Mannix is Coming! (All things Mannix w/spoilers) (1 Viewer)

[davidHartzog]

True. Frankly, growing up,I viewed Joe Mannix and Ross MacDonald's Lew Archer as role models, and both are still with me today. I reread several Archers every year, and his sense of humanity never pales. They don't make heroes or p.I.s like they used to. Like the doll said, it's a bitter little world.

 

[jompaul17]

True. Frankly, growing up,I viewed Joe Mannix and Ross MacDonald's Lew Archer as role models, and both are still with me today. I reread several Archers every year, and his sense of humanity never pales. They don't make heroes or p.I.s like they used to. Like the doll said, it's a bitter little world.

David,

"Humanity" is an interesting word. It seemed so important to some -- not all, but some -- of the leading characters of series in the Golden Age of Television.

Why is it so utterly lacking in story today?

One thing I sometimes think is that current actors, writers and producers are more concerned with impressing their audience than with being there for their audience.

So much of the baby boomer generation thinks of themselves first, and their audience/clientele/product, second.

But that's not even a good way to live a truly happy life, let alone a self-fulfilled one!

By contrast, those involved with the Golden Age of Television tended to think more of their audience first.

I read it in the articles I researched for Mannix -- things I started to enjoy finding well before I ever thought I would write a book. And, a few things I found too late to include in the book.

For example, Mike Connors used to watch the series with friends who were not associated with the show. He wanted their honest feedback, because he realized he was not going to get it from the directors who were involved with only a few episodes a year and the people who deferred to him on set. He mentioned specific things that were changed about the character of Joe Mannix as a result of these regular viewings. And, notice how Joe Mannix does evolve, virtually every year of the series.

He cared about the value the character had to viewers!

When we discuss modern-day TV, to the extent we do that, we are virtually always talking in terms of some kind of "wow" or shock value or how overtly brilliant something or someone is.

But guess what -- that sort of stuff does not, as you put it, stay "with" you.

Nothing I have watched in the past thirty or more years, however clever and interesting at the time, has stayed with me.

It isn't just because I watched those things 'then" when I was more impressionable. Not everything I watched back then stayed with me either -- I wasn't just a sponge. But, some of it had the power to stay with me. And it is because the relationship between those behind the work and the viewer was very different.

When I view or read a story, I don't want to be impressed with how clever someone is. I want the cleverness to disappear into the value the story holds for me, over time. For those stories and characters that really matter to me, I don't want to talk about them at water coolers -- their impact on me is more personal, private, and longer-lasting.

I want help from story. I want to learn about what is important in life, to be inspired to be better when the time comes for me to be tested, and to have the courage to ask to be tested more.

I want the story and character to be so good that they stay with me -- for decades, the way Joe Mannix did.

I feel sorry for the current generation laden with the burden of story upon story filled with cleverness -- but no wisdom.

That has a lot to do with why I wrote the book. And just like the desire to want to do justice to the series, to my myth of choice that did stay with me and proved himself over a lifetime, I hope I did justice to that theme as well.

 

[davidHartzog]

Heartless C.G.I and fast editig has taken over, everything is less "real". Just compare Grand Prix with Rush, or the two Hawaii 5-0s. I don't know if shows like Mannix and another favorite, The Avengers, could even exist today.

 

[Harry-N]

Gee, can you imagine the shaky-cam techniques, pale-blue colorations, or worse, the orange-and-teal colorations, being used on MANNIX episodes? Ugh. I shudder to think of it...

Harry

 

[swan4022]

I've been watching "A Babe in the Woods" from Season 5 the last few nights. Other posters have mentioned how they fall asleep during certain episodes, and that has happened to me three times with this show! I still haven't made it to the ending.

But, the point I wanted to make here is how special Mike Connors' acting is in this episode. The girlfriend of the dead man is rather detached but you can tell that she is shaken by the news, and there are some nice moments where Joe "swallows" while he is listening to her remarks. It seems to me that we don't often see heroes do this on screen, because it might show their vulnerability or humanity. In real life, when people swallow, it indicates that they are thinking, relating to us, or reflecting on their own deep emotion that they can't express. (And, from a narrative standpoint, it was only a few episodes earlier in "A Button for General D." that Joe's new love played by Joanna Pettet was killed.) A few seconds later, he is there to catch the girl as she faints, and we see him take on a mentoring role as he invites her to be his guide to search for clues in unfamiliar territories. I think as the series went on, Mannix became increasingly sensitive to others' pain, or maybe I am just seeing it more emphatically.

