Mannix

[Little Garwood]

Well, Two-Face is one of the most tragic/tortured and sombre villains in the world of Batman. Nothing at all like the clown that Tommy Lee Jones played in BATMAN FOREVER. Aaron Eckhart was much closer in THE DARK KNIGHT. But the ultimate Two-Face was of course in BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES in the 90s, voiced by NIGHT COURT's Richard Moll. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgwKMzZ7UFw

That said, since we're talking about the Adam West version then of course we're in camp territory. So I guess why not Clu Gulager? Or anyone else for that matter.

When he did Batman Forever, Tommy Lee Jones was riding his post-Oscar-winning, overexposure wave. He had no clue as to the character or anything related to Batman; his performance proved that. It's a shame, because he has oftentimes proven to be a brilliant actor.

Other than the superb Batman: The Animated Series, which I watched with enthusiasm at the time while in my early 20s, the 1990s must have been an awful time to be a kid, what with being in the line of fire of so much garbage and not being allowed to play outdoors without adult supervision. It was the complete opposite of what anyone's childhood was like in the decades preceding it.

[ZelenskyTheValiant (Ivan)]

Well, Two-Face is one of the most tragic/tortured and sombre villains in the world of Batman. Nothing at all like the clown that Tommy Lee Jones played in BATMAN FOREVER. Aaron Eckhart was much closer in THE DARK KNIGHT. But the ultimate Two-Face was of course in BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES in the 90s, voiced by NIGHT COURT's Richard Moll. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgwKMzZ7UFw

That said, since we're talking about the Adam West version then of course we're in camp territory. So I guess why not Clu Gulager? Or anyone else for that matter.

When he did Batman Forever, Tommy Lee Jones was riding his post-Oscar-winning, overexposure wave. He had no clue as to the character or anything related to Batman; his performance proved that. It's a shame, because he has oftentimes proven to be a brilliant actor.

Yep, there was the streak for Tommy Lee Jones which started in the early 90s -- JFK, UNDER SIEGE, THE FUGITIVE, BLOWN AWAY, THE CLIENT, BATMAN FOREVER, MEN IN BLACK (and later its sequel, the appeal of these films eludes me to this day), U.S. MARSHALS (a sequel to The Fugitive, which was inevitable and which I enjoyed very much), DOUBLE JEOPARDY, etc. Seems like he was everywhere at the time (compared to the 80s where he seemed to be a more obscure actor, even though he'd been acting since the late 70s). Like you said, he was a very good actor but perhaps there was a bit too much of him and certainly his casting for Two-Face was all wrong. Or I should say maybe he could have done the part IF anyone actually bothered to research what the character was all about. As it turned out, he was basically trying to out-clown Jim Carrey's Riddler - another awful casting choice! The Riddler is not a Joker-esque clown! It's like everyone in that film was trying to play the Joker for whatever crazy reason. I'll just blame Joel Schumacher for that whole debacle, as well as the next film. Yikes!

the 1990s must have been an awful time to be a kid, what with being in the line of fire of so much garbage and not being allowed to play outdoors without adult supervision. It was the complete opposite of what anyone's childhood was like in the decades preceding it.

Oh I don't know. We were certainly allowed to play outside unsupervised in the 90s. We were latchkey kids. Both parents were at work. We left for school on our own in the mornings and came home alone in the afternoons. Parents didn't come home until like 2 hours later or more. We could either stay inside and watch the afternoon cartoons (BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES was a must-watch for me!) or go play outside with the other kids. But you're right about some of the garbage that was fired at us. Remember POWER RANGERS???? Oh I hated that show! Ironically that was the time all the other kids on our street were inside watching that crap. I was the only one outside during that half hour. I just could never understand the appeal of that show. Even back then it seemed so stupid to me. Maybe I was ahead of the curve?

[Little Garwood]

After graduating high school in 1989, I remember riding my bike around the olde childhood neighborhood and noticing how there were none of the younger kids out and about like how my generation used to be. It was a blast of cold water to the face how things had changed and continue to be. It's refreshing to learn that you and your friends were able to enjoy the great suburban outdoors, but it never happened in my neck of the woods (now known as DeSantis country!) by the time I was a teen.

Tommy Lee Jones is a great actor, but he was everywhere in the '90s, and not always to the best of his ability. I share your enthusiasm for US Marshals, though it's no classic. The film does sport a fine Jerry Goldsmith score, though.

[ZelenskyTheValiant (Ivan)]

It's refreshing to learn that you and your friends were able to enjoy the great suburban outdoors.

Well, actually it was the city outdoors. We weren't in the suburbs back then. Not exactly inner city, but still the city. There was a park nearby so it wasn't all concrete jungle, luckily.

Tommy Lee Jones is a great actor, but he was everywhere in the '90s, and not always to the best of his ability. I share your enthusiasm for US Marshals, though it's no classic. The film does sport a fine Jerry Goldsmith score, though.

Oh yeah, everything Goldsmith touched back in the day was just great! It's funny but even his "lesser" scores (considered lesser because many of them belonged to generic action films of the day) stand head and shoulders above the "popular" or Oscar-winning scores of today. The scores of today are just sooooooo bland. Just ambient sounds which are supposed to convey some type of mood, but in reality they do nothing. Can't hum it, can't enjoy it, can't even recollect it.

Just pick a random Goldsmith action score from the 90... say... EXECUTIVE DECISION and you're bound to enjoy it. Just because it's Goldsmith. He just had that touch. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_7WfjXOUII
I'm not even talking about the more well-known or more popular action scores he did like AIR FORCE ONE or the RAMBO films, which are classics.

[Little Garwood]

Jerry Goldsmith and Mannix composer Jerry Fielding imo did some of their best work for TV. On Mission: Impossible, Fielding even managed to sound like himself while simultaneously creating cues adhering to the musical template initiated by Lalo Schifrin.

[ZelenskyTheValiant (Ivan)]

I just finished season 1 of MANNIX a few weeks ago. It only took me a few years. I started the series a few years back and somewhere along the middle of season 1 got sidetracked by other stuff. Didn't return to pick up where I left off until this summer. It's a fine show which I enjoyed a great deal. I understand the show only gets better going forward, with Joe Mannix working solo and not for the high-tech Intertect corporation. I have seen the later episodes here and there (the Joe flying solo + Peggy episodes) and enjoyed them a great deal as well. 3 episodes in particular that I must point out can hang high with some of the best episodes of any 70s TV detective/cop series. "The Silent Cry" opens the second season with a deaf-mute witness to a crime (played by a real-life deaf-mute actress), "Cold Trail" has some great skiing action on the slopes along with a kidnapping and car chase that can rival any big-screen car chase of the 70s, and "The Empty Tower" has Joe and Bill Bixby trapped by criminals in an empty building on a Sunday, with a great twist at the end and a shocking fall from a great height (basically this episode is a precursor to the classic DIE HARD).

I look forward to seeing more of this fine detective series. Of course I've already seen a few of the episodes where Joe faces an old Korean War buddy from the past who comes back as a psycho to kill Mannix. I think this plot line is a running gag in this series. How many of these psychos did he serve with??? The other running gag is Joe always coming across some sleepy unfriendly town which seems to be harboring some secret. Season 1 had one ("Huntdown") and I've read that there are dozens more like this one. Which is fine by me because I've always liked that type of story. Also I saw the one where Joe's car breaks down in the middle of nowhere and he stumbles onto a hideaway for killers/assassins. Frank Langella and John Hillerman are baddies in that one. That was also an excellent later episode.

[Luther's nephew Dobie]

I decided to post the below here as it offers valuable background for Mannix and in the It Got By The Censor/In-Joke thread as it also describes an elaborate in joke.


Stephen Bowie wrote about Mannix's - first year - origin story in the May 27, 2014 issue of the AV CLUB Newsletter. Below is an excerpt.
Bowie has own Classic TV blog about television which is superb. For my money he is the best -

Titled "The long-running private eye series Mannix was brutal, stylish comfort food"

But Mannix began as something much less high-concept: an intellectual take on the private-eye genre from William Link and Richard Levinson, the creators of Columbo.
During its first season—so different from what followed that it was usually excluded from syndication—Joe Mannix worked for a large, efficiency-oriented private-detective firm, whose operatives
were valued less than the firm’s gigantic crime-solving data center.
Mannix, an ex-cop, took an intuitive, old-school approach that put him at odds with the head of Intertect, Lew Wickersham (Joseph Campanella).
Man versus machine: Joe Mannix was John Henry and the steam hammer was a computer.
Intertect, as Link and Levinson originally titled the show, was meant as an allegory, in which the familiar cloak of the mystery genre would conceal a critique of soulless, modern corporate life.

Wickersham’s name was a pun on that of Hollywood mogul Lew Wasserman and also Lankershim Boulevard, where sat the main entrance to Universal Studios.
In 1959, Universal had been acquired by MCA, a talent agency with a reputation for ruthlessness.
Its agents, many of whom became Universal executives, wore uniform black suits and ties, and MCA president Wasserman was known for his scary bursts of temper and his always-empty
desk (paper was for underlings).
By the late ’60s, Universal was the biggest television factory in the industry; it conducted business out of an ominous glass-walled slab nicknamed “The Black Tower,” and was the first
studio to keep track of its employees using computer punch cards.
Link and Levinson, who had written for Alfred Hitchcock Presents there, incorporated all of these details into the original format of Mannix, making Intertect a rich inside joke.

[ZelenskyTheValiant (Ivan)]

I decided to post the below here as it offers valuable background for Mannix and in the It Got By The Censor/In-Joke thread as it also describes an elaborate in joke.


