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Mannix is Coming! (All things Mannix w/spoilers) (3 Viewers)

Harry-N

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Meanwhile, I need to get back to MANNIX. It's been awhile since I've been able to find time to continue MANNIX-watching. As I recall, I'm a few discs into Season 6. The great thing about having them on DVD is I know that they'll be there whenever I'm ready.

It's a busy time down here in Florida, with lots of little things going on, not to mention visitors, spring-breakers, and the generally mild weather inviting us out of doors.

Harry
 

jompaul17

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Harry-N said:
Meanwhile, I need to get back to MANNIX. It's been awhile since I've been able to find time to continue MANNIX-watching. As I recall, I'm a few discs into Season 6. The great thing about having them on DVD is I know that they'll be there whenever I'm ready.

It's a busy time down here in Florida, with lots of little things going on, not to mention visitors, spring-breakers, and the generally mild weather inviting us out of doors.

Harry
Harry,
Well, I, for one, am looking forward to your continued observations on the series. And, I hope more people manage to find their way back to this thread after the re-platforming. The search engine link to it now seems fixed, which is nice.
In many ways, it's better to watch slowly anyway. Some series were not meant to be watched one episode after another. They were not designed that way, and so much of the richness can be lost when they are viewed that way.
We have a tendency these days to want to get to the "bottom line" of so much, including story. I remember an early Dick Van Dyke episode, where Laura opens Rob's mail, and he says that her summarizing his letters is like someone describing Romeo and Juliet as something like "two young kids run away from home and wind up dead."
In a similar vein, watching Mannix for the bottom line can make the show and character seem like so much less. This is one reason (but not the only one), in my opinion, that series like 24 and The Fugitive are so successful on DVD. You relate to the character immediately because of the ongoing and immediate predicament.
But, Mannix does not have that. Instead, you have this lead character that seems to be "asking for it" all of the time -- and this can appear different when viewed one episode after another.
But, viewed on a weekly basis, you got this sense of this guy out there who made these choices to be a kind of a knight, ready to help people, or expose the truth.
The significance of that choice can be obscured when viewing the episodes for the bottom line.
But, what an incredibly rich choice to make.
Would that there were more people like that -- would that I was more like that.
We are currently having the opposite weather situation -- snow on March 25 ! Probably why my reply got so long... Geez, even when I was in Sunny Florida a couple of weeks back, it wasn't so warm. Enjoy.
 

Harry-N

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jompaul17 said:
We are currently having the opposite weather situation -- snow on March 25 ! Probably why my reply got so long... Geez, even when I was in Sunny Florida a couple of weeks back, it wasn't so warm. Enjoy.
I've heard that winter is hanging on and that a certain groundhog is in protective custody!

Yes our weather has had its ups and downs too, after a mild January and February, March has been more of a roller-coaster ride. We're heading into a cold period this week, but it's taking its time getting here.

We had a round of storms yesterday that supposedly ushered in the cold front, but the temps overnight only went down into the 60s. It was windy all day here, keeping the temperatures around 70 most of the day. They're supposed to fall off after sunset and get cold, and we'll struggle to reach 70 again all week, the final week of Spring Training Baseball.

Harry
 

Harry-N

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I managed to squeeze in a MANNIX viewing today. I wasn't quite sure where it was I left off, but I knew it was somewhere in the middle of Season 6. Spotting a Sutton Roley episode in that realm, I watched "The Man Who Wasn't There", 6.16 in the shorthand we'd established awhile ago.

We'd discussed that MANNIX, like all series of the day, did boxing stories every now and again, and of course, being a private investigator-themed series, there were episodes involving the mob. Then there were the Peggy-friend episodes, the Korean war buddy episodes, the Adam Tobias episodes, and the Mannix in peril episodes. Well this one had it all!

The prior episode on the disc is called "The Game Of Shadows" which could have been an effective title for this episode, as Sutton Roley had a shadow-fest going on in the lighting and camera setups. Shadows and silhouettes were everywhere.

My only disappointment was that from the very first phone call to Joe Mannix, I recognized the killer's voice as that of
actor Clu Gulager, whose voice and speaking style is very distinctive.