I also find it admirable how skilled and natural Connors is in this episode at all the physical activities he must do--guiding a small motorboat, skeet shooting, etc. I'm jealous!

When I was a boy, I probably scoffed at the idea of watching Mannix when my parents had it on, but I've recently grown to appreciate the show and the character since sitting down to actually watch the shows. In mid-December, I weaned myself off night-time sleeping-aids, and only people on this thread would believe that I've replaced them by watching Mannix episodes almost nightly ever since as a much healthier substitute!

I came late to this thread, but I'll be digging back through it for some insights.

 

[Harry-N]

Ron, welcome to the MANNIX IS COMING! thread.

I have to say that, as one of the ones who will never have trouble sleeping as long as MANNIX is in my DVD library, that it's nice hearing of others with the same story. My MANNIX 'sleepies' go back to my teenage/early adult years. The family would watch MANNIX and I would more often than not, drift off to sleep.

In our earlier conversations on the subject here in this thread, we decided that MANNIX had some sort of comfort factor that allows us to relax. It doesn't matter that some guy is missing, or a killer is on the loose, Joe Mannix is on the case, and we KNOW it's all going to get resolved.

And Doylestown is near my old stomping grounds in southeastern PA.

Harry

 

[Mark Collins]

First Congratulations to JoAnn for the dedication and the vast amount of work she did to bring about an in depth study of Mannix in book form.

She is also correct in what she stated Harry about ABC Late night Mannix. I love what you said Ron. I just cannot agree with you and Harry though. I have never fallen asleep during a Mannix episode and never could. The show keeps me awake to the point I had to stop watching it late at night for I went from one episode to the next and was losing sleep!

The only show I fall asleep during is Dark Shadows. I do it not all the time but it is the only show I have ever done it with. So I get what you guys mean. I guess i get my comfort from Barnabas! How nuts can I be? You knew that already though Harry. I am not trying to play a joke on you guys because I really do get what you are saying.

I almost forgot the most important thing I wanted to say. My Mom had her birthday last week and she just came out with to me " remember the good old days when we sat around the TV on Saturday nights and watched Mannix" a true story.

Well Ron as Harry stated I too welcome you to the world of Joe Mannix and Peggy. I look forward to reading your posts.

 

[jompaul17]

Heartless C.G.I and fast editig has taken over, everything is less "real". Just compare Grand Prix with Rush, or the two Hawaii 5-0s. I don't know if shows like Mannix and another favorite, The Avengers, could even exist today.

David,

I agree -- certain high quality series of four and five decades ago could not be made today. Mannix is surely one of them. Honestly, it would sicken me if anyone would try to remake a series called Mannix, only to have it filled with tight jeans, stupid characterizations, and (most likely) nothing but pure action and outcomes with none of the emotional component. Here's hoping that never happens.

Having been around for awhile, I try to be careful to distinguish a love for the "good old days," which were probably never quite so good as we remember in a lot of ways, from things we've truly lost. Surely some things from those days were worse then and are better now. That list is probably pretty long, in fact. But story as told in TV characters, and I'll add movies to that as well, is clearly not among the list of things done better now.

And the older I get the more I realize so many things pale in comparison to the value of story. Our lives, when it comes right down to it, are one big story, and not much else really. We don't leave much else behind but our story, and that story boils down to the way we deal with adversity.

Life seems to contain two forms of progression. One is linear and the other is cyclical. The linear kinds of progression march forward. Examples for this kind of progression are advances in medicine and computers. But cyclical kinds of progression seem to be characterized by regression. Forward movement happens, but only after moving backward, for a time.

In my opinion, our overarching story has moved backwards these past decades. I hope it is just a temporary thing, just due to a culture that temporarily became enamored with filling time with distractions as opposed to thinking about the nature of time -- and what we do with our time.

 

[jompaul17]

Gee, can you imagine the shaky-cam techniques, pale-blue colorations, or worse, the orange-and-teal colorations, being used on MANNIX episodes? Ugh. I shudder to think of it...

Harry

Harry,

The fist I remember seeing the shaky can stuff was in Hill Street Blues. The camera started to move around the actors and you were supposed to feel like you were there, in the room with them. It felt so hip, so evolved. But, despite watching the whole thing, there is not one single episode of that series that I remember. Nothing stayed with me from that series but a sense of agitation -- be very afraid.

