| Mannix | |
|---|---|
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| Genre | Action Detective fiction |
| Created by | Richard Levinson William Link |
| Developed by | Bruce Geller |
| Starring | Mike Connors Joseph Campanella (season 1) Gail Fisher (seasons 2–8) |
| Theme music composer | Lalo Schifrin |
| Composers | Lalo Schifrin Lyn Murray Leith Stevens Joseph Mullendore Richard Shores Richard Hazard |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of seasons | 8 |
| No. of episodes | 194(list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Camera setup | Single-camera |
| Running time | approx. 50 minutes |
| Production companies | Desilu Productions (1967–1968) (season 1) Paramount Television (1968–1975) (seasons 1–8) |
| Original release | |
| Network | CBS |
| Release | September 16, 1967 (1967-09-16) – April 13, 1975 (1975-04-13) |
Mannix is an Americandetective television series that originally aired for eight seasons onCBS from September 16, 1967, to April 13, 1975. The show was created byRichard Levinson andWilliam Link, and developed byexecutive producerBruce Geller. The title character, Joe Mannix, is aprivate investigator played by actorMike Connors.
During the first season of the series, Joe Mannix works for a large Los Angelesdetective agency called Intertect, which was the planned original title of the show.[1] His superior is Lew Wickersham, played byJoseph Campanella. Intertect uses computers to help solve crimes.[2]
As opposed to the other employees, Mannix belonged to the classic Americandetective archetype, thus usually ignoring the computers' solutions, disobeying his boss's orders, and setting out to do things his own way. He wears plaid sport coats and has his own office that he keeps sloppy between his assignments. Wickersham has cameras throughout the Intertect offices to monitor employee performance, and provides immediate feedback via intercom. Unlike other Intertect operatives, Mannix attempts to block the camera with a coat rack and questions Wickersham, comparing him toBig Brother.[3]
To improve the show's ratings, Desilu headLucille Ball and producer Bruce Geller[4] made changes for the show to be more similar to other private-eye shows. Ball thought stories featuring computers were too high-tech and beyond the comprehension of the average viewer of the time, so the focus of the show changed. In the first episode of season two, Mannix explains that he had quit Intertect. From the second season on, Mannix worked on his own, with the assistance of his loyal secretary Peggy Fair, a police officer's widow played byGail Fisher, one of the first black actresses featured in a regular series role.
Mannix gains a working relationship with the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), and often exchanges information with his contacts there. The first of these to have a featured role was Lieutenant George Kramer, portrayed byLarry Linville, who had been Peggy's late husband's LAPD partner.[5] Over the course of the series, Mannix's most frequent LAPD contact is Lieutenant Art Malcolm, played byWard Wood. Another semiregular guest, although not as frequent, wasRobert Reed, whose appearances as Lieutenant Adam Tobias coincided with his tenure onThe Brady Bunch, also produced by Paramount Television.[6]
Jack Ging played another Mannix contact, Lieutenant Dan Ives, who made several appearances later in the series. Yet another LAPD contact was Lieutenant Dave Angstrom, played byFrank Campanella (real-life brother of Joseph Campanella). In the 1969 season, he also employs the services of a competitive private investigator, Albie Loos (performed byJoe Mantell), as a sort of investigative gofer. In the 1972 season, Albie returns, played by a different actor (Milton Selzer).