That's been a hazard all along with MANNIX as many of the actors are familiar to me from the many other shows they did in the '60s and '70s, so when they tried to disguise someone by just letting us hear the voice, I often can recognize who it is playing the role.

All in all another sterling effort for MANNIX.

Harry
 

jompaul17

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Harry-N said:
I've heard that winter is hanging on and that a certain groundhog is in protective custody!

Yes our weather has had its ups and downs too, after a mild January and February, March has been more of a roller-coaster ride. We're heading into a cold period this week, but it's taking its time getting here.

We had a round of storms yesterday that supposedly ushered in the cold front, but the temps overnight only went down into the 60s. It was windy all day here, keeping the temperatures around 70 most of the day. They're supposed to fall off after sunset and get cold, and we'll struggle to reach 70 again all week, the final week of Spring Training Baseball.

Harry
Harry,
I heard a news story yesterday that someone, I think in Ohio, filed a lawsuit against the groundhog. I guess being housebound gives a person nothing better to do? Or maybe they don't mind frivolous lawsuits in Ohio.
 

jompaul17

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Harry-N said:
I managed to squeeze in a MANNIX viewing today. I wasn't quite sure where it was I left off, but I knew it was somewhere in the middle of Season 6. Spotting a Sutton Roley episode in that realm, I watched "The Man Who Wasn't There", 6.16 in the shorthand we'd established awhile ago.

We'd discussed that MANNIX, like all series of the day, did boxing stories every now and again, and of course, being a private investigator-themed series, there were episodes involving the mob. Then there were the Peggy-friend episodes, the Korean war buddy episodes, the Adam Tobias episodes, and the Mannix in peril episodes. Well this one had it all!

The prior episode on the disc is called "The Game Of Shadows" which could have been an effective title for this episode, as Sutton Roley had a shadow-fest going on in the lighting and camera setups. Shadows and silhouettes were everywhere.

My only disappointment was that from the very first phone call to Joe Mannix, I recognized the killer's voice as that of
actor Clu Gulager, whose voice and speaking style is very distinctive.

That's been a hazard all along with MANNIX as many of the actors are familiar to me from the many other shows they did in the '60s and '70s, so when they tried to disguise someone by just letting us hear the voice, I often can recognize who it is playing the role.

All in all another sterling effort for MANNIX.

Harry
Harry,

I had never thought about it before, but you are right -- "The Man Who Wasn't There" had it all!

In addition, it had one other thing that's been mentioned before on in this thread -- night shooting. Specifically, some scenes were shot in the Paseo at night, and not just set-up scenes, but scenes with Mike Connors.

This episode ran as the first new episode after the Holiday break which, curiously, Mannix didn't really have in season 6 -- the previous episode ran on December 24 -- a rarity for a first-run episode to run on such a date. And, if memory serves, this episode represented a new timeslot, and even the first appearance of "Midnight" the cat. If memory serves, that "Mystery Double Feature" began with this episode in season 6. Thus, this represents the first episode with the shortened Mannix opening, a pain that exists to this day! I also think that shortened opening existed throughout season 7, meaning that the full opening of the first part of season 6 is what you see for all of seasons 6 and 7 on the DVDs -- they really had nothing else for season 7. Notice how seasons 6 and 7 are the only two seasons of Mannix that represent no change in the opening (the gold letters appeared for season 4). But that's due to the incredibly bad luck black cat. The full opening came back for season 8 -- and they updated it some as well.

And, here's one other oddity of this episode. Joe backs his 'cuda into the car port. Now, when I watched this awhile back, I noticed that he rarely does this. His car is almost always parked pulled into the carport, so that he has to back it out. At the time, I remembered thinking that the car winds up facing front in the car port only in episodes directed by Sutton Roley. The other(s) escape me at the moment -- but it will be a fun thing to look for.

In this case the backing in of the car was important to set up a later scene -- one that was used in the "next on Mannix" promos. That scene was one of many that made you wonder how the heck Joe could have gotten out of such a thing unscratched.

It makes you wonder how Joe made the decision to pull in or back in.
 

