Before He Became a Hit, Nolte Had ‘Cannon’ Shot

Nick Nolte can afford to be picky about his roles. He can take chances with parts in “Mother Night” “Jefferson in Paris” and “Afterglow.”

He had become famous in 1976 with the hugely successful TV miniseries “Rich Man, Poor Man” (Nolte was the poor man, Peter Strauss the rich one). That won him an Emmy nomination--one of 23 for the miniseries--and a ticket to bigger things: eventually “North Dallas Forty,” “48HRS.” and “The Prince of Tides,” which earned him an Oscar nomination.

Before “Rich Man, Poor Man,” Nolte mostly had guest shots on such cop and detective shows as “Toma,” Lorne Green’s “Griff,” “The Rookies,” “Chopper One” “Barnaby Jones”--and “Cannon” (Friday at 4 p.m. on KDOC-TV Channel 56) from 1973.

In the episode “Arena of Fear,” Nolte plays Ron Johnson, a heavyweight boxer (he also was a boxer in “Rich Man, Poor Man”). Things are going well--it looks as if he could be the next champion--until he punches an aging ex-prizefighter who’s giving him a hard time in a bar.

Johnson’s manager tends to the old pug and tells him that the guy is dead and that they’d better cover things up. Of course, we’ve watched TV long enough to know he isn’t dead, but Johnson never suspects a thing--even when he’s asked to throw his next fight.

We’ve also watched TV long enough to know that there’s no way he’ll throw the fight. He’s a decent kid--and his friend is Frank Cannon (William Conrad), who almost gets himself killed trying to sort things out.

The highlights: a scene with Nolte--looking slightly uncomfortable--in a steam room, and Cannon’s embarrassingly bad line after his close call: “Somebody baited a trap with a nice piece of cheese, but I guess I bit a little too hard.”

DETAILS, DETAILS: Who beat Nick Nolte for an Emmy for outstanding lead actor in a limited series for the 1975-76 season? Answer next week. Answer to last week’s quiz (Name the character--and the actor who played him--who succeeded Lt. Tragg on “Perry Mason”): Lt. Steve Drumm, played by Richard Anderson.

Set Your VCR

The Ropers are gone, so Jack, Janet and Chrissy have a new landlord on “Three’s Company” (Friday at 5:30 a.m. on TBS). Don Knotts secured his kitschy place in ‘70s TV history with his leisure-suited Ralph Furley.

Alan Alda did a cartwheel at the Emmy ceremony when he won for writing 1979’s “Inga” episode of “MASH” (Saturday at 12:30 a.m. on KTTV-TV Channel 11), about Hawkeye’s competition with a Swedish doctor (Mariette Hartley). He also directed it.

KDOC-TV Channel 56 expects to get the usual complaints after it airs the “Case of the Twice Told Twist” episode of “Perry Mason” (today at 10 p.m.) It’s the only one in the 9-year series that was shot in color, and folks always think it’s been colorized.

Kevin Corcoran plays the 10-year-old drummer who serves bravely during the Civil War in the two-part “Johnny Shiloh” on “Walt Disney Presents” (Monday and Tuesday at 11 p.m. on the Disney Channel). The real Johnny Clem, who eventually became a major general in the Army, lived until 1937.

Did we mishear, or did the Skipper call Barney Fife “little buddy”? That episode of “The Andy Griffith Show” (Monday at 4:35 p.m. on TBS), in which Alan Hale Jr. guests as a wife-hunting farmer, aired in 1962, two years before “Gilligan’s Island” went on TV.