Customer Reviews

Mannix - The First Season

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Finally, FINALLY, the very best Classic TV detective series EVER produced comes to DVD in a first-season set. For its legion of fans, it is a huge understatement to say this release is eagerly anticipated. Thanks to CBS/Parmount for putting this series out on DVD. Let's hope the remaining seasons quickly follow.

Mannix ran from 1967 through 1975 on CBS. Created by Richard Levinson and William Link and developed by executive producer Bruce Geller (who also created Mission: Impossible), the title character, Joe Mannix, is a two-fisted private investigator portrayed by Mike Connors.

Rarely has an actor so inhabited a TV character that it's impossible to separate the two. This series represents one of those times, and even the show's producers recognized it when the unusual credit proclaimed: Mike Connors IS Mannix. The ruggedly handsome Connors was the perfect match, and made the signature loud sports jackets of the time look great on his altar ego. Mannix also drove a variety of convertibles, and even had a car phone - which was unheard of at the time!

Mannix originally worked for a high-concept computerized firm known as Intertect in the rarely seen first season. This DVD set represents all of those episodes, including the series' pilot.

Mannix featured a dynamic split-screen opening credits sequence set to its theme music from noted composer Lalo Schifrin. Unusual for a private detective series, the Mannix theme is in triple time, the same signature used for a waltz.

(FYI: The show's title, opening credits and closing credits are in variations of "City Typeface," a distinctive, squared-off, split-serif face that has long been used by IBM Corporation as part of their corporate design, and continues to be used in its logo today. The use of this style of credits for Mannix spelled out his name as if on computer punch cards utilized by fictitious Intertect, but it was maintained throughout the series.)

The first season of Mannix is a lot different than the more familiar episodes that began in the second season, when Mannix opened his own agency at 17 Paseo Verde, Los Angeles, California. It was in the second season that the brilliant actress Gail Fisher was brought on board as Mannix's devoted secretary, Peggy Fair, whose cop-husband was killed in line of duty.

In the first season, Mannix is not on his own but is employed by an agency that tries to solve crimes using computers. It's great to see what passed for cutting edge technology in the late 1960's. The computers were the old mainframe type, and used punch cards and reel-to-reel tapes, which some younger viewers today may never have ever seen in use. These first season episodes are almost NEVER aired in syndication

All 24 first season episodes will be on this six-disc set with guest stars that epitomized the best of the 1960's including: Kim Hunter, singer Neil Diamond, Tom Skerritt, singers Neil Young and Stephen Stills, Richard Mulligan, Norman Fell, Army Archerd, Rona Barrett, and Karen Black. In addition, the release contains special features that include episode introductions by Golden Globe and Emmy-winning star Connors, along with an interview.

In its eight-year run, Mannix quickly became a TV staple airing on Saturday's at 10 p.m. Not only was it noted for its great writing, acting, unusual camera angles, hot cars and visuals, but also its violence. Mannix was, by one count, shot 17 times and knocked unconscious another 55 during the show's run.

During the first season of the series, Mannix worked for Intertect in large Los Angeles, which was the most high-tech detective agency in the country. His superior was Lew Wickersham, played to perfection by Joseph Campanella. The tension between the two men was entertaining, since Mannix belonged to the classic hard-boiled school of American detectives (hard drinking, womanizing but compassionate, and always quick to action.) Mannix generally ignored the computers' solutions, disobeyed Wickersham and did things his own way.

Connors incorporated his own Armenian heritage into his character. Viewers were treated to a host of great Armenian proverbs Mannix shared at some of the most interesting and unexpected times. A Korean War Army veteran, Mannix also seemed to struggle with unspoken demons from that experiences.

