Mannix

[Little Garwood]

Sutton Roley, who directed To Kill a Memory, is known for his “artsy” camera angles and sometimes surreal sequences. I wish Roley had directed some of MPI’s more “surreal” episodes, like Rapture ; it would have been interesting to see what he would have done.

[ZelenskyTheValiant (Ivan)]

Sutton Roley, who directed To Kill a Memory, is known for his “artsy” camera angles and sometimes surreal sequences. I wish Roley had directed some of MPI’s more “surreal” episodes, like Rapture ; it would have been interesting to see what he would have done.

Sutton Roley directed my favorite season 9 FIVE-O episode - "A Capitol Crime"! In fact he played the judge at the start of the episode, sentencing George Hawley (Dick Davalos) to be transported to prison. He directed 2 other episodes (also in season 9) - "Double Exposure" and "Elegy in a Rainforest". All great episodes!

[Little Garwood]

Sutton Roley directed my favorite season 9 FIVE-O episode - "A Capitol Crime"! In fact he played the judge at the start of the episode, sentencing George Hawley (Dick Davalos) to be transported to prison. He directed 2 other episodes (also in season 9) - "Double Exposure" and "Elegy in a Rainforest". All great episodes!

A Capitol Crime, or, as it’s known at my house: “Sharon Farrell Unleashed!!!”

I’m used to Davalos playing James Dean’s milquetoast brother in East of Eden; he did a fine job on H50.

Roley was a superb craftsman! In addition to the 16 Mannix episodes he directed, he also directed a couple of my favorite Mission: Impossible episodes: The Cardinal and Underwater, the latter bringing it back to why he “should have” directed MPI’s Rapture.

Roley, prolific as he was, helmed the Starsky & Hutch episode I consider that show’s all-time worst: Dandruff(!)

[ZelenskyTheValiant (Ivan)]

Sutton Roley directed my favorite season 9 FIVE-O episode - "A Capitol Crime"! In fact he played the judge at the start of the episode, sentencing George Hawley (Dick Davalos) to be transported to prison. He directed 2 other episodes (also in season 9) - "Double Exposure" and "Elegy in a Rainforest". All great episodes!

A Capitol Crime, or, as it’s known at my house: “Sharon Farrell Unleashed!!!”

I’m used to Davalos playing James Dean’s milquetoast brother in East of Eden; he did a fine job on H50.

Roley was a superb craftsman! In addition to the 16 Mannix episodes he directed, he also directed a couple of my favorite Mission: Impossible episodes: The Cardinal and Underwater, the latter bringing it back to why he “should have” directed MPI’s Rapture.

Roley, prolific as he was, helmed the Starsky & Hutch episode I consider that show’s all-time worst: Dandruff(!)

I remember "The Cardinal" with Theodore Bikel. Among the top episodes from season 3, with "The Execution" being the best.

[Little Garwood]

I remember "The Cardinal" with Theodore Bikel. Among the top episodes from season 3, with "The Execution" being the best.

While we agree on The Cardinal—it’s #3 on my M:I S3 list—I strenusously disagree with your opinion of The Execution. The Mind of Stefan Miklos is imo hands down the best episode of S3. The Execution doesn’t even make my list.

…but we mustn’t veer away from the most-noble-and-worthy subject of Mannix; [Sarcasm]you know how passionate the denizens of Magnum-Mania are about the show—we wouldn’t want to interrupt their insightful posts[/Sarcasm] on this great detective series.

As I posted a couple of times before, had JJ Walters been five years or so older, this site would have been called Mannix-Mania!

Someone should start a Mission: Impossible thread, even though it would probably only consist of you and I droning on fascinatingly on that truly brilliant series.

[MikeS]

Mannix is coming to FETV starting Monday Aug. 30, 2021 -> https://fetv.tv/show/mannix/

But I'm just as excited about... and I'm not embarrased to say, so is LITB -> https://fetv.tv/show/leave-it-to-beaver/

[Little Garwood]

Mannix was one of the last great man's-man, anti-hero, hard-boiled private detectives on TV. He smoked too much. He drank too much. He broke every rule in the book. And it was great! By one count, he was shot 17 times and knocked unconscious another 55 times during the show's eight-year run! They just don't make shows like this anymore.

I agree with almost everything our esteemed founder stated above—except for the part about Mannix being an anti-hero.

