Mannix (TV Series) What Happened to Sunday? (1971) User Reviews

Joe's got amnesia....finally!!

[planktonrules · 8/10 · 31 August 2014]

In seasons one and two, Joe Mannix was bashed over the head at least 20 times! Again and again he lost consciousness. By the 3rd season, the writers must have noticed this and although he got slapped around, he spent very little time unconscious in the next couple seasons (I cannot comment about seasons 5-8--I haven't yet seen them). However, in "What Happened to Sunday?", Joe once again loses consciousness (after jumping from a bridge to save his life) but this time something odd happens...he loses his recall of the previous day. Most importantly--who was trying to kill him and why. Now normally this sort of plot might seem contrived but based on the number of times Joe got his brains knocked out, I say it's about time he suffered some side effects! Heck, MOST people who got hit nearly as many times as Mannix would be dead or at least have some serious brain impairment!!

So is the show any good? Yep. The plot was very engaging, had a few exciting twists and kept my interest throughout. Well worth seeing.

What happened to logic?

[filmklassik · 8/10 · 9 June 2019]

Fun, witty, intricately plotted episode - very much in the spirit of the far-fetched "amnesia noirs" Hollywood was fond of in the 1940s.

My biggest problem with the episode was the notion that Joe only "lost" 24 hours. Based on the number of friendships and romances he seems to have forged during his blackout, the episode should more rightly have been called "What Happened to January?"

Also, why were the villains who were so eager to KILL Joe at the top of the episode ... content merely to FOLLOW him for the rest of it? They couldn't possibly know he had amnesia, could they? Kind of absurd, but, let's face it, also necessary if the story was going to play out.

Connors is terrific, as always, and the supporting cast is good, too. A solid and engaging "MANNIX" if one doesn't stop and ask too many questions.

The Mannix cliche trifecta

[edbcortina · 7/10 · 27 January 2021]

Or perhaps grand slam. In almost every episode poor Mannix either gets knock unconscious, hit by or thrown from a car, or shot. In this episode you get all 3! Still the cliche-fest would not be complete without the old amnesia plot device thrown in. By season 4 Mannix had been hit in the head so many times it's amazing he could remember his name, let alone who's trying to kill him and why. By season 6 he should have had CTE and dementia. Despite all this the episode is watchable and can be enjoyed as either a crime drama or as camp.

This one will draw you in

[pkfloydmh · 9/10 · 6 August 2021]

This one begins with Joe being chased by a couple of thugs and eventually getting knocked out and then drawing a blank about the events that led up to the thugs chasing him.

This is a great episode that doesn't have any obvious plot holes or any of the usual cliches you normally see on this show. The story is interesting and well done as Joe gradually regains his memory and is able to draw a picture of what happened.

One interesting thing to note here is that this is the second episode this season (the first being The Lost Art of Dying) where Joe enters a strip club and both episodes are among the best episodes of the season, and just like in the Lost Art of Dying, the performance by the stripper (played by Georgine Darcy) is really good even though she's only in one scene. I love it when she tells Joe he won't be held responsible for the damages to the club. Ha! Hilarious! Leave it to Joe to start a brawl at a strip club. Great stuff. The performances by the rest of the cast are stellar too, including Kate Woodville, J. Pat O'Malley, and Milton Selzer as Lt. Strauss, who is a big improvement over the dreadful Jerry Douglas as Lt. Webster. Wonder where Malcolm is. He's been missing in action for a few episodes now. Maybe he's in hot water for allowing Jerry Douglas to represent the department in a couple of episodes this season.

Joe takes a hellish beating in this one, the worst of any episode so far. He jumps off a bridge into a tree and gets knocked out, gets hit by a car and lands hard on the pavement, gets shot in the shoulder, and ends up in the hospital TWICE, which is a new record. He also has some other close calls - he nearly gets run over by a couple of cars chasing him and nearly gets his head smashed in by a chair during the brawl at the strip club. This one is brutal for Joe.

The one problem with this episode is the stuntmen are clearly visible in all of the action scenes, including one near the end where the only requirement is to run along a path in the woods, so why not just have Joe do the scene? There's no danger whatsoever, so why is a stuntman needed? I don't get it. Maybe Joe's memory is still hazy and he forgot that this is a scene that he could do.

So I'll draw the curtain on this review and state that this is an excellent episode and one of the best so far this season.

Jumping scene from this ep later used in opening credits

[belanger75 · 9/10 · 24 June 2019]

This jumping scene occurs in the pre-credits scene at the beginning. I admit with another poster a lot seems to have happened to Joe in only one day. It is loosely possible some of this happened to him the day before and he forgot part of Saturday too. Miss. Woodville is hot in her guest starring role as the woman Joe falls for.

If you're on TV long enough, you get amnesia

[Guad42 · 8/10 · 23 October 2021]

Amnesia is an old plot device seen on a variety of shows but, overall, this is a good episode with plenty of action. The hour moves right along with no drag time or side distractions. The plot has been covered by others so a few observations. Joe gets in some serious physical sequences in this one. Hit over the head, run over by a car, jumps off a bridge, has a strip club fight, and receives a gunshot in the shoulder. He gets to take out two guys with his fists after being shot and does some good shooting on his own in getting a tire and a bad guy. A little hard to believe but it is Joe at his best. Several pretty women drift through the episode, all charmed by our guy.

In today's world, it is weird to see a gas station attendant "filling it up and checking under the hood."