Harry-N

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I managed to find a spare hour to devote to a MANNIX yesterday afternoon which turned out to be 6.17 "A Matter Of Principal". This one uses the device of "two prim and proper old ladies" and featured Elsa Lanchester and Ruth McDevitt. It was fun watching Mannix deal with these two, and the end was a hoot.

Harry
 

jompaul17

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Harry-N said:
I managed to find a spare hour to devote to a MANNIX yesterday afternoon which turned out to be 6.17 "A Matter Of Principal". This one uses the device of "two prim and proper old ladies" and featured Elsa Lanchester and Ruth McDevitt. It was fun watching Mannix deal with these two, and the end was a hoot.

Harry
Harry,

"A Matter of Principle" is the single most comedic episode of Mannix, in my opinion.

A lot of episodes are in the running for the second-most comedic episode, such as "All Around the Money Tree" from season 2, which would seem to have been based upon It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World -- sort of. Then there is s4's "The Color of Murder" (the Dianne Keaton episode). Season 8 has several episodes with humor brilliantly interlaced. But, virtually all of "A Matter of Principle" is humorous, including the scene where the crooks are caught.

Now, this humor thing is sort of curious. Because Mannix is an unusual combination of film noir and James Bond. Both of those have some humor, with Bond tending to have more, at times, depending upon who played Bond -- and how much they wanted to make their character seem "bigger" by poking fun at their situation. But, the emphasis is not on the humor.

Nor was emphasis on humor in Mannix. And yet, it is there, in virtually all of the seasons, more or less in the background, and so much the richer because of that. It did not reach the kind of self-parody that Rockford and Magnum did, nor did it rely upon the central figure being a kind of caricature, like Kojak. The humor seemed to be there just because Connors had it, and so he brought it to the role.

He was good at it! Humor is always better in context, when it appears in proportion to drama and the overall seriousness of life. When it becomes the central focus, such as in pure comedy, it gives someone a good laugh, but then life always comes back to hit you in the face when the laugh is over.

But, humor interlaced in drama seems to stay with you, helping you in the form of an attitude that helps to keep you engaged with the tough stuff -- but just separate enough to make all of the serious stuff out there that much more tolerable.

I never understood, years ago, how much of that kind of humor was in Mannix, or how much that attitude can help. But, it does.

And, that is just the kind of thing you have to pick up from story -- from myth -- no one can teach it to you.

Some of those scenes in Joe's office are just great. And, in true Mannix fashion, they treat the viewer as an adult -- one who also has prior knowledge of the characters. The humor in that episode is so much sweeter because you see those two old ladies through Joe's eyes, and, since you know Joe, you know he is not making fun of them so much as he is trying to figure them out -- and to help them. That makes the situation that much funnier.

Then, later, when Peggy starts to make fun of the old ladies, Joe defends them. They never turn the two of them into a laughingstock.

Mannix was -- and is -- just so adult.

Sweet.
 

jompaul17

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I'm not sure how many people know this, probably not many since I didn't know it until a couple of years ago.

But, The Ten Commandments was on ABC recently. I used to watch that movie every year -- and for decades. Now I record it and watch it later, in spurts.

Considering how I watched that over so many years, imagine my surprise when I discovered that Mike Connors is in that movie.

He plays the sheep herder that tries to take the water from the well that women are protecting. So, Charlton Heston (Moses) comes in and fights him off, hitting him over the head in the process!

I can't tell you how many times I watched that scene and did not know it was him. For one thing, he is billed as "Touch Connors" -- which is what he went by early in his career. For another he has a beard.

It's actually pretty fun to see him rub the back of his head after being hit on it, just like Joe Mannix did... how many times?
 

jompaul17

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Harry-N said:
I'll be sure to look for that the next time we watch THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. Of all things - he gets hit in the head?

Harry
Harry,

Actually, I don't think he does exactly get hit on the head. But, when he is on the ground, falling down after having been hit by Moses, he starts to rub the back of his head -- just like Joe Mannix would!

It's almost like he knew what was coming.
 

jompaul17

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Harry,

Turns out, I still had Commandments on my DVR. Moses his him in the back, using his staff.

This seems quite similar to the many times Joe gets hit in the "head" and goes down, but the DVDs reveal that the blow was not remotely close to the head. Then, MC gets up rubbing the back of his head.