From the second season on, Mannix worked on his own with the assistance Peggy Fair. (Fisher was one of the first African-American actresses to have a regular series role on TV. Later in the series, the producers even considered a romantic relationship between the two, but feared it was too controversial for the time. Nonetheless, the chemistry between the two is unmistakable). He also had assistance from the police department, the two most frequently depicted were Lt. Adam Tobias (portrayed by Robert Reed) and later Lt. Art Malcolm (portrayed by Ward Wood). Other police contacts were Lt. George Kramer (Larry Linville) and Lt. Dan Ives (Jack Ging).

The series was also memorable for its cool cars, primarily convertibles, that Mannix drove. In Season 1, he drove a customized Oldsmobile Toronado convertible (Oldsmobile never produced a convertible in that model for sale); in Seasons 2-3, he drove a Dodge Dart GTS 340 convertible; in Seasons 4-6, he drove a Plymouth Barracuda convertible; in Season 7, he drove a Dodge Challenger Coupe; and in Season 8, he drove a Chevrolet Camaro LT.

Included in this DVD set is the pilot, The Name is Mannix, which truly sets the tone for the whole series. In it, maverick private-eye Mannix tries to rescue the kidnaped daughter of former rackets' boss, Sam Dubrio. Mannix bets he can get the girl back, if he can persuade her father to risk the half-million dollar ransom plus another half-million dollars to bribe the kidnapers' pickup man.

The other episodes here from the first season are: The Cost of a Vacation; Skid Marks on a Dry Run; Then the Drink Takes the Man; The Many Deaths of Saint Christopher; Make It Like It Never Happened; License to Kill, Limit Three People; Beyond the Shadow of a Dream; Warning: Live Blueberries; Turn Every Stone; Huntdown; Coffin for a Clown; A Catalogue of Sins; Run Sheep, Run; Falling Star; To Kill a Writer; Deadfall Part 1; Deadfall Part 2; You Can Get Killed Out There; Another Final Exit; Eight to Five, It's a Miracle; Delayed Action; and The Girl in the Frame.

Many crime drama fans had given up hope that "Mannix" would ever come to DVD. Terrific news was announced jointly by Paramount and CBS on February 19, "Mannix -- The First Season," will be available for purchase, Tuesday, June 3. In the premier season Joe Mannix (Mike Connors) worked as an investigator for the Los Angeles based Intertect Detective Agency run by Lou Wickersham (the great character actor Joe Campanella). A treasure trove of first-rate actors appeared in "Mannix -- The First Season," including Julie Adams, Lloyd Nolan, Kim Hunter, Lynda Day George, Richard Mulligan, William Windom, Steve Ihnat, Grace Lee Whitney, Vincent Gardenia, Barbara Anderson, Bruce Gordon, Norman Fell, Beverly Garland, Richard Devon, Karen Black, Tom Skerritt, Brooke Bundy, Phillip Pine, Marilyn Mason, John Anderson, and Diana Muldaur, not to mention Neil Diamond as himself in episode 4, and Buffalo Springfield rocked in episode 7. Gail Fisher (as faithful Peggy Fair) arrived early on in Season 2. The 6-DVD set (24 episodes) contains a recently shot interview with Connors, in addition to episode intros by the star. Let's overwhelm CBS/Paramount with brisk early sales of "Mannix -- The First Season" so that the remaining seven seasons will be released in addition to (please, please) the complete season sets of the 60's/70's crime dramas "The FBI," "Cannon," and "Barnaby Jones."

