knowing the shooter even though she was his date.
The death of an undocumented immigrant puts Cannon on the trail of a human trafficking ring.
When a hospital orderly accuses a doctor of stealing drugs, Cannon is brought in to investigate.
The burglary of his apartment leads Cannon to a computer-controlled freight train robbery.
Called in to find a missing rancher, Cannon attempts to discover why the farm hands have been replaced with security guards.
When a real estate tycoon disappears with a fortune in bonds, Cannon is hired to investigate.
Dale and Laura Corey are a happily married couple who own an electronics store; he does a lot of electronic eavesdropping for clients, she was a cop on the force with Cannon a few years back, and hires him because Dale is being threatened after bugging some hotel rooms for the owner and catching three guests in compromising positions. The three are being blackmailed, and think Dale is behind it. Cannon interviews them and determines that one of the three is blackmailing the other two.
When a hunting accident turns out to be murder, Cannon steps in to clear his friend.
Toby Hauser is a compulsive gambler who is $200,000 in debt to Ben Logan (who runs local illegal gaming operations). The bill is due and Hauser has about $5000; they threaten to come after Hauser's wife Cathy if payment isn't made. Toby will turn himself over to Logan rather than have anything happen to Cathy, who, sensing one of them will be hurt, calls in Cannon to help. Cannon tries to broker a deal with Logan. Cannon can get $25,000 paid up front and the rest on installment. Logan rejects this deal, because it would ruin his reputation if anybody got a break like that. Jason Logan (Ben's son) runs a gambling operation on his own—competing against his father in a juvenile attempt to come out from his father's shadow. Toby takes one last shot to get the $200,000. He shows up at Jason's house to get in a poker game. Jason has a couple of card-marking plants at Toby's table, but Toby gets $35,000 ahead. Then Cannon shows up undercover as Billy Thompson (owner of Thompson Tool),
A diamond smuggler is drugged to reveal his contraband.
Hired to clear a man falsely accused of murder, Cannon uncovers a trail leading to the victim's business partner.
A drug smuggler's mentally ill sister takes the rap for a murder, and it's up to Cannon to prove her innocence.
The co-author of an industrialist's unauthorized biography is murdered.
Cannon is hired to prevent a vengeful teacher from killing the two men he blames for his daughter's death.
When the lawyer for a halfway house vanishes along with his funds, Cannon is hired to find him.
A young man is persuaded to extort $50,000 from his father, who turns out to be bankrupt.
One step forward, two steps back as Cannon hunts a mass murderer. Helping to cloud the facts: a police lab technician who's altering the evidence as quickly as it is found.
A serial killer begs Cannon to catch him before he kills again.
A columnist faces contempt charges; Cannon takes the case.
A terrorized woman asks Cannon to find her husband's illegitimate son.
A writer is down for the murder of his wife and her lover, but she's left a contradictory note. ""Who builds stronger than a mason, a shipwright, or a carpenter?""
Cannon begins to see a doubtful situation. ""The houses he makes last till doomsday.""
Cannon's latest client is a dead man via a will.
Former soliders in Vietnam come fearfully to Cannon.
A former syndicate henchman has information wanted by the police and the underworld.
A prima facie murder case involving a lady journalist.
On behalf of an insurance company, Cannon investigates an airplane full of securities.
Cannon's engaged to protect a gang boss from the innocent man he sent up the river.
A payroll robbery has one main suspect who happens to be in prison.
A young model's death leads to many suspects.
A cop feels guilty over a man he injured.
A mob boss on trial has the judge's daughter kidnapped.
A blackmailer's murder brings his Swiss wife to America, and Cannon discovers still more dealings.
Airport drug smugglers frame a worker for murder.
An ex-stewardess is haunted by a hijacking.
A boxer is blackmailed into throwing a fight.
A former general hires former policeman Cannon to investigate his brother's murder.
Cannon suffers amnesia after a ransom drop goes afoul.
A recluse asks Cannon to clear up the presumed death of her sister in a boating accident five years before.
A doctor is accused of helping a prisoner escape.
A big game hunter is killed by a lion supposedly tranquilized.
Cannon investigates the death of two women who were connected to a faith healer who preaches to his flock that modern medicine is the work of Satan. A young man with a brain tumor may be the next victim.
A small-time con man is murdered, and his girlfriend hires Cannon to find the killer.
Cannon is called to the West Indies by Jackie Akers to investigate the death of her father, Sir Arnold Masters.
One of Cannon's old busts is a mass murderer, who comes after him on a fishing trip.
""Anybody Ask About Me?"" A former hooker goes back on the hoof to catch a big wheel.
Not a vocation, more like a calling. Cannon is mistaken for a bishop's assassin.
Cannon reopens the case of an old shooting.
Cannon bodyguards a securities courier.
A general wants Cannon to find the daughter he put up for adoption years before, but there is opposition to the search.
A Cuban exile wants revenge for his brother's death at the hands of police.