This is pretty funny -- in Epic proportions.

By the way, Commandments was filmed quite a bit, if not exclusively, on the Paramount lot. To this day (or at least as recently as October of 2011), there is still a parking lot there which can be filled up with water like a giant swimming pool. Behind it is a giant "blue screen." I'm guessing that in those days they may have projected onto that screen, and acted in front of it, unlike these days where the scenery is added to blue and green screens later, by CGI.

I was told that the scene where Moses parts the Red Sea was done in that "parking lot" and in front of that screen. That whole area was right behind the "Ghost Town" used in Mannix many times -- and that was only torn town in April of 2011. It is now (sadly) another parking lot.

The Paseo was torn down in the 1980's, but it was right in front of the Ghost Town (which was used for the town in Bonanza). In fact, the "Aluminum wall" behind the Paseo had the Ghost Town right behind it.
 

Harry-N

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Ok, before anyone posts one of those "This Thread Needs Pictures" smileys, here are some screenshots from "Touch" Connors getting conked by Moses in THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, from my 1999 DVD:

Mike Connors, on the right, laughing:
MikeConnorsTenCommandments1.jpg


Mike Connors getting conked by Moses' staff:
MikeConnorsTenCommandments2.jpg


Mike Connors, in a typical Mannix pose, massaging the back of his neck:
MikeConnorsTenCommandments3.jpg


Harry
 

Wiseguy

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I recently watched season four's "Round Trip to Nowhere." I occasionally notice a goof here or a discrepancy there in a TV episode but this episode seemed to be full of them. Don't know if these have been mentioned before but all I could find was a reference to the lamp on Joe's desk so I'll start there.

[*]Joe knocks the glass lamp onto the floor at night to kill the light and breaks but the following day the lamp is back on the desk, unbroken. (If Joe bought two for the price of one, it wasn't mentioned.)
[*]The address of George and Amanda Hewitt is given as 14705 View Lane on the police personal effects label but when Mannix enters the house the number 2400 is visible on the front.
[*]The notation on George Hewitt's personal effects label reads "date of arrest" but this was a death by car crash, there was no arrest.
[*]The date of Amanda and George's wedding was mentioned as April 7 and were married for less than a month at the time of the fatal accident; the date on George's personal effects label at the police station was October 20, 1970; the date on the note left for Albert Tucker supposedly from George on the day of the accident indicated July 20, 1970. [Even if this were a phony note, the date, which Mannix sees, should have been real.]
[*]The date of the Monarch Air Freight plane crash was given as March 1968; the cargo list/shipping manifest has a date of July 12.
[/list]
 

jompaul17

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Wiseguy said:
I recently watched season four's "Round Trip to Nowhere." I occasionally notice a goof here or a discrepancy there in a TV episode but this episode seemed to be full of them. Don't know if these have been mentioned before but all I could find was a reference to the lamp on Joe's desk so I'll start there.

[*]Joe knocks the glass lamp onto the floor at night to kill the light and breaks but the following day the lamp is back on the desk, unbroken. (If Joe bought two for the price of one, it wasn't mentioned.)
[*]

[*]The address of George and Amanda Hewitt is given as 14705 View Lane on the police personal effects label but when Mannix enters the house the number 2400 is visible on the front.
[*]

[*]The notation on George Hewitt's personal effects label reads "date of arrest" but this was a death by car crash, there was no arrest.
[*]

[*]The date of Amanda and George's wedding was mentioned as April 7 and were married for less than a month at the time of the fatal accident; the date on George's personal effects label at the police station was October 20, 1970; the date on the note left for Albert Tucker supposedly from George on the day of the accident indicated July 20, 1970. [Even if this were a phony note, the date, which Mannix sees, should have been real.]
[*]

[*]The date of the Monarch Air Freight plane crash was given as March 1968; the cargo list/shipping manifest has a date of July 12.
[*]
[/list]
Erich.

(I had to look your name up from a previous post -- we don't seem to have real names back yet...).

I'm not sure why, but Mannix does not seem to be the least bit careful with dates. You figure that some of this was just a matter of where they focused their energy in putting out a weekly series. Back when these episodes were aired no one -- and I really mean no one -- expected people would ever be watching these episodes on DVDs were they would stop and freeze the frame or go back and check date against date. For this, two things had to come together (1) technology that no one imagined and (2) that people would still care about TV series forty years after their aired.