A few years ago, I used to work with a guy who tried to make the case that elevator design is a lot harder than you might think. His whole bag was telling people that all sorts of things can go wrong. He taught this in his classes. I remember students coming out of the lectures, saying how they learned so much about how truly complex elevator design was.

I remember thinking how different this was from the era I grew up in.

When I was young, we made going to the moon look easy -- made something very complex we never did before, and did not know how to do, look easy and do-able. Now, only a few decades later, the big thing seemed to be to make ordinary things look harder.

Story has lots of parallels to that.

Any sort of reality-based TV makes the ordinary seem difficult, almost oppressive.

In contrast, our story from decades ago seemed focused on making the extraordinary, dealing with the unknown well -- with adversity well -- seem do-able.

That's a pretty big difference. And it is part of our fabric far more than we think.

 

[jompaul17]

I've been watching "A Babe in the Woods" from Season 5 the last few nights. Other posters have mentioned how they fall asleep during certain episodes, and that has happened to me three times with this show! I still haven't made it to the ending.

But, the point I wanted to make here is how special Mike Connors' acting is in this episode. The girlfriend of the dead man is rather detached but you can tell that she is shaken by the news, and there are some nice moments where Joe "swallows" while he is listening to her remarks. It seems to me that we don't often see heroes do this on screen, because it might show their vulnerability or humanity. In real life, when people swallow, it indicates that they are thinking, relating to us, or reflecting on their own deep emotion that they can't express. (And, from a narrative standpoint, it was only a few episodes earlier in "A Button for General D." that Joe's new love played by Joanna Pettet was killed.) A few seconds later, he is there to catch the girl as she faints, and we see him take on a mentoring role as he invites her to be his guide to search for clues in unfamiliar territories. I think as the series went on, Mannix became increasingly sensitive to others' pain, or maybe I am just seeing it more emphatically.

I also find it admirable how skilled and natural Connors is in this episode at all the physical activities he must do--guiding a small motorboat, skeet shooting, etc. I'm jealous!

When I was a boy, I probably scoffed at the idea of watching Mannix when my parents had it on, but I've recently grown to appreciate the show and the character since sitting down to actually watch the shows. In mid-December, I weaned myself off night-time sleeping-aids, and only people on this thread would believe that I've replaced them by watching Mannix episodes almost nightly ever since as a much healthier substitute!

I came late to this thread, but I'll be digging back through it for some insights.

Ron,

Welcome to the thread -- and what a great post!

So, I've been really hesitant to talk about how watching Mannix has helped my sleep -- consistently and for going on three years now -- but it definitely has. I can see all sorts of detractors to the posts I make here talking about how boring Mannix must be -- but that isn't it at all! In fact, at the beginning, the opposite was true. In early 2011 I was up well into the night and seemed to need very little sleep before wanting to get up the next day and watch more of the series. But, after I became re-familiar with most of the episodes, I started to realize I got into this pattern of wanting to end my day by watching them -- and I'd nod off, only to sleep really well. And I had all sorts of trouble sleeping before.

It isn't just because Joe succeeds -- lots of characters do that. There is something comforting about certain kinds of character. And, I like to think that the desire to sleep when we see it is tantamount to wanting to process character more deeply. All sorts of things in those episodes tend to go by quickly -- even as you observe in this post. Heck, I've watched "Babe in the Woods" quite a few times now, and never noticed the swallowing you mentioned (gonna watch it soon though, just to see that!). But that is just the sort of thing that is the hallmark of Mannix that works on your subconscious -- most people miss that sort of thing when they are looking only for outcomes and not for matters of character. And yet you are right -- things just like that reveal something about quality of character.

If you watch Mannix for action and outcomes, you see one series -- and one (sadly) most people remember. If you watch it for qualities of character, you see something else entirely. But those qualities of character are simultaneously comforting -- and harder to process fully.

And that is another reason Mannix was more valued decades ago than it is today. These days, we value outcomes more than qualities of character. I only hope we come back around to thinking about who we are more -- to paying attention to things just like that swallowing -- to that great word that has only recently appeared in this thread, "humanity."

 

[jompaul17]

First Congratulations to JoAnn for the dedication and the vast amount of work she did to bring about an in depth study of Mannix in book form.