Good cast. Many TV veterans with lots of credits including several Mannix appearances. I have to wonder about Milton Selzer in his only appearance as police Lt Strauss. Are the other police lieutenants busy? Milton had three Mannix appearances among his million appearances on TV so he can do this role in his sleep. He has a few more lines than your typical police Lt role on Mannix. Why was this his only time as Lt Strauss?

Joe doesn't get paid again. Someone with all the Mannix episodes on DVD should count the number of times Joe doesn't get paid. I'm sure it is more times than we think.

DAZED AND CONFUSED SOMEWHERE IN HOLLYWOOD.

[tcchelsey · 10/10 · 22 July 2022]

After being blinded, albeit briefly, the previous season, and considering how many whacks to the head Joe got --it was high time to give him amnesia.

Paul Krasny directed, behind 28 classic episodes, and not pulling back here. In fact, this story may be one of the most violent for Mannix in the show's first four seasons. About this time CBS was also searching for another tough as nails private eye, thus opening the door for CANNON. It all fits together, and with very similar stories.

Frank Telford wrote this episode, along with so many others for IRONSIDE and HAWAII FIVE O. This story takes a different slant as Joe wakes up in a hospital, Peggy again at his side, saddled with the task of piecing together flashbacks of a young lady being murdered. Bottom line, kill or be killed as hitmen are now coming for him, and these guys play for keeps.

The ratings at the time were slipping a bit, and it seemed to take slam, bang episodes like this to turn things around. The subsequent 71-72 season saw the series literally jump to #7 in the top ten. Quick thinking!

Two super actresses headline this episode; British Kate Woodville (as Vera), in her second series appearance, a STAR TREK alumnus. Francine York plays Gloria, another cult tv figure who portrayed Lydia Limpet on BATMAN. She was also a favorite of Jerry Lewis and cast in many of his comedies. This episode would also mark the final screen apperance of actress Georgine Darcy (as Billie), whose claim to fame was playing the ballet dancer, called Miss Torso, in the Hitchcock film REAR WINDOW. She said in later years that Hitch told her he could make her a star, but never took him seriously.

Milton Selzer, a terrific dramatic actor, plays Lieutenant Strauss and J. Pat O'Malley plays a bartender, a part he seemed a natural for, if not turning up as handymen, gardeners, all with the gift of gab. It's tough to see Joe get beat up here --and yes, I agree with the last reviewer, you can see the stuntmen, although it's kind of interesting if you're a cop show buff.

10 Stars.

Filmed again in the vacinity of Los Feliz, not that far from the Los Feliz Towers where many episodes were shot, a few miles from Paramount. SEASON 4 Episode 15 remastered color CBS/Paramount dvd box set.

I want to touch your face, hair and then drink your blood

[glitterrose · 7/10 · 28 April 2022]

Cause that was the first thing I thought of when I saw that drawing of Mannix. He's a good looking man and the sketch made him look like a horror movie vampire?

We have some goodies in this episode. I will forever get a kick out of the harm that comes to Joe and he either is barely hurt (breaks, scratches, bruises, etc) or not hurt at all. I recall an episode of "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour" when a character played by Roddy McDowall is attempting to push a lady down a flight of stairs and he goes tumbling down them instead! The first thing he utters is he's broken every bone in his body. Well, Roddy's character was fine but at least you do have a realistic touch of him saying the line. Joe took quite a fall and he looks fine. He's just finally got a touch of amnesia and can't remember the past 24 hours.

I realize a lot of people might roll their eyes at an amnesia plot line but I do think this one was well done. Does throw a whammy into the usual "Who's trying to kill Mannix" plot when even he can't remember a thing!

Second episode in a row where Mannix loses his love interest

[george_cherucheril · 9/10 · 4 April 2024]

Overall this is a good episode but like in the previous episode Mannix fails to win the girl. He spends the entire episode trying to remember what happened on his date with Katherine Woodville's Vera Rawlins. Mannix is spooked because he thinks he witnessed some men toss Vera to her death off of her upper balcony.

The show begins with Mannix being pursued by two cars. He ends up being cornered and in Mannix fashion jumps off of a bridge to land unconscious and suffer yet another head wound. He wakes up in the hospital with no recollection of how he spent the previous day.

One of the joys of watching old television shows is seeing familiar faces in supporting roles. This episode did not disappoint with Milton Selzer as a police Lt. Pat O'Malley and Joe E. Tata make appearances as well.

I was not aware of Francine York who was stunning looking back then in her brief appearance. Some actors I had never seen before such as the villain Fred Beir, the doctor, Vince Howard, and the old man, Ralph Montgomery, were fun to watch.

As always, Mannix solves the case but he gets no reward. Mannix spends the entire episode searching for a beautiful woman who he really liked and worried that she was murdered. He finds her and saves her, even incurring a gunshot wound in the process.

The final scene has Vera visiting Mannix at the hospital. Vera thanks him and tells him she has to leave the country immediately for a new job assignment. The implication is that there is no way the two will be able to have a relationship. One would think that after the traumatic events Vera experienced, her employer would allow her some time off.

The previous week's episode has Mannix losing the girl. Two episodes in a row where Mannix loses his women is just too much and the producers should have indulged Mannix and Vera and ended the episode with Mannix giving Vera a romantic kiss and embrace. Mannix had great opening credits and the visuals not only show him as a man of action but also as a lady's man. However, the episodes show him only as a man of action and he does not end up winning the beautiful woman's heart!