That said, it's incredible that the acting is good enough in these episodes so that looks on faces support this DVD level of scrutiny.

But, with respect to these dates, one episode where it is pretty bad is season 7's "The Girl in the Polka Dot Dress." The whole point of that episode was about a guy who could see the future, to the point that a newspaper with a date is held up near the beginning of the episode since dates matter for that sort of thing. It's real easy to see the date, even on old broadcast TV. Then, later in the same episode, Peggy gives Joe a date over the phone that contradicts that newspaper date -- and by only a couple of days.

Other issues with dates include a mismatch with the time of year and the date when the episode ran. This is true for season 3's "Only One Death to a Customer" to the point that I used to think it was somehow filmed a long while back and held for later airing -- something that, according to the production sequence, turned out not to be the case.

They just didn't seem to think people would pay attention to details!

With respect to the address, that seems defensible. I would hope that they would verbalize fake addresses, since that is where viewers pick up on the street name. My guess is those fake addresses were in the scripts, and when they decided to go shoot at some real location, they didn't always bother to coordinate the real addresses. On the other hand, sometimes they did -- as in season 6's "One Step to Midnight" where the street address is right on the mailbox and matches the one Peggy told Joe.

Now, of all of these, the lamp thing is still what gets to me the most!

The reason is because the show was so great symbolically. I will happily -- happily -- forgive all sorts of details when the symbolism is done well and kept consistent. And that lamp on Joe's desk was symbolic of his style. It was just always there -- except, as Harry so astutely pointed out, in the brief scene in "The Sound of Darkness" that takes place in Joe's office where they seemed to take it off Joe's desk in order to get everyone in the same shot.

But, it's one thing to have the lamp go missing -- and another to replace it with the wrong kind of lamp! Heck, that dumb lamp they have in "Round Trip to Nowhere" looks like a bedroom lamp, and is not the least bit distinctive! They seemed to want to include it so that they could light the office a certain way -- and then, of course, destroy the lamp, as you pointed out. But, then another one magically comes -- as you pointed out!

That episode had the wrong tone, at least for me. It just didn't feel like the other episodes, especially in season 4. It had a kind of coldness to it. The producers must have thought so as well. Notice how its production number is 77 -- a full 11 AHEAD of the previous episodes that aired and one of the earlier episodes filmed in s4. Given that its original airdate was January 2, 1971, which was a Saturday night right after a major holiday, I'm guessing they put out what they considered to be a weaker episode that they otherwise held in the can for awhile.

This is fun discussion -- thanks for the post!
 

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Harry-N said:
Ok, before anyone posts one of those "This Thread Needs Pictures" smileys, here are some screenshots from "Touch" Connors getting conked by Moses in THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, from my 1999 DVD:

Mike Connors, on the right, laughing:
attachicon.gif
MikeConnorsTenCommandments1.jpg

Mike Connors getting conked by Moses' staff:
attachicon.gif
MikeConnorsTenCommandments2.jpg

Mike Connors, in a typical Mannix pose, massaging the back of his neck:
attachicon.gif
MikeConnorsTenCommandments3.jpg

Harry
Harry,

Oh my!!!

I almost missed this because your post didn't show up as a message in email, for some reason.

These are great!!!

I may lose 2-3 pounds just from laughing at these pictures...
 

Harry-N

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Today I screened 6.18, "Out Of The Night", a Peggy-emphasis episode. There aren't too many episodes of MANNIX that don't feature Joe in just about every scene, but this is one. Typically when a star is de-emphasized for an episode, it's either because they directed the episode, or they were off filming another project. Mike Connors IMDb lists a BEG, BORROW, OR STEAL Telemovie in the same year as this episode aired (1973), so it's possible this episode was constructed to give him more time off.

Guest stars Leonard Stone, Paul Carr, and Oscar Beregi are all well represented in the Irwin Allen shows. Stanley Adams was famous for his turn as Cyrano Jones in STAR TREK's "The Trouble With Tribbles"; and both Beregi and Joyce Van Patten did memorable turns on THE TWILIGHT ZONE.

