Search - Mannix: The Second Season on DVD

Mannix Returns to DVD!!

E. Hornaday | Lawrenceville, NJ United States | 09/10/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Great news for Classic TV fans!

CBS Paramount Home Video is quickly following the successful release of Season 1 of the iconic TV series 'Mannix' on DVD with the release of the complete Season 2!

Great news: CBS Parmount Home Video has also annouced that ALL of the ORIGINAL musical score and cues for every episode has been included and not replaced! (They had been sharply criticized by fans for replacing some of the music in Season 2 of the Fugitive.)

Mannix ran from 1967 through 1975 on CBS. Created by Richard Levinson and William Link and developed by executive producer Bruce Geller (who also created Mission: Impossible), the title character, Joe Mannix, is a two-fisted private investigator portrayed by Mike Connors.

Rarely has an actor so inhabited a TV character that it's impossible to separate the two. This series represents one of those times, and even the show's producers recognized it when the unusual credit proclaimed: Mike Connors IS Mannix.

The ruggedly handsome Connors was the perfect match, and made the signature loud polyester sports jackets of the time look great on his altar ego. Mannix also drove a variety of convertibles, and even had a car phone - which was unheard of at the time!

Mannix originally worked for a high-concept computerized firm known as Intertect in the rarely seen first season. In the second season, Mannix has left the firm and opened his own private investigative agency at 17 Paseo Verde, Los Angeles, California.

It was in the second season that the brilliant and popular actress Gail Fisher was brought on board as Mannix's devoted secretary, Peggy Fair. Peggy's cop-husband, a friend of Mannix, had been killed in line of duty. She is now a widowned mom to young son Toby, portrayed by Mark Stewart, who is still coping with the loss of his father.

Fisher, one of the first African-American actresses to have a regular TV series role, portrayed the character from 1968 through the run of the show.

Connors, very proud of his Armenian heritage and spoke fluent Armenian and French, incorporated his background into Mannix's character, even putting several Armenian proverbs into the episodes including, "There is no reason for war that reasonable men cannot resolve." Connors was also a Korean War veteran - and so was Mannix!

Joseph Campanella, who portrayed Mannix's boss Lew Wickersham, in Season 1, reprised his role in Season 2, but was no longer his boss, but instead offered computer assistance and friendship when Mannix needed it.

As a solo P.I., Mannix was also assisted by members of the police department. The two most prominent officers were Lt. Adam Tobias (portrayed by Robert Reed, prior to his Brady Bunch days when he starred with Florence Henderson as the parents), and Lt. Art Malcolm (portrayed by Ward Wood). Both characters premiered in Season 2, Reed in `A Copy of Murder,' and Wood in `End Game.' Other police contacts were Lt. George Kramer (Larry Linville of M*A*S*H* fame) and Lt. Dan Ives (Jack Ging).

Often criticized for its violence, it nonetheless remains a fan favorite to this day and a ratings winner it aired. Over the eight seasons of the series, Mannix was knocked unconscious 55 times and shot 17 times.

All 25 episodes of Season 2 are included in this boxed set and are: `The Silent Cry,' Mannix chases kidnappers with the assistance of a deaf girl who lip read the plot of the crime; `Comes Up Roses,' Mannix fights a conspiracy of silence to find Rose Anderson, who was swallowed up by the underground she deserted; `Pressure Point,' Mannix's clues to court corruption were a few words gasped by a badly beaten man; `To the Swiftest, Death,' Mannix probes a race-car accident that killed an aerospace engineer; `End of the Rainbow,' Mannix probes the mysterious death of a recently released prison inmate who carried a scrap of paper with his name on it; `A Copy of Murder,' a manuscript gone missing holds the answer to a homicide; `Edge of the Knife,' kidnappers threaten to kill a doctor's son unless the surgeon lets a patient die on the operating table; `Who Will Dig the Graves?' revelations await Mannix in his search for a millionaire's wife; `In Need of a Friend,' Mannix finds new evidence in the case of an embezzler he helped convict; `Night Out of Time,' the likelihood that a young man killed a girl grows stronger as Mannix reconstructs the previous evening for him; `A View of Nowhere,' on a helicopter trip, Mannix thinks he sees a murder below; `Fear I to Fall; Death Run,' Mannix is called to testify against an ex-con he sent up, but this time suspects a frame; `A Pittance of Faith,' an old friend asks Mannix for help, but when he arrives at the man's rural town, he finds murder; `Only Giants Can Play,' Mannix takes a murder investigation into the political arena; `Shadow of a Man,' Mannix tries to unravel a war hero's past in order to find out why he is being targeted for death; `The Girl Who Came in with the Tide,' Mannix believes a drowning victim was murdered; `Death in a Minor Key,' an enigmatic police chief, a bigoted witness and an interloper thwart Mannix's search for Peggy's boyfriend; `End Game,' a court-martialed veteran seeks revenge against Mannix and a policeman, the last survivors of his combat unit; `All Around the Money Tree,' Mannix is lured to Mexico; `The Odds Against Donald Jordan,' Mannix is hired to locate a missing building contractor; `Last Rites for Miss Emma,' Mannix faces the loss of the friendship of Peggy Fair when he tells her that he suspects her new boyfriend of being the key man in the theft of 45 cartons of morphine; `The Solid Gold Web,' a newspaper publisher's daughter is implicated in the death of a mobster; `Merry Go Round for Murder,' a boarding school marked for demolition sets off a mystery; and `To Catch a Rabbit,' a bitter murder suspect claims the death was accidental.