Episode 1 "Name is Mannix" Lloyd Nolan, Kim Hunter, Barbara Anderson
Episode 2 "Skid Marks on Dry Road" Vincent Gardenia, Charles Drake
Episode 3 "Nothing Works Twice" Gloria DeHaven, Robert H. Harris
Episode 4 "Death of St. Christopher" John Marley, Linda Marsh
Episode 5 "Make Like It Didn't Happen" Phillip Pine, Elena Verdugo
Episode 6 "Cost of a Vacation" Marilyn Mason
Episode 7 "Warning: Live Blueberries" Tom Skerritt, Brooke Bundy
Episode 8 "Beyond Shadow of a Dream" Richard Mulligan
Episode 9 "Huntdown" Steve Ihnat, Paul Stevens
Episode 10 "Coffin for a Clown" Diana Muldaur, Norman Fell
Episode 11 "Catalogue of Sins" Percy Rodrigues
Episode 12 "Turn Every Stone" Joan Tompkins, Lindon Chiles
Episode 13 "Run, Sheep, Run" Richard Devon, Ruta Lee
Episode 14 "Drink Takes the Man" Julie Adams, John Anderson
Episode 15 "Falling Star" Marian Seldes
Episode 16 "License to Kill" Karen Black, Peter Haskell
Episode 17 "Deadfall Part I" Beverly Garland, Michael Tolan
Episode 18 "Deadfall Part II"
Episode 19 "You Can Get Killed" Marianna Hill, Mort Mills
Episode 20 "Final Exit" Jan Shepard, Larry Storch
Episode 21 "Eight to Five" Bruce Gordon
Episode 22 "Delayed Action" Robert Reed, Louise Sorel
Episode 23 "To Kill a Writer" Karl Lukas, Paul Peterson
Episode 24 "Girl in the Frame" William Windom, Leslie Parrish

I grew up on Mike Connors' engagingly physical gumshoe, and I always felt Season One was the best of the series, so I have been walking on clouds since my copy of "Mannix - The First Season" arrived!

Digitally remastered, with audio introductions by Mike Connors, himself, the 'Bogart Meets Hi-Tech' adventures of Joe Mannix of Intertect (an idea WAY ahead of it's time, in 1967) combines the un-P.C. attitudes of the era (everybody smokes relentlessly, women are often mini-skirted window dressing, and the standard solution to problems is a right to the jaw or a bullet), with a growing awareness of changing times (counterculture is a theme of one episode, Buffalo Springfield and Neil Diamond perform, and racism is addressed, by no less than Roscoe Lee Browne). Co-starring with Connors is the wonderful Joseph Campanella, as Intertect chief 'Lew Wickersham', based on Lew Wasserman, of MCA. The exchanges between 'by-the-book' Wickersham and 'what the...' Mannix are often as much fun as the episodes, themselves!

Best of all, the Special Features actually ARE special...For this package, CBS brought back Connors (a chubby, cherubic 82), and Campanella (a razor-thin 74), for a two-part interview, to reminisce about the creation of the show, the physical hardships Connors endured, and the camaraderie of cast and crew. While a voice-over commentary for the pilot, by co-creator William Link, is silly (the concept was completely rewritten by producer Bruce Geller prior to filming, and Link knew nothing about the episode!), he does reveal that originally, Mannix's first name would never be revealed (CBS nixed this, but Link would use the idea, again, in his next series..."Columbo").

More treats are included on each disc, my favorites being TV-Land's ad for the series, focusing on Mannix's frequent pistol-whippings and shoulder wounds, a 70's "Mike Douglas" appearance, where Connors discusses his Armenian heritage, and TRIES to play a flute, and, especially, a brief clip from a 1997 "Diagnosis: Murder" episode, filmed as a sequel to a 24-year-old "Mannix" episode, with the 72-year-old detective still tackling cases!

Oh, heck, I could talk for hours about how GREAT "Mannix - The First Season" is...Just buy it, and see if you don't agree!

Dig this... the Mannix Season 1 Collection DVD? Pretty cool.

* Solid writing -- yeah, there are bummers -- but on the whole they were lotsa fun
* Sunny California color -- not like today's grayish programs -- but it ain't as garish as some of the shows back then were
* Hey! These episodes are 50 minutes long!! And there ain't no commercials!
* The Man hisself, Mike Connors, his voice still carrying strong despite his being 80 some'um, gives a brief audio-only intro to each and every episode

The ain't-so-cool "Special features" include...