WhileMannix was not generally known as a show that explored socially relevant topics, several episodes had topical themes. Season two had episodes featuring compulsive gambling,[7] deaf and blind characters who were instrumental in solving cases in spite of their physical limitations,[8][9] and episodes that focused on racism against Blacks and Hispanics.[10][11][12] Season four had an episode focusing on the effects ofCTE on a formerboxing champion.[13] Season five had an episode focusing on the effects ofalcoholism and an episode aboutfragging.[14][15] Season six had an episode focusing on the effects that theVietnam War had on returningveterans, including the effects ofPTSD.[16] Season eight had an episode focusing on a rape-induced pregnancy.[17]
Joseph R. "Joe" Mannix is a regular guy, without pretense, who has a store of proverbs on which to rely in conversation. What demons he has mostly come from having fought in theU.S. Army during theKorean War, where as an Airborne Ranger Lieutenant he led a twelve-man team operating behind enemy lines for three months before being captured by the Chinese Communists;[18][19] he was initially listed as MIA[20] while interned as aprisoner of war in a brutal POW camp, until he escaped.[18] Over the length of the series, a sizable percentage of his old Army comrades turn out to have homicidal impulses against him,[18][21][22][23][24][25] as does his fellow running back from his college football days.[26][a]
During the series, Mannix is also revealed to have worked as amercenary in Latin America.[27] Like the actor Mike Connors who played the title role, Mannix is ofArmenian descent, and speaks fluentArmenian from time to time during the series,[20][28][29][30] as well as conversational Spanish.[12]
Mannix is notable for the high level of physical punishment he withstands. During the course of the series, he is shot and wounded over a dozen separate times, and knocked unconscious around 55 times.[31] He frequently takes brutal beatings to the abdomen; some of these went on quite a long time, particularly by the television standards of the era. Whenever he gets into one of hisconvertibles (in season one, Mannix drove a customizedOldsmobile Toronado, replete with a panoramic rear-view mirror; in seasons 2–6, he drove a 1968Dodge Dart GTS 340 or 1970-73Plymouth Barracudas; in the final season, he drove aChevrolet Camaro), he can expect to be shot at or run off the road by another car or find his vehicle sabotaged. Nevertheless, he keeps his cool and perseveres until his antagonists are brought down.
While making thetelevision pilot "The Name Is Mannix", Connors dislocated his shoulder running away during aFrom Russia with Love–type helicopter pursuit,[1][6] and broke his left wrist punching a stuntman who happened to be wearing a steel plate on his back. This character aspect was lampooned multiple times by radio comediansBob and Ray, with "Blimmix" beginning as being portrayed as dim-witted, and ending with Blimmix being soundly beaten by his adversary. These parodies retained the theme song composed by Lalo Schifrin at the beginning and conclusion.[32]
Starting in season two, Mannix lives and works inWest Los Angeles in a mixed-use development called Paseo Verde; his home at 17 Paseo Verde has an attached office from which he runs his agency. The design for the 17 Paseo Verde set is based on a Santa Barbara, California, building that still exists.
Mannix grew up in a town called Summer Grove, where he was a star football and basketball player. Summer Grove had a thriving Armenian immigrant community. As of 1969, Mannix's mother had died 10 years earlier, and Mannix had not been back to the town since the funeral. Mannix's estranged father, Stefan (played byVictor Jory), was still living in Summer Grove, and Mannix and his father started a reconciliation.[20] When Mannix returns to Summer Grove for a case three years later, he and his father are on good terms.[29]
Following military service in the Korean War, Mannix attended Western Pacific University on theGI Bill, graduated in 1955, and obtained his private investigator's license in 1956. He has a black belt in karate.[33] Throughout the series, he appears proficient in a variety of athletic pursuits, including sailing, horseback riding, and skiing. He is an accomplished pool player, plays golf regularly, and is also a skilled airplane pilot. In the first season, he carries aWalther PP semiautomatic pistol. From the second season on, Mannix carries aColt Detective Specialsnubnosed revolver in.38 Special caliber.[34]
In 1971, Connors guest-starred on an episode ofHere's Lucy entitled "Lucy and Mannix Are Held Hostage".[35]
In 1997, Connors reprised the role of Mannix in an episode ofDiagnosis: Murder titled "Hard-Boiled Murder", which served as a sequel to the 1973Mannix episode "Little Girl Lost".[36] Several other actors from the oldMannix episode also reprised their roles.
In a comic reference to Mannix's famous history of serious injuries and repeated concussions, the show portrayed the main character ofDiagnosis: Murder, Dr. Mark Sloan (Dick Van Dyke), as Mannix's longtime physician who advises him to avoid concussions. This draws a sardonic response from Mannix that he'd had "more than his share" of concussions and other injuries during his active career.
