"Mannix" is my all-time favorite crime drama. Yes, there is a lot of violence (there seems to be an obligatory fight scene in every show, and it's a wonder Joe Mannix lived through eight seasons), but for those of us who don't care about sifting through a slew of clues to figure out whodunit, this is the show to watch. Except for the computer angle of the first season (which Lucille Ball had eliminated because she didn't think the audience related to it), this show is--unlike most detective shows of its era--free of gimmickry; Mannix is not crippled or blind or fat or bald or old or sloppy. He's just a regular guy (and he's Armenian, by the way) who lives by his wits and his fists.
An added plus is Gail Fisher as Mannix's secretary Peggy Fair. True, she gets kidnapped a lot but she's also a lot of help to Mannix and it's also admirable that the show makes no big deal about the fact that she's African-American. She's a secretary, period.
Ward Wood and Robert Reed add extra flavor as Mannix's contacts on the LAPD, Lts. Art Malcolm and Adam Tobias, respectively. Reed, who was doing "The Brady Bunch" at the same time, often said he preferred doing this show to the sitcom.
And never to be forgotten are the split-screen graphics and that great Lalo Schifrin theme song which I find myself humming from time to time.
"Mannix" shows up occasionally on Cloo; I wish they'd show it more often.
An added plus is Gail Fisher as Mannix's secretary Peggy Fair. True, she gets kidnapped a lot but she's also a lot of help to Mannix and it's also admirable that the show makes no big deal about the fact that she's African-American. She's a secretary, period.
Ward Wood and Robert Reed add extra flavor as Mannix's contacts on the LAPD, Lts. Art Malcolm and Adam Tobias, respectively. Reed, who was doing "The Brady Bunch" at the same time, often said he preferred doing this show to the sitcom.
And never to be forgotten are the split-screen graphics and that great Lalo Schifrin theme song which I find myself humming from time to time.
"Mannix" shows up occasionally on Cloo; I wish they'd show it more often.