After college Cannell spent four years working with the family business before selling his first script to the Universal series
It Takes a Thief in 1968. He was quickly hired by
Universal Television, the television production branch of
Universal Studios and was soon freelance writing for such other crime shows as
Ironside (1970–1971) and
Columbo (1973). In 1971, he received a telephone call from friend Herman Saunders who was the producer on
Jack Webb's police series
Adam-12. They needed a script right away and Saunders asked if Cannell would be interested in writing it. He delivered what they wanted in one day, his first full-time gig, and was soon hired as
story editor of the series, then in its fourth season, until 1973. For Universal Television, Cannell created or co-created
Chase (1973–1974),
The Rockford Files (1974–1980),
Baretta (1975–1978),
City of Angels (1976), and
Baa Baa Black Sheep (1976–1978). He won the
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series in
1978 for
The Rockford Files. In a 2002 interview, Cannell described his early financial arrangements, saying that at Universal, In 1979, Cannell left Universal and formed his own company, Stephen J. Cannell Productions. For the first few years, Cannell's office was located on the lot at
Paramount Studios in Hollywood, though his earlier work at Universal was still distributed by
MCA-Universal. His first series under his new banner was
Tenspeed and Brown Shoe (1980), and was soon followed by
The Greatest American Hero (1981–1983),
The Quest (1982),
The A-Team (1983–1987),
Hardcastle and McCormick (1983–1986),
Riptide (1984–1986), and
Hunter (1984–1991). Cannell's offices relocated to larger facilities on
Hollywood Boulevard in 1983. In 1986, Cannell was co-founder, along with
Tri-Star Pictures and
Witt/Thomas Productions, of the syndication distributor TeleVentures. In late 1988, Witt/Thomas Productions exited the TeleVentures venture and entered a distribution deal with
Walt Disney Television, selling its share to Cannell. On July 11, 1990, both Tri-Star and Cannell dissolved the TeleVentures joint venture, and Tri-Star sold its shares to Stephen J. Cannell Productions. TeleVentures thus became Cannell Distribution Co. Also in 1986, with the favorable exchange rate between the US and Canadian dollars being a win/win for US producers, Cannell decided to shoot his new series
Stingray (1985–1987) in
Toronto. However, so many producers were shooting in Toronto that no crews were available to staff any additional productions. Consequently, Cannell shot the first seven episodes of
Stingrays second season in
Calgary with the remaining eight episodes being shot in
Vancouver. His first series to entirely be shot in Vancouver was
21 Jump Street (1987–1991), the highest-rated show of the new
Fox network's first season. With more series being shot in Vancouver, Cannell said, "We were fighting with everybody for locations and stage space". His solution was to build a new, state-of-the-art facility, The
North Shore Studios, on 13 acres with one hundred thousand square feet of office space and seven sound stages. The series
21 Jump Street was soon followed by
J.J. Starbuck (1987–1988),
Wiseguy (1987–1990),
Unsub (1989),
Top of the Hill (1989),
Booker (1989–1990),
Broken Badges (1990–1991),
Palace Guard (1991),
Scene of the Crime (1991–1992),
The Commish (1991–1996),
Street Justice (1991–1993),
Silk Stalkings (1991–1999),
The Hat Squad (1992–1993),
Renegade (1992–1997),
Cobra (1993–1994), and
Hawkeye (1994–1995). A number of
television films were also shot in Vancouver by Cannell's production company. On July 31, 1995,
New World Communications acquired his Cannell Entertainment production company. Cannell then founded The Cannell Studios. One of the first shows produced by the newly established Cannell Studios was the short-lived but critically acclaimed corporate drama
Profit (1996). Cannell created or co-created nearly 40 television series, mostly crime dramas. In the process, he had by his own count, scripted more than 450 episodes, and produced or executive produced over 1,500 episodes. In May 1988, Cannell was a panelist in the
John Davidson edition of
Hollywood Squares. He also served as the host of the 1991–92 series
Scene of the Crime, a mystery anthology series with a repertory cast, and of the 1995–1996 syndicated documentary series
U.S. Customs Classified, focusing on the work of the
U.S Customs Service. Cannell also acted occasionally, including a recurring role as main antagonist "Dutch" Dixon on his series
Renegade. He also took a turn in the season 6 episode of
Silk Stalkings titled "Loyalty", in which the script called for lead character Sgt. Tom Ryan to tell him, "You look just like that writer on TV," to which Cannell's character, a car salesman, responds, "I get that all the time." Cannell appeared as himself in the 2009 pilot of the
ABC show
Castle and again in two episodes of season two. Along with
James Patterson,
Dennis Lehane, and
Michael Connelly, he was one of Castle's poker buddies. In season three following Cannell's death, an empty seat at the poker table is described as Cannell's, and remains empty for a full year in tribute to him. Beginning in 1995, Cannell turned his attention to writing novels. His first novel,
The Plan, was released in 1997 by
Avon. As of 2010, he had written 18, 11 of which featured the character of detective
Shane Scully of the
Los Angeles Police Department. Seven are stand-alone novels. The last in the series,
Vigilante, was released December 2011 by
St. Martin's Press. Cannell's TV series
The A-Team was remade into a
2010 feature-length film. Cannell served as a producer and creative consultant for the project. His other series
21 Jump Street was made into a
2012 feature by
Columbia Pictures and
Metro Goldwyn Mayer, and into the sequel
22 Jump Street which was released in June 2014. As of 2026, the rights to most of Cannell's television library are owned by
Lionsgate.
The A-Team and
Hunter are currently owned by
Comcast (via
Universal Television), as are all shows Cannell worked on while employed by Universal (which became co-owned with
NBC, which aired
The A-Team and
Hunter).
The Commish, which Cannell left as a result of
ABC co-producing the series with
Genesis Entertainment, is now wholly owned by
The Walt Disney Company (via
Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution on behalf of
ABC Studios), while another Cannell-produced series for ABC,
The Greatest American Hero, is now owned by
Warner Bros. Discovery (via
Warner Bros. Television). That show's original distributor was
Lorimar, and Lorimar's library was eventually absorbed into that of Warner Bros. ==Personal life==