Joe Mannix was the private investigator who imo represented the Silent Majority during the tumultuous late Sixties and early Seventies, as he reflected their beliefs, concerns, and represented the way the "Greatest Generation" would hope to be. Joe walked the straight and narrow in that he worked closely with the police, worked within the law (mostly), yet had a fierce sense of independence, which was something that used to be commonplace in the American character. Mannix also saw the hippie counterculture in a balanced, if not completely sympathetic way.

[Luther's nephew Dobie]

Sorry about the UN question!
I’ve just wondered about it for a long time.

Pahonu, I just saw your post. I will respond in a one off post, if you need to know more please "Private Message" me, as we two are probably the only ones interested, though I appreciate your query.
You wrote:

"Hey Dobie,
As you’re in the Lions Club, I have a question I’ve wanted to ask a member for quite some time. When I was in high school in the 80’s, an elderly neighbor of ours told me that he had participated in the drafting of the UN Charter in San Francisco as a member of the Lions! Beyond being super impressed then, and perhaps more so today as a US History teacher, I was wondering if you had any information about this? I haven’t thought about this in many years but thought I’d ask."

Melvin Jones, the founder of The Lions Clubs - then and now the largest service club in the world and very influential in business/political circles world wide - helped draft the charter with help from some other Lions. As a result Lions retain status as an consultant to the UN, and yearly the UN has a Lions Day, with business, political and non profit leaders meeting there. Anyone can join in the US and Canada but in
Japan people will offer "bribes" of 50 grand(to Lions charities) and more to join because of the business/political contacts.
Okay, no more from me on this subject, I get this is the Mannix thread.

[Pahonu]

Sorry about the UN question!
I’ve just wondered about it for a long time.

Pahonu, I just saw your post. I will respond in a one off post, if you need to know more please "Private Message" me, as we two are probably the only ones interested, though I appreciate your query.
You wrote:

"Hey Dobie,
As you’re in the Lions Club, I have a question I’ve wanted to ask a member for quite some time. When I was in high school in the 80’s, an elderly neighbor of ours told me that he had participated in the drafting of the UN Charter in San Francisco as a member of the Lions! Beyond being super impressed then, and perhaps more so today as a US History teacher, I was wondering if you had any information about this? I haven’t thought about this in many years but thought I’d ask."

Melvin Jones, the founder of The Lions Clubs - then and now the largest service club in the world and very influential in business/political circles world wide - helped draft the charter with help from some other Lions. As a result Lions retain status as an consultant to the UN, and yearly the UN has a Lions Day, with business, political and non profit leaders meeting there. Anyone can join in the US and Canada but in
Japan people will offer "bribes" of 50 grand(to Lions charities) and more to join because of the business/political contacts.
Okay, no more from me on this subject, I get this is the Mannix thread.

Thanks for the information! It’s one of those things that had slipped to the back of my mind over the years but I had always wondered about. The details about Japan are eye-opening. Thanks again.

[ZelenskyTheValiant (Ivan)]

I remember "The Cardinal" with Theodore Bikel. Among the top episodes from season 3, with "The Execution" being the best.

While we agree on The Cardinal—it’s #3 on my M:I S3 list—I strenusously disagree with your opinion of The Execution. The Mind of Stefan Miklos is imo hands down the best episode of S3. The Execution doesn’t even make my list.

…but we mustn’t veer away from the most-noble-and-worthy subject of Mannix; [Sarcasm]you know how passionate the denizens of Magnum-Mania are about the show—we wouldn’t want to interrupt their insightful posts[/Sarcasm] on this great detective series.

As I posted a couple of times before, had JJ Walters been five years or so older, this site would have been called Mannix-Mania!

Someone should start a Mission: Impossible thread, even though it would probably only consist of you and I droning on fascinatingly on that truly brilliant series.

You're right. We'd probably be the only 2 posting about M:I if we created a separate thread. But indulge me - what didn't you like about "The Execution"??? I found it absolutely riveting the whole way through! Especially the whole gas chamber thing. Very intense!!! It's gotta be second only to season 2's "The Town" for me. Also, I've heard lot of praise for "Stefan Miklos" but the first time I saw it I was completely confused. Didn't understand anything that happened. Had to watch it a second time and actually make mental notes along the way. The second viewing definitely helped and cleared up some things. But I'm sure I still missed a few things. I think perhaps the episode is a bit "too clever" for its own good. Definitely something different from the norm but still not top 5 material for the season for me. I might catch some heat for this but I actually preferred "Nicole" with Joan Collins over this one. She was just stunning and Phelps falling for her felt really genuine and ultimately heartbreaking. A definite break from the norm and I liked that.

