JOE MANNIX is your classic hard-boiled private eye, television division. And I mean classic in every sense of the word. Accept no substitutes.Joe Mannix
Created by William Link and Richard
Levinson
Developed for Television by Bruce Geller
JOE MANNIX is your classic hard-boiled private eye, television division. And I mean classic in every sense of the word. Accept no substitutes.
Formerly the dubious pride of Intertect, a high-tech detective firm, Joe left after his first season to start his own detective agency where he relied less on sophisticated gadgetry and more on his own wits and a wicked right hook. This Korean War veteran is remarkably even-tempered and seems to take fist fights, high-speed car chases and bullet wounds in stride. Although his rugged good looks, snazzy convertible-with a car phone!- and dizzying array of loud sports jackets attract an endless stream of beautiful women, he seems intent on remaining a bachelor. The one woman who's a constant presence in his life is his ever-faithful (and much-kidnapped) secretary, Peggy Fair. But she didn't come along until the second season.
To tell the truth, it was the first season that really shined. Originally Joe was a hotshot (and frequently hot-haded) op for Intertect, a high-tech, ultra-modern Pinkerton-like high-tech detective agency headed by Lew Wickersham. Where Lew was a white-collar, straight company man, Mannix was a rough-and-tumble loner with his heart on his sleeve and a loaded gat. The tension between the two gave the show an edge most PI shows could only dream of, as Wickersham rattled on and on about databases, company reputations and computer analysis, while Mannix's M.O. seemed to consist solely of hunches, fistfights, and an occasional gun battle. In You Can Get Killed Out There, an episode near the end of the first season, Joe and Lew's differences boil over and Joe leaves Intertect rather than accept an assignment. The following episode, Another Final Exit had Joe cutting all ties with Intertect. And yet, not many viewers seems to remember the first season. Perhaps because that first season was never included in the syndication package.
By the second episode of the second season, The Silent Cry, the Mannix most of us remember was firmly in place. The one-man agency wit Gail Fisher in her regular role as faithful secretary Peggy Fair, the widow of a police officer killed in the line of duty, and the mother of one son, Toby. One of the first blacks to be cast in an American drama, Peggy made quite an impression. In a recent chat online, several folks were convinced that in fact, Joe and Peggy were "doing it", and that CBS didn't reveal the relationship due to the "racial sensitivities" of the time. Gee, maybe they were getting it on during commercials...
But whatever. There was certainly affection there, and Peggy was certainly an integral part of the agency, more than simply a secretary, running background checks, brainstorming with Joe and rescuing Joe from the local jail or hospital. And she could be counted on to be threatened or kidnapped once or twice a season, just to keep things rolling.
Not that Joe had completely turned his back on technology, mind you. He did have a car phone -- something extrememly rare at the time. And the fans loved it. And Joe. During its long run it was always a popular show.
But eventually CBS, possibly corncerned about ongoing complaints about the show's violence, did what various hoods and thugs never quite managed. They cancelled Joe's ticket. Mannix ground to a halt in the mid-seventies. By then, the airwaves were alive with a new breed of TV dicks. Blind dicks (Longstreet), fat dicks (Cannon), con artist dicks (Rockford), even old dicks (Barnaby Jones). And in a few short years, producers Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts would help create bimbo dicks (Charlie's Angels). The idea of a hardboiled private eye like Joe suddenly seemed old-fashioned, even quaint.
And yet, Mannix's very success had revived the genre in the first place. Before Mannix, the genre has more or less run itself into the ground, tripping over its own gimmicks (77BourbonStreetEye, anyone?)
By humanizing and subtly updating the private eye, bringing him into the seventies even while harking back to the roots of the genre, Mannix paved the way for all who would replace him. Actor Connors once mused, in Ric Meyers' Murder On the Air, that somewhere out there "Mannix is still working...there was a decency and a dignity about the man..."
It turns out he was right. In 1997, Joe even returned in an episode of Diagnosis Murder, a lighthearted piece of fluff that claimed to be a mystery drama, about a Dr. Mark Sloan (played by Dick Van Dyke), a teaching physician who also becomes deeply involved in crime-solving in his role as consultant to the local police department. Sort of a Murder, He Prescribed, with a scary similiarity to Matlock. In one of the few episodes that interested me, Mannix teams up with his old friend Dr. Mark Sloan to solve a 25-year-old murder case.