Gail Fisher handles herself well as basically the lead in the episode. Through the device of bugging apparatus, we know that Joe is always close by, but we don't have to view him every minute.

As a record collector, I was fascinated to get a detailed look at the record store wall behind the clerk. It features a number of familiar looking 45s:

MusicStore45s.jpg

(Click picture to see larger version)

Harry
 

jompaul17

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Harry-N said:
Today I screened 6.18, "Out Of The Night", a Peggy-emphasis episode. There aren't too many episodes of MANNIX that don't feature Joe in just about every scene, but this is one. Typically when a star is de-emphasized for an episode, it's either because they directed the episode, or they were off filming another project. Mike Connors IMDb lists a BEG, BORROW, OR STEAL Telemovie in the same year as this episode aired (1973), so it's possible this episode was constructed to give him more time off.

Guest stars Leonard Stone, Paul Carr, and Oscar Beregi are all well represented in the Irwin Allen shows. Stanley Adams was famous for his turn as Cyrano Jones in STAR TREK's "The Trouble With Tribbles"; and both Beregi and Joyce Van Patten did memorable turns on THE TWILIGHT ZONE.

Gail Fisher handles herself well as basically the lead in the episode. Through the device of bugging apparatus, we know that Joe is always close by, but we don't have to view him every minute.

As a record collector, I was fascinated to get a detailed look at the record store wall behind the clerk. It features a number of familiar looking 45s:

attachicon.gif
MusicStore45s.jpg
(Click picture to see larger version)

Harry
Harry,

I blew it up -- and got "Popcorn" and "Don't ever be lonely." For some reason I think the cover on the RCA one might be familiar, but I can't quite read the title.

Oh, 45's. Stack up about ten or so and let that needle scratch that sound right into your ears! I wonder what happened to my collection...

That "Beg, Borrow or Steal" observation is interesting! I hadn't thought of that. I watched that movie of the week when it first aired -- my memory is that it had MC in a wheelchair, since everyone on the team of robbers was handicapped in some way. I just always had a hard time seeing MC as anything but Joe Mannix -- sheep herder, excepted, of course. In retrospect, I think his career was hurt because he tried to act in a wide variety of roles. For example, I've seen James Garner in a bunch of TV series and movies, and he always played the same character. The same is true of all sorts of "names" -- they just play the same guy, over and over, in different circumstances. But, MC tried to play bad guys, and different kinds of good guys. He fit Joe Mannix so well though -- it was tough to see him doing anything else.

I used to just think that they just tried to give Gail Fisher some more to work with on occasion, sort of as a reward for doing such a good job in otherwise limited airtime. For one thing, in an episode that really isn't dominated by MC, he is still in quite a few scenes. It isn't like he is just there in the set-up, and then the show is given over to GF.

But, you are absolutely right about that bug and the way they set up Joe as being there for her. I think that is brilliant, and just love it.

When I was a kid, I didn't really like that episode -- I wanted to see Joe, and felt cheated when I got too much Peggy, even though I love the two of them together. But, as an adult I can see how they set up scenes in this episode, and the other one GF was in quite a bit, s4's "The World Between" just brilliantly.

"Out of the Night" has three such scenes.

First, there is the scene where they have Joe standing by that record shop, and Peggy has to walk past him undercover, so that she does not acknowledge him. She does so in that great way they both inhabited those characters, with just enough recognition that you can still see Peggy in there recognizing Joe, but oh so subtly. That's one of those "moments" that gets to you when you love those characters. I know of no series where two such characters were able to pull off such consistency when they were pushed to extremes, and even when they were supposed to be playing someone else.

Second, there is the scene where Peggy goes to the cemetery to see flowers that she knows in an instant must have been put there by Joe. And, in that instant of recognition on her face, which moves quickly to the drama of the situation Peggy is in, you get to picture Joe finding out those flowers were needed, and hustling to go get the exact kind Peggy said were there. That scene was set up brilliantly by the two of them meeting in that same spot just a couple of scenes prior, or it would not have had such effect. That's one of those scenes where you see the closeness between these two the most when they are not together -- and, again, I know of few shows that could pull that off so well.