I gotta mention that I'm really surprised there's no COLUMBO thread here. We have MANNIX and other more obscure shows here but perhaps the most iconic detective show of all is missing. Curious to say the least.

[Luther's nephew Dobie]

I sincerely hope that the “UN Charter-Lions Club” discussion can be had in its own thread.

Here are two of my favorite writeups about Mannix. The first is from the WaPo article that may very well have been responsible for getting Mannix on DVD:

”Mannix was the last of a certain type of American manhood, circa early '70s. He wore a tie and a wistful smile. He did not know doubt but was a friend of irony. He didn't worry about giving women "their space," and he wasn't "in touch with his feelings." He was kind to small dogs, little old ladies, and femmes fatales in deep trouble and short skirts.

“He drove too fast, drank too much and smoked like he got paid for it. He slugged people and shot guys and never got pulled in by the cops. "The body count, even in the first few minutes of the show, could sometimes be appalling," notes one television reference guide. This was the era of "Who loves ya, baby?" "Book 'em, Danno!" and "This tape will self-destruct in five seconds."

"Mannix was great, just great -- one of the last unapologetically masculine and completely unrealistic American icons, at least in the myths we tell ourselves on television. Cops and detectives got cute or complicated later on, and there really hasn't been much on television like it since.

"It debuted at a turbulent time in American culture, 1967, and Joe Mannix was pretty much a modernized Lone Ranger -- no wife, no kids, no pets, no political views, no close friends. He was hip enough to listen to jazz and to mock himself as "a hard- boiled detective in the classical tradition," but traditional enough to wear a coat and tie and to have good manners."
—————————————-



The second is by DVDTalk reviewer Paul Mavis, whose words could very well serve as my own “Mannix Manifesto.” Mr. Mavis perfctly expresses his affection for the late-60s-to-mid-70s TV action show in his review for Mannix Season Seven:

“I've written reviews for the past four seasons of Mannix (please click here to read those), and since stylistically (as always) this seventh season differs not at all from previous outings (the producers stay remarkably consistent with the "Mannix formula"), I'm not going to go over the same ground again here.

“After all...who's out there reading these old TV reviews, anyway? Is it all the Pendleton shirts-and-sandals kids who drive around in their hot rods listening to their "hey, baby!" jazz music, hanging out at the malt shop discussing Archer and Justified? Is it the young, crew-cutted technocrats with their slide rulers and rocket fuel tabulating machines, arguing over Tosh.0?

“Is it that college girl on summer break down the street who knows exactly what she's doing to all the guys in the neighborhood when she keeps insisting on washing her new Camaro in her string bikini? Hell, no; they wouldn't know Joe Mannix if he slammed into them with his customized Challenger 360.”

“No, Mannix the show, Mannix the gestalt, Mannix the lifestyle, is strictly for the over 35-set who grew up with aerials on their roofs, nylon underwear, metal lunch boxes, and only three TV networks.

“We already know what Mannix is all about. It's about TV's vision of the American "good life" in whacked-out, sun-bleached SoCal, circa 1974: Motor City muscle cars smashing into each other with abandon; weekend fishing trips that inevitably lead to assassination attempts; polyester sports jackets strong enough to deflect a .38 caliber bullet; women―beautiful women―who are attracted to macho Armenian musk like moths to a flame; old Army/college/casual acquaintance/passers-by on the street, all of whom bear a psychotic, violent grudge against Joe.

"And of course, vicious daily assaults, perpetrated year after year upon the unyielding body of Joe Mannix―assaults that would cripple a normal man inside a week. That's what Mannix is all about, kids. The particulars of the plots are merely distractions."

I sent this to my buddy in NSW and he loved it, as a life long Mannix fan. Mannix was the only Armenian on TV and it meant a lot to immigrants from there that Connors was "one of them."

[Pahonu]

I sincerely hope that the “UN Charter-Lions Club” discussion can be had in its own thread.

Here are two of my favorite writeups about Mannix. The first is from the WaPo article that may very well have been responsible for getting Mannix on DVD:

”Mannix was the last of a certain type of American manhood, circa early '70s. He wore a tie and a wistful smile. He did not know doubt but was a friend of irony. He didn't worry about giving women "their space," and he wasn't "in touch with his feelings." He was kind to small dogs, little old ladies, and femmes fatales in deep trouble and short skirts.

“He drove too fast, drank too much and smoked like he got paid for it. He slugged people and shot guys and never got pulled in by the cops. "The body count, even in the first few minutes of the show, could sometimes be appalling," notes one television reference guide. This was the era of "Who loves ya, baby?" "Book 'em, Danno!" and "This tape will self-destruct in five seconds."

