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

[Doug Wallen]

s. 4 Ep. 17 - With Intent to Kill

Tough L.A. police Lt. Ira Deegan is warned off the investigation of a heist that netted $85,000 -- a threat that seems to have come true when his garage is blown up, although no one is hurt. Then Joe Mannix begins investigating the theft, which he claims is for the $8,500 recovery fee offered by the insurance company that would have to pay off on the theft.

Dane Clark, Joan Hotchkis, Woodrow Parfrey (Outlaw Josey Wales), Ward Wood

Lt. Malcolm alert!

A pretty competent mystery made better by the guest stars. Great opening where the wife "senses" something wrong and the car in the garage explodes. Nice to see the animosity that Deegan has for Joe. Most times, it almost seems like Joe is working for the department instead of being an outsider. Nice to see the reminder of his outside status.

 

[Doug Wallen]

S. 4 Ep. 18 - The Crime That Wasn't

A young boy named Dennis Coverly comes to Joe Mannix and tries to hire him. The boy says his parents have been arguing about whether to go to the police about something that happened the previous Saturday night when they were at a restaurant celebrating their anniversary. Mannix visits the boy's parents and is assured that nothing is wrong -- but Mannix starts to have second thoughts when he notices a former felon watching their house, and shortly thereafter someone tries to kill Mannix when he visits the restaurant.

Robert Reed (The Brady Bunch), Rosemary DeCamp (That Girl), Vincent Beck, Robert Hogan (Hill St. Blues)

Lt. Tobias alert.

This episode starts out with another child (looks a lot like Brandon Cruz) hiring Mannix because of something overheard at home. Shortly after that scene is debunked, the child seems to be forgotten. Great mystery that keeps you guessing as the villain seems to be ahead of everyone, including Mannix. Really liked this one.

 

[Doug Wallen]

S. 4 Ep. 19 - A Gathering of Ghosts

Mannix travels to a western ghost town in response to an urgent telegram, only to learn that he's been lured there by four surviving members of his undefeated college football team, along with two of their wives, for an impromptu reunion. But then one of their number is killed, and Mannix discovers that their means of leaving the town has been sabotaged, too -- meaning that someone, perhaps the absent member of the team, intends to kill them all.

Alan Oppenheimer (6 Million Dollar Man), Robert Webber (12 Angry Men), Diana Muldaur (ST: TNG, L.A. Law), Jason Evers, Charles Aidman (The Twilight Zone, Wild Wild West), Marj Dusay (ST: SPock's Brain)

Pretty good cast in a rip off of 10 Little Indians (And Then There Were None). An fair to middling episode. Lots of dumb things happen. When the van is checked, there is a huge wet spot and Mannix still has to put his hand in the liquid and bring it to his nose to determine it is gas. If the wet spot is that big in real life, you would not need to get that close to smell that it is gas . Just one example of many. Good cast wasted on a mediocre script imho.

 

[bmasters9]

About that fourth-season episode "Round Trip to Nowhere"-- I did not know that it was Susan Howard at first who was in it as Amanda Hewitt (the hairstyle made it difficult for me to recognize her), but once I heard the Texas accent, I then made the connection.

 

[Blimpoy06]

I finished the last two episodes of season 8 this week. "Search for A Dead Man" and "Hardball". I'm glad I watched them all, but I don't see myself re-watching too many of the later seasons again. I was already watching season 1 again before I finished the show.

There is a special quality in the Desilu era of Mannix and Mission:Impossible that Paramount couldn't continue or replicate. Both shows had their budgets slashed, or were held to them, and it showed. Mannix seemed to have the same re-cycled music in the latter years. And some plots. The show never "jumped the shark" for me, but it was time to call it quits. I'm sure I would have stopped watching and switched to The Rockford Files by 1974 if I was older and watching TV back then.

 

[bmasters9]

There is a special quality in the Desilu era of Mannix and Mission:Impossible that Paramount couldn't continue or replicate.

And also O-R NBC Trek-- sure, there were some good (and even great) third-season episodes, but overall, it seemed quite uneven.

 

[Doug Wallen]

S. 4 Ep. 20 - A Day Filled With Shadows

Joe Mannix is hired by a secretive businessman named Alton K. Moore, who wants Mannix to look for his son Cal, a college basketball player who has been missing for several days. Although the case takes Mannix back to his alma mater, he has his doubts about Moore, who insists on meeting in remote places instead of at his office.

Robert Reed, John Colicos (Battlestar: Galactica, ST Deep Space 9), Tiffany Bolling (Kingdom Of The Spiders), Bing Russell (Kurt's dad), Lewis Alcindor (aka Kareem Abdul-Jabar)

Lt. Tobias alert!

Interesting way to begin the episode, a murder from the victim's POV. Red herrings abound in this "amnesia mode" type of story. Mannix is truly working blind, even to the point of pumping Lt. Tobias for information. I really enjoyed this one. More or less unpredictable until the end.

One more disc to the halfway point. These are the only episodes I have as WalMart has not seen fit to release the back half of Mannix in the jumbo case. I guess I will finish this set by the end of this month. It has been pretty enjoyable tooling around Southern California in the convertible with Joe.

 

[Bob Cashill]

RIP Joseph Campanella: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/joseph-campanella-dead-character-actor-909457

 

[bmasters9]

One more disc to the halfway point. These are the only episodes I have as WalMart has not seen fit to release the back half of Mannix in the jumbo case. I guess I will finish this set by the end of this month. It has been pretty enjoyable tooling around Southern California in the convertible with Joe.