Stephen Bowie wrote about Mannix's - first year - origin story in the May 27, 2014 issue of the AV CLUB Newsletter. Below is an excerpt.
Bowie has own Classic TV blog about television which is superb. For my money he is the best -

Titled "The long-running private eye series Mannix was brutal, stylish comfort food"

But Mannix began as something much less high-concept: an intellectual take on the private-eye genre from William Link and Richard Levinson, the creators of Columbo.
During its first season—so different from what followed that it was usually excluded from syndication—Joe Mannix worked for a large, efficiency-oriented private-detective firm, whose operatives
were valued less than the firm’s gigantic crime-solving data center.
Mannix, an ex-cop, took an intuitive, old-school approach that put him at odds with the head of Intertect, Lew Wickersham (Joseph Campanella).
Man versus machine: Joe Mannix was John Henry and the steam hammer was a computer.
Intertect, as Link and Levinson originally titled the show, was meant as an allegory, in which the familiar cloak of the mystery genre would conceal a critique of soulless, modern corporate life.

Wickersham’s name was a pun on that of Hollywood mogul Lew Wasserman and also Lankershim Boulevard, where sat the main entrance to Universal Studios.
In 1959, Universal had been acquired by MCA, a talent agency with a reputation for ruthlessness.
Its agents, many of whom became Universal executives, wore uniform black suits and ties, and MCA president Wasserman was known for his scary bursts of temper and his always-empty
desk (paper was for underlings).
By the late ’60s, Universal was the biggest television factory in the industry; it conducted business out of an ominous glass-walled slab nicknamed “The Black Tower,” and was the first
studio to keep track of its employees using computer punch cards.
Link and Levinson, who had written for Alfred Hitchcock Presents there, incorporated all of these details into the original format of Mannix, making Intertect a rich inside joke.

Yep I heard about that swipe at Wasserman with the whole Intertect/Wickersham thing. Wonder what he thought about all this? Did he hate the show?

[Ornithologist]

Greetings, everyone.

After intensely googling one of my favorite shows of all time, Mannix, I've come across this thread and what better way than to have in a forums website that celebrates one of the greatest television shows of all time, Magnum, P.I. (which I've seen in full for at least three times). Of course, as this thread is solely about Mannix, I've been reading a lot of comments here detailing members' experiences and opinions with the show which put a smile on my face.

Mind you, Mannix ended its run 20 years before my time, so you could say I'm a young fan (but not that young, if being a 30 year old counts for something). Of course, me pursuing the show has a lot to do with Mike Connors himself whom I consider a "paisan" - both of us are of Armenian descent so I find that quite endearing since he's the only Armenian-American action hero (if you'd call it that) so far. That isn't the only factor, though: I'm a huge fan of everything 1960s (excluding the mod culture, hippies and the so-called "counter-culture"; nothing against them, just not my scene) which started with my admiration for the classic James Bond films, multiple spy shows that came out during the spy craze of the 60s and the EuroSpy movies that hilariously (and sometimes compellingly) ape the Bond movies themselves. So, that's a little background.

Have I mentioned my love for Lalo Schifrin's 60s and 70s works? It's criminal, in my opinion, that to this day, Mannix hasn't had its full score released, unlike Mission: Impossible. I'm a huge fan of Jazz and easy listening music which really inspires me as an aspiring writer who refuses to live in the present day (and I don't apologize for it) but embraces the pop culture of the olden days. Say, a lot of people would watch something like Bosch (and rightfully so), I'm a guy who'd stick with the likes of Mannix, Peter Gunn, Magnum, P.I., Kojak, Hawaii Five-O, Columbo and currently, I'm watching Tightrope! for the first time ever.

It's a treat finding a place to belong. I tip my hat off to a lot of members here whose comments are quite insightful and entertaining (there was this one comment detailing Mannix's traits in here that actually made me chuckle because they were true).

Looking forward to discussing the show with you folks. I'll also pop up on other threads, of course, since they're all right up my alley.

Cheers!

[ZelenskyTheValiant (Ivan)]

Double post, sorry. Can't delete it.

[ZelenskyTheValiant (Ivan)]

Greetings, everyone.

After intensely googling one of my favorite shows of all time, Mannix, I've come across this thread and what better way than to have in a forums website that celebrates one of the greatest television shows of all time, Magnum, P.I. (which I've seen in full for at least three times). Of course, as this thread is solely about Mannix, I've been reading a lot of comments here detailing members' experiences and opinions with the show which put a smile on my face.

Mind you, Mannix ended its run 20 years before my time, so you could say I'm a young fan (but not that young, if being a 30 year old counts for something). Of course, me pursuing the show has a lot to do with Mike Connors himself whom I consider a "paisan" - both of us are of Armenian descent so I find that quite endearing since he's the only Armenian-American action hero (if you'd call it that) so far. That isn't the only factor, though: I'm a huge fan of everything 1960s (excluding the mod culture, hippies and the so-called "counter-culture"; nothing against them, just not my scene) which started with my admiration for the classic James Bond films, multiple spy shows that came out during the spy craze of the 60s and the EuroSpy movies that hilariously (and sometimes compellingly) ape the Bond movies themselves. So, that's a little background.

Have I mentioned my love for Lalo Schifrin's 60s and 70s works? It's criminal, in my opinion, that to this day, Mannix hasn't had its full score released, unlike Mission: Impossible. I'm a huge fan of Jazz and easy listening music which really inspires me as an aspiring writer who refuses to live in the present day (and I don't apologize for it) but embraces the pop culture of the olden days. Say, a lot of people would watch something like Bosch (and rightfully so), I'm a guy who'd stick with the likes of Mannix, Peter Gunn, Magnum, P.I., Kojak, Hawaii Five-O, Columbo and currently, I'm watching Tightrope! for the first time ever.

It's a treat finding a place to belong. I tip my hat off to a lot of members here whose comments are quite insightful and entertaining (there was this one comment detailing Mannix's traits in here that actually made me chuckle because they were true).

Looking forward to discussing the show with you folks. I'll also pop up on other threads, of course, since they're all right up my alley.

Cheers!

Welcome to these boards, Ornithologist. Are you a lover of birds or does your name have anything to with James Bond and the birds of the west indies by Ian Fleming?

Hey, if you love classic television and especially the 60s then you've come to the right place. One of the best decades for film and television! Like you I am a huge James Bond fan, especially the Cubby Broccoli era (1962-1989) and especially the Connery and Moore films. Endlessly stylish and entertaining. Not the hum-drum that we get today. Films and television of today hold zero interest for me. The last "modern" television show that I was really into was "24" (with Kiefer Sutherland) and even that's already more than 20 years since it debuted. But TV shows of today in general are just dark, joyless, and depressing with story arcs that go on and on and needless subplots that distract from the main story. And then there's all those remakes of classics that can't hold a candle to the originals. So it's no wonder that most of us here (myself especially) basically live in the past when it comes to movies and television (and music too). It's a joy to watch a weekly show with self-contained plots that have no distracting subplots and that wrap things up nicely at the end and put a smile on your face. Old-school acting, old-school filming, story-telling, music all combine to create a mood that modern stuff can't give you. You mentioned Lalo Schifrin - he's a legend. Both on the small and big screen. They don't make 'em like they used to. Also Morton Stevens, Richard Shores, Don Ray all gave us some fantastic music for my all-time favorite HAWAII FIVE-O. The original, of course. Not the crappy remake. But yeah you can't beat the good old days, whether it's crime dramas like Five-O, Mannix, Streets of San Francisco, Columbo, Kojak, Rockford Files, Harry-O or my favorite westerns like Bonanza or The Big Valley or spy fare (Mission: Impossible being an absolute highlight) nothing today can compare.

And just going back to Bond in the 60s, man, I remember when I first saw Dr. No and Goldfinger (rented them from a local library on VHS in the summer of 2001) those two just made my imagination go wild. I thought Connery as Bond was the single coolest thing I had ever witnessed. To this day I think he's unsurpassed when it comes to the ultimate leading man/hero. Forget the spandex wearing superheroes of today. Bond WAS the man! Connery WAS the coolest! I think it was seeing those 2 films that not only made me an Anglophile for a while but just made me fall in love with 60s cinema and 60s television and the styles of the decade and just the whole spy genre. At that time I thought being a British spy had to be the coolest thing ever. I often think I was born in the wrong decade. I mean I was born in the 80s and love all things 60s, 70s, and 80s but I would sooner sit down and watch something in black and white from the 40s and 50s than something from today. I'm only about 10 years older than you so hardly an old geezer to be rewatching reruns of old shows and movies. Most folks my age and older are watching the latest stuff that's out today and not looking back at stuff from 50-60 years ago. But I am and have been doing it for pretty much as long as I can remember. As a young teen in the 90s I'd be rewatching reruns of The Andy Griffith Show and it didn't phase me a bit that I was watching something in black and white from the 60s instead of something like Seinfeld or Friends which was all the rage back then.

So yes, welcome to these boards. The coolest place to be.

[Ornithologist]

Greetings, everyone.

After intensely googling one of my favorite shows of all time, Mannix, I've come across this thread and what better way than to have in a forums website that celebrates one of the greatest television shows of all time, Magnum, P.I. (which I've seen in full for at least three times). Of course, as this thread is solely about Mannix, I've been reading a lot of comments here detailing members' experiences and opinions with the show which put a smile on my face.

Mind you, Mannix ended its run 20 years before my time, so you could say I'm a young fan (but not that young, if being a 30 year old counts for something). Of course, me pursuing the show has a lot to do with Mike Connors himself whom I consider a "paisan" - both of us are of Armenian descent so I find that quite endearing since he's the only Armenian-American action hero (if you'd call it that) so far. That isn't the only factor, though: I'm a huge fan of everything 1960s (excluding the mod culture, hippies and the so-called "counter-culture"; nothing against them, just not my scene) which started with my admiration for the classic James Bond films, multiple spy shows that came out during the spy craze of the 60s and the EuroSpy movies that hilariously (and sometimes compellingly) ape the Bond movies themselves. So, that's a little background.