Scenes from a 1973 Mannix episode, Little Girl Lost are used in flashback sequences. Pernell Roberts and Beverly Garland reprise their guest-starring roles from the original "Mannix" episode as Mannix, in an attempt to honour a promise to a little girl (now a grown journalist) to track down her father's killer. When he arrives at Community General Hospital with a bullet wound, he runs into Mark and together they work the case. Meanwhile, the good doctor uncovers a more serious health risk while treating Mannix for his bullet wound and strongly advises him to take immediate action -- a warning Mannix promptly chooses to ignore. Seems you can't keep a good dick down.
Don't believe me? Check out how many TV private eyes STILL wear heavily patterned tweed sports coats... even in balmy Southern California? Ask James Garner about the "Mannix jacket."
UNDER OATH
CAR TALK
TELEVISION
1st season (The Intertect Episodes)....Buy this DVD set
- “The Name Is Mannix16” (September 16, 1967)
- “Skid Marks on a Dry Run” (September 23, 1967)
- “Nothing Ever Works Twice” (September 30, 1967)
- “The Many Deaths of Saint Christopher” (October 7, 1967)
- “Make Like It Never Happened” (October 14, 1967)
- “The Cost of a Vacation” (October 21, 1967)
- “Warning: Live Blueberries” (October 28, 1967)
- “Beyond the Shadow of a Dream” (November 4, 1967)
- “Huntdown” (November 18, 1967)
- “Coffin for a Clown” (November 25, 1967)
- “Catalogue of Sins” (December 2, 1967)
- “Turn Every Ston” (December 9, 1967)
- “Run, Sheep, Run” (December 16, 1967)
- “Then the Drink Takes the Man” (December 30, 1967)
- “The Falling Star” (January 6, 1968)
- “License to Kill---Limit Three People" (January 13, 1968)
- “Deadfall, Part 1” (January 20, 1968)
- “Deadfall, Part 2” (January 27, 1968))
- “You Can Get Killed Out There” (February 3, 1968)
- “Another Final Exit (or, The Box)” (February 10, 1968)
- “Eight to Five, Its a Miracle” (February 17, 1968)
- “Delayed Reaction” (March 2, 1968)
- “To Kill a Writer” (March 9, 1968)
- “The Girl in the Frame” (March 16, 1968)
Second season....Buy this DVD set
- “The Silent Cry” (September 28, 1968)
- “Comes Up Roses” (October 5, 1968)
- “Pressure Point” (October 12, 1968)
- “To the Swiftest, Death” (October 19, 1968)
- “End of the Rainbow” (October 26, 1968)
- “A Copy of Murde” (November 2, 1968)r
- “Edge of the Knife” (November 9, 1968)
- “Who Will Dig the Graves? ” (November 16, 1968)
- “In Need of a Friend” (November, 1968)
- “Night Out of Time” (December 7, 1968)
- “A View of Nowhere” (December 14, 1968)
- “Fear I to Fall” (December 21, 1968)
- “Death Run” (January 4, 1969)
- “A Pittance of Faith” (January 11, 1969)
- “Only Giants Can Play” (January 18, 1969)
- “Shadow of a Man” (January 25, 1969)
- “The Girl Who Came in with the Tide” (February 1, 1969)
- “Death in a Minor Key” (February 8, 1969)
- “End Game” (February 15, 1969)
- “All Around the Money Tree” (February 22, 1969)
- “The Odds Against Donald Jordan” (March 1, 1969)
- “Last Rites for Miss Emma” (March 8, 1969)
- “The Solid Gold Web” (March 22, 1969)
- “Merry Go Round for Murde” (April 5, 1969)
- “To Catch a Rabbit” (April 12, 1969)
- Third Season
- “Eagles Sometimes Can't Fly” (September 27, 1969)
- “Color Her Missing” (October 4, 1969)
- “Return to Summer Grove” (October 11, 1969)
- “The Playground” (October 18, 1969)
- “A Question of Midnight” (October 25, 1969)
- “A Penny for the Peep-Show” (November 1, 1969)
- “A Sleep in the Deep” (November 8, 1969)
- “Memory: Zero” (November 22, 1969)
- “The Nowhere Victim” (November 29, 1969)
- “The Sound of Darkness” (December 6, 1969)
- “Who Killed Me? ” (December 13, 1969)
- “Missing: Sun and Sky” (December 20, 1969)
- “Tooth of the Serpent” (December 27, 1969)
- “Medal for a Hero” (January 3, 1970)
- “Walk With a Dead Man” (January 10, 1970)
- “A Chance at the Roses” (January, 1970)
- “Blind Mirror” (January 24, 1970)
- “Harlequin's Gold” (January 31, 1970)
- “Who is Sylvia? ” (February 7, 1970)
- “Only One Death to a Customer” (February 14, 1970)
- “Fly, Little One” (February 21, 1970)
- “The Search for Darrell Andrews” (February 28, 1970)
- “Murder Revisited” (March 7, 1970)
- “War of Nerves” (March 14, 1970)
- “Once Upon a Saturday” (March 21, 1970)
- Fourth season
- “A Ticket to the Eclipse” (September 19, 1970)
- “One for the Lady” (September 26, 1970)
- “Time Out of Mind” (October 3, 1970)
- “Figures in a Landscape” (October 10, 1970)
- “The Mouse That Died” (October 17, 1970)
- “The Lost Art of Dying” (October 24, 1970)
- “The Other Game in Town” (October 31, 1970)
- “The World Between” (November 7, 1970)
- “Sunburst” (November 14, 1970)
- “To Cage a Sea Gull” (November 21, 1970)
- “Bang, Bang, You're Dead” (November 28, 1970)
- “Deja Vu” (December 12, 1970)
- “Duet For Three” (December 19, 1970)
- “Round Trip to Nowhere” (January 2, 1971)
- “What Happened to Sunday? ” (January 9, 1971)
- “The Judas Touch” (January 16, 1971)
- “With Intent to Kill” (January, 1971)
- “The Crime That Wasn't” (January 30, 1971)
- “A Gathering of Ghosts” (February 6, 1971)
- “A Day Filled with Shadows” (February 13, 1971)
- “Voice in the Dark” (February 20, 1971)
- “The Color of Murder” (February, 1971)
- “Shadow Play” (March 6, 1971)
- “Overkill” (March 13, 1971)
- Fifth season
- “Dark So Early, Dark So Long” (September 15, 1971)
- “Cold Trail” (September 22, 1971)
- “A Step in Time” (September 29, 1971)
- “Wine From These Grapes” (October 6, 1971)
- “Woman in the Shadows” (October 13, 1971)
- “Days Beyond Recall” (October 20, 1971)
- “Run Till Dark” (October 27, 1971)
- “The Glass Trap” (November 3, 1971)
- “A Choice of Evils” (November 10, 1971)
- “A Button for General D” (November 17, 1971)
- “The Man Outside” (November 24, 1971)
- “Murder Times Three” (December 1, 1971)
- “Catspaw” (December 8, 1971)
- “To Save a Dead Man” (December 15, 1971)
- “Nightshade” (December, 1971)
- “Babe in the Woods” (January 5, 1972)
- “The Sound of Murder” (January 12, 1972)
- “Moving Target” (January 19, 1972)
- “Cry Pigeon” (January 26, 1972)
- “A Walk in the Shadows” (February 9, 1972)
- “Lifeline” (February 16, 1972)
- “To Draw the Lightning” (February 23, 1972)
- “Scapegoat” (March 1, 1972)
- “Death in the Fifth Gear” (March 8, 1972)
- Sixth season
- “The Open Web” (September 17, 1972)
- “Cry Silence” (September 24, 1972)
- “The Crimson Halo” (October 1, 1972)
- “Broken Mirror” (October 8, 1972)
- “Portrait of a Hero” (October 15, 1972)
- “The Inside Man” (October 22, 1972)
- “To Kill a Memory” (October 29, 1972)
- “The Upside Down Penny” (November 5, 1972)
- “One Step to Midnight” (November 12, 1972)
