From Primetime Saturday Nights To Entertainment Legends, Cannon And Ball
It was 1979 when Cannon and Ball exploded on to our TV screens with their Saturday night entertainment show. The Cannon and Ball show ran for a mammoth 9 series until 1988 when TV executives decided that this kind of show was no longer popular.
In this special tribute post we are going to let the video do the talking as we look back on a remarkable career of two of Britain’s best loved comics.
After their first TV appearance the duo made a number of appearances on the TV show The Wheeltappers and Shunters Social Club
In 1978 they popped on TV again on Bruce Forsyth’s Big Night
A year later they hit the big one with their own primetime TV show. The Cannon and Ball Show would run from 1979 to 1988 over 9 series.
Whilst riding high the duo stared in their only feature film. The Boys In Blue was loosely based around a Will Hays film Ask A Policeman. Sadly the film was not the success they hoped for.
Riding high on success things were about to change. In 1988 their TV show came to an end. But that was not the end.
After a brief hiatus from TV screens the duo decided to take a new direction as they entered the world of sitcom. A planed series of six episodes of The Cannon and Ball Playhouse
became just two as TV executives liked Plaza Patrol.
There was also the gameshow Cannon and Ball’s Casino in 1990
When the cameras stopped rolling for the duo they were never far away with guest appearances on the long running TV sitcom Last Of The Summer Wine.
A spell in the jungle, with I’m A Celebrity
Having A Last Laugh In Vegas
Regular appearances in Pantomime and most importantly a return to live audiences with their live show which ran annually to packed houses in Blackpool
Sadly Bobby Bal passed away in 2020. Today Tommy Cannon still performs solo shows check local press for details.