Have I mentioned my love for Lalo Schifrin's 60s and 70s works? It's criminal, in my opinion, that to this day, Mannix hasn't had its full score released, unlike Mission: Impossible. I'm a huge fan of Jazz and easy listening music which really inspires me as an aspiring writer who refuses to live in the present day (and I don't apologize for it) but embraces the pop culture of the olden days. Say, a lot of people would watch something like Bosch (and rightfully so), I'm a guy who'd stick with the likes of Mannix, Peter Gunn, Magnum, P.I., Kojak, Hawaii Five-O, Columbo and currently, I'm watching Tightrope! for the first time ever.

It's a treat finding a place to belong. I tip my hat off to a lot of members here whose comments are quite insightful and entertaining (there was this one comment detailing Mannix's traits in here that actually made me chuckle because they were true).

Looking forward to discussing the show with you folks. I'll also pop up on other threads, of course, since they're all right up my alley.

Cheers!

Welcome to these boards, Ornithologist. Are you a lover of birds or does your name have anything to with James Bond and the birds of the west indies by Ian Fleming?

Hey, if you love classic television and especially the 60s then you've come to the right place. One of the best decades for film and television! Like you I am a huge James Bond fan, especially the Cubby Broccoli era (1962-1989) and especially the Connery and Moore films. Endlessly stylish and entertaining. Not the hum-drum that we get today. Films and television of today hold zero interest for me. The last "modern" television show that I was really into was "24" (with Kiefer Sutherland) and even that's already more than 20 years since it debuted. But TV shows of today in general are just dark, joyless, and depressing with story arcs that go on and on and needless subplots that distract from the main story. And then there's all those remakes of classics that can't hold a candle to the originals. So it's no wonder that most of us here (myself especially) basically live in the past when it comes to movies and television (and music too). It's a joy to watch a weekly show with self-contained plots that have no distracting subplots and that wrap things up nicely at the end and put a smile on your face. Old-school acting, old-school filming, story-telling, music all combine to create a mood that modern stuff can't give you. You mentioned Lalo Schifrin - he's a legend. Both on the small and big screen. They don't make 'em like they used to. Also Morton Stevens, Richard Shores, Don Ray all gave us some fantastic music for my all-time favorite HAWAII FIVE-O. The original, of course. Not the crappy remake. But yeah you can't beat the good old days, whether it's crime dramas like Five-O, Mannix, Streets of San Francisco, Columbo, Kojak, Rockford Files, Harry-O or my favorite westerns like Bonanza or The Big Valley or spy fare (Mission: Impossible being an absolute highlight) nothing today can compare.

And just going back to Bond in the 60s, man, I remember when I first saw Dr. No and Goldfinger (rented them from a local library on VHS in the summer of 2001) those two just made my imagination go wild. I thought Connery as Bond was the single coolest thing I had ever witnessed. To this day I think he's unsurpassed when it comes to the ultimate leading man/hero. Forget the spandex wearing superheroes of today. Bond WAS the man! Connery WAS the coolest! I think it was seeing those 2 films that not only made me an Anglophile for a while but just made me fall in love with 60s cinema and 60s television and the styles of the decade and just the whole spy genre. At that time I thought being a British spy had to be the coolest thing ever. I often think I was born in the wrong decade. I mean I was born in the 80s and love all things 60s, 70s, and 80s but I would sooner sit down and watch something in black and white from the 40s and 50s than something from today. I'm only about 10 years older than you so hardly an old geezer to be rewatching reruns of old shows and movies. Most folks my age and older are watching the latest stuff that's out today and not looking back at stuff from 50-60 years ago. But I am and have been doing it for pretty much as long as I can remember. As a young teen in the 90s I'd be rewatching reruns of The Andy Griffith Show and it didn't phase me a bit that I was watching something in black and white from the 60s instead of something like Seinfeld or Friends which was all the rage back then.

So yes, welcome to these boards. The coolest place to be.

You, sir, are definitely a man of culture. I do have fondness for birds, but they're not of the aves avitium species, if you do catch my drift, just like the namesake of the author who penned The Birds of the West Indies.

I have to agree with you regarding the 60s being the best decade of television - but then again, pop culture was at its peak in that one. Most people nowadays yearn for the geeky synth wave culture of the 1980s but they don't attract me in any sense or form. I'm cut from the cloth of the kind who'd rather watch suit-clad action heroes who eloquently express themselves while knocking you down like combat enforcers, attract the most beautiful women and pull them with their charm and one-liner quips, and listen to Jazz (everything else, like Mannix, is a take it or leave it situation). Regarding James Bond, to me, Sean Connery (but only in his first four films, he was replaced by someone else who bore his name and some resemblance but none of the attitude; a story of comedy that I'll explain later), Roger Moore, and Pierce Brosnan (I'm a very staunch defender of his and his era) are the holy trinity of the Bond franchise in my book. However, I'm very conflicted about calling myself a Bond fan since I'm no longer interested in the franchise in any shape or form, particularly with the fatal blasphemy that was the last film that forever poisoned the well in 2021 along with the rest of his (a certain blond fella) era that's nothing more than an insult to Fleming, Bond, and everything both stood for. But, anyhoo... Story for another day.

It's really nice to see that we millennials have people in our generation who are drawn to these kinds of stuff. I started cultivating myself with the stuff that I'm fairly informed about when I turned 18, starting with the Harry Palmer films with Michael Caine, continuing with Danger Man (Now, this, in my book, is the greatest spy series on television that is still unparalleled), later discovering that not only the show actually started off as "James Bond adaptations on TV" but in its final form (the half-hour episodes, which I refer to as Season 1) actually influenced the Bond series themselves, especially Dr. No and From Russia with Love. They borrowed a lot from the show. The rest is, of course, history. Fast forward from 2011 to 2024, I'm an avid lover of everything spy fiction and anything that resembles the Bond of old (1962-2004). If you haven't by now, you should check out some of the EuroSpy films that really made terrific substitutes for the Bond films of the 60s. I can even type up a list for you and DM them to you.

As for modern shows, boy oh boy, you hit the nail right on the head! And it isn't like I didn't try watching some of them, but Christ! I couldn't stand them. Overlong melodramas, no plot. What I loved about old shows is that the plot came first, characters came second, saving drama for last - Don't mind the drama if it's earned, but if it's not... An example: I attempted to watch The Blacklist with Spader not too long ago since the premise seemed interesting. But, ten episodes in, the melodrama stunk like a fish out of water. Knowing what I know from experience, I knew where it was all headed and I bailed out. However, there are three particularly great shows I can recommend you to see, but they do have subplots like most shows: Burn Notice is one show I was obsessed with as a teen and I still watch the show for a chunk till I know when to stop. Halfway into the fifth season, it loses its magic and becomes that very melodrama that I hate, thus ending up throwing its potential away like a bad habit, only difference is that it wasn't a bad habit. I do a marathon of it up to half of the fifth season and then, I stop, using the cliffhanger to imagine the rest of the show in my head the way I want it in my head-canon. And then, there's the 2010 version of Human Target that's really awesome. Only the first season. Forget the second. The third one is the 2010 reboot of La Femme Nikita, simply called Nikita that, in my opinion, is a vast improvement over the movie by Luc Besson as well as the melodramatic show with Peta Wilson that ran from 1997 to 2001. That's about it.

I've a lot of shows I cling to. Most of the ITC Entertainment series from the 1960s are in my top ten. Danger Man (known as Secret Agent in the US starting with Season 2; actually a retooling of the show serving as a departure from the half-hour episode format), The Saint, The Persuaders! (seventies, yeah), Man in a Suitcase (shame it ran for just one season!), The Baron, and many more. And you know which series they all stylistically bear a resemblance to.

And then, there was the likes of Peter Gunn, Mannix, Mission: Impossible (I stop after the fifth season, again, especially when they turn from spies into undercover cops, basically doing the police's work for them), Kojak, Hawaii Five-O and others. I have to admit that I like both versions of Five-O, but the reboot, like most modern shows, loses its way after killing off Wo Fat. What they did wrong, however, was rebooting the show rather than making legacy sequels. Now, I dream of making a legacy sequel to Mannix myself and have a script ready that I'm trying to shop around. While it's set in the present day, it's as though it wouldn't feel like it as I approach this kind of stuff very conservatively. I'm a traditionalist, what can I say? Not against updates as long as they retain the spirit and standards of what they're building up on. Fiercely. Five-O's reboot felt like NCIS: Hawaii (funnily enough, they actually did make a show with that name once the reboot series was cancelled; both exist in the same fictional universe). And then, there's the new Magnum, P.I. which, while not very offensive, is nothing but a pale shadow of the original. I would've approached a "reboot" project very differently. I'll discuss that on a different thread one of these days.

Like you, sir, I also feel like I was born in the wrong decade. I would've loved to enjoy my 30s in the 1960s where I can read the best books out there and feel the spirit of the adventure within, my favorite author being Alistair MacLean, I would have loved to have met the man one day. Thanks to three film adaptations of his novels (that he himself penned), I was introduced to his work. Say, some of them could have used exposure by Mannix who did adapt a couple of existing source materials (Venetian Bird being one of them) to an episode of the show, having Mannix replace the protagonists of these lesser known novels. One I could think of is Caravan to Vaccares (which itself is a great movie, I mean... Charlotte Rampling! Whistle! Now, you know why I'm an ornithologist. ) and another being Fear Is the Key. One thing I wish Mannix did not abandon was Intertect. One way or another, I would've loved to see Joseph Campanella return to the show NOT as a new character but as Lew Wickersham, who was Mannix's best friend, really, more than Lt. Tobias and Lt. Art Maclolm. A spy agency-like detective agency that trains its detectives and teaches them field tactics while keeping them in shape is a very novel idea. Didn't like that Mannix was simply phased into a traditional private investigator, but I still love the show in every aspect. For the sake of some continuity (I like continuities provided they don't get in the way of a good adventure), I would've loved to see Wickersham pop up every now and then and hire an independent Mannix as an outsider. Lots of ideas to explore.

