Mannix – The First Season (CBS DVD)

 

Picture: C+     Sound: C+     Extras: B-     Episodes: B

 

 

In between the traditional detective series that TV made following the Film Noir era and the more realistic cycle of such series in the 1970s was one of the greatest of all detective TV series, Mannix with Mike Connors.  Several things made the show different than previous series on TV of any kind.  For one, it was smarter and had more advanced screenplay writing than previous detective shows, then it had a more energetic modern detective in Connor’s dead-on casting, had more realistic action than had been seen up to that time to the point that the show was criticized for being “too violent” and Joe Mannix was the first detective to ever use that new-fangled device known as the computer.

 

Created by the legendary team of Richard Levinson & William Link, then further advanced by the late, great Bruce Geller (Mission: Impossible, who died far too early in an airplane crash) and produced by the great Desilu Studios at their height, the series was a huge hit, lasting eight seasons and finally, Season One has come to DVD.  Well into syndication into the 1980s, the show was phenomenal and it is amazing it disappeared, but it eventually did, only surfacing on cable here and there.  41 years after its debut, it holds up amazingly well, as the show was finding its way in its debut 1967 – 68 Season.

 

For this season only, Mannix worked for Lew Wickerman (Joseph Campanella) and Intertech, his advanced detective outfit using technology the competition has little access to.  However, Mannix is only so impressed and uses his wits, instincts, logic and is not afraid to get his hands dirty as he takes on case after case, no matter what the risks.  As was always the case with Desilu’s shows, they had top directors, cinematographers, writers and actors, plus other surprises as the following list of first season episodes and their guest stars will attest to:

 

 

1)     The Name Is Mannix (guest stars Lloyd Nolan, Kim Hunter & Barbara Anderson)

2)     Skid Marks On A Dry Run (Vincent Gardenia, Charles Drake & Vic Perrin)

3)     Nothing Ever Works Twice (Gloria DeHaven, Frank Aletter & Richard Derr)

4)     The Many Deaths Of Saint Christopher (John Marley, Norbert Schiller & Neil Diamond as himself)

5)     Make Like It Never Happened (John Randolph & Logan Ramsey)

6)     The Cost Of Vacation (Donnelly Rhodes, Henry Beckman & Marlyn Mason)

7)     Warning: Live Blueberries (Tom Skerritt, Brooke Bundy, Phil Leeds & The Buffalo Springfield)

8)     Beyond The Shadow Of A Dream (Richard Mulligan, Robert Yuro, Pat Priest and Ann Prentiss)

9)     Huntdown (Ford Rainey, Ken Renard, Paul Stevens & Phil Vandervort)

10)  Coffin For A Clown (Frank Campanella, Diana Muldaur, Norman Fell & Christopher Knight)

11)  A Catalogue Of Sins (Percy Rodrigues, Jennifer Billingsley & Kim Hamilton)

12)  Turn Every Stone (Linden Chiles, Nita Talbot, Lloyd Gough, Hampton Fancher, John Crawford, Noam Pitlik & Madge Blake)

13)  Run, Sheep, Run (Malache Throne, Joyce Van Patten & Ruta Lee)

14)  Then The Drink Takes The Man (Julie Adams, John Anderson & Lynda Day George)

15)  The Falling Star (Jan Sterling, Lee Bergere, Mickey Morton and playing themselves, Army Archerd and Rona Barrett)

16)  License To Kill – Limit Three People (Karen Black, Peter Haskell, Melinda O. Fee & Art Lewis)

17)  Deadfall (two parts/Michael Tolan, Beverly Garland, Roscoe Lee Browne & Dana Elcar)

18)  You Can Get Killed Out There (Howard Da Silva & Marianna Hill)

19)  Another Final Exit (Larry Storch, Grace Lee Whitney & Pamela Dunlap)

20)  Eight To Five, It’s A Miracle (Lillian Adams, William Bryant & Jay Novello)

21)  Delayed Action (Louise Sorel, Ned Glass, Richard Bull & Walter Koenig)

22)  To Kill A Writer (Michael Strong, Paul Petersen, Larry D. Mann & Ted Cassidy)

23)  The Girl In The Frame (Leslie Parrish, Paul Mantee & Oscar Beregi, Jr.)

 

 

The biggest surprise is how much more energy, great pacing and impact this show has, with even the obvious commercial breaks not really hurting the show.  With some debit to the Bond films, it is easy to forget how physical Connors was, not always relying on stuntmen.  The show always feels lived in and real, a world of mature adults dealing wit each other for better or worse.  That this was a hit at the peak of the counterculture and with TV itself at a peak of great series production speaks well to its quality, but Connors gives it his all in each show and the result is one of the all-time great TV detectives.  These days, we get CSI series with ensemble casts, but as good as those shows can be, there’s nothing like having a real actor with star power carry a great show that manages to have episodes this consistent.  Yes, some parts the shows have dated, but not to the detriment of the series.  Geller had died by the end and though new talents took over and Geller was a huge loss, the series was far from finished breaking new ground.

 

The 1.33 x 1 image is pretty consistent throughout the six DVDs, with only minor color and picture fading in spots on each show.  This issue is so minor, it can be hopefully, easily fixed before it becomes available on Blu-ray.  The Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono is good for its age, features the classic theme song by Lalo Schifrin and is pretty clean considering TV audio of the time.  Extras include audio intros by Connors for all the episodes, a two-part Connors/Campanella interview across the first two DVDs, the Mannix section of the CBS fall promo reel for 1967 on DVD 3, exceptional audio commentary by William Link on the first pilot episode, 1969 Connors Mannix appearance on The Mike Douglas Show, TV Land network promos for cable reruns of the show & sales presentation about the show on DVD 5, stills and clip from the awkward, awful Mannix appearance by Connors on Hard Boiled Murder from the Dick Van Dyke hit Diagnosis: Murder, a show the total opposite of Mannix in too many ways to go into.

 

Fortunately, the original show is back and looking better than the many (and I mean many) times I have seen it before.  Recently, there were suggestions of remaking the show as a silly feature film, which would (once again) be a big mistake.  Mannix is an original and has so much going for it, why not a straight out action film?  Even now, we wonder if audiences would accept anyone in Mike Connors place.  Now you can see why.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo