On Tue, Mar 20, 2012 at 10:54 PM, JW <[email protected]> wrote: > > I distinctly remember that Frank Cannon (played by William Conrad on the > > 1971-76 series "Cannon") had a phone in his car. That startled me as a > kid, > > because I had never seen such a thing. And even though I was only ten > years > > old when that show went off the air, I remember thinking that it was > > ridiculous - that even if such a thing as a car phone actually existed, > it > > must be so expensive that a private eye like Cannon wouldn't be able to > > afford it. > > Let's see. Mannix' original run is the first place I remember seeing a > mobile phone. It's also popped up in Paul Drake's (Perry's > investigator) car on Perry Mason, which I've seen in reruns. Those > phones involved calling the mobile operator and having her make the > connection. I'm inclined to agree with Tim about the likely costs, but > it was something interesting and exotic for the time. >
True - I do recall those old style phones, which were kind of like the ones that were also in limos at the time. But as noted by several here, those were unusual and expensive enough that writers could not use them as time-saving ways to have characters make calls (or, as pointed out above, they were not impediments to placing characters in positions where danger or humor turned on them not being able to contact someone, or from the time it took to place the call). -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en