I blabbed a lot, didn't I?

Thanks for the warm welcome and I'm, once again, glad to be here.

[Luther's nephew Dobie]

"Thanks for the warm welcome and I'm, once again, glad to be here."
--Ornithologist

Great post, Ornithologist. I hope you become a regular here at Magnum Mania.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rupert of Hentzau(Douglas Fairbanks): "I see you let the drawbridge down. I just killed a man for that."
Rudolph Rassendyll(Ronald Colman): "An unarmed man of course."
Rupert of Hentzau: "Of course!"

From 1937's immortal Prisoner of Zenda.
It was remade in a 1952 color version, an exact scene for scene twin of the original but Stewart Granger was no Ronald Colman and James Mason's acting suffers
in comparison to possibly the most charismatic acting job in history, that by Douglas Fairbanks jr. as bad guy Rupert of Hentzau.

[ZelenskyTheValiant (Ivan)]

Greetings, everyone.

After intensely googling one of my favorite shows of all time, Mannix, I've come across this thread and what better way than to have in a forums website that celebrates one of the greatest television shows of all time, Magnum, P.I. (which I've seen in full for at least three times). Of course, as this thread is solely about Mannix, I've been reading a lot of comments here detailing members' experiences and opinions with the show which put a smile on my face.

Mind you, Mannix ended its run 20 years before my time, so you could say I'm a young fan (but not that young, if being a 30 year old counts for something). Of course, me pursuing the show has a lot to do with Mike Connors himself whom I consider a "paisan" - both of us are of Armenian descent so I find that quite endearing since he's the only Armenian-American action hero (if you'd call it that) so far. That isn't the only factor, though: I'm a huge fan of everything 1960s (excluding the mod culture, hippies and the so-called "counter-culture"; nothing against them, just not my scene) which started with my admiration for the classic James Bond films, multiple spy shows that came out during the spy craze of the 60s and the EuroSpy movies that hilariously (and sometimes compellingly) ape the Bond movies themselves. So, that's a little background.

Have I mentioned my love for Lalo Schifrin's 60s and 70s works? It's criminal, in my opinion, that to this day, Mannix hasn't had its full score released, unlike Mission: Impossible. I'm a huge fan of Jazz and easy listening music which really inspires me as an aspiring writer who refuses to live in the present day (and I don't apologize for it) but embraces the pop culture of the olden days. Say, a lot of people would watch something like Bosch (and rightfully so), I'm a guy who'd stick with the likes of Mannix, Peter Gunn, Magnum, P.I., Kojak, Hawaii Five-O, Columbo and currently, I'm watching Tightrope! for the first time ever.

It's a treat finding a place to belong. I tip my hat off to a lot of members here whose comments are quite insightful and entertaining (there was this one comment detailing Mannix's traits in here that actually made me chuckle because they were true).

Looking forward to discussing the show with you folks. I'll also pop up on other threads, of course, since they're all right up my alley.

Cheers!

Welcome to these boards, Ornithologist. Are you a lover of birds or does your name have anything to with James Bond and the birds of the west indies by Ian Fleming?

Hey, if you love classic television and especially the 60s then you've come to the right place. One of the best decades for film and television! Like you I am a huge James Bond fan, especially the Cubby Broccoli era (1962-1989) and especially the Connery and Moore films. Endlessly stylish and entertaining. Not the hum-drum that we get today. Films and television of today hold zero interest for me. The last "modern" television show that I was really into was "24" (with Kiefer Sutherland) and even that's already more than 20 years since it debuted. But TV shows of today in general are just dark, joyless, and depressing with story arcs that go on and on and needless subplots that distract from the main story. And then there's all those remakes of classics that can't hold a candle to the originals. So it's no wonder that most of us here (myself especially) basically live in the past when it comes to movies and television (and music too). It's a joy to watch a weekly show with self-contained plots that have no distracting subplots and that wrap things up nicely at the end and put a smile on your face. Old-school acting, old-school filming, story-telling, music all combine to create a mood that modern stuff can't give you. You mentioned Lalo Schifrin - he's a legend. Both on the small and big screen. They don't make 'em like they used to. Also Morton Stevens, Richard Shores, Don Ray all gave us some fantastic music for my all-time favorite HAWAII FIVE-O. The original, of course. Not the crappy remake. But yeah you can't beat the good old days, whether it's crime dramas like Five-O, Mannix, Streets of San Francisco, Columbo, Kojak, Rockford Files, Harry-O or my favorite westerns like Bonanza or The Big Valley or spy fare (Mission: Impossible being an absolute highlight) nothing today can compare.

And just going back to Bond in the 60s, man, I remember when I first saw Dr. No and Goldfinger (rented them from a local library on VHS in the summer of 2001) those two just made my imagination go wild. I thought Connery as Bond was the single coolest thing I had ever witnessed. To this day I think he's unsurpassed when it comes to the ultimate leading man/hero. Forget the spandex wearing superheroes of today. Bond WAS the man! Connery WAS the coolest! I think it was seeing those 2 films that not only made me an Anglophile for a while but just made me fall in love with 60s cinema and 60s television and the styles of the decade and just the whole spy genre. At that time I thought being a British spy had to be the coolest thing ever. I often think I was born in the wrong decade. I mean I was born in the 80s and love all things 60s, 70s, and 80s but I would sooner sit down and watch something in black and white from the 40s and 50s than something from today. I'm only about 10 years older than you so hardly an old geezer to be rewatching reruns of old shows and movies. Most folks my age and older are watching the latest stuff that's out today and not looking back at stuff from 50-60 years ago. But I am and have been doing it for pretty much as long as I can remember. As a young teen in the 90s I'd be rewatching reruns of The Andy Griffith Show and it didn't phase me a bit that I was watching something in black and white from the 60s instead of something like Seinfeld or Friends which was all the rage back then.

So yes, welcome to these boards. The coolest place to be.

You, sir, are definitely a man of culture. I do have fondness for birds, but they're not of the aves avitium species, if you do catch my drift, just like the namesake of the author who penned The Birds of the West Indies.

I have to agree with you regarding the 60s being the best decade of television - but then again, pop culture was at its peak in that one. Most people nowadays yearn for the geeky synth wave culture of the 1980s but they don't attract me in any sense or form. I'm cut from the cloth of the kind who'd rather watch suit-clad action heroes who eloquently express themselves while knocking you down like combat enforcers, attract the most beautiful women and pull them with their charm and one-liner quips, and listen to Jazz (everything else, like Mannix, is a take it or leave it situation). Regarding James Bond, to me, Sean Connery (but only in his first four films, he was replaced by someone else who bore his name and some resemblance but none of the attitude; a story of comedy that I'll explain later), Roger Moore, and Pierce Brosnan (I'm a very staunch defender of his and his era) are the holy trinity of the Bond franchise in my book. However, I'm very conflicted about calling myself a Bond fan since I'm no longer interested in the franchise in any shape or form, particularly with the fatal blasphemy that was the last film that forever poisoned the well in 2021 along with the rest of his (a certain blond fella) era that's nothing more than an insult to Fleming, Bond, and everything both stood for. But, anyhoo... Story for another day.

It's really nice to see that we millennials have people in our generation who are drawn to these kinds of stuff. I started cultivating myself with the stuff that I'm fairly informed about when I turned 18, starting with the Harry Palmer films with Michael Caine, continuing with Danger Man (Now, this, in my book, is the greatest spy series on television that is still unparalleled), later discovering that not only the show actually started off as "James Bond adaptations on TV" but in its final form (the half-hour episodes, which I refer to as Season 1) actually influenced the Bond series themselves, especially Dr. No and From Russia with Love. They borrowed a lot from the show. The rest is, of course, history. Fast forward from 2011 to 2024, I'm an avid lover of everything spy fiction and anything that resembles the Bond of old (1962-2004). If you haven't by now, you should check out some of the EuroSpy films that really made terrific substitutes for the Bond films of the 60s. I can even type up a list for you and DM them to you.

As for modern shows, boy oh boy, you hit the nail right on the head! And it isn't like I didn't try watching some of them, but Christ! I couldn't stand them. Overlong melodramas, no plot. What I loved about old shows is that the plot came first, characters came second, saving drama for last - Don't mind the drama if it's earned, but if it's not... An example: I attempted to watch The Blacklist with Spader not too long ago since the premise seemed interesting. But, ten episodes in, the melodrama stunk like a fish out of water. Knowing what I know from experience, I knew where it was all headed and I bailed out. However, there are three particularly great shows I can recommend you to see, but they do have subplots like most shows: Burn Notice is one show I was obsessed with as a teen and I still watch the show for a chunk till I know when to stop. Halfway into the fifth season, it loses its magic and becomes that very melodrama that I hate, thus ending up throwing its potential away like a bad habit, only difference is that it wasn't a bad habit. I do a marathon of it up to half of the fifth season and then, I stop, using the cliffhanger to imagine the rest of the show in my head the way I want it in my head-canon. And then, there's the 2010 version of Human Target that's really awesome. Only the first season. Forget the second. The third one is the 2010 reboot of La Femme Nikita, simply called Nikita that, in my opinion, is a vast improvement over the movie by Luc Besson as well as the melodramatic show with Peta Wilson that ran from 1997 to 2001. That's about it.

I've a lot of shows I cling to. Most of the ITC Entertainment series from the 1960s are in my top ten. Danger Man (known as Secret Agent in the US starting with Season 2; actually a retooling of the show serving as a departure from the half-hour episode format), The Saint, The Persuaders! (seventies, yeah), Man in a Suitcase (shame it ran for just one season!), The Baron, and many more. And you know which series they all stylistically bear a resemblance to.

And then, there was the likes of Peter Gunn, Mannix, Mission: Impossible (I stop after the fifth season, again, especially when they turn from spies into undercover cops, basically doing the police's work for them), Kojak, Hawaii Five-O and others. I have to admit that I like both versions of Five-O, but the reboot, like most modern shows, loses its way after killing off Wo Fat. What they did wrong, however, was rebooting the show rather than making legacy sequels. Now, I dream of making a legacy sequel to Mannix myself and have a script ready that I'm trying to shop around. While it's set in the present day, it's as though it wouldn't feel like it as I approach this kind of stuff very conservatively. I'm a traditionalist, what can I say? Not against updates as long as they retain the spirit and standards of what they're building up on. Fiercely. Five-O's reboot felt like NCIS: Hawaii (funnily enough, they actually did make a show with that name once the reboot series was cancelled; both exist in the same fictional universe). And then, there's the new Magnum, P.I. which, while not very offensive, is nothing but a pale shadow of the original. I would've approached a "reboot" project very differently. I'll discuss that on a different thread one of these days.

Like you, sir, I also feel like I was born in the wrong decade. I would've loved to enjoy my 30s in the 1960s where I can read the best books out there and feel the spirit of the adventure within, my favorite author being Alistair MacLean, I would have loved to have met the man one day. Thanks to three film adaptations of his novels (that he himself penned), I was introduced to his work. Say, some of them could have used exposure by Mannix who did adapt a couple of existing source materials (Venetian Bird being one of them) to an episode of the show, having Mannix replace the protagonists of these lesser known novels. One I could think of is Caravan to Vaccares (which itself is a great movie, I mean... Charlotte Rampling! Whistle! Now, you know why I'm an ornithologist. ) and another being Fear Is the Key. One thing I wish Mannix did not abandon was Intertect. One way or another, I would've loved to see Joseph Campanella return to the show NOT as a new character but as Lew Wickersham, who was Mannix's best friend, really, more than Lt. Tobias and Lt. Art Maclolm. A spy agency-like detective agency that trains its detectives and teaches them field tactics while keeping them in shape is a very novel idea. Didn't like that Mannix was simply phased into a traditional private investigator, but I still love the show in every aspect. For the sake of some continuity (I like continuities provided they don't get in the way of a good adventure), I would've loved to see Wickersham pop up every now and then and hire an independent Mannix as an outsider. Lots of ideas to explore.

I blabbed a lot, didn't I?

Thanks for the warm welcome and I'm, once again, glad to be here.

That was quite a mouthful there. A Die Another Day reference for you. And now that I think about it of course the ornithologist line comes from the same scene in the film. And predators coming out at night to feast and all that... It's been a while since I've revisited that one. Speaking of Brosnan, hey I'm with you. As a matter of fact when they used to have the James Bond board on IMDB about 10 years back (where you could post discussions) my signature was "Connery, Moore, and Brosnan. Accept no substitutes!" So when I say that for me the classic Bond era that I absolutely love is the Cubby era from '62 to '89 it's not because I'm discounting Brosnan (which was very fashionable when Craig took over) but because it's the era that I love the most - 60s, 70s, and 80s. Cubby was still onboard still supervising things and you could really feel his presence in those films and his vow to always entertain his audience above all else and to put the money up there on the screen. Also it was the era of practical effects, before CGI killed the fun of action in cinema. It was a less politically correct time which I love (even Moneypenny gives Bond a feminist mouthful in GoldenEye, as does 'M') and I just prefer an era with less Rambo-style gunplay and explosions which really took over in the 90s. I like my Bond to dispatch the baddies in a clever way with a cool quip, instead of just mowing them down with a machine gun. But that aside I think Brosnan was the perfect Bond for the 90s - he had some of that rough edge that Connery had but also the debonair and witty style of Roger Moore. So he was the best of both worlds. Plus GoldenEye is actually one of my favorite Bond films and probably the last truly great Bond film! And Tomorrow Never Dies has probably risen in my rankings more than any other Bond film over the years - I hated it when I first saw it way back when in the early 2000s. It was just such a huge departure from the cool 60s and 70s Bonds of Sir Sean and Sir Roger that I was constantly dieting on. The Rambo gunplay and John Woo style action went overboard and actually gave me a headache. I did not feel well after watching that film. I thought it was as far removed from the world of Bond as it could get. Boy, was I wrong. I had no idea what lay in store in the years to come LOL. Over the years revisiting TND I began to appreciate it more and more and now I look at it as truly the last Bond film that followed the traditional formula - a crisis is brewing, Bond is summoned by M, Bond gets his assignment, picks up his gadgets from Q, and goes on his merry mission. Faces a megalomaniac villain (brilliantly overplayed by Jonathan Pryce) and stops WWIII. Just like the good old days. Plus an excellent David Arnold score to boot! Unfortunately the next 2 films (despite a strong showing from Brosnan) have never won me over. TWINE had a lot of potential and a superb boat chase on the River Thames (backed by another stupendous piece of music by Arnold) but unfortunately the rest of the film never lived up to that and kind of petered out. The submarine climax was very underwhelming. And then Die Another Day, well, too many problems with that one LOL. Though honestly the invisible Aston Martin (which seems to give everyone an aneurysm) for me is actually one of the highlights. So go figure.

Then came Craig. Oh boy! He was supposed to be the second coming. Everyone got on board with the Brosnan bashing. Everyone was in love with Craig. Casino Royale was actually the first Bond film I saw in the theater with a buddy of mine. He absolutely loved it. I walked out confused by what I had just seen. I felt like I saw a good and entertaining film but not a Bond film. It took another viewing or two on DVD to really accept it as a Bond film. I accepted that it was a Bond film but just a very different one from the norm, I guess similar to how On Her Majesty's Secret Service and Licence to Kill bucked the norm (even though the former was written by Fleming himself, as was Casino Royale). But then came Quantum - a lame Jason Bourne knock-off and completely forgettable. With Skyfall I had the same reaction as Casino - I walked out feeling like I saw something really cool and beautiful (the Roger Deakins cinematography was a highlight!) but again I missed the Bond feel of the classics. But at least we got a really colorful villain in Javier Bardem and his own private island which hearkened back to the good old days. But again we get all that heavy-handed stuff that all the Craig films are laden with. All the "drama" that shouldn't even exist in a Bond film. This gets even worse with the next 2 films. Spectre is just a mess from beginning to end - when they turned the iconic Fleming creation that was Blofeld into Bond's half brother I thought it was the single stupidest idea in the history of EON. But then it's like they said to themselves "but wait, we can top even that!" and they go ahead and nuke Bond in the next one. So yeah, I've no interest in Bond at all at this point. Clearly the producers have no respect for the series or the fans and at this point their motto is that anything goes. Bond can die, resurrect, be black, female, gay, etc. etc. Bottom line - we have our classics that we love and everything else to me is irrelevant. For all intents and purposes the Bond series is over. Whew, okay, enough about Bond. Is there a James Bond thread on this site? Might need to create one if one doesn't exist.

Regarding television and plot coming first - agreed 100%. This is why I can watch virtually any old show with some level of interest. Because they all focused on plot first and foremost. And for me that's always the most important thing. What's the case to be solved today? I could care less about the personal lives of the characters. That's not why I'm tuning in. Occasionally you would get an episode that would focus more on the character where it would be something that would touch him/her personally. So when that came you felt it was earned. It would be a "special" episode. But this wasn't the case week to week. So when it happened it felt real, not forced. Mission: Impossible is one of the best shows of all time and that show is the ultimate example where we virtually knew NOTHING about the characters or their personal lives. Can you imagine what a disaster that show would have been if they started delving into their personal lives?? I shudder to think. Hey, speaking of M:I isn't it the first 3 seasons that are the classic spy/Cold War seasons? I've read that starting with season 4 (but more so with season 5) is when the IMF began focusing more on battling the Syndicate or home-grown organized crime. But you say it started with season 6. I only saw the first 3 seasons (rented the discs from Netflix several years back) and only recently purchased the newly released Blu-Ray of the entire series but haven't had the chance to delve into it yet. Gonna be a real treat. Speaking of Mannix and Intertect I'm also in agreement with you that it was a cool concept. I'm actually shocked when people say to skip season 1 because of it. They say it's not Mannix. Really?? Here he works for a detective agency and here he has his own office. That's the only difference. Same Joe Mannix that we all love. I don't get the hate for season 1 at all.

You mentioned Burn Notice. Never seen it but interestingly enough I think there's a Burn Notice thread here. There are some fans here so you're in good company. I guess it's got some similarities to Magnum. Regarding the Five-0 reboot yeah it's basically CSI: Hawaii or SWAT: Hawaii which is what they should have called it. There is ZERO in common with the old show, aside from the title, the opening theme song, the character names, and Hawaii itself. If you're not gonna honor the original why bother calling it a reboot? It's not. It's a totally different show shot in Hawaii. That's why you might as well just call it SWAT: Hawaii or Special Team: Hawaii or whatever. Come on, be original! Stop plagiarizing by using a recognized name and then just doing your own thing.

Alistair MacLean!! Boy, was there ever a better writer with a zest for adventure!? I haven't read anything by him but I've seen plenty of movies based on his work and they're the kinds of adventure films that we'll sadly never see again. Same as with the Bond films. WHERE EAGLES DARE is one of my all-time favorite films (definitely the best WWII adventure film) and every winter when the first snow falls I immediately pull out my DVD copy and enjoy the ride! I tell ya - it never gets old. There's just something about that first snowfall at night or as it begins to dusk that makes me snuggle into my easy chair and turn on this riveting adventure. I think the snow in that film is a major character in its own right! I've never seen a more beautiful snowy film. Yep, I love me some snow. And the Alpine scenery, the cable car, the scale up the side of the castle. That Ron Goodwin score!!!!!! You know, this film might even top all the Bonds of the 60s for me. There, I said it. Also by MacLean, big fan of THE GUNS OF NAVARONE and even FORCE 10 FROM NAVARONE. Also BREAKHEART PASS with Charlie Bronson - it's got trains and snow!

Ok, I think that's enough out of me for now. But once I start it's hard to stop. Fun topics of discussion here.

