The BEST episodes of Cannon season 1

Every episode of Cannon season 1, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Cannon season 1!

Frank Cannon is a tough, middle-aged, portly ex-cop turned private eye. A gourmet, with expensive tastes, he mostly took cases at a substantial fee so he could afford indulging in personal luxuries. He was a shrewd investigator, dedicated, clever and despite his bulk, was not afraid of getting physical if he had to.

Last Updated: 2/6/2024Network: CBSStatus: Ended
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To Kill a Guinea Pig
star
9.54
35 votes

#1 - To Kill a Guinea Pig

Season 1 - Episode 18 - Aired 2/1/1972

Prison doctor and experimental pressures.

Directors: Allen Reisner
Writer: Hal Sitowitz
Watch Now:Amazon
Flight Plan
star
8.50
4 votes

#2 - Flight Plan

Season 1 - Episode 14 - Aired 12/28/1971

Cannon helps a supposed political refugee.

Directors: Richard Donner
Watch Now:Amazon
Scream of Silence
star
8.00
10 votes

#3 - Scream of Silence

Season 1 - Episode 5 - Aired 10/12/1971

The son of a gubernatorial candidate is kidnapped.

Directors: Jerry Jameson
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Death is a Double-Cross
star
8.00
5 votes

#4 - Death is a Double-Cross

Season 1 - Episode 12 - Aired 12/7/1971

A bridegroom's father-in-law suspects him.

Directors: Richard Donner
Watch Now:Amazon
The Island Caper
star
7.91
33 votes

#5 - The Island Caper

Season 1 - Episode 19 - Aired 2/8/1972

An ex-con is blackmailed into crime.

Directors: Lewis Allen
Watch Now:Amazon
Girl in the Electric Coffin
star
7.88
8 votes

#6 - Girl in the Electric Coffin

Season 1 - Episode 7 - Aired 10/26/1971

The latest thing is a runaway on the lam.

Directors: Jerry Jameson
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Stone, Cold Dead
star
7.75
8 votes

#7 - Stone, Cold Dead

Season 1 - Episode 11 - Aired 11/30/1971

A closed case gets reopened and leads to further consequences.

Directors: Seymour Robbie
Watch Now:Amazon
No Pockets in a Shroud
star
7.71
7 votes

#8 - No Pockets in a Shroud

Season 1 - Episode 10 - Aired 11/23/1971

A newly-discovered heir comes home, and finds you can't get blood from a stone, and you can't take it with you.

Directors: William Hale
Writer: Ken Pettus
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
The Nowhere Man
star
7.67
6 votes

#9 - The Nowhere Man

Season 1 - Episode 13 - Aired 12/14/1971

Should the weapons manufacturer be judged by its bookeeper?

Directors: George McCowan
Watch Now:Amazon
Death Chain
star
7.64
22 votes

#10 - Death Chain

Season 1 - Episode 2 - Aired 9/21/1971

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.

Directors: Jerry Jameson
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
The Salinas Jackpot
star
7.54
26 votes

#11 - The Salinas Jackpot

Season 1 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/14/1971

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.

Directors: George McCowan
Writer: Ken Trevey
Watch Now:Apple TV
Treasure of San Ignacio
star
7.50
6 votes

#12 - Treasure of San Ignacio

Season 1 - Episode 16 - Aired 1/11/1972

A bad day at the track leaves a race car driver with a taste for vengeance.

Directors: Allen Reisner
Watch Now:Amazon
The Torch
star
7.40
5 votes

#13 - The Torch

Season 1 - Episode 22 - Aired 2/29/1972

Heat and light: a textile manufacturer is suspected of arson and murder in the death of his wife and the destruction of his factory.

Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Country Blues
star
7.36
11 votes

#14 - Country Blues

Season 1 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/5/1971

A wry tale with a twang and a twist: was the country singer's plane crash accidental or not?

Directors: Allen Reisner
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
A Lonely Place to Die
star
7.25
8 votes

#15 - A Lonely Place to Die

Season 1 - Episode 9 - Aired 11/16/1971

A murder is witnessed, but the body disappears.

Directors: William Hale
Writer: Jack Turley
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Call Unicorn
star
7.20
10 votes

#16 - Call Unicorn

Season 1 - Episode 3 - Aired 9/28/1971

Unexpected overhead in the trucking business as costly loads are hijacked, and private detectives murdered.

Directors: Allen Reisner
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Fool's Gold
star
7.14
7 votes

#17 - Fool's Gold

Season 1 - Episode 6 - Aired 10/19/1971

A deceptive premise: small town citizens harbor a thief on the promise of a cut.

Directors: Don Medford
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Dead Pigeon
star
7.00
11 votes

#18 - Dead Pigeon

Season 1 - Episode 8 - Aired 11/9/1971

A perfect frame for a cop.

Directors: Don Taylor
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
A Flight of Hawks
star
7.00
5 votes

#19 - A Flight of Hawks

Season 1 - Episode 21 - Aired 2/22/1972

A pilot's apparent suicide leads to plans for a military putsch by a predatory flock.

Directors: Charles S. Dubin
Watch Now:Amazon
Cain's Mark
star
7.00
6 votes

#20 - Cain's Mark

Season 1 - Episode 23 - Aired 3/7/1972

Murder will out; an under-the-counter arms merchant is unmasked.

Directors: Don Taylor
Watch Now:Amazon
A Deadly Quiet Town
star
6.83
6 votes

#21 - A Deadly Quiet Town

Season 1 - Episode 20 - Aired 2/15/1972

Larry Bolinger, a charismatic young man, cons the youth of a quiet town into his cult.

Directors: Seymour Robbie
Watch Now:Apple TV
Blood on the Vine
star
6.37
35 votes

#22 - Blood on the Vine

Season 1 - Episode 17 - Aired 1/18/1972

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

Directors: George McCowan
Devil's Playground
star
6.32
34 votes

#23 - Devil's Playground

Season 1 - Episode 15 - Aired 1/4/1972

A policeman injured in a payroll robbery asks Cannon for help.

Directors: Marvin Chomsky
Writer: Ken Trevey
Murder by Moonlight
star
6.00
4 votes

#24 - Murder by Moonlight

Season 1 - Episode 24 - Aired 3/14/1972

A young prisoner is forced to do the bidding of a gang boss.

Directors: Seymour Robbie
Writer: Karl Tumberg