Mannix - The First Season
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Movie Reviews of Mannix - The First Season
Movie Review: "Mannix" arriving June 3!
Summary: 5 Stars
Many crime drama fans had given up hope that "Mannix" would ever come to DVD. Terrific news was announced jointly by Paramount and CBS on February 19, "Mannix -- The First Season," will be available for purchase, Tuesday, June 3. In the premier season Joe Mannix (Mike Connors) worked as an investigator for the Los Angeles based Intertect Detective Agency run by Lou Wickersham (the great character actor Joe Campanella). A treasure trove of first-rate actors appeared in "Mannix -- The First Season," including Julie Adams, Lloyd Nolan, Kim Hunter, Lynda Day George, Richard Mulligan, William Windom, Steve Ihnat, Grace Lee Whitney, Vincent Gardenia, Barbara Anderson, Bruce Gordon, Norman Fell, Beverly Garland, Richard Devon, Karen Black, Tom Skerritt, Brooke Bundy, Phillip Pine, Marilyn Mason, John Anderson, and Diana Muldaur, not to mention Neil Diamond as himself in episode 4, and Buffalo Springfield rocked in episode 7. Gail Fisher (as faithful Peggy Fair) arrived early on in Season 2. The 6-DVD set (24 episodes) contains a recently shot interview with Connors, in addition to episode intros by the star. Let's overwhelm CBS/Paramount with brisk early sales of "Mannix -- The First Season" so that the remaining seven seasons will be released in addition to (please, please) the complete season sets of the 60's/70's crime dramas "The FBI," "Cannon," and "Barnaby Jones."
Episode 1 "Name is Mannix" Lloyd Nolan, Kim Hunter, Barbara Anderson
Episode 2 "Skid Marks on Dry Road" Vincent Gardenia, Charles Drake
Episode 3 "Nothing Works Twice" Gloria DeHaven, Robert H. Harris
Episode 4 "Death of St. Christopher" John Marley, Linda Marsh
Episode 5 "Make Like It Didn't Happen" Phillip Pine, Elena Verdugo
Episode 6 "Cost of a Vacation" Marilyn Mason
Episode 7 "Warning: Live Blueberries" Tom Skerritt, Brooke Bundy
Episode 8 "Beyond Shadow of a Dream" Richard Mulligan
Episode 9 "Huntdown" Steve Ihnat, Paul Stevens
Episode 10 "Coffin for a Clown" Diana Muldaur, Norman Fell
Episode 11 "Catalogue of Sins" Percy Rodrigues
Episode 12 "Turn Every Stone" Joan Tompkins, Lindon Chiles
Episode 13 "Run, Sheep, Run" Richard Devon, Ruta Lee
Episode 14 "Drink Takes the Man" Julie Adams, John Anderson
Episode 15 "Falling Star" Marian Seldes
Episode 16 "License to Kill" Karen Black, Peter Haskell
Episode 17 "Deadfall Part I" Beverly Garland, Michael Tolan
Episode 18 "Deadfall Part II"
Episode 19 "You Can Get Killed" Marianna Hill, Mort Mills
Episode 20 "Final Exit" Jan Shepard, Larry Storch
Episode 21 "Eight to Five" Bruce Gordon
Episode 22 "Delayed Action" Robert Reed, Louise Sorel
Episode 23 "To Kill a Writer" Karl Lukas, Paul Peterson
Episode 24 "Girl in the Frame" William Windom, Leslie Parrish
Movie Review: I'd Give SIX Stars to "Mannix - The First Season"!
Summary: 5 Stars
I grew up on Mike Connors' engagingly physical gumshoe, and I always felt Season One was the best of the series, so I have been walking on clouds since my copy of "Mannix - The First Season" arrived!
Digitally remastered, with audio introductions by Mike Connors, himself, the 'Bogart Meets Hi-Tech' adventures of Joe Mannix of Intertect (an idea WAY ahead of it's time, in 1967) combines the un-P.C. attitudes of the era (everybody smokes relentlessly, women are often mini-skirted window dressing, and the standard solution to problems is a right to the jaw or a bullet), with a growing awareness of changing times (counterculture is a theme of one episode, Buffalo Springfield and Neil Diamond perform, and racism is addressed, by no less than Roscoe Lee Browne). Co-starring with Connors is the wonderful Joseph Campanella, as Intertect chief 'Lew Wickersham', based on Lew Wasserman, of MCA. The exchanges between 'by-the-book' Wickersham and 'what the...' Mannix are often as much fun as the episodes, themselves!
Best of all, the Special Features actually ARE special...For this package, CBS brought back Connors (a chubby, cherubic 82), and Campanella (a razor-thin 74), for a two-part interview, to reminisce about the creation of the show, the physical hardships Connors endured, and the camaraderie of cast and crew. While a voice-over commentary for the pilot, by co-creator William Link, is silly (the concept was completely rewritten by producer Bruce Geller prior to filming, and Link knew nothing about the episode!), he does reveal that originally, Mannix's first name would never be revealed (CBS nixed this, but Link would use the idea, again, in his next series..."Columbo").
More treats are included on each disc, my favorites being TV-Land's ad for the series, focusing on Mannix's frequent pistol-whippings and shoulder wounds, a 70's "Mike Douglas" appearance, where Connors discusses his Armenian heritage, and TRIES to play a flute, and, especially, a brief clip from a 1997 "Diagnosis: Murder" episode, filmed as a sequel to a 24-year-old "Mannix" episode, with the 72-year-old detective still tackling cases!
Oh, heck, I could talk for hours about how GREAT "Mannix - The First Season" is...Just buy it, and see if you don't agree!