[Ornithologist]

"Thanks for the warm welcome and I'm, once again, glad to be here."
--Ornithologist

Great post, Ornithologist. I hope you become a regular here at Magnum Mania.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rupert of Hentzau(Douglas Fairbanks): "I see you let the drawbridge down. I just killed a man for that."
Rudolph Rassendyll(Ronald Colman): "An unarmed man of course."
Rupert of Hentzau: "Of course!"

From 1937's immortal Prisoner of Zenda.
It was remade in a 1952 color version, an exact scene for scene twin of the original but Stewart Granger was no Ronald Colman and James Mason's acting suffers
in comparison to possibly the most charismatic acting job in history, that by Douglas Fairbanks jr. as bad guy Rupert of Hentzau.

Thank you very much, my good fellow. I'm a huge Magnum, P.I. as well, so I should feel right at home, here.

Greetings, everyone.

After intensely googling one of my favorite shows of all time, Mannix, I've come across this thread and what better way than to have in a forums website that celebrates one of the greatest television shows of all time, Magnum, P.I. (which I've seen in full for at least three times). Of course, as this thread is solely about Mannix, I've been reading a lot of comments here detailing members' experiences and opinions with the show which put a smile on my face.

Mind you, Mannix ended its run 20 years before my time, so you could say I'm a young fan (but not that young, if being a 30 year old counts for something). Of course, me pursuing the show has a lot to do with Mike Connors himself whom I consider a "paisan" - both of us are of Armenian descent so I find that quite endearing since he's the only Armenian-American action hero (if you'd call it that) so far. That isn't the only factor, though: I'm a huge fan of everything 1960s (excluding the mod culture, hippies and the so-called "counter-culture"; nothing against them, just not my scene) which started with my admiration for the classic James Bond films, multiple spy shows that came out during the spy craze of the 60s and the EuroSpy movies that hilariously (and sometimes compellingly) ape the Bond movies themselves. So, that's a little background.

Have I mentioned my love for Lalo Schifrin's 60s and 70s works? It's criminal, in my opinion, that to this day, Mannix hasn't had its full score released, unlike Mission: Impossible. I'm a huge fan of Jazz and easy listening music which really inspires me as an aspiring writer who refuses to live in the present day (and I don't apologize for it) but embraces the pop culture of the olden days. Say, a lot of people would watch something like Bosch (and rightfully so), I'm a guy who'd stick with the likes of Mannix, Peter Gunn, Magnum, P.I., Kojak, Hawaii Five-O, Columbo and currently, I'm watching Tightrope! for the first time ever.

It's a treat finding a place to belong. I tip my hat off to a lot of members here whose comments are quite insightful and entertaining (there was this one comment detailing Mannix's traits in here that actually made me chuckle because they were true).

Looking forward to discussing the show with you folks. I'll also pop up on other threads, of course, since they're all right up my alley.

Cheers!

Welcome to these boards, Ornithologist. Are you a lover of birds or does your name have anything to with James Bond and the birds of the west indies by Ian Fleming?

Hey, if you love classic television and especially the 60s then you've come to the right place. One of the best decades for film and television! Like you I am a huge James Bond fan, especially the Cubby Broccoli era (1962-1989) and especially the Connery and Moore films. Endlessly stylish and entertaining. Not the hum-drum that we get today. Films and television of today hold zero interest for me. The last "modern" television show that I was really into was "24" (with Kiefer Sutherland) and even that's already more than 20 years since it debuted. But TV shows of today in general are just dark, joyless, and depressing with story arcs that go on and on and needless subplots that distract from the main story. And then there's all those remakes of classics that can't hold a candle to the originals. So it's no wonder that most of us here (myself especially) basically live in the past when it comes to movies and television (and music too). It's a joy to watch a weekly show with self-contained plots that have no distracting subplots and that wrap things up nicely at the end and put a smile on your face. Old-school acting, old-school filming, story-telling, music all combine to create a mood that modern stuff can't give you. You mentioned Lalo Schifrin - he's a legend. Both on the small and big screen. They don't make 'em like they used to. Also Morton Stevens, Richard Shores, Don Ray all gave us some fantastic music for my all-time favorite HAWAII FIVE-O. The original, of course. Not the crappy remake. But yeah you can't beat the good old days, whether it's crime dramas like Five-O, Mannix, Streets of San Francisco, Columbo, Kojak, Rockford Files, Harry-O or my favorite westerns like Bonanza or The Big Valley or spy fare (Mission: Impossible being an absolute highlight) nothing today can compare.

And just going back to Bond in the 60s, man, I remember when I first saw Dr. No and Goldfinger (rented them from a local library on VHS in the summer of 2001) those two just made my imagination go wild. I thought Connery as Bond was the single coolest thing I had ever witnessed. To this day I think he's unsurpassed when it comes to the ultimate leading man/hero. Forget the spandex wearing superheroes of today. Bond WAS the man! Connery WAS the coolest! I think it was seeing those 2 films that not only made me an Anglophile for a while but just made me fall in love with 60s cinema and 60s television and the styles of the decade and just the whole spy genre. At that time I thought being a British spy had to be the coolest thing ever. I often think I was born in the wrong decade. I mean I was born in the 80s and love all things 60s, 70s, and 80s but I would sooner sit down and watch something in black and white from the 40s and 50s than something from today. I'm only about 10 years older than you so hardly an old geezer to be rewatching reruns of old shows and movies. Most folks my age and older are watching the latest stuff that's out today and not looking back at stuff from 50-60 years ago. But I am and have been doing it for pretty much as long as I can remember. As a young teen in the 90s I'd be rewatching reruns of The Andy Griffith Show and it didn't phase me a bit that I was watching something in black and white from the 60s instead of something like Seinfeld or Friends which was all the rage back then.

So yes, welcome to these boards. The coolest place to be.

You, sir, are definitely a man of culture. I do have fondness for birds, but they're not of the aves avitium species, if you do catch my drift, just like the namesake of the author who penned The Birds of the West Indies.

I have to agree with you regarding the 60s being the best decade of television - but then again, pop culture was at its peak in that one. Most people nowadays yearn for the geeky synth wave culture of the 1980s but they don't attract me in any sense or form. I'm cut from the cloth of the kind who'd rather watch suit-clad action heroes who eloquently express themselves while knocking you down like combat enforcers, attract the most beautiful women and pull them with their charm and one-liner quips, and listen to Jazz (everything else, like Mannix, is a take it or leave it situation). Regarding James Bond, to me, Sean Connery (but only in his first four films, he was replaced by someone else who bore his name and some resemblance but none of the attitude; a story of comedy that I'll explain later), Roger Moore, and Pierce Brosnan (I'm a very staunch defender of his and his era) are the holy trinity of the Bond franchise in my book. However, I'm very conflicted about calling myself a Bond fan since I'm no longer interested in the franchise in any shape or form, particularly with the fatal blasphemy that was the last film that forever poisoned the well in 2021 along with the rest of his (a certain blond fella) era that's nothing more than an insult to Fleming, Bond, and everything both stood for. But, anyhoo... Story for another day.

It's really nice to see that we millennials have people in our generation who are drawn to these kinds of stuff. I started cultivating myself with the stuff that I'm fairly informed about when I turned 18, starting with the Harry Palmer films with Michael Caine, continuing with Danger Man (Now, this, in my book, is the greatest spy series on television that is still unparalleled), later discovering that not only the show actually started off as "James Bond adaptations on TV" but in its final form (the half-hour episodes, which I refer to as Season 1) actually influenced the Bond series themselves, especially Dr. No and From Russia with Love. They borrowed a lot from the show. The rest is, of course, history. Fast forward from 2011 to 2024, I'm an avid lover of everything spy fiction and anything that resembles the Bond of old (1962-2004). If you haven't by now, you should check out some of the EuroSpy films that really made terrific substitutes for the Bond films of the 60s. I can even type up a list for you and DM them to you.

As for modern shows, boy oh boy, you hit the nail right on the head! And it isn't like I didn't try watching some of them, but Christ! I couldn't stand them. Overlong melodramas, no plot. What I loved about old shows is that the plot came first, characters came second, saving drama for last - Don't mind the drama if it's earned, but if it's not... An example: I attempted to watch The Blacklist with Spader not too long ago since the premise seemed interesting. But, ten episodes in, the melodrama stunk like a fish out of water. Knowing what I know from experience, I knew where it was all headed and I bailed out. However, there are three particularly great shows I can recommend you to see, but they do have subplots like most shows: Burn Notice is one show I was obsessed with as a teen and I still watch the show for a chunk till I know when to stop. Halfway into the fifth season, it loses its magic and becomes that very melodrama that I hate, thus ending up throwing its potential away like a bad habit, only difference is that it wasn't a bad habit. I do a marathon of it up to half of the fifth season and then, I stop, using the cliffhanger to imagine the rest of the show in my head the way I want it in my head-canon. And then, there's the 2010 version of Human Target that's really awesome. Only the first season. Forget the second. The third one is the 2010 reboot of La Femme Nikita, simply called Nikita that, in my opinion, is a vast improvement over the movie by Luc Besson as well as the melodramatic show with Peta Wilson that ran from 1997 to 2001. That's about it.

I've a lot of shows I cling to. Most of the ITC Entertainment series from the 1960s are in my top ten. Danger Man (known as Secret Agent in the US starting with Season 2; actually a retooling of the show serving as a departure from the half-hour episode format), The Saint, The Persuaders! (seventies, yeah), Man in a Suitcase (shame it ran for just one season!), The Baron, and many more. And you know which series they all stylistically bear a resemblance to.

And then, there was the likes of Peter Gunn, Mannix, Mission: Impossible (I stop after the fifth season, again, especially when they turn from spies into undercover cops, basically doing the police's work for them), Kojak, Hawaii Five-O and others. I have to admit that I like both versions of Five-O, but the reboot, like most modern shows, loses its way after killing off Wo Fat. What they did wrong, however, was rebooting the show rather than making legacy sequels. Now, I dream of making a legacy sequel to Mannix myself and have a script ready that I'm trying to shop around. While it's set in the present day, it's as though it wouldn't feel like it as I approach this kind of stuff very conservatively. I'm a traditionalist, what can I say? Not against updates as long as they retain the spirit and standards of what they're building up on. Fiercely. Five-O's reboot felt like NCIS: Hawaii (funnily enough, they actually did make a show with that name once the reboot series was cancelled; both exist in the same fictional universe). And then, there's the new Magnum, P.I. which, while not very offensive, is nothing but a pale shadow of the original. I would've approached a "reboot" project very differently. I'll discuss that on a different thread one of these days.

Like you, sir, I also feel like I was born in the wrong decade. I would've loved to enjoy my 30s in the 1960s where I can read the best books out there and feel the spirit of the adventure within, my favorite author being Alistair MacLean, I would have loved to have met the man one day. Thanks to three film adaptations of his novels (that he himself penned), I was introduced to his work. Say, some of them could have used exposure by Mannix who did adapt a couple of existing source materials (Venetian Bird being one of them) to an episode of the show, having Mannix replace the protagonists of these lesser known novels. One I could think of is Caravan to Vaccares (which itself is a great movie, I mean... Charlotte Rampling! Whistle! Now, you know why I'm an ornithologist. ) and another being Fear Is the Key. One thing I wish Mannix did not abandon was Intertect. One way or another, I would've loved to see Joseph Campanella return to the show NOT as a new character but as Lew Wickersham, who was Mannix's best friend, really, more than Lt. Tobias and Lt. Art Maclolm. A spy agency-like detective agency that trains its detectives and teaches them field tactics while keeping them in shape is a very novel idea. Didn't like that Mannix was simply phased into a traditional private investigator, but I still love the show in every aspect. For the sake of some continuity (I like continuities provided they don't get in the way of a good adventure), I would've loved to see Wickersham pop up every now and then and hire an independent Mannix as an outsider. Lots of ideas to explore.

I blabbed a lot, didn't I?

Thanks for the warm welcome and I'm, once again, glad to be here.

That was quite a mouthful there. A Die Another Day reference for you. And now that I think about it of course the ornithologist line comes from the same scene in the film. And predators coming out at night to feast and all that... It's been a while since I've revisited that one. Speaking of Brosnan, hey I'm with you. As a matter of fact when they used to have the James Bond board on IMDB about 10 years back (where you could post discussions) my signature was "Connery, Moore, and Brosnan. Accept no substitutes!" So when I say that for me the classic Bond era that I absolutely love is the Cubby era from '62 to '89 it's not because I'm discounting Brosnan (which was very fashionable when Craig took over) but because it's the era that I love the most - 60s, 70s, and 80s. Cubby was still onboard still supervising things and you could really feel his presence in those films and his vow to always entertain his audience above all else and to put the money up there on the screen. Also it was the era of practical effects, before CGI killed the fun of action in cinema. It was a less politically correct time which I love (even Moneypenny gives Bond a feminist mouthful in GoldenEye, as does 'M') and I just prefer an era with less Rambo-style gunplay and explosions which really took over in the 90s. I like my Bond to dispatch the baddies in a clever way with a cool quip, instead of just mowing them down with a machine gun. But that aside I think Brosnan was the perfect Bond for the 90s - he had some of that rough edge that Connery had but also the debonair and witty style of Roger Moore. So he was the best of both worlds. Plus GoldenEye is actually one of my favorite Bond films and probably the last truly great Bond film! And Tomorrow Never Dies has probably risen in my rankings more than any other Bond film over the years - I hated it when I first saw it way back when in the early 2000s. It was just such a huge departure from the cool 60s and 70s Bonds of Sir Sean and Sir Roger that I was constantly dieting on. The Rambo gunplay and John Woo style action went overboard and actually gave me a headache. I did not feel well after watching that film. I thought it was as far removed from the world of Bond as it could get. Boy, was I wrong. I had no idea what lay in store in the years to come LOL. Over the years revisiting TND I began to appreciate it more and more and now I look at it as truly the last Bond film that followed the traditional formula - a crisis is brewing, Bond is summoned by M, Bond gets his assignment, picks up his gadgets from Q, and goes on his merry mission. Faces a megalomaniac villain (brilliantly overplayed by Jonathan Pryce) and stops WWIII. Just like the good old days. Plus an excellent David Arnold score to boot! Unfortunately the next 2 films (despite a strong showing from Brosnan) have never won me over. TWINE had a lot of potential and a superb boat chase on the River Thames (backed by another stupendous piece of music by Arnold) but unfortunately the rest of the film never lived up to that and kind of petered out. The submarine climax was very underwhelming. And then Die Another Day, well, too many problems with that one LOL. Though honestly the invisible Aston Martin (which seems to give everyone an aneurysm) for me is actually one of the highlights. So go figure.

Then came Craig. Oh boy! He was supposed to be the second coming. Everyone got on board with the Brosnan bashing. Everyone was in love with Craig. Casino Royale was actually the first Bond film I saw in the theater with a buddy of mine. He absolutely loved it. I walked out confused by what I had just seen. I felt like I saw a good and entertaining film but not a Bond film. It took another viewing or two on DVD to really accept it as a Bond film. I accepted that it was a Bond film but just a very different one from the norm, I guess similar to how On Her Majesty's Secret Service and Licence to Kill bucked the norm (even though the former was written by Fleming himself, as was Casino Royale). But then came Quantum - a lame Jason Bourne knock-off and completely forgettable. With Skyfall I had the same reaction as Casino - I walked out feeling like I saw something really cool and beautiful (the Roger Deakins cinematography was a highlight!) but again I missed the Bond feel of the classics. But at least we got a really colorful villain in Javier Bardem and his own private island which hearkened back to the good old days. But again we get all that heavy-handed stuff that all the Craig films are laden with. All the "drama" that shouldn't even exist in a Bond film. This gets even worse with the next 2 films. Spectre is just a mess from beginning to end - when they turned the iconic Fleming creation that was Blofeld into Bond's half brother I thought it was the single stupidest idea in the history of EON. But then it's like they said to themselves "but wait, we can top even that!" and they go ahead and nuke Bond in the next one. So yeah, I've no interest in Bond at all at this point. Clearly the producers have no respect for the series or the fans and at this point their motto is that anything goes. Bond can die, resurrect, be black, female, gay, etc. etc. Bottom line - we have our classics that we love and everything else to me is irrelevant. For all intents and purposes the Bond series is over. Whew, okay, enough about Bond. Is there a James Bond thread on this site? Might need to create one if one doesn't exist.

Regarding television and plot coming first - agreed 100%. This is why I can watch virtually any old show with some level of interest. Because they all focused on plot first and foremost. And for me that's always the most important thing. What's the case to be solved today? I could care less about the personal lives of the characters. That's not why I'm tuning in. Occasionally you would get an episode that would focus more on the character where it would be something that would touch him/her personally. So when that came you felt it was earned. It would be a "special" episode. But this wasn't the case week to week. So when it happened it felt real, not forced. Mission: Impossible is one of the best shows of all time and that show is the ultimate example where we virtually knew NOTHING about the characters or their personal lives. Can you imagine what a disaster that show would have been if they started delving into their personal lives?? I shudder to think. Hey, speaking of M:I isn't it the first 3 seasons that are the classic spy/Cold War seasons? I've read that starting with season 4 (but more so with season 5) is when the IMF began focusing more on battling the Syndicate or home-grown organized crime. But you say it started with season 6. I only saw the first 3 seasons (rented the discs from Netflix several years back) and only recently purchased the newly released Blu-Ray of the entire series but haven't had the chance to delve into it yet. Gonna be a real treat. Speaking of Mannix and Intertect I'm also in agreement with you that it was a cool concept. I'm actually shocked when people say to skip season 1 because of it. They say it's not Mannix. Really?? Here he works for a detective agency and here he has his own office. That's the only difference. Same Joe Mannix that we all love. I don't get the hate for season 1 at all.

You mentioned Burn Notice. Never seen it but interestingly enough I think there's a Burn Notice thread here. There are some fans here so you're in good company. I guess it's got some similarities to Magnum. Regarding the Five-0 reboot yeah it's basically CSI: Hawaii or SWAT: Hawaii which is what they should have called it. There is ZERO in common with the old show, aside from the title, the opening theme song, the character names, and Hawaii itself. If you're not gonna honor the original why bother calling it a reboot? It's not. It's a totally different show shot in Hawaii. That's why you might as well just call it SWAT: Hawaii or Special Team: Hawaii or whatever. Come on, be original! Stop plagiarizing by using a recognized name and then just doing your own thing.

Alistair MacLean!! Boy, was there ever a better writer with a zest for adventure!? I haven't read anything by him but I've seen plenty of movies based on his work and they're the kinds of adventure films that we'll sadly never see again. Same as with the Bond films. WHERE EAGLES DARE is one of my all-time favorite films (definitely the best WWII adventure film) and every winter when the first snow falls I immediately pull out my DVD copy and enjoy the ride! I tell ya - it never gets old. There's just something about that first snowfall at night or as it begins to dusk that makes me snuggle into my easy chair and turn on this riveting adventure. I think the snow in that film is a major character in its own right! I've never seen a more beautiful snowy film. Yep, I love me some snow. And the Alpine scenery, the cable car, the scale up the side of the castle. That Ron Goodwin score!!!!!! You know, this film might even top all the Bonds of the 60s for me. There, I said it. Also by MacLean, big fan of THE GUNS OF NAVARONE and even FORCE 10 FROM NAVARONE. Also BREAKHEART PASS with Charlie Bronson - it's got trains and snow!

Ok, I think that's enough out of me for now. But once I start it's hard to stop. Fun topics of discussion here.

