Mannix on DVD

[Barry]

I am reviewing the TV show Mannix, on DVD, for a special reason. I’ll explain in just a bit.

Mannix was a detective show that lasted eight seasons starting in 1967. It starred Mike Connors and for its time was pretty good.

The  detective show shows way back when always put the detective in the middle. The police will always be after them for some reason and they were chasing the criminal. You think that since they solve 30 crimes a year, the police would like them, but it was never so.

In  its first year,Mannix worked for a very high-tech detective agency. And instead of being the middle between the police and the bad guy, he was always in the middle with his employers because he was the old-style street detective who didn’t care about their technology. The show was interesting because it had good writing and there was always an interesting twist at the end. Mannix was knocked unconscious. 55 times and was shot 20 times and it was always a flesh wound.

Starting the second year, Mannix went on his own and had his own private detective agency. The high-tech agency of the first season never mentioned.  And the cops who are always bugging him were.

Sadly, Paramount bought Desilu  and the quality of the writing and location shooting really went downhill. It became a decent detective show, but not as good as it was in the first few years.

The sad thing about this show is that it really had no business going off the air. CBS discovered that Paramount, of which they now own, was selling reruns of this series to be on at midnight on ABC to compete with the Tonight Show. They were upset that one of their shows that they promote would be on another network so they canceled this.

Mannix was produced by Desilu, which produced Mission Impossible which was released as a Blu-ray. The MI shows looked terrific and sound well too, But Mannix, on DVD. doesn’t  look or sound very good. The colors are faded, the resolution is poor and the sound is basically flat and dull. So if you could watch this on a TV broadcast, you’re getting a better picture than on the DVD.

Lalo Schifrin, Who did the theme to Mission? Impossible does the theme here too and it is great.

[Barry]

Just a little bit of why you’re seeing a few reviews of TV shows on disc.

In my first year of Forest Hill’s High School, Mr. Fleming, was the principal of the school’s evening youth and adult program, which ran from 6 to 10 PM weeknights. It was run by the New York City Board of Education and offered classes for adults such as high school equivalency, English as a second language and job related programs. It had Friday evening classes for teen-agers. I wanted to take the photography class. I did not have the money for the registration fee, which was $1. So I asked if I could go without paying.

In the single, most important moment of my life, Mr. Fleming said, “ I won’t let you go for free, but I will give you a job.” And he did. So I became an office worker and worked until 10 PM. And worked until 10 pm for the rest of my life. I became an office worker for the center, which paid for my college tuition , then a teacher, and then an administrator when Mr. Fleming retired. My days would start earlier, but they would still end at 10 pm.

So I did not see much primetime television.

Secondly,
In the early 2000s blockbuster, Hollywood video and local stores were going out of business. They were selling their DVDs, very cheap and apparently. The multi disk TV show shows were not selling well at all, and they were practically giving them away. In fact, many of the stores closed, but the owners on Bridge tables were out in front, selling whatever they could.

So I got the complete runs of M*A*S*H, the Fugitive, Man From UNCLE, Avengers, Prisoner, Secret Agent, Mannix, and several others that I had always wanted to see for less than $30 each.

so getting them on disc was at one time the the way I would get to see them.

[SRW1000]

I watched this show as a youngster but would have been far too young to catch the first few seasons.  I do remember Mannix always getting knocked out; that had a big effect on us kids when we were playing cops and robbers or some such scenario.  It allowed us to knock each other "unconscious" long enough to create a little drama and then recover at the last minute.

Oh, and I also had a big crush on Peggy back then, which was another reason for watching it.

Sounds like the first season would definitely be worth a rewatch, as it sounds more interesting than the typical TV detective show.

What a great story about how a teacher had such a positive influence on your life!  I'm sure you had an equal effect on many other students during the many decades since.

[David Vaughn]

I've never even heard of this show. You learn somthing new every day, I guess.

Thanks for the review Barry.