* A brief reminiscing by Mike Connors and Joseph Campanella. This was split into two short parts to spread over two DVDs. These two 80-some'ums, 40 years later, were a little vague but their fondness for each other and the show seemed genuine. They were a little vague in the episode commentary they did, too.
* A brief appearance by Mike Connors on the Mike Douglas show way back when. This is my favorite of the special features cuz it was fun and as informative as the time allowed.
* Some CBS promos -- cheap ways to fill out a DVD -- and seldom interesting after the series has been seen
* And, with the pilot episode, the worstest commentary ever done -- by co-creator William Link -- cuz he never spoke about the episode we were watching except for about 2 minutes in all. In fact, he spent most of the time talking about another of his creations, COLUMBO, and its star, Peter Falk.

To be frank, I didn't remember the first season very well and expected these episodes -- when Mannix was stuck in a computerized detective agency -- to be boring. Couldn't have been more wrong. It was FUN thanks to the writing and, particularly, to the amiable Mike Connor screen presence. Oh... and for the very pretty young chicks -- I mean, actresses -- in miniskirts! (I feel faint.) My favorite has to be Marlyn Mason (pre-LONGSTREET) who is not only very yummy but a mean comedienne, too.

Mannix, starring Mike Connors, was one of television's greatest private eyes. Only Tom Selleck's Thomas Magnum and James Garner's Jim Rockford would seem to be in the same category as far as popularity, durability, and enjoyment. Forged in the tough, hardboiled tradition of Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler, Mannix brought these novelists' archtypes to the small screen - beaten up, beats up, lied to, and tied up. But he endured for eight seasons.

While Mannix is best remember for his cool house, office, and girl Friday Peggy Fair, the first season of the show saw Mannix work not for himself, but a detective agency that used the first type of computers to solve crimes, and Mannix was seen as a dinosaur who was doing things the old fashioned way. Of course, the old street-smart dinosaur was the one solving the crimes for his boss, played by Joesph Campanella.

This series is one I've been waiting for forever. For all of us who grew up admiring him as THE private eye before Rockford and Magnum came on the scene, it's high time that this was released on DVD.

After years of begging and pleading with Viacom, Paramount and anyone and everyone connected with Sumner Redstone, the holders of the rights to Mannix, finally they are bringing this most excellent series out on DVD. All I can say is, what took you so long?
There are plenty of forgettable series on DVD and that Mannix has been denied to a generation of TV viewers (not to mention we Boomers who loved the show from Day One) is really too bad.
Mannix was cool for several reasons.
The cars. No matter the season, Joe Mannix had the coolest cars. From the custom Toronado convertible in the first season, to the Dart GTS to the Barracudas in later seasons, Joe's cars were always the best. Hi s cars were always customized by the great George Barris. And he had a phone! How cool was that back then?
The Music! Jaxx great Lalo Shiffrin wrote the title theme as well as much of the incidental music. The Mannix soundtrack was a strong blend of crime jazz and edgy late 60's funk. Joe and his loyal sidekick and secretary, Peggy Fair, would show up in a jazz bar on many occasions. Many music greats of the era popped up whether as themselves or as a character (Neil Diamond and Lou Rawls for starters).
The guest stars - Everyone wanted to do a Mannix gig. Check IMDB for a list - it's a who's who of Hollywood in the 1970s. Everyone from new faces trying to make it (Diane Keaton) to older actors who were on their way down (but not out) are there.
The clothes - Joe sported a series of wild plaid sports coats over the years. In the 70's those tweedy plaids with the wide lapels were the rage - and check out those linings! Peggy was always smartly dressed as well.
Heck, I could go on and on. Suffice to say that Mannix was the classiest detective drama of the era. It got a bad rap for violence, but the violence then was hardly even a tenth of what you see today. For kids growing up in the 70's the violence and gritty drama were a view to another world outside our tidy suburban homes. And it was never gratuitous.
It's here folks. Order one, order more! They make great gifts! And the more we fans order, the more likely we are to see the rest of the seasons released - some of which haven't been seen since they aired on TV back in the 1970's.

I picked up an advance copy of Mannix: Season 1. These ARE the uncut network prints. The color and picture quality are stunning. Far better than some other Paramount DVD releases. CBS television/Viacom never sold Season 1 or Season 8 of Mannix for syndication in the United States. So they weren't cut up for added commercial time. The episodes are facinating to see since these 24 episodes minus the pilot haven't been in syndication in my lifetime (30 years). So enjoy, and let's hope the *complete* 2nd season follows later this year. No parts please Paramount!

"Mannix" has an impressive pedigree, having been created by Bruce Geller (Mission: Impossible) and Richard Levinson and William Link (Columbo) who were among the most original minds in television. The series was one of the most popular detective series of all times, appearing for seven seasons and Mike Connors earned a repuation as a fine actor. Thus I was surprised to find that this first season left a lot to be desired, in terms of quality. All sucessful series have to work out a lot of kinks in their first episodes, but this first season of "Mannix" had quite a few poor episodes. I think this was due to the unsuccessful tie-in with the "INTERTECT" angle, a high-tech crime-solving corporation headed by an egg-head, played by Joe Campanella. Over and over we see his character peeking into Mannix's office using a closed-circuit television system (I think that may be illegal, how many workers would want their bosses spying on them?). Campanella always has a bemused, exasperated look as if thinking to himself "what am I going to do with this guy...he is so unorthodox, yet I can't get by without him!". After the first several dozen times we see this, it gets tiresome. Also, part of the charm of private detective stories is the sleuthing the PI's do in order to come up with clues. Here it seems INTERTECT and its army of egg-head intellectuals and their computers seem to be able to spew out mountains of information about every person in the United States, if not the world, making Mannix's job too easy.
In the early shows we see poor acting on the part of numerous supporting characters and an episode where Mannix's foot is injured, yet manages to gimp aroudn for miles and miles around a rural town without a car. He is even chased by tractors and manages to survive.
A couple of interesting things we see in these early episodes is a cameo appearance by producer Bruce Geller playing a movie director, who might have been very talented as a creative person, but certainly was no actor. We also have a scene where Mannix gets to speak Armenian.
I must admit that as the season wore on the quality did improve and part of the reason was that we saw less of INTERTECT and Joe Campanella stopped showing up miraculously when Mannix was in deep trouble. The dialogue also improved and became more Raymond Chanlerish with interesting quips commenting on life, the world and human nature.
Maybe it would be worthwhile for someone who is not sure whether they want to see this series to start with the second season, where he becomes a more convention PI with his own office and secretary.

Action, charming, courage, intelligence, ethic, great music, gorgeous women, top quality locations and the cool performances of Mike Connors. Needless to say more. Along with James West, It Takes a Thief, McMillan & Wife, Columbo, Switch and The Magician, Mannix have all exquisite and romantic elements for a perfect spy/detective movie. Comes from an era when stories were produced with less costs and more art.

Hello folks,
I just finished the first season of MANNIX. I remember this show as a kid and my mothers affection for the star Mike Connors. Besides perhaps the best theme song in tv history this show still packs a punch and tons of fun. Its fun seeing Los Angeles when there were still vacant lots and its fun seeing Neil Diamond when he was still an artist....oh and Stephen Stills singing in hippy night clubs. Its fun to see future more well known actors in small side rolls. Its fun to see 60s gals in mini skirts and boots and its fun to watch a ton of gunplay in every episode! Nevermind the curious lack of Police in town or other plot holes...this was a very very well made show...with high production values , excellent cinematography and shot on film so it looks better than most all the 80-90's video shows! No scratches on the prints...they are stunning and the sound is great and there are fun bonus features from the day and currently. If you want to re-visit your childhood ..do so without worry of cringing. ENJOY!!