Are you going to get that back half (1971-75) in its original seasonal keepcase releases? Based on what you said, it seems like that might be your only choice if you want to see all of Mannix.

 

[Flashgear]

Mike Connors, Christopher George and Elizabeth Ashley at the 1972 Golden Globes.

 

[Doug Wallen]

Are you going to get that back half (1971-75) in its original seasonal keepcase releases? Based on what you said, it seems like that might be your only choice if you want to see all of Mannix.

Not sure. How good are the stories in the back half of Mannix? I can remember seeing them with my father and nostalgia is quite a pull, but I am not sure if I want to make that investment. Opinions welcome.

 

[bmasters9]

Not sure. How good are the stories in the back half of Mannix? I can remember seeing them with my father and nostalgia is quite a pull, but I am not sure if I want to make that investment. Opinions welcome.

That's a good question, and difficult for me to answer, because I haven't seen that much of the back half of the series.

 

[Harry-N]

MANNIX largely maintained its generally high-quality stories through its run. The exceptions are a couple of weak-ish two-parters.

 

[swan4022]

I would add that regarding the back half, Season 5 was among my favorites overall, and that I liked season 8 more than some reviewers did that I have read (it was a bit outside the box on some episodes, which I generally appreciated).

 

[Doug Wallen]

S. 4 Ep. 21 - Voice In The Dark

Mannix is summoned to the apartment of Dorothy Kinman, a former Olympic-class diver who was rendered a paraplegic in an auto accident. Besides being reluctant ever to leave her apartment, Ms. Kinman claims that a man keeps telephoning her with death threats. But although he's initially concerned for her safety, Mannix begins to suspect that the threatening phone calls may just be an illusion -- or a hoax -- on Ms. Kinman's part.

Carol Lynley (Poseidon Adventure), Paul Picerni, Byron Morrow, Robert Reed

Lt. Tobias alert!

Pretty good episode featuring 70's guest star Carol Lynley. She plays terrified very well and she nails the part. Good paranoid ep. with a few good misdirects.

 

[Doug Wallen]

S. 4 Ep. 22 - The Color of Money

A somewhat ditsy heiress named Cindy Conrad comes by Mannix' office one evening, complaining that a mysterious woman has been phoning her to offer important information about the death of Conrad's father several years before. Mannix correctly guesses that the caller wants a large sum of money to provide the information. He tries to convince Conrad to ignore the calls -- but he begins to believe that something is wrong when someone takes a shot at them as he is escorting Conrad to her car.

Diane Keaton (The Godfather), John McLiam (Andromeda Strain), Ward Wood, Virginia Gregg (Dragnet), Johnny Haymer (M*A*S*H)

Lt. Malcolm alert!

This episode is only passable, very predictable. The only saving grace is the guest, Diane Keaton. She was ditzy way back when. Not much to recommend here.

 

[Doug Wallen]

S. 4 EP. 23 - Shadow Play

Joe Mannix receives an urgent letter from a woman named Lynn Sargent asking him to fly to Arizona. She meets him at the airport and hands him a check for $1,000 and a small sealed package, telling him the money is his fee to take the package to the Los Angeles Police Department. Just as she does so, two men try to take the package, but Mannix manages to retain it after a scuffle. But the mystery deepens when the package turns out to contain nothing but blank sheets of paper -- and the police chief in the town tells Mannix that Lynn Sargent died a month earlier in a hit-and-run accident.

John Vernon (Outlaw Josey Wales, Animal House), Jan Sterling, Julie Gregg (The Godfather), Paul Mantee (Robinson Crusoe on Mars)

I really liked the set-up for this one and the episode mostly delivered. John Vernon is always excellent and this episode was no exception. Always a great villain. Really enjoyed Mannix outthinking his opponents.

 

[Doug Wallen]

S. 4 Ep. 24 - Overkill

A serial killer who calls himself "Overkill" has been terrorizing Los Angeles, and the most recent victim was "Red" Bailey, an old friend of Joe Mannix. But as Mannix and the police look into Bailey's killing, they learn that Bailey was investigating the Overkill case on his own -- and may have discovered that at least one of the killings attributed to Overkill was a copycat murder that someone wanted to be blamed on Overkill.

Jeff Corey (Night Court), Lawrence Dane, Jay Robinson, Ward Wood, Marc Lawrence, Jack Bannon (Lou Grant)

Season Ender. Serial killer using the media to spotlight his crimes (still a timely story). Incarcerated criminal looking for a way to settle old scores. Good story and a fine way to close out the season.

I'm going to miss my weekly visits with Joe, Peggy, Adam and Art.

 

[bronson]

Here´s something special that many Mike Connors fans didn´t know.

In 1974 Burt Reynolds was the guest host of "The Tonight Show" for his pal Johnny Carson.

His last guest was Ben Johnson. Both were filming the Robert Aldrich movie "Hustle" at the time.

Reynolds showed a clip from the set where he and Johnson were filming a scene in a morgue where Johnson´s daughter was lying dead.

Watch what happened then and what Mike Connors had to do with it.

Watch between minute 27:35 and 28:00. It´s hilarious.

 

[justarandomstan]

Hi there gang,
So, I recently started gaining interest in the series and the more I read about it, the more I'm starting to really want to see it.

I have a question though. I will most probably buy the complete series set for convenience, but just out of curiosity, why isn't the entire series available for syndication? Why does it exclude certain seasons/episodes? Is there a controversy behind it? Or is it just because?

Thanks in advance and have a great day )