Guest stars in Season 2 read like a `who's who' of the best actors and actresses from the era. Included are: Cloris Leachman, William Windom, Barbara Rush, Barbara Babcock, Gerald S. O'Laughlin, Harold J. Stone, Hugh Beaumont, Peter Haskell, Jill Ireland, Kathryn Hays, Ford Rainey, Eve Plumb, Fritz Weaver, Geraldine Brooks, Harry Dean Stanton, John Colicos, John Considine, Dana Elcar, Madlyn Rhue, Peter Donat, Patricia Barry, Philip Ahn, Yaphet Kotto, Anthony Zerbe, Steve Ihnat, Paul Winfield, and Sally Kellerman.

It's great to have Season 2 released so quickly after Season 1. Let's hope the remaining seasons follow suit."

Mannix Season Two - A 40 Year Perspective.

G. Jones | NC | 01/31/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It is hard to add much more praise on this great series than already has but here goes. First I never missed this show as a child growing up, I watched it with my dad every Saturday night. It was the only night of the week I could stay up until 11:00pm. The first thing that strikes me as I watch the show 40 years later is how shows of this era tried to appeal to the best in human nature. Loyalty, integrity, honesty, sense of justice, and in Mannix case genuinely caring about many of the clients he was trying to help. Compare that to most shows of today that wallow in the worst of human nature even glorify it. I probably will never get a chance to meet Mick Connors or another hero of my youth James Arness of Gunsmoke but would like to thank them for helping to make a positive lasting impression on a little boy so many years ago. I highly recommend this dvd set. Thanks Joe !"

Mannix Season 2

Rick Eager | 01/29/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I've always been a Mannix fan so, I really liked season 1... but I have to tell you Season 2 is much better. The story lines have improved with Joe's new address at 17 Paseo Verde. Gail Fisher is not only beautiful... but she can act as well! I couldn't help notice the much better use of cinematography in season 2 that just wasn't there in season 1. The story lines are better and easier to follow and Chrysler supplied the cool cars. Joe drives a dark green Dodge GTS 340 convertible with mag wheels... it's sweet! We can only hope for the release of future seasons! Mike Connors where ever you are... BRAVO! Well done!!!"

Soulful Mike Conners plus Cigs, Mini Skirts & Cool Cars

M. Courtenaye | San Diego, CA United States | 02/17/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Just a few notes of Lalo Schiffrin's seductive theme song for Mannix and I'm transported right back to my early teens in SoCal. I'd forgotten how much I really loved this show until I stumbled upon this set. The series holds up surprisingly well in terms of story and acting; Mike Connors is enjoyably charismatic and sexy as independent, two-fisted PI-with-a-heart Joe Mannix. Plenty of familiar faces from 1960s TV Land appear as guest stars. Although the same studio backlots and painted backgrounds can get tiresome, each episode does manage break out of the studio for location shooting and that's when things perk right up.

The time-warp aspects of the series are lots of fun, even the not-so-positive ones. I had forgotten how much Mannix smokes, though less than in Season 1. The fashions are a scream, not just miniskirts and go-go boots for women but also pointy bras, big hair and ever-present fake eyelashes. The mini-skirts we all wore back then look somehow startling today, especially when worn by very professional women such as the sublime actress Gail Fisher, who played Mannix's plucky secretary. (How quaint that he calls her "Peggy" or "Honey" and she calls him "Mr. Mannix.")

Mannix shows up in some pretty hideous sports coats (some of which cause the dreaded pulsing "moiré" effect on the screen), not to mention ankle-baring tight slacks and the occasional foppish neck scarf (ouch!). And it's fun to watch his hair color get blacker and blacker--but that front curl never gets mussed. However, Mike Connors is such a watchable actor that all of that stuff is simply amusing, not distracting.

Vintage muscle-car lovers, take note: Mannix has got the goods, with plenty of car chases. All the great land yachts of the late 1960s are on full display as everyday transportation (I spotted a gas sign advertising 33 cents a gallon--sigh). I particularly enjoy seeing the occasional 1967 Ford Galaxie 500, since that was our family chariot. Simpler times indeed.

This second season is far superior to Season 1, though I miss seeing Joseph Campanella, who played Mannix's boss the first year (his brother Frank shows up as a police captain in Season 2). Let's hope more seasons are in the pipeline!"