Third, there is the scene where Joe is caught, and held by the two thugs just inside the doorway. Peggy comes to see they have Joe. Notice the look on MC's eyes when he notices Peggy. He looks at her, then quickly looks down, looks away. He acknowledges her in that instant, and then conveys -- using only his eyes, nothing else -- that he recognizes the situation and he needs to make like he did not notice her. He has to pull off both -- with only his eyes -- conveying to the viewer both recognition of Peggy and that he recognizes the situation -- and he has to do so in almost an instant, or else the whole scene does not work. That's brilliant, really. Just slow down those DVDs and take a look at his eyes.

Next, in this same scene, we get to watch Peggy witness Joe getting slapped in the face and punched in the gut -- knowing he would never be in that situation if she hadn't wanted to go undercover in the first place. He is getting hurt like that for her, in essence. He is even caught because he was protecting her, behind the scenes. And notice how she kind of moves as if to take the punch when we hear him taking the punch.

These scenes, in the context of this episode, the plot, are just so small -- they almost go unnoticed. They went unnoticed for the kid in me. But they are simply superb. They convey the underlying heroism that was and is Mannix and do so in such an understated way that you almost don't notice it. But I know of no other show that can pull all of that off.

I wound up loving this episode for that reason, as an adult, getting to see those scenes on the DVDs. It makes you wonder how wonderful Mannix might have been if it was filmed in high-def, or with episodes that ran longer.

By the way, with respect to those bugs, I gotta wonder how well they actually worked in 1973. They would have needed some kind of amplification and multiple relays back to police headquarters. And, tiny batteries could not have lasted very long in those days either. But, hey, lots of movies and TV shows seemed to use them, so they must have been rooted in something practical.

It's been real fun here lately!
 

Harry-N

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Harry N.
Looking above the top row, I see shelf labels for:
- Joy To The World - Three Dog Night
- I Gotcha - Joe Tex
- American Pie - Don McLean

Then the row below that:
- (don't know)
- (don't know)
- Nights In White Satin - Moody Blues
- Popcorn - Hot Butter
- (don't know)

Next row:
- Listen To The Music - Doobie Bros.
- Use Me - Bill Withers
- Saturday in The Park - Chicago
- Don't ever Be Lonely - Cornelius Brothers And Sister Rose
- Speak To The Sky - Rick Springfield

Last row we can see:
- Witchy Woman - Eagles
- (don't know)
- Don't Do It - The Band
- (don't know)

Harry
 

jompaul17

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JoAnn M Paul
Harry-N said:
Looking above the top row, I see shelf labels for:
- Joy To The World - Three Dog Night
- I Gotcha - Joe Tex
- American Pie - Don McLean

Then the row below that:
- (don't know)
- (don't know)
- Nights In White Satin - Moody Blues
- Popcorn - Hot Butter
- (don't know)

Next row:
- Listen To The Music - Doobie Bros.
- Use Me - Bill Withers
- Saturday in The Park - Chicago
- Don't ever Be Lonely - Cornelius Brothers And Sister Rose
- Speak To The Sky - Rick Springfield

Last row we can see:
- Witchy Woman - Eagles
- (don't know)
- Don't Do It - The Band
- (don't know)

Harry
Harry,

OK, I admit. I'm, well, perhaps what some nearsighted people might call old. And getting older all the time.

But, it strikes me that the same thing that happened with TV might have also happened with music.

In the "classic" era of TV, everyone watched virtually the same thing, due to limited choice. That limited choice was due to limited airtime, for the most part -- only a few broadcast channels.

But, we also listened to the same music. I suppose it was for the same reasons -- each city only had a few radio stations, and that was where the bulk of the exposure to new music came from.

When I see that list of music, there is a timestamp printed in my head by those songs -- everyone heard them, over and over again.

Does that happen these days? I've heard that the "single" has come back, prompted by iTunes. Does everyone listen to the same songs now? If they do, I don't really know what they are. If not, then its tough to think that music or TV will ever define a generation again, the way it did when Mannix was on the air and those 45s populated those shelves.

And that's too bad. When people become divided in pop culture, and the arts that define it, they are going to be divided in pretty much everything else.
 

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