108 replies to this topic

[Napoleon Solo]

MANNIX Season 1 available for pre-order at Amazon.com.

In the first season, the dot to the "i" in "Mannix" looked like a computer tape or disc, reflecting how he worked at Intertect and its mammoth computer bank.

[Blofeld's Cat]

The Extras revealed!

[Napoleon Solo]

The Extras revealed!

That sounds pretty impressive.

[Brian Flagg]

While those extras do look good, I have to wonder it they're using the same tactic they used on the S1 DVD of The Wild, Wild West. In that set, Paramount gave us many nice extras, because IMO to provide addtional selling point to what was a black & white first season. With Mannix, it's probably due to the show's format being quite different from the other seven seasons. Just my paranoid/conspiracy theory mind at work. Still, those extrees sure sound good, dagnabbit!

[Napoleon Solo]

While those extras do look good, I have to wonder it they're using the same tactic they used on the S1 DVD of The Wild, Wild West. In that set, Paramount gave us many nice extras, because IMO to provide addtional selling point to what was a black & white first season. With Mannix, it's probably due to the show's format being quite different from the other seven seasons. Just my paranoid/conspiracy theory mind at work. Still, those extrees sure sound good, dagnabbit!

The Mannix/Wickerham dynamic is an interesting one and I'm looking forward to seeing more of it. I've referenced this before but there's a nice scene in the pilot where Mannix suggests Lew fire him because Mannix doesn't "fit the system."

LEW: Joe, you're my best man.

MANNIX: I know.

LEW: I *know* you know.

[TheSaint]

Just watched the 1st episode-good stuff. I also watched pt.1 of an interview w/Connors & Campanella. They're holding up remarkably well for a couple of 80 year olds. I thought the 1st season was b/w but I guess I confused this with Mike Connors' prior tv series Tightrope.

[Napoleon Solo]

I got the season 1 set as a Father's Day gift. The one thing I hadn't realized is hwo Intertect boss Lew Wickersham was based on MCA Corp. CEO Lew Wasserman and that's why Joseph Campanella wore the black plastic-rimmed glasses. This comes up on the William Link audio commentary for the pilot and the Campanella-Mike Connors interview.

[TheSaint]

I've finished the first disc so far and, man, I'm enjoying this! At some point I'm going to have to pick up the soundtrack on cd.

[Brian Flagg]

I've finished the first disc so far and, man, I'm enjoying this! At some point I'm going to have to pick up the soundtrack on cd.

If you can, try and find the 1967 LP version. While they're not the original tracks, they were recorded during the show's 1960s heyday and are, IMO, preferable to the 1980s-sounding version of a few years ago. BTW, "Beyond the Shadow of Today" from MANNIX appears in a lounge form in a S4 episode of Mission: Impossible and is mentioned by its title by one of the characters. Seeing as Lalo Schifrin composed for both shows, it makes sense.

Edited by Brian Flagg, 17 June 2008 - 10:22 PM.

[Napoleon Solo]

I've finished the first disc so far and, man, I'm enjoying this! At some point I'm going to have to pick up the soundtrack on cd.

I've skipped around a bit. The "Deadfall" two-parter on disc 5 is also pretty good.

[TheSaint]

According to the 2nd part of the Connors/Campanella interview, it was Lucille Ball's intervention that saved Mannix from cancellation. CBS was going to cancel the show after the 1st season. Lucy mentioned how much she liked it so, since she was CBS' biggest star at the time and her company Desilu produced the show, CBS decided to give it another chance, after some re-tooling.

Very interesting.

[Brian Flagg]

According to the 2nd part of the Connors/Campanella interview, it was Lucille Ball's intervention that saved Mannix from cancellation. CBS was going to cancel the show after the 1st season. Lucy mentioned how much she liked it so, since she was CBS' biggest star at the time and her company Desilu produced the show, CBS decided to give it another chance, after some re-tooling.

Very interesting.