She is also correct in what she stated Harry about ABC Late night Mannix. I love what you said Ron. I just cannot agree with you and Harry though. I have never fallen asleep during a Mannix episode and never could. The show keeps me awake to the point I had to stop watching it late at night for I went from one episode to the next and was losing sleep!

The only show I fall asleep during is Dark Shadows. I do it not all the time but it is the only show I have ever done it with. So I get what you guys mean. I guess i get my comfort from Barnabas! How nuts can I be? You knew that already though Harry. I am not trying to play a joke on you guys because I really do get what you are saying.

I almost forgot the most important thing I wanted to say. My Mom had her birthday last week and she just came out with to me " remember the good old days when we sat around the TV on Saturday nights and watched Mannix" a true story.

Well Ron as Harry stated I too welcome you to the world of Joe Mannix and Peggy. I look forward to reading your posts.

Mark,

Thanks very much for the post! Writing the book was pure pleasure, believe me. I only hope it helps people to find and appreciate the series -- and all that goes with that.

 

[swan4022]

Thanks, everyone, for the warm welcomes and great discussion. I followed the thread intermittently as I began watching Season 1 about a year ago, but I skipped many entries not wanting to read spoilers. I'm glad people understood that I meant the "sleep" comment in the best possible way--and, yes, I remember seeing those comments earlier in the thread about the comfort factor. It's a good insight and I agree.

I look forward to reading JoAnn's book soon, though I will probably wait a few months until I finish the final seasons. While there's a lot I admire about Joe (and Mike Connors), I've been drawn lately to analyzing Peggy's character, particularly the episodes where she is featured prominently, such as "Between Two Worlds" and "A Choice of Evils." I teach writing at Delaware Valley College, and have been drafting an essay alongside my students about the roles of logic and emotion in "Choice." It's fascinating how Joe and Peggy alternate between using their wits and their emotions to reunite, and even the killer played by Georg Stanford Brown is imbued with a complex humanity--further proof that Mannix does not simply portray cardboard characters as it is dismissed by some for doing. And, if I keep working on the essay, I'll be sure to cite anyone here whose views inform my discussion.

 

[rwd11954]

Great to a see a new book borne from the legacy of this iconic show. Got my copy this week and look forward to reading it soon!

 

[Mark Collins]

Thanks, everyone, for the warm welcomes and great discussion. I followed the thread intermittently as I began watching Season 1 about a year ago, but I skipped many entries not wanting to read spoilers. I'm glad people understood that I meant the "sleep" comment in the best possible way--and, yes, I remember seeing those comments earlier in the thread about the comfort factor. It's a good insight and I agree.

I look forward to reading JoAnn's book soon, though I will probably wait a few months until I finish the final seasons. While there's a lot I admire about Joe (and Mike Connors), I've been drawn lately to analyzing Peggy's character, particularly the episodes where she is featured prominently, such as "Between Two Worlds" and "A Choice of Evils." I teach writing at Delaware Valley College, and have been drafting an essay alongside my students about the roles of logic and emotion in "Choice." It's fascinating how Joe and Peggy alternate between using their wits and their emotions to reunite, and even the killer played by Georg Stanford Brown is imbued with a complex humanity--further proof that Mannix does not simply portray cardboard characters as it is dismissed by some for doing. And, if I keep working on the essay, I'll be sure to cite anyone here whose views inform my discussion.

Ron how I love what you said about Peggy and Joe. I love Gail Fisher!!! The chemistry between Joe and Peggy was what I watched for in every episode. I really enjoy the episode where Joe goes to New Orleans in season 6 I believe. When he comes back there is a great scene between him in Peggy not speaking direct but talking each in a different room. The reactions are fantastic.

Well I have said this often but I should retire from the thread because I love seeing new people on it.

Wonderful is all I can say about your observations Ron. About sleeping during on episode. Perhaps I do so on DS because like JoAnn said I have seen these episodes many times where Mannix in season 7 and 8 I have not.

Good luck to you all!
Mark

 

[jompaul17]

Thanks, everyone, for the warm welcomes and great discussion. I followed the thread intermittently as I began watching Season 1 about a year ago, but I skipped many entries not wanting to read spoilers. I'm glad people understood that I meant the "sleep" comment in the best possible way--and, yes, I remember seeing those comments earlier in the thread about the comfort factor. It's a good insight and I agree.

I look forward to reading JoAnn's book soon, though I will probably wait a few months until I finish the final seasons. While there's a lot I admire about Joe (and Mike Connors), I've been drawn lately to analyzing Peggy's character, particularly the episodes where she is featured prominently, such as "Between Two Worlds" and "A Choice of Evils." I teach writing at Delaware Valley College, and have been drafting an essay alongside my students about the roles of logic and emotion in "Choice." It's fascinating how Joe and Peggy alternate between using their wits and their emotions to reunite, and even the killer played by Georg Stanford Brown is imbued with a complex humanity--further proof that Mannix does not simply portray cardboard characters as it is dismissed by some for doing. And, if I keep working on the essay, I'll be sure to cite anyone here whose views inform my discussion.

Ron,

I've been thinking more about the sleepies and perhaps have something more to add. Comfort is definitely one factor, but all sorts of things that provide comfort wear out when it comes to aiding sleep. The reason they wear out is because comfort is trumped by anxiety. If we are anxious we can actually start to associate anxiety with things that used to provide us comfort. But one thing I noticed, both way back when I first watched the series as a kid and then again when I reunited with it in 2011, was that watching the series decreased my anxiety level. And, of course, the less anxious we are, the easier -- and better -- we sleep -- which in turn helps decrease our anxiety level all the more!

So, one thing very distinctive about Mannix is that its hero seems to suffer zero anxiety. He is concerned, engaged, involved, hurt, and even scared -- but virtually never anxious. And, he seems to achieve that in no small part because he simply stays involved in life and -- this is key -- is comfortable with whatever consequences occur to him in the process of staying involved, and being true to himself. He is engaged without being overly self-protective. He is at the service of others, but very much his own person. This seems to be a pretty good recipe for not being anxious.

And, I don't know about others, but of all of the negative emotions out there, I pretty much despite anxiety. It's blind, helpless, pervasive, senseless and pretty much completely of our own doing. I've certainly experienced my share of it over the years.

But -- notice how so many "heroes" exhibit anxiety almost as a means of getting people to watch. They substitute anxiety for real heroism in order to get people to pay attention to their plight. And guess what? When that happens the power of story backfires. We wind up more anxious instead of less.

So, that's one reason my love of this character has been so over the top. When I am in concert with him -- admittedly, not all of the time because the character is rich enough that it is something that must be paid attention to and worked on -- I am less anxious. And that opens up so, SO much of life.

It also helps sleep, even just to see all of that functioning, engagement, emotion, acceptance and involvement -- without anxiety.

As a case in point, you mentioned "A Choice of Evils." So, there's Joe really on the spot. Peggy is in danger and it's all up to him. But, is he anxious? No, you wouldn't really call it that. As you said, the story moves between logic and emotion -- but those are both responses, not states of being. They are not blind helplessness or a constant level of agitation. There was no "woe is me" in there, or lack of acceptance of the situation. Joe looks uncomfortable, a little scared, a little mad, confused about what to do, and slugs his great buddy in order to keep moving. He does not lack emotion, reason or action. But he never really looks anxious -- despite the extremity of the situation.

That kind of response really affected me as a kid. And it hit me in the face when I really saw what was in the series again, all those years later.

And, when you GET this, it helps.

How many heroes can you say that about -- that they stay involved without being anxious? And how important is that characteristic to getting through life well, to doing more and being comfortable as an individual, come what may.

Now, I could go into a series of other things that I believe go with that kind of response, how they pertain to the heroic myth, and how we are so much less when we do not have such storied characters, but that would make a much longer post. Suffice to say, if, for example, Mannix helps decrease anxiety, then all that says it that some kinds of story decrease anxiety -- can be more powerful than drugs. But why should that be surprising? How much of a failure is story if it does not do that for us?

As for Peggy, she is one under-rated character, and Gail Fisher is one under-rated actress. Aside from the clear chemistry between those two, Peggy made Joe a bigger hero. You saw his value as a human being in her eyes -- his value to her was for more than just her sake, but for what he did, heroically, in a much larger context. This was achieved in no small part because their relationship was platonic. She admired who he was with less personal self-interest than your typical witness, buddy or foil -- she saw him on a larger plane, and yet she still saw him as a real human being.

That is such a sweet spot to hit.

And it was not lost on the kid that Joe seemed to value Peggy fully as another human being as well -- despite both her race and gender. No big deal was made of this, Mannix just did it. You got the sense, watching this as a kid, that life had some hopefulness that you would be accepted on your merits as well. For my money, the fact that life didn't always turn out that way parallels the fact that Mannix is not currently run on TV these days, but significantly lesser role models are -- ones that confirm people being less -- to include ones that (sadly) confirm or even prey on anxiety.

