Hey Ivan,ZelenskyTheValiant (Ivan) wrote: ↑Sat Oct 14, 2023 4:38 amYep, I agree that the recycled stories of Mannix's former psycho war comrades were pretty good, especially the season 6 episode with Clu Gulager. He was VERY creepy in that one! Especially with half his face hidden in shadows and that maniacal cackle. It's like a mix of Two-Face and the Joker. The other 2 I remember were played by Steve Ihnat and Darren McGavin. Ihnat had Joe go through some kind of labyrinthine pipe in some abandoned building (the details are foggy now) and McGavin was some kind of weirdo karate expert which I think was more comical than creepy.Luther's nephew Dobie wrote: ↑Sat Oct 14, 2023 2:35 am In the season one, episode 10 of Mannix, titled "Coffin for a Clown", ex Bowery Boy Gabe Dell guest stars. At one point sultry Diana Muldaur angrily
sends Mannix on his way with a nonsensical censored version of a once common 1940's insult that today goes over everyone's head:
"I'd hand you your hat but you didn't come in with one."
The line is really "I'd shit in your hat but you didn't come in with one." Personally I'd think twice before laying that on Joe Mannix.
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ZelenskyTheValiant (Ivan) wrote:
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.
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Hi Ivan,
LOL! I forgot about Joe's squad being recruited exclusively from the people renting rooms at the Bates Motel. To be fair, though the producers kept recycling that story line they were good episodes.
And I think you nailed 3 of the 10 best episodes with the absolutely great "The Silent Cry", "Cold Trail" and "The Empty Tower" with one of my favorite actors Bill Bixby, who could do drama
and comedy and magic and who was also a excellent director. I too liked "Silent Target" and thought John Hillerman overshadowed Langella in the acting department.
Hillerman also played a hitman in the Mannix episode "Search for a Dead Man".
On reflection as to "The Silent Cry" being among the best episodes of 70's TV detective shows, there is so much to like about it I have to agree. In fact I rate it as the best Mannix.
We need Mannix maven Little Garwood to return and put his two cents in. He went on Walkabout before and eventually returned, hopefully he will again.
I always suspected he was a professional writer in the TV/movies sphere going by the jargon he used.
I agree that Little Garwood should return. I also made the earlier post over on the Mannix thread https://magnum-mania.com/Forum/viewtopi ... 924#p76924 where Garwood was a regular poster. Not sure where he is now. Last I recall he was going through CANNON and posting on that thread. That's another show I need to check out some day. Lots of great detective/cop shows in the 70s!
I went through the whole Cannon series a few years ago and really enjoyed it. There weren’t any really bad episodes that I recall. It was consistently good quality writing and has all the character actors of the time used to good effect. One of my favorites is a two-parter with David Janssen from season three, I believe. Cannon also “lived” in a really cool Art Deco high rise in Hollywood called Sunset Tower. It’s on the National Historic Register and is a very high end hotel now. I’ve been there to meet up with a friend and it’s been beautifully restored. I still occasionally DVR episodes on MeTV+ when one I really like comes up. I recommend it.
https://ibb.co/g9c2cZR
https://ibb.co/263q9QD
The series also filmed around Long Beach in many episodes and it’s fun to see my hometown when I was too young to remember it. The show debuted a couple of weeks before I was born. They even filmed a later season episode with Vera Miles and it included the marina complex where I live now! It was brand new and not even fully occupied the year they filmed here and the greenery looks very sparse compared to today. They also film in a unit in Key 1 that has its totally funky 70’s style on display. There aren’t any left that haven’t been remodeled that I know of, though there are a handful of original owners whose brain I pick occasionally. Really fun to see!
https://ibb.co/cw1yzCj
https://ibb.co/BT3QNkb
Edit:
The Cannon episode using Marina Pacifica is called Fall Guy from season five. Not the best, but solid, especially Vera Miles performance as the baddie.