Mannix was referred to several times inMystery Science Theater 3000 episodes when a foot chase or a fight occurred.
Gary Morton, Lucille Ball's second husband and head of Desilu Studios, noticed a 1937Bentley convertible being driven by Mike Connors. A car enthusiast, Morton began talking about cars to Connors, when he remembered a Desilu detective show coming up in which he thought Connors would do well.[37]
Mannix was initially a production ofDesilu Productions, which had been purchased byGulf + Western earlier in 1967. During the first season, Gulf + Western integrated Desilu's operations into itsParamount Pictures subsidiary, and the company becameParamount Television. The series featured a dynamic split-screen opening credits sequence set to theme music from noted composerLalo Schifrin. Unusual for a private detective series, theMannix theme is intriple time, the same signature used forwaltzes.
The show'stitle card,opening credits, and closingcredits roll are set in variations of theCitytypeface, a squared-off, split-serif face that was long used byIBM Corporation as part of their corporate design and still appears in their logo. This refers to the computers used by Intertect in the first season. The dot over the "i" in Mannix had the appearance of a computer tape reel. This was removed after the first season.
Over the life of the series, several famous entertainers were featured in one-time roles, includingNeil Diamond andBuffalo Springfield as themselves andLou Rawls as a club singer,Rich Little as an impressionist, andMilton Berle as a stand-up comedian. Essay humoristArt Buchwald also had a cameo role unrelated to journalism, and in another episode,Rona Barrett played herself.
Mannix finished its eighth season in the top 20 in the Nielsen ratings and plans were made for a ninth season. Mike Connors said that he had been told at a CBS network party the week before the network was to release its 1975 fall schedule that the show was a certain pickup. The reason for the cancellation was that competing network ABC, looking to improve its ratings, began contacting production companies in an attempt to purchase rebroadcast rights for various series. At the time, ABC and Paramount had a fairly successful relationship. ABC approached Paramount with an offer to purchase the rights to rebroadcast older episodes ofMannix as part of their late-night lineup, which they agreed to do.
CBS was unhappy with the move, as Paramount had not informed them of what they were planning to do. The idea of having one of their series airing on a competing network, even if it was only in reruns, turned the tide of opinion againstMannix, as CBS felt viewers would stay away from the newer episodes airing on their network since they could watch the series on a competitor. Thus, when CBS released its schedule a few days later,Mannix was not a part of it. Connors found out about the cancellation through a phone call, with a reporter contacting him asking for comment. Connors said in a later interview, "I felt so lost when it was over."[38]
The automobile was a focus of Mannix's professional life, and he had several of them as his personal vehicle in the eight-year run of the series. Those were:
Though a 1969 Dart was built by Barris to replicate this car in the show's 1969 season, the 1968 Dart was regularly seen during the 1969 season. (In the 1969 episode "A Penny for the Peep Show", both the 1968 and 1969 Darts are used in the same shot, to elude a police tail on Mannix, but no explanation in the episode was given for why or how two identically customized green Dart convertibles show up together.)
In further tracing the car's history, the 1968 Dart was reportedly sold to a secretary at Paramount Studios and then was lost for decades until being discovered near a ranger station in the Southern California mountains. It has since been restored to its original Mannix/Barris condition and was featured in HemmingsMuscle Machines, December 2009 issue.
The 1968Mannix Dart and its intriguing history were also featured on the TV showDrive on Discovery HD Theater in 2010. The TV show reunited the car with Mike Connors for the first time in over 40 years.[1]
The car is currently owned by C. Van Tune, former editor-in-chief ofMotor Trend magazine, who conducted the TV interview with Mike Connors and who also wrote an article on theMannix Dart for the summer 2011 issue ofMotor Trend Classic magazine. In that article, the Dart is reunited with Mike Connors, George Barris, and Mannixstuntman Dick Ziker.
Another article on the famous Dart was published in the October 2011 issue ofMopar Action magazine. An article in theNew York Times (July 22, 2012) included information on the 1968Mannix Dart and a recent photo of Mike Connors with the car. TheMannix Dart was also mentioned on Sirius/XM Radio's "60s on 6" channel by disc jockey Mike Kelly.