I also think Mike Connors and Gail Fisher genuinely liked and respected each other -- that word, "chemistry" comes across. And it came across in an utterly adult way. Real adults mix logic and emotion -- great characters teach us how to do just that. The whole series was just adult in that way. It did not prey on simple-mindedness -- which is so often manifest as well as confirmed in one-dimensional characters.

So, I do want to say that a few things mentioned in this post are discussed in the book -- not as a plug for the book, but only to say that the book runs deep. I would never have written a book on Mannix, or much of anything else, unless it had substance to it. I can't seem to do filler or routine. I have often paid the price for that, professionally, and it will probably happen again.

As for your teaching Mannix in your English classes, that is just incredible! I am jealous, believe me!

Having said that, now I am utterly self-conscious about my grammar, and possibly even my spelling, both of which are probably atrocious (if that is, indeed how you spell that word), especially in early posts. Let's just say that, despite my wishes to the contrary, the writing of the English language can almost be viewed as a liability in my discipline. My appreciation for expression in the English language has grown by leaps and bounds for pure desire to express myself on this topic, in this thread. Life can be strange, at times.

I'm looking forward to your continued observations!

 

[jompaul17]

Great to a see a new book borne from the legacy of this iconic show. Got my copy this week and look forward to reading it soon!

Russ,

So far as I know, it is the only book ever written on Mannix. And, I do hope you (and others) like it -- but, again, it is not your typical book.

I said on this thread, many times, that I didn't think any book I would write would be accepted. We'll see. I do know that people do not like to be challenged, by and large, especially about things that they consider to be in the popular culture, and therefore lesser (however misguided that assumption is, in this case).

But, I ultimately decided that the series deserved a book, and it didn't seem as if anyone else was writing one.

And, I wanted Mike Connors to feel some love for the character, which has been almost mysteriously undervalued and overlooked.

Actually, the reason why the character has been undervalued and overlooked is a part of the "thesis" of the book. It turned out to be an interesting intellectual enterprise to put that together (and again, some of the foundation for that is in prior posts on this thread).

 

[jompaul17]

Ron how I love what you said about Peggy and Joe. I love Gail Fisher!!! The chemistry between Joe and Peggy was what I watched for in every episode. I really enjoy the episode where Joe goes to New Orleans in season 6 I believe. When he comes back there is a great scene between him in Peggy not speaking direct but talking each in a different room. The reactions are fantastic.

Well I have said this often but I should retire from the thread because I love seeing new people on it.

Wonderful is all I can say about your observations Ron. About sleeping during on episode. Perhaps I do so on DS because like JoAnn said I have seen these episodes many times where Mannix in season 7 and 8 I have not.

Good luck to you all!
Mark

Mark,

It's also interesting that, while the chemistry is so great, the series never drowns in it -- it never becomes Remmington Steele or Moonlighting. Peggy re-enforces the heroic motif beautifully, but their relationship does not dominate the series. It hits just about a perfect sweet spot.

Hey, you've said you were going to retire from this thread before. Fair warning -- if you do this time, we are all going to picture you sleeping through Dark Shadows!

 

[jompaul17]

Has everyone fallen asleep in front of Mannix?

 

[davidHartzog]

No,never.

 

[Harry-N]

I finished up my first run through the series about a week ago and haven't had the time to post about it. The last episode, "Hardball", as discussed prior, doesn't play at all like an end-of-series episode, just another in the daily exploits of Joe Mannix. Peggy is nowhere to be found, but Art Malcolm is injured and his friendship is what drives Joe to do what he needed to do to save his friend.

John Ritter got an excellent role as a baddie for a change, something he was probably proud of on his resumé. And William Windom does his usual fine turn here as well. Vincent Beck ("Frank Sartino") got his third turn on MANNIX in a good and powerful role (his turns on THE TIME TUNNEL had him playing a Viking and an alien leader!).

For now, I'll be giving the series a bit of a rest, but I'm sure it won't be for long. As I read through JoAnn's wonderful book, there are bound to be references that will make me want to pull out an episode or two, plus I still have some episodes on which I didn't make it all the way through.

And this thread will always have people showing up to discuss an episode, which will also have me delving back into the DVDs. So no, not sleeping, just resting...

Harry