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

Hank Dearborn

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I spoke to a friend tonight who was doing a project over at Paramount/CBS and he told me that they are in the process of restoring the first season of Mannix for DVD release. No time frame known but it is being worked on and should be on it's way soon. You heard it here first. Go Paramount. Better than all of the other studios put together.
 

Egbert Souse

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Hope this is true,looking forward to this,I don`t think I`ve seen an episode since its original airing,a must buy for me.Thanks for the info.
 

Steve...O

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Holy cow - what a surprise! The first season isn't even included in syndication packages. Thanks for the scoop!
I know that Paramount doesn't usually do bonus features, but it would be nice if 82 year old Mike Conners would appear in an interview about the series.
Steve
 

RickER

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Paramount is king with TV on DVD. Perry Mason, Hawaii Five-0, and Mission: Impossible are the best. I would expect Mannix to rate right up with them, as far as PQ. All i could ask for, besides extras, is full season sets!
 

Gary OS

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Paramount just keeps putting more and more distance between themselves and all the others. Every time I think they've sprinted out to a large enough lead, they kick it into another gear and pull away that much more. No one else is even close!
Gary "not that Mannix is really high on my list - but I'm supporting most every vintage TV series that Paramount is putting out nowadays" O.
 

Bob Hug

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Joining the chorus in praise of Paramount; hands down, they are the best for vintage TV series. And I'm glad to hear that they are starting with the true season 1, when Mannix worked for Joseph Campanella's character "Lew Wickersham" before striking out on his own in subsequent seasons. But I really shouldn't be surprised by this, since Paramount released the one and only season of Steven Hill "Mission: Impossible" episodes.
 

Jeff Willis

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Hank,
Thanks for the scoop!!! This one's on my "holy grail" list
htf_images_smilies_banana.gif

Bob, I also remember that 1st season and haven't seen those since the original airings. How's this for a "memory lane" test? Remember in the 1st episode where Mannix is in his "Inter-tec" cubicle and he covers the camera in his office with his coat and his boss gets in there fast?
How did I do for the memory test? :laugh:
Thanks again, Hank for one of my long-time "wait-for's". I know this isn't an official release announcement but like you guys said, it's Paramout and like Rick said, they seem to be doing well with the sales of their other sets.
Jeff "Now, it's Gary's turn to check the Richter Scale in Fla for the epicenter about 900 miles west :laugh:
htf_images_smilies_dance.gif
" W. Catch you later on the cell!
 

Bob Hug

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Jeff Willis said:
How did I do for the memory test? :laugh:
Jeff, you passed the test and have a great memory! That episode ("The Name is Mannix") is actually out on DVD, though it's an unofficial release and is missing the opening title sequence; apparently the production company (Desilu) didn't include copyright notices on this episode and three other first season episodes. You can find "The Name is Mannix" on these two releases, along with the episode "Skid Marks on a Dry Run":
http://www.oldies.com/product-view/4469GD.html
http://www.oldies.com/product-view/4472GD.html
The other two "Mannix" episodes currently available on DVD are on the recent Mill Creek "Best of TV Detectives - 150 episodes." They're nice to have as a stop-gap until the "real deal" comes from CBS/Paramount.
 

michael_ks

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Like Gary, it's not high on my list either, though I want to support Paramount, it's late 60s detective drama and I have fond memories of my parents huddled around the old B&W Zenith to catch "Mannix". And that cool Lalo Schifrin theme... Ok, I'm in.
 

Hank Dearborn

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Paramount - far and away the best studio, trying to mine their vast television vault and maximize use of it. #1 by miles.

Sony - unpredictable. they are the only ones thus far that have been willing to put out short-run, failed older series like Tabitha, Blue Thunder and Walking Tall. But their schedules have no rhyme or reason. Sometimes they do it quickly, within a few months then other times they wait years, like Mad About You. And they are most prone to sloppiness, throwing in cut episodes on Gidget, Partridge Family and others and using syndicated, although complete, episodes on Here Come the Brides. Give them a B for effort but a C- for execution.

Universal - kings of the one and done. their new strategy, since they are so bad themselves, is to license out shows. But there's a catch. Since their in-house transfer costs are so ridiculously high, whoever licenses from them either gets the shows on previously transferred tapes (Shout Factory with McHale's Navy and Ironside, HartSharp with Banacek) or they have to find the prints themselves (Timeless with Checkmate, Riverboat and many others). Otherwise, it won't happen. No one is going to pay $100,000 plus, before licensing fees, for one season of a 40-50 year old series.

Warners - worse than Universal. They have even higher transfer costs, something like $7000 an episode and they won't license anything out. The good news is that unlike Universal, they actually have remastered to tape a large percentage of their catalog, mainly from when they sold many of the old series to GoodLife TV. So at least many of their programs are on an accessible format. The bad news is they won't license them out to anyone and they have no inclination of doing anything with any of them themselves.

Fox - my favorite...For ripping the shit out of. Great if you are interested in shows they produced in the last decade. Great if you are interested in their 20th repackaging of Buffy or Angel. Otherwise words cannot describe how badly they suck. And, you can't even blame them for having high transfer costs for the problem. Their own older shows they have no interest in whatsoever. Same goes for the Four Star library that they own. No interest, save for the one color series, Big Valley and that seems to have dried up. They had some interest in living off their MTM catalog but that seems done as well. They like their Irwin Allen shows but those releases should be finished soon also. Then what? They could always go back and actually re-do Lost in Space properly, unlike what they already released from decades old tape transfers. The only positive note about Fox is thankfully they really have the fewest "classics" in their library that they are sitting on. It would be more of a shame if they owned more great shows, but luckily they don't.

MGM - Do they even exist anymore? Are they owned by Sony, partners with Sony? Who knows. They are distributed now on DVD by the great Fox, certainly the company of choice for the fine work they do with their own shows. Luckily, except for the Ziv catalog which many of us would love to see, they really don't have many exceptional shows they are sitting on. Would love to see the rest of Flipper, Mr. Ed and Green Acres. Patty Duke, even Hey Landlord would be nice to get as well but with them tied up with Fox (and Sony), two companies that don't even know how to handle their own properties, I'm not holding my breath.
 

Bob Hug

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Hank, good assessment on the majors, though I disagree a bit on MGM. In addition to the shows you mentioned, they have released the original "Outer Limits," "The Addams Family," and "Rat Patrol," all of which are now complete though, in fairness, all of them being just two season shows. But I really wish they would give some consideration to the ZIV catalog, "Sea Hunt" and "Highway Patrol," in particular and others in their catalog obtained when they acquired United Artists, particularly "Stoney Burke."

As far as Sony is concerned, yeah, they have released some pre-1970s series, but their aversion to black & white shows is problematic for me. All I can say is thank goodness that Roxbury Entertainment was able to get the rights to "Route 66." You just know that "Route 66" would never see the light of day if it still was with Sony.
 

Gary OS

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Frankly, I think Paramount gets the A+ and no one else gets better than a C-.
Hank, I agree with you on most points. But I cannot give Sony a B for anything! When you look specifically at their catalog of black & white classics, they are the worst of the bunch because they basically refuse anything that wasn't done in color. And if it was done in b&w, they almost always feel the need to colorize! They have way too many solid shows from the 50's and early 60's that they are sitting on for me to give them anything other than a D.
I also wouldn't be quite as harsh with Fox as you have been. Now that doesn't mean I think they are doing great. Far from it. But they have released the IA series and a portion of The Big Valley (both of which you mentioned). That, and the fact that they don't have much in their catalog, puts them above Sony in my book. Not by much though.
Universal and WB are both very poor outfits, but they do occasionally release some b&w shows. I think WB has a few more (mostly the detective and western genres) that I'd personally like to see, so I'm usually a tad more miffed at them. But Universal has used those horrid DVD-18s and seemingly killed LITB, so they are low on my list right now too.
Guess the bottom line for me is that other than Paramount, I can't give a positive rating to any of the other studios.
Gary "thank God for Paramount" O.
 

Dave Scarpa

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I agree Paramount is tops at starting series but will they finish them. So Do I commit to buying Mannix S1, or will that get abandanded like Have Gun Will travel?
 

michael_ks

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I place Sony and Universal at the bottom of the heap for different reasons. Sony for completely dropping the ball on "Partridge Family", having ZERO knowledge/confidence in a sublimely classic drama ("Route 66") and as was stated, their overall aversion to anything in B&W. Universal at least has finally found the good sense to license shows and appears to have stopped using DVD-18s but I'm still miffed at their unwillingness to do anything about finishing "Night Gallery".

And yes, Paramount is king of the classics.

Michael "Thank God R66 is out of the hands of Sony and with more than a month to go sitting at #943 on Amazon" KS
 

michael_ks

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I agree Paramount is tops at starting series but will they finish them. So Do I commit to buying Mannix S1, or will that get abandanded like Have Gun Will travel?
Dave, you raise a good question, considering that like "Rawhide" there's eight seasons of material here. I think it has a better chance of realizing a complete release than "Rawhide" and HGWT as B&W westerns it seems are very problematic with tv/dvd customers. I see "Mannix" in the same boat as "Hawaii 5-O". Both shows were in color throughout, live more in the collective minds of tv enthusiasts and in the case of "Mannix" in addition to having an actor with solid charisma/talent (Connors) and intelligent writing, the show offers plenty of fisticuffs and car chases. And damn if we don't like that.
 

RickER

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Now i rate Universal second to only Paramount. No more DVD-18s. Cant say i care much for DVD-14s either. I stopped buying FOX TV shows because i could never buy one that was not scratched and finger printed up on both sides! Once you get a good one the DVD-14s at least play. Universal is getting better. I got all but 1 season of Columbo. Got seasons 2 and 3 of Airwolf, a show i thought would be dead cause of DVD 18s on the first season. I got another volume of Black Sheep Squadron, another show i thought was dead. Seems Project UFO, and Galactica 1980 are coming, take those for what you will. Universal is putting out a box of Northern Exposure on single sided discs. However i would like to get season 3 and 4 single sided, cause the last 2 seasons of that show suck. But anyway, back to Paramount, or is it CBS we need to thank for the great releases?
 

DeWilson

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While I'm eager to see a DVD release of Season One of MANNIX, I'm also eager to see the episodes from late season 7 and all of season 8 that wern't widely syndicated.
 

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