In October 2016, the car magazinePower & Performance News[2] published an article on the 1968 "Mannix" Dart, written by C. Van Tune.
Peggy Fair's cars were less prominent, but in seasons two through eight, they included aSimca 1000,Simca 1204 hatchback,Dodge Colt hardtop, and finally aChevrolet Vega hatchback.
| Season | Episodes | Originally released | Rank | Rating | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First released | Last released | |||||
| 1 | 24 | September 16, 1967 (1967-09-16) | March 16, 1968 (1968-03-16) | 58 | N/a | |
| 2 | 25 | September 28, 1968 (1968-09-28) | April 12, 1969 (1969-04-12) | 42 | N/a | |
| 3 | 25 | September 27, 1969 (1969-09-27) | March 21, 1970 (1970-03-21) | 30 | 19.9 | |
| 4 | 24 | September 19, 1970 (1970-09-19) | March 13, 1971 (1971-03-13) | 17 | 21.3 | |
| 5 | 24 | September 15, 1971 (1971-09-15) | March 8, 1972 (1972-03-08) | 7 | 24.8 | |
| 6 | 24 | September 17, 1972 (1972-09-17) | March 11, 1973 (1973-03-11) | 42 | N/a | |
| 7 | 24 | September 16, 1973 (1973-09-16) | March 31, 1974 (1974-03-31) | 31 | N/a | |
| 8 | 24 | September 22, 1974 (1974-09-22) | April 13, 1975 (1975-04-13) | 20 | 21.6[b] | |
Mannix featured hundreds of guest stars:
For his work onMannix, Mike Connors was nominated for sixGolden Globe Awards, winning once, and for fourEmmy Awards. Gail Fisher was nominated for four Emmy Awards, winning once, and for three Golden Globe Awards, winning twice.
The series was twice nominated for theEmmy Award for Best Dramatic Series, and four times for the Golden Globe Award, winning once. In 1972, writer Mann Rubin won anEdgar Award from theMystery Writers of America for the episode "A Step in Time".
Lalo Schifrin composed the music for the series. The theme "Mannix", with the B-side "End Game", was released as a single in 1969.[40] Unusually for a hard-boiled detective show, Schifrin wrote the theme song as a jazz waltz, in 3/4 time.[41]
In May 2011, Connors filed suit in Los Angeles Superior Court against Paramount and CBS Television Studios, claiming that he was never paid royalties from theMannix series.[42] With the release of the series on DVD, the case was later settled out of court in November of that year.[43]
CBS Home Entertainment (distributed byParamount) has released all eight seasons ofMannix on DVD in Region 1.
On May 9, 2017, CBS DVD releasedMannix- The Complete Series on DVD in Region 1.[44]
In Region 4,Shock has released the first three seasons on DVD in Australia.
| DVD Name | Ep # | Release dates | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Region 1 | Region 4 | ||
| The First Season | 24 | June 3, 2008 | August 10, 2010 |
| The Second Season | 25 | January 6, 2009 | October 12, 2010 |
| The Third Season | 25 | October 27, 2009 | February 9, 2011 |
| The Fourth Season | 24 | January 4, 2011 | N/A |
| The Fifth Season | 24 | July 5, 2011 | N/A |
| The Sixth Season | 24 | January 24, 2012 | N/A |
| The Seventh Season | 24 | July 3, 2012 | N/A |
| The Eighth and Final Season | 24 | December 4, 2012 | N/A |
| The Complete Series | 194 | May 9, 2017 | N/A |
CBS Television Distribution holds the distribution rights forMannix, but only distributes a package of 130 episodes to local stations. The first and eighth seasons are not part of the package, nor are several episodes from season seven.[45]
The program currently airs onMeTV as part of its late-night lineup and has also aired on its sister networkH&I; all 194 episodes ofMannix have aired on both networks.
It has also been broadcast onFETV from 2021 to 2023.
Mannix was, by one count, shot 17 times and knocked unconscious another 55 during the show's eight-year run, and how great is that?
