Mannix (TV Series) Nightshade (1971) User Reviews

Blackmail, murder, Vietnam and Milton Berle

[pkfloydmh · 8/10 · 10 September 2021]

This one is about a private detective friend of Joe's who is murdered while tailing someone. This is the second episode out of the last three (the other being Catspaw) where a private detective friend of Joe's was killed on the job.

This is a stellar episode with an intricate plot and some nice twists and good performances by the entire cast.

However, the blackmail motive is implausible as the idea that Greg would blackmail Danny because his dad is being mistreated by him just doesn't hold water. I mean, after all, if Sam thinks he's being treated poorly, he should just quit. That's the way it works. It's a free country. But obviously he hasn't quit so he doesn't have a problem with it, so why would Greg care? This motive just isn't credible.

Charlie Picerni makes another appearance, this time as Frome, the private detective who gets killed. He's been getting a lot of air time lately. He played Brastow's stooge in The Glass Trap and was Joe's stunt double in A Choice of Evils, A Button for General D and To Save a Dead Man. The stuntmen can clearly be seen in all episodes and I'm actually starting to recognize them now.

Joe gets smashed in the head with a large wine glass and nearly gets blown up by a grenade in a parking garage. He also gets shot at but not hit and takes a horrendous fall off of a second story balcony.

The total body count is three. I've noticed that as the body counts have increased in recent episodes, the quality of the episodes has improved along with it as all of the recent episodes that had high body counts were all superb, so this is definitely a winning formula and we'll see if it continues.

This is another great episode in a season that has had many of them lately.

THE COMEDIAN AND MURDER SLANT!

[tcchelsey · 10/10 · 25 August 2022]

Reza Badiyi was hard at work here, and "Nightshade" (a cool title) hits the mark. This is an interesting story, and with Milton Berle in a dramatic role. The first comedian of television was actually a very good actor and would, on occasion, turn up in some serious roles and did a commendable job. He certainly deserved some Emmy nominations. About a year earlier, Berle had a similar role on the MOD SQUAD.

Here, he plays comedian Danny Brite who hired a private detective (Paul Picerni) to do some undercover work for him --but he gets clipped by a Corvette? Chevrolet was introducing its new line of cars on the show at this time --very convenient. Naturally, Joe gets involved, in what turns out to be a blackmail case with the comedian the center of it all. There are some nice Badiyi touches, such as Mannix almost being blown to bits in a garage. The garage explosion was also used many times on MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE --as was the Corvette. Popular 70s actress Patricia McAneny plays Cecil.

If one of the background actors looks familiar, that's because it's Jack Berle, Milton's older brother. Jack usually was a stand-in for his brother, breaking out on his own and appearing in dozens of tv shows in bit roles and was quite popular.

I agree with the last reviewer, this is another in a series of episodes where one of Joe's detective friends is murdered. Fairly soon, he'll run out of friends! Also to note, the blackmail scheme is kind of hazy, because if the main character was insulted at the way he was treated, he should have just quit.

You be the judge.

Good support from another top comedian, Jesse White, as Sam. How many cigars does Berle smoke in this one? Great question!

10 Stars for Uncle Milty. Best of SEASON 5 EPISODE 15 remastered color CBS/Paramount dvd box set.

It's interesting to see Milton Berle playing a less than sympathetic character.

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 27 January 2015]

When this episode of "Mannix" begins, some guy is deliberately run over by a jerk driving a red corvette. Soon you learn that the dead man was a private eye--and Mannix is determined to find out who is behind the murder. The trail leads to a man who hired this dead private dick--a comedian named Danny Brite (Milton Berle). But when Mannix tries to get information out of Brite, the guy is just a jerk and does little to help in the investigation. Eventually Mannix is able to piece everything together--and by now, Brite is on his way to kill the man behind the murder as well as a blackmail scheme.

The plot for this episode is a bit overly complicated--making it a bit harder to believe and follow than usual. Also it features too many Mannix clichés--he's hit over the head and knocked out and TWICE he's shot at but the wannabe killer misses!! Overall, it's still watchable--if only to watch Berle playing such an unusually unlikable sort.

Decent enough but much of the Mannix formula on display

[Guad42 · 6/10 · 10 May 2021]

This is somewhat Milton Berle's show here. He is at the center of a blackmail plot aimed at his son. Charlie Picerni is a detective who ends up dead at the beginning of this outing (as he often does in his many Mannix appearances). He was working for Milton who refuses to clue Joe in on what is going on. What follows is Joe trying to figure out what is happening while dodging bad guys.

It is a good plot but with many of the usual Mannix tricks. The bad guys are bad shots. Joe is a great one. Joe gets hit over the head. Milton sees the errors of his ways. A Vietnam veteran has problems (a lot of shows used this one).

The plot is convoluted so pay attention. I thought Jesse White was the bad guy but was wrong. Joe got paid for all his troubles so that makes this a win. Not a great episode but watchable.