How many different ways can we come up with as far as murder attempts that Frank Cannon survived?
For starters, a couple of close calls:
Placed in a closed garage with the car motor running -- death by carbon monoxide inhalation
Motel room sealed with natural gas escaping from the heating unit
In some cases the attempt did not go far -- for example, Frank was smart to check under the hood of his car to find dynamite or a bomb apparatus.
What I noticed is that Frank Cannon never locked his car door and his windows were always down. It was an easy way for someone to put a snake in the front seat or check his glove compartment to see who he was.
shareOr sabotage his telephone...!
I think also in order to plant explosives under the hood or disable the car, the hood release had to be accessed from inside. In the episode with Cindy Williams, Cannon is seen popping the hood, but the motor had already been disabled. The criminal did not have to go to any trouble to enter the car and access the engine.
Of course, it's artistic license on the part of the writers: They didn't want to make it TOO difficult to give Frank difficulties!
I have noticed "the unlocked car situation" on the Rockford Files.
These guys are so security-aware and yet seemingly dont lock their car!
In Rockford's case, it seemed like he was always making a break for his car to get the heck out of Dodge--in a big hurry! In the days prior to remote entry--(yes, kiddies, once upon a time the only way to unlock a car was to use your keys on the outside lock, or to open them individually from the inside. Power locks didn't come in till around the mid-80's, and remote unlock/etc. came in sometime in the 90's)--the only way to insure that you could jump into your car in a great big hurry was to leave the car unlocked.
So far as attempts to murder Cannon go, I'm always noticing that would-be killers like to cut his brake line. This has always stuck me as very silly. Unless you know for sure that someone will be going down a near vertical road, to prospect of forcing someone into an accident that will result in death seem pretty remote.
If such a thing ever happened to me, I'd drop the transmission down into 1st gear, then if necessary, into park. It might ruin your tranny, but this will stop the car and I think most insurance companies would pay for the repairs.
Of course, the purpose of any show is to entertain, and in the 70's car chases and iterations thereof were a staple. It's actually very disappointing to me how most current shows absolutely never have a car chase. NCIS in particular offers many opportunities for a good car chase. All the time the agents chase someone outside who proceeds to jump into his or her car, and instead of giving chase, Tony/Ziva/whoever just stands there watching the criminal drive off, while the agent's car sits there just few feet away.
It is cool that most crime shows offer a lot of psychological confrontations, but I could go for some good old fashioned fights/car chases/physical confrontations also. Perhaps these are just too expensive. In any case, part of the reason I enjoy shows like Cannon and Rockford is that the hero's aren't afraid to settle things with their fists when necessary. Most of the current crop of crime fighters are too sophisticated/sissified to resort to this.
"He was running around like a rooster in a barnyard full of ducks."--Pat Novak
Some guy tried to choke him out with a pool cue across the throat. Cannon's eye bugged out of his friggin' head.
shareLet's not forget Cannon being trapped in a burning garage in the very second episode, Death Chain, courtesy of bad guy Don Gordon.
sharethe pool cue move is old school.
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