Mannix: Fourth Season

As it entered the middle of its eight season run, CBS’ Mannix continued to provide a well above average crime drama that was a great favorite with audiences. It ranked as the seventeenth most popular show on television during its fourth season, up from thirtieth the season before (its fifth season would be its highest rated) and continuing its concentration on a varied series of cases for L.A. detective Joe Mannix (Mike Connors) and his Girl Friday Peggy Fair (Gail Fisher). In fact, both Connors and Fisher earned Emmy nominations for their work during the fourth season. (Gail Fisher had won the Emmy the previous season for her work on the show.)

The most striking aspect of Mannix lies in its original plotting. The writers mix up the standard murder cases with hostage taking, blackmail, undercover work, smuggling, even a love story for Peggy as she falls for the president of an emerging African nation. It’s quite impressive that sometimes the writers manage to lead the viewer down one well-trod path only to turn the tables mid-episode with a surprise twist. One such instance finds Joe seemingly being framed for a murder only to switch it up and turn the frame into an undercover operation so Joe could get in with an Italian mob boss. While it’s true that the often original scenarios resolve themselves too frequently in very stereotypical TV-detective fashion (sloppy shooting from the bad guys, dead-eye shooting from our hero; fist fights and car chases; last minute saves via changes of heart or a lucky break as in the episode inspired by the movie D.O.A.), these clichés don’t negate the very real creativity that has gone into the episodes’ premises. If the show has any glaring weakness, it’s that it relies too often on the trite set-ups of the day that one could find in all of the action series of the period: cars attempting to run down people and screeching away with the driver unseen, a person faking death only to turn up later as alive (and usually evil), a fist fight in every episode. A steady diet of these takes away some of the fun of the show though, of course, people watched these episodes over many months rather than over the course of a few successive days which emphasizes the show’s formulaic aspects.

As one of the most popular shows on the CBS roster, the program opened its doors to a wide variety of guest stars of the day. Among some of the personalities who graced this season of the show (which includes a suprising number of Oscar and Emmy winners) are Darren McGavin, Dane Clark (two appearances), Jo Van Fleet, Jack Carter, James Sikking, Brock Peters, Juanita Moore, George Tobias, Kim Hamilton, A. Martinez, Loretta Swit, Hugh Beaumont, Alex Dreier, Rich Little, Leslie Parrish, Hari Rhodes, Virginia Capers, Lillian Randolph, Maidie Norman, Kenneth Tobey, Norman Alden, Ben Cooper, Larry Linville, Kim Hunter, Paul Stewart, John Considine, Gloria Grahame, Robert Colbert, Tim O’Connor, Larry Pennell, Kevin Hagen, J. Pat O’Malley, Robert Lansing, Ruth Roman, Joan Hotchkis, Robert Hogan, Jacquline Susann, Rosemary DeCamp, Dewey Martin, Robert Webber, Diana Muldaur, Alan Oppenheimer, (then known as) Lew Alcindor, Carol Lynley, Diane Keaton, John Lupton, Virginia Gregg, John Vernon, Jan Murray, Jay Robinson, and Jeff Corey. As in previous seasons, Robert Reed and Ward Wood make frequent appearances as police lieutenants Joe can turn to for help or advice.

Here is the list of twenty-four season four episodes contained on the six discs in this set:

1 – A Ticket to the Eclipse

2 – One for the Lady

3 – Time out of Mind

4 – Figures in a Landscape

5 – The Mouse That Died

6 – The Lost Art of Dying

7 – The Other Game in Town

8 – The World Between

9 – Sunburst

10 – To Cage a Seagull

11 – Bang, Bang, You’re Dead

12 – Déjà vu

13 – Duet for Three

14 – Round Trip to Nowhere

15 – What Happened to Sunday

16 – The Judas Touch

17 – With Intent to Kill

18 – The Crime That Wasn’t

19 – A Gathering of Ghosts

20 – A Day Filled with Shadows

21 – Voice in the Dark

22 – The Color of Murder

23 – Shadow Play

24 - Overkill

 Video Quality

The transfers have faithfully adhered to the original 1.33:1 television aspect ratio. Image quality, however, is a mixed bag with this release. On the one hand, it’s mostly very sharp and detailed, and color saturation is rich making these shows appear vibrant and addictively watchable. However, the transfers oversaturate reds to such a degree that interlaced artifacts rear their ugly heads constantly when something which is colored richly red starts moving (jackets, cars, drapes blowing in the wind). There is intermittent dust and debris and an occasional scratch. As impressive as the transfers handle all the check, plaid, and herringbone sports coats without a glitch, there are still occasional glimpses of moiré and some light edge enhancement, too. Blacks, on the other hand, are inky and impressive. Each episode has been divided into 7 chapters.

Audio Quality

The Dolby Digital 2.0 mono sound mix is decoded by Dolby Prologic properly into the center channel. Dialogue is well recorded and resides comfortably with the music and sound effects which occupy the same track. There is some occasional light hiss to be heard in select episodes, and the use of ADR on certain location-shot scenes is very noticeable.

Special Features

0/5

There are no bonus features in this set.

There are promotional trailers for Barnaby Jones, Hawaii Five-O, and Matt Houston.

In Conclusion

The fourth season of Mannix delivers an interesting assortment of cases for the two-fisted crime fighter. The transfers while not without problems still feature good video detail and audio faithful to the period of the show’s production. Fans should be pleased to add another set to their collections.

Matt Hough

Charlotte, NC