Touché. It's become one of my mottos to er... "Feast... Like there's no tomorrow." I honestly love Die Another Day in spite of its logical flaws, and like you, the invisible car doesn't bother me in the slightest because it's based on actual technology the US military was working on, at the time, which was also the topic of plot device used in the film adaptation of I-Spy. Now, this is one of the rarest instances where an adaptation uses the source material loosely that I tolerate, because the movie with Eddie Murphy and Owen Wilson is fun. The show was more of a straightforward spy thriller like Mission: Impossible, but this one was more of a comedy. I wish it did get a sequel. Another instance is The Man from UNCLE, but this is one of the instances where I think the movie is better than the show. However... I did have a lot of issues with the background of how the agency was formed which was very immaturely written. Being a Fleming aficionado as well as everything spy, I shudder to think most writers do not bother to do their research and actually spend time in developing their fictional organizations. As for the Brosnan era, what I love about it is that it very much remains true to the concept and structure of its predecessors. I'd only accuse Die Another Day of the constant use of Woo-isms (John Woo) but I can overlook it. I wouldn't say Bond went mindlessly Rambo everywhere but times were changing, you see? After all, "chocolate sailors" were no longer a thing, field tactics have changed, and Bond being an intelligence commando now was very fitting. After all, the newer the times, the newer the threats. He's the kind of man who'd lead a team of commandos on raids, and given his background, he must have been Special Boat Service and having earned his Commander rank rather than being given it without having to work for it, hence the "chocolate sailor" concept wouldn't have worked post-80s. As for Dench's "M", her grilling Bond for his mindset was sort of funny, because while she may have a jab at him, Bond remains unchanged. Come Tomorrow Never Dies, she was the one to insist Bond to resort to his usual tactics. "Pump her for information". Hardly the word of a feminist. Haha! They eventually learn. TND is my favorite Bond film alongside Dr. No and Thunderball. Regarding TWINE, let's just say, it was the prototype Barbara Broccoli movie and Pierce did object to Bond being a second banana when initially it was going to focus on Elektra King and be female-led while Bond takes a backseat (they achieved that with that 2021 blasphemy that I refer to as the atrocity known as 9/28 - the day it was released). So, Bruce Feirstein came on board at Pierce's insistence to fix the script by Neal Poncy and Robert Waste to put Bond back in the front and center of the story. For what it's worth, though, I still love the film as it enriched Bond's screen dimension a little more, exploring his detective side a little, making certain scenes feel like it's noir. Sorry, I keep jumping back and forth on the discussion. A little bit of inorganization on my part.

Regarding the personal lives of the characters, I'm one million percent in agreement with you. They don't need to be explored unless they're "special" episodes and they shouldn't happen for more than one episode per season... If that! Funnily enough, Bruce Geller hated and objected to exploring characters on Mission: Impossible, and yet they started going for it in the later seasons. One "personal matter" season that I did love though was the one where Cinnamon Carter was captured and Jim had to go out of his way to rescue her, going rogue and disobeying orders. Hardly the kind of man who'd murder his own team (the stupidity of the 1996 film!). I can assure you it was definitely Season 5 where they started doing cops' work for them. I mean, it still did have globetrotting espionage all over, but that was when they started losing their touch. Season 4 and 5 had Martin Landau replaced, but I can tell you... Leonard Nimoy was an amazing substitute and was even more of a "badass" version of Rollin Hand, called The Great Paris. Them fighting the Syndicate on a constant note felt very tiresome. Glad the movies actually gave "The Syndicate" a real purpose but making them a rogue black ops unit... An anti-IMF. By the way, I love the movies too, but they don't get M:I-like until Ghost Protocol, which is still the greatest installment in the series. Felt very much like a Brosnan era Bond film, except it was tailored for M:I. Christopher McQuarrie admitted publicly that he loves the era and his movies do pay several homages to the Brosnan films. Dead Reckoning Part One alone reuses ideas and concepts that were discarded with the original draft for Tomorrow Never Dies. My least favorite movies in the film series are those where Ethan Hunt's personal life comes into play. Most people love the third film (it's the worst in my book!) and worship Fallout (I find it overtly overrated), I do not. I have hopes that the atrocity they pulled in the first film is fixed, because Jim Phelps is no traitor, let alone killing his own team members for a reason any child would scoff at: "President running the country without your permission". Hah! Whoever wrote that movie did not watch the series nor knew Phelps. I have several ways of fixing it and posted my concept someplace else even, which most people liked. Bottom line: Jon Voight did NOT play Jim Phelps. More like Jim Fakelps.

Back to Mannix: Never knew people hated Season 1. How is it not considered Mannix? It very much is Mannix and the only difference is that he doesn't have Peggy around and that he's working for an agency rather than being independent. It perfectly serves as an "origins" arc if anything else, considering Mannix always wanted to be fired because he "hates the system" and "doesn't fit in", so Mannix finally got his wish and left. Heck, Peggy even goes to Intertect for help in the first episode of Season 2, to which Mannix reacts badly. You're 100% correct on it being Mannix precisely as is!

I think you will love Burn Notice. At least the first four and half seasons, since your views regarding these subjects are very much like mine. Most even referred to it as an old school show trapped in the body of a new one. It's Man in a Suitcase, Mission: Impossible and The A-Team rolled into one. Jeffrey Donovan is an amazing actor and the role of Michael Westen really allowed him to take on different guises and disguises to demonstrate his acting skills. Honestly, if anybody had to make an Archer movie, there's no one more suited to the role than Donovan!

Boy oh boy! It's like I'm talking to my alter ego! Where Eagles Dare is the greatest WWII film AND spy film in my book, period! More than all the Bonds combined! The novel is just as thrilling, if you haven't read it. In fact, I love this movie so much that I gave the codename "Broadsword" to my very own literary character. Ron Goodwin's score for the film is nothing short of amazing and I have both releases of the soundtrack (the score and the source music used in the film) which I constantly listen to when I write my own novels. Like you, I never get tired of this film. One I do recommend to you is When Eight Bells Toll. It's more like a For Your Eyes Only-like spy film, but Anthony Hopkins just carries the whole thing so brilliantly. Have to admit, though, I felt very underwhelmed with the Navarones. The novels were infinitely better and they should've stuck to them. Then again, outside of Caravan to Vaccares and The Satan Bug, the only adaptations of MacLean's works that really work are those whose scripts MacLean himself penned. I also really wanted to like Ice Station Zebra but it suffers from the same problem as the first Navarone - it prolongs the plot and provides unnecessary additions to the plot that don't help the events advance forward. Shame, really, because as a huge fan of Patrick McGoohan (Danger Man and The Prisoner), I was let down by it. Where Eagles Dare perfectly balances all of this. It's just brilliant to a tee! I heard Christopher McQuarrie is attached to a remake project... Well, just another adaptation, really, and I trust he can perfectly provide a better take on the subject than John Sturges. Regarding MacLean... and Mannix... The Last Frontier (adapted to film starring Richard Widmark) could have very much worked as a Mannix episode. A lot of them would have been. As for MacLean, snow, and shootouts, since you mentioned Breakheart Pass, I heavily recommend seeing Avalanche Express starring Lee Marvin, Robert Shaw (I'm a die-hard fan of that guy, and not because of FRWL nor Jaws), and our very own Mike Connors! It's very much like an Alistair MacLean-style adventure, even though it's based on someone else's novel.

We've strafed too far away from the topic of discussion, haven't we? Always a treat to talk to likeminded folks, though.

As I said, since this is a Mannix thread and -I'll be honest- it's why I came here. I truly hope the legacy sequel script I'm working on does prevail and does not disappoint Mannix fans. Obviously, since it is a legacy sequel, it won't be centered on the Joe Mannix that we know but his grandson, who's very much like his grandfather but also his own man. All things considered, Mannix was too kind a fella despite being knocked out 55 times throughout the series, my take on the new character would be smugger and a smart aleck with a rich intelligence background, very similar to Mike Connors' unnamed Tightrope! character (yeah, they say he's named Nick Stone, but I don't buy it). References to a lot of other Mike Connors films will also be made throughout. I'm listening to Lalo Schifrin, Henry Mancini, John Barry, Johnny Mandel, Ron Goodwin, John Cacavas, Don Ellis, Elmer Bernstein, David Shire (I'm crazy about the theme from The Taking of Pelham 123!) and many others as I'm penning them. Let's just say that I intend this movie, which would serve as a pilot episode, to be shot and edited exactly like a 1960s/1970s film and using music that are exactly like soundtracks from that period. It's set in the present time, smartphones and all, but this Mannix would be sort of like a walking anachronism with the way he wears his suits (very 60s-like, early Sean Connery style) and speaks with a mid-Atlantic accent, like Connors in his earlier works from the 50s. He listens to Jazz, Bossa Nova, Blues, and all else he either takes it or leaves it, like his ol' grandad. For the sake of continuity, I also intend to find a way to bring back Toby Fair (Peggy's son) who'd be played by Mark Stewart, thus reprising his role. Now, I won't go into the details, but I'm just giving the key notes to what I intend to do, so, God willing, if it ever gets picked up, Mannix fans have nothing to worry about.

P.S. If you want a cross between Mannix and Bond, well... I highly recommend watching Kiss the Girls and Make Them Die where Connors essentially plays a Bond-like secret agent, albeit American. The movie is more or less a spoof, but it's very entertaining. The plot is similar to the film version of Moonraker in a way. This is a funny one because not a long ago, I found a newspaper article archived by the CIA (yes, the CIA archived this page!) where Connors was talking about this film, having shot the Mannix pilot episode a year prior to the release of this EuroSpy spoof, saying something like it wasn't getting picked up and didn't seem enthusiastic about it. The newspaper speculated if Connors was going to be forever associated with this secret agent character like Sean Connery was with Bond and Michael Caine was with Harry Palmer, and that more sequels could be coming. What could have been, huh?