Movie Review: FINALLY!!!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
After years of begging and pleading with Viacom, Paramount and anyone and everyone connected with Sumner Redstone, the holders of the rights to Mannix, finally they are bringing this most excellent series out on DVD. All I can say is, what took you so long?
There are plenty of forgettable series on DVD and that Mannix has been denied to a generation of TV viewers (not to mention we Boomers who loved the show from Day One) is really too bad.
Mannix was cool for several reasons.
The cars. No matter the season, Joe Mannix had the coolest cars. From the custom Toronado convertible in the first season, to the Dart GTS to the Barracudas in later seasons, Joe's cars were always the best. Hi s cars were always customized by the great George Barris. And he had a phone! How cool was that back then?
The Music! Jaxx great Lalo Shiffrin wrote the title theme as well as much of the incidental music. The Mannix soundtrack was a strong blend of crime jazz and edgy late 60's funk. Joe and his loyal sidekick and secretary, Peggy Fair, would show up in a jazz bar on many occasions. Many music greats of the era popped up whether as themselves or as a character (Neil Diamond and Lou Rawls for starters).
The guest stars - Everyone wanted to do a Mannix gig. Check IMDB for a list - it's a who's who of Hollywood in the 1970s. Everyone from new faces trying to make it (Diane Keaton) to older actors who were on their way down (but not out) are there.
The clothes - Joe sported a series of wild plaid sports coats over the years. In the 70's those tweedy plaids with the wide lapels were the rage - and check out those linings! Peggy was always smartly dressed as well.
Heck, I could go on and on. Suffice to say that Mannix was the classiest detective drama of the era. It got a bad rap for violence, but the violence then was hardly even a tenth of what you see today. For kids growing up in the 70's the violence and gritty drama were a view to another world outside our tidy suburban homes. And it was never gratuitous.
It's here folks. Order one, order more! They make great gifts! And the more we fans order, the more likely we are to see the rest of the seasons released - some of which haven't been seen since they aired on TV back in the 1970's.
Movie Review: Season One Was Excellent
Summary: 5 Stars
The 194 one-hour episodes (all in color) of detective drama "Mannix" originally aired on CBS from 1967-1975. It was a slick series, uncharacteristically violent (at least by television standards) with decent enough scripting so that there was generally logic involved in all the storylines.
Mike Conners (one of my fraternity brothers) played the title character, a maverick private eye who starts out (Season One) as a loner within "Intertect" a large detective agency. It was intended by its creators (Richard Levinson and William Link-see "Columbo") to be a man vs technology statement.
In Season One Mannix is in constant conflict with his boss Lou Wickersham (Joseph Campanella). Lou has invested big bucks in a computer system, the latest electronic technology, and assorted scientific detection gadgets; and these are central to the way he is marketing the agency's services. Mannix is an old fashion gumshoe, solving cases by hard work and instinct. Their confrontations may remind you a similar dynamic on "Kolchak: The Night Stalker".
After its first year "Mannix" became a conflicted series. The title character was a reprise of the Nick Stone character Conners played in the police drama "Tightrope" (1959-60 also on CBS). Stone and Mannix are no-frills film noir style grunts, coming out of most confrontations a bit the worse for the wear. But once the producers of "Mannix" saw the success of "Bullitt" (1968) they began to pack the series with car chases and outfit their otherwise grim gumshoe with a succession of "Munsters" inspired exotic automobiles. Can you say incongruity?
But that should not concern those about to view the Season One DVD set. Speaking of incongruity, the later seasons' content and style seems mismatched with the boxy split screen title graphics. These were a carry over from Season One where they were meant to reflect the computer and technology themes. I liked them even though they seemed out of place in subsequent seasons. I also liked the catchy theme music by Lalo Schifrin who did the theme for "Mission Impossible".
Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.
Movie Review: Cool, Mannix. Cool.
Summary: 5 Stars
Dig this... the Mannix Season 1 Collection DVD? Pretty cool.
* Solid writing -- yeah, there are bummers -- but on the whole they were lotsa fun
* Sunny California color -- not like today's grayish programs -- but it ain't as garish as some of the shows back then were
* Hey! These episodes are 50 minutes long!! And there ain't no commercials!
* The Man hisself, Mike Connors, his voice still carrying strong despite his being 80 some'um, gives a brief audio-only intro to each and every episode
The ain't-so-cool "Special features" include...
* A brief reminiscing by Mike Connors and Joseph Campanella. This was split into two short parts to spread over two DVDs. These two 80-some'ums, 40 years later, were a little vague but their fondness for each other and the show seemed genuine. They were a little vague in the episode commentary they did, too.
* A brief appearance by Mike Connors on the Mike Douglas show way back when. This is my favorite of the special features cuz it was fun and as informative as the time allowed.
* Some CBS promos -- cheap ways to fill out a DVD -- and seldom interesting after the series has been seen
* And, with the pilot episode, the worstest commentary ever done -- by co-creator William Link -- cuz he never spoke about the episode we were watching except for about 2 minutes in all. In fact, he spent most of the time talking about another of his creations, COLUMBO, and its star, Peter Falk.
To be frank, I didn't remember the first season very well and expected these episodes -- when Mannix was stuck in a computerized detective agency -- to be boring. Couldn't have been more wrong. It was FUN thanks to the writing and, particularly, to the amiable Mike Connor screen presence. Oh... and for the very pretty young chicks -- I mean, actresses -- in miniskirts! (I feel faint.) My favorite has to be Marlyn Mason (pre-LONGSTREET) who is not only very yummy but a mean comedienne, too.