Ed Ryba First, credit where it's due - the opening and closing theme music from Mannix was written by the well-known film and TV composer, the guy who wrote memorable themes for TV's Mission: Impossible, and of course, one of the best TV themes ever, Mannix, Lalo Schifrin. And I can't take credit (or the blame) for the 'Summary' or 'Title' of this review. My old friend, the late Gary Owens, was responsible for that. Mr. Schifrin even credited Gary, when he used the above title for a vinyl LP of some of Schifrin's music.All that being said, I have always thought Mannix was one of the all-time great detective shows ever to hit TV. Mike Connors (known in the 1950's as "Touch" Connors! Figure THAT out!) was just terrific as the tough guy/nice guy detective, Joe Mannix. His secretary, Peggy Fair (played by Gail Fisher - and I don't think the character's last name was mentioned more than once in the entire run of the episodes in which she appeared, from its second season, starting in September of 1968, to its eighth season, which finished in April of 1975). In its first season, Mannix was working in the rather contrived situation of a large, "computerized" detective agency with many employees. Thankfully, the producers (Desilu, at the time, soon to become Paramount Television) had the sense to dump all the phony baloney bells and whistles of all that. Starting with season two, they got rid of the unnecessary characters, and had our hero Joe Mannix become self-employed, with Peggy holding down the fort whenever Joe left the office, which was quite often.When you watched Mannix, you'd see lots of action, a fair amount of suspense, and even when the scripts weren't great, they were always good. So if you have yet to see this series, as of this writing, the show is running on MeTV, seen all over the US, originating in Chicago.If you'll allow me this, dear reader, Three Cheers For DESILU Productions, which, with Mannix, went out with a BANG!!!

williwaw Desilu Studio created this hit show starring Mike Connors and it was a blockbuster hit. Desilu had been riding high with Mission Impossible and Star Trek and of course the Lucy Show, but as Desilu was folding into Paramount, CBS bought this show and Desilu produced a superb drama. Bruce Geller who produced Mission Impossible at Desilu was given the task by Herbert Solow the dynamic Executive Vice President of Desilu to produce this hit TV show. Mannix stands as the very last of the great shows Desilu produced among them The Untouchables, Star Trek, Mission Impossible, and great comedies such as I Love Lucy, Our Miss Brooks and of course The Lucy Show. It was wonderful as a fan of Desilu to see so much quality programming from a great little studio run by Lucille Ball.

aimless-46 The 194 one-hour episodes (all in color) of detective drama "Mannix" originally aired on CBS from 1967-1975. It was a slick series, uncharacteristically violent (at least by television standards) with decent enough scripting so that there was generally logic involved in all the story lines. Mike Conners (one of my fraternity brothers) played the title character, a maverick private eye who starts out (Season One) as a loner within "Intertect" a large detective agency. It was intended by its creators (Richard Levinson and William Link-see "Columbo") to be a man vs technology statement. In Season One Mannix is in constant conflict with his boss Lou Wickersham (Joseph Campanella). Lou has invested big bucks in a computer system, the latest electronic technology, and assorted scientific detection gadgets; and these are central to the way he is marketing the agency's services. Mannix is an old fashion gumshoe, solving cases by hard work and instinct. Their confrontations may remind you a similar dynamic on "Kolchak: The Night Stalker". After its first year "Mannix" became a conflicted series. The title character was a reprise of the Nick Stone character Conners played in the police drama "Tightrope" (1959-60 also on CBS). Stone and Mannix are no-frills film noir style grunts, coming out of most confrontations a bit the worse for the wear. But once the producers of "Mannix" saw the success of "Bullitt" (1968) they began to pack the series with car chases and outfit their otherwise grim gumshoe with a succession of "Munsters" inspired exotic automobiles. Can you say incongruity? But that should not concern those about to view the Season One DVD set. Speaking of incongruity, the later season's content and style seems mismatched with the boxy split screen title graphics. These were a carry over from Season One where they were meant to reflect the computer and technology themes. I liked them even though they seemed out of place in subsequent seasons. I also liked the catchy theme music by Lalo Schifrin who did the theme for "Mission Impossible". Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

REES-1 They say an actor/actress needs the face, stage presence, and a good voice. Mannix and his secretary had an abundance of these attributes. Just think of, for example, Chuck Heston, Gregory Peck, John Wayne, Susan Hayward, etc., they all had the qualities, now look in the mirror and recite a few lines of Shakespeare. Right! You stink on ice!! That's why you're not making the big bucks.