- “Harvest of Death” (November 19, 1972)
- “A Puzzle for One” (November 26, 1972)
- “Lost Sunday” (December 3, 1972)
- “See No Evil” (December 10, 1972)
- “Light and Shadow” (December 17, 1972)
- “A Game of Shadows” (December 24, 1972)
- “The Man Who Wasn't There” (January 7, 1973)
- “A Matter of Principle” (January 14, 1973)
- “Out of the Night” (January 21, 1973)
- “Carol Lockwood, Past Tense” (January 28, 1973)
- “The Faces of Murder” (February 4, 1973)
- “Search for a Whisper” (February 18, 1973)
- “To Quote a Dead Man” (February 25, 1973)
- “A Problem of Innocence” (March 4, 1973)
- “The Danford File” (March 11, 1973)
- Seventh season
- “The Girl in the Polka Dot Dress” (September 16, 1973)
- “A Way to Dusty Death” (September 23, 1973)
- “Climb a Deadly Mountain” (September 30, 1973)
- “Little Girl Lost” (October 7, 1973)
- The Gang's All Here” (October 14, 1973)
- “Desert Run” (October 21, 1973)
- “Silent Target” (October 28, 1973)
- “A World Without Sundays” (November 4, 1973)
- “Sing a Song of Murder” (November 11, 1973)
- “Search in the Dark” (November 25, 1973)
- “The Deadly Madonna” (December 2, 1973)
- “Cry Danger” (December 9, 1973)
- “All the Dead Were Strangers” (December 16, 1973)
- “Race Against Time, Part 1” (January 6, 1974; aka “A Matter of the Heart”)
- “Race Against Time, Part 2” (January 13, 1974; aka “A Matter of the Heart”)
- “The Dark Hours” (January, 1974)
- “A Night Full of Darkness” (January 27, 1974)
- “Walk a Double Line” (February 10, 1974)
- “The Girl From Nowhere” (February 17, 1974)
- “Rage to Kill” (February 24, 1974)
- “Mask For a Charade” (March 3, 1974)
- “A Question of Murder” (March 10, 1974)
- “Trap for a Pigeon” (March 24, 1974)
- “The Ragged Edge” (March 31, 1974)
- Eighth Season
- “Portrait in Blues” (September 22, 1974)
- “Game Plan” (September 29, 1974)
- “A Fine Day for Dying” (October 6, 1974)
- “Walk on the Blind Side” (October 13, 1974)
- “The Green Men” (October 20, 1974)
- “Death Has No Face” (October 27, 1974)
- “A Small Favor for an Old Friend” (November 10, 1974)
- “Enter Tami Okada” (November 17, 1974)
- “Picture of a Shadow” (November 24, 1974)
- “Desert Sun” (December 1, 1974)
- “The Survivor Who Wasn't” (December 15, 1974)
- “A Choice of Victims” (December 22, 1974)
- “A Word Called Courage” (January 5, 1975)
- “Man in a Trap” (January 12, 1975)
- “Chance Meeting” (January 19, 1975)
- “Edge of the Web” (February, 1975)
- “A Ransom for Yesterday” (February 9, 1975)
- “The Empty Tower” (February 16, 1975)
- “Quartet for a Blunt Instrument” (February 23, 1975)
- “Bird of Prey, Part 1” (March 2, 1975)
- “Bird of Prey, Part 2” (March 9, 1975)
- “Design for Dying” (March 23, 1975)
- “Search for a Dead Man” (April 6, 1975)
- “Hardball” (April 13, 1975)
NOVELIZATIONS
RELATED LINKS
Respectfully submitted by Kevin Burton Smith.
| Home | Detectives A-L M-Z | Film | Radio | Television | Web Comics | Comics | FAQs |
| Trivia | Authors | Hall of Fame | Mystery Links | Bibliography | Glossary | Search |
| What's New: On The Site | On the Street | Non-Fiction | Fiction | Staff | The P.I. Poll |
Drop a dime. Your comments,
suggestions, corrections and contributions are always welcome.
"...and I'll tell you right out that I'm a man who likes
talking to a man who likes to talk."