A missing person case leads to a cop's death and the pursuit of vengeance.
Cannon deals with an insurance company in a suspicious auto accident.
A psychiatric patient falls in with bad company and is accused of rape and murder.
A Dutch Nazi-hunter is on the trail of an SS man.
Cannon reluctantly takes the case of a disappearing bridegroom, but it's more than it appears.
An ex-POW is in danger from a cowardly officer.
A torpedo plays dead to testify, but the mob sniffs him out.
A girl's suspicious death brings Cannon to Texas.
A football player doesn't know his father-in-law is a mob boss.
Cannon gets set up for a murder charge.
A contractor refuses to pay bribes, and is accused of plotting a political asassination.
A released prisoner disappears en route.
A case of mistaken identity: Cannon is greeted by a stranger, and later almost killed.
A case of police corruption and the death of a reporter.
The wife of an industrialist is missing, and the search is a difficult one.
Cannon's help is sought by a man who went to jail without reason.
Palestinian terroists kidnap an Italian industrialist's daughter to free a jailed comrade.
Cannon searches for a missing girl who's on the lam after witnessing a murder.
A dying prisoner, a former hit man confesses to Cannon that he killed his wife and child 14 years ago when Cannon was a cop. Cannon investigates.
Frank Cannon and Barnaby Jones investigate the rape and murder of a young woman who was about to blow the whistle on the company she was involved. But they are investigating for different clients and from totally different angles. [NOTE: Part two of this story continues on the TV series "Barnaby Jones.]
A doctor treats a diabetic in the emergency room and she then dies. He claims that the patient was wearing an indicator bracelet that has seemed to have vanished. Cannon is hired to investigate.
Cannon reinvestigates a 10 year old murder from when he was on the police force and begins to question if the man in prison is really innocent.
Cannon is hired to find a popular recording artist who he believes is being held against her will. But when he finally finds her he begins to understand that there is a much more sinister reason for her being kept from the outside world.
Cannon teams up with former officers who were on the force the same time he was. Their task is to find another colleague who they believed was dead for the past eight years, but now suspected of killing those he was involved with in crime.
A group of terrorists have drugged Cannon with a poison, giving him 72 hours to give them a defector and receive the antidote or die.
An old friend hires Cannon to bring back the body of his dead son from Mexico and to find his killer. Cannon agrees, but he uncovers a few surprises in the process.
Cannon investigates on the behalf of a oil executive who claims he is being framed for fraud and embezzlement. But he runs into heavy resistance in his investigation from the corporations domineering female president.
Cannon unravels a murder plot that was made to look like it involved the Chinese Tongs gang. But the intended victim turns the tables on the real man behind the plot and try's eliminate Cannon in the process.
Cannon and a female vice squad officer who's on leave after being viciously beaten while undercover posing as a prostitute go after this same man who has previously beaten prostitutes to death while playing the music "The Wedding March".
Cannon protects a man and his wife from the members of a small motorcycle riding cult that are bent on avenging the death of one of their own.
Cannon investigates the possibility that there is a conspiracy behind the assassination of a black female politician.
When the son of a famous actress disappears the police think its another instance of his recurring drug problem. Cannon is hired to find him, but no one is telling him the whole truth.
Snapshots reveal a dubious link between policy and high crime.
The mastermind behind the kidnapping of an infirm prince is also the man helping Cannon with his investigation.
Frank Cannon takes up the case when it appears that the head of a newspaper is being framed for the murder of a prostitute.
A small town newspaperman takes on a duel identity and fakes his own murder. Cannon is hired by his wife to investigate.
Cannon becomes a hunted man when a young South Korean man comes after him seeking revenge for his late father who was a tortured prisoner of war during the Korean War-and he believes Cannon is solely responsible for it.
Cannon investigates when the grandson of the billionaire fakes his own kidnapping to get his trust fund money, but get gets involved with the wrong type of people.
Cannon investigates the death of a scientist who designed a computer that searches for extra terrestrial signals. But was he murdered by an entity from outer space or by a fellow scientist with something to hide?
A mobster hires Cannon to find out who tried to kill his ex-wife in a failed hit attempt. But Cannon suspects the mobster himself may be the actual target after another attempt is made on him and not his ex-wife.
A case of vengeance. The girlfriend of a pro ballplayer is murdered.
A well-to-do young man's death in Acapulco is ruled an accident, but his family hires Cannon to investigate.
An Army researcher goes berserk; his wife pleads with Cannon to intervene.
Private detective Frank Cannon comes out of retirement to investigate the murder of an ex-girlfriend's husband.
These are the images for the entire show from September 14, 1971 to March 3, 1976.
Cannon and Jones try in vain to convince Lt. Biddle that Bud McKenna's death was murder. Betty occupies Gordon's secretary Alice Parks, while Cannon searches her apartment. The detectives uncover an international conspiracy and escape two attempts on their lives.