"Mannix was great, just great -- one of the last unapologetically masculine and completely unrealistic American icons, at least in the myths we tell ourselves on television. Cops and detectives got cute or complicated later on, and there really hasn't been much on television like it since.

"It debuted at a turbulent time in American culture, 1967, and Joe Mannix was pretty much a modernized Lone Ranger -- no wife, no kids, no pets, no political views, no close friends. He was hip enough to listen to jazz and to mock himself as "a hard- boiled detective in the classical tradition," but traditional enough to wear a coat and tie and to have good manners."
—————————————-



The second is by DVDTalk reviewer Paul Mavis, whose words could very well serve as my own “Mannix Manifesto.” Mr. Mavis perfctly expresses his affection for the late-60s-to-mid-70s TV action show in his review for Mannix Season Seven:

“I've written reviews for the past four seasons of Mannix (please click here to read those), and since stylistically (as always) this seventh season differs not at all from previous outings (the producers stay remarkably consistent with the "Mannix formula"), I'm not going to go over the same ground again here.

“After all...who's out there reading these old TV reviews, anyway? Is it all the Pendleton shirts-and-sandals kids who drive around in their hot rods listening to their "hey, baby!" jazz music, hanging out at the malt shop discussing Archer and Justified? Is it the young, crew-cutted technocrats with their slide rulers and rocket fuel tabulating machines, arguing over Tosh.0?

“Is it that college girl on summer break down the street who knows exactly what she's doing to all the guys in the neighborhood when she keeps insisting on washing her new Camaro in her string bikini? Hell, no; they wouldn't know Joe Mannix if he slammed into them with his customized Challenger 360.”

“No, Mannix the show, Mannix the gestalt, Mannix the lifestyle, is strictly for the over 35-set who grew up with aerials on their roofs, nylon underwear, metal lunch boxes, and only three TV networks.

“We already know what Mannix is all about. It's about TV's vision of the American "good life" in whacked-out, sun-bleached SoCal, circa 1974: Motor City muscle cars smashing into each other with abandon; weekend fishing trips that inevitably lead to assassination attempts; polyester sports jackets strong enough to deflect a .38 caliber bullet; women―beautiful women―who are attracted to macho Armenian musk like moths to a flame; old Army/college/casual acquaintance/passers-by on the street, all of whom bear a psychotic, violent grudge against Joe.

"And of course, vicious daily assaults, perpetrated year after year upon the unyielding body of Joe Mannix―assaults that would cripple a normal man inside a week. That's what Mannix is all about, kids. The particulars of the plots are merely distractions."

I sent this to my buddy in NSW and he loved it, as a life long Mannix fan. Mannix was the only Armenian on TV and it meant a lot to immigrants from there that Connors was "one of them."

The Armenian diaspora is very self-aware of the community around the country. I’m not at all surprised that your friend was well aware of Mike Connors heritage. Here in the LA area, East Hollywood and the city of Glendale are the center of the Armenian community. I have several neighbors in Long Beach where I live who attend festivals and community events in those neighborhoods. One close Armenian friend, was showing an open house next door to us years ago and she explained to me after a couple viewed the property that they were “one of them” as you stated. I learned a lot that day.

[Little Garwood]

Mike “Mannix” Connors and James “Rockford” Garner…together in the same photo!



Seeing this makes me hugely happy.

[Pahonu]

Mike “Mannix” Connors and James “Rockford” Garner…together in the same photo!



Seeing this makes me hugely happy.

Great photo. Thanks!

[Little Garwood]

The Connors-Garner photo begs the question: Were the two lifelong friends or just avid golfers who happened to meet at that event and someone was wise enough to snap a photo?

Mike Connors appeared in the second episode of Maverick, so he and Jimmy Joe Meeker would have at least worked together decades before.

There’s also the whole “Passing the Private Eye Torch” concept; Joe Mannix would have handed it off to Jim Rockford. Mannix’s last season (1974-75) coincided with Rockford’s first…though TRF’s pilot film aired during Mannix’s seventh season.

I wonder if Joe Mannix ever won a Goodhue?

Probably not.

Watched a Mannix episode yesterday: Figures in a Landscape, which costarred a pre-M*A*S*H Loretta Swit. The villain was a clean-shaven Victor French, whose performance brought to mind the mannerisms and speech inflections of James Whitmore, Jr.