Lucy had immpeccable taste. She also greenlighted Mission: Impossible and IIRC Star Trek.

[Blofeld's Cat]

I'd also love to find out more about that episode "Hard-Boiled Murder" from season 4 of some show starring Dick Van Dyke (!)where Connors came back in 1997 as Mannix in the episode which was a sequel to the Mannix episode "Little Girl Lost".

OK, but first


here's


some


SPOILER SPACE





In the pre-credits sequence we see, from a distance, a man emerging from a building. We also see an assassin aiming a rifle at the man. The assassin fires and the man falls. We next see the emergency room of the hospital. A man, his back to the viewer, is complaining he's fine (he's on a gurney being wheeled around.) The young doctor of the show tries to tell the man that he's been shot and needs to let doctors take care of him. The Dick Van Dyke character comes up, looks at the medical chart. It is clear he knows the patient who is none other than....JOE MANNIX.

(this description doesn't do proper justice for Mannix fans, but I'm trying to keep this short.)

After the main titles and commercials, we find out Mannix has been hired by the grown daughter of the journalist killed in the 1973 Mannix episode. While arrests were made, the killer was never really caught. Pernell Roberts, Julie Adams (who played the wife of the murdered journalist) and Beverly Garland all reprise their roles from the earlier show.

In the 1973 show, it was assumed the journalist was killed by the mob. Instead, in the Prescription: Murder story, it's revealed it was his wife. The journalist was going to contest custody of the child. So she was the one who killed her husband.

The major subplot of the 1997 show is that Mannix has something wrong with his heart that needs immediate attention, but he won't get the procedure done until he cracks the case.

I just watched this episode on cable. You really nailed it Napoleon! It's exactly as you described it. And it's more of a Mannix ep than a Diagnosis Murder. Dick Van Dyke definitely plays second fiddle to Mike Conners in this one.

[Napoleon Solo]

On disk three, in the episode titled "Catalogue of Sins," Bruce Geller shows up on camera. He plays a movie or TV director at the start of Act I.

[Napoleon Solo]

According to the 2nd part of the Connors/Campanella interview, it was Lucille Ball's intervention that saved Mannix from cancellation. CBS was going to cancel the show after the 1st season. Lucy mentioned how much she liked it so, since she was CBS' biggest star at the time and her company Desilu produced the show, CBS decided to give it another chance, after some re-tooling.

Very interesting.

Ms. Ball and Mr. Connors, in character as Mannix, ended up on camera together:





http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wE0jcu907oo&NR=1

Mannix shows up in the second link. Marc Lawrence, looking very much as he did in the pre-credits sequence of The Man With The Golden Gun, shows up here also.

[TheSaint]

Ms. Ball and Mr. Connors, in character as Mannix, ended up on camera together. Mannix shows up in the second link. Marc Lawrence, looking very much as he did in the pre-credits sequence of The Man With The Golden Gun, shows up here also.

With all the extras this dvd set has, I'm surprised CBS/P didn't include that episode the way they included "Lucy the Gun Moll" on one of the Untouchables releases. Maybe Season 2?

[Napoleon Solo]

Ms. Ball and Mr. Connors, in character as Mannix, ended up on camera together. Mannix shows up in the second link. Marc Lawrence, looking very much as he did in the pre-credits sequence of The Man With The Golden Gun, shows up here also.

With all the extras this dvd set has, I'm surprised CBS/P didn't include that episode the way they included "Lucy the Gun Moll" on one of the Untouchables releases. Maybe Season 2?

Stictly speculation on my part: Lucille Ball began "The Lucy Show" in 1961, when Desilu was an independent company. (In fact, Desi Arnaz is credited as executive producer in the first few episodes before Ms. Ball bought out Mr. Arnaz).

Lucille Ball sold Desilu to Paramount during the 1967-68 television series (which was the first season for Mannix, the second season for Mission: Impossible). She shuts down "The Lucy Show" and starts up "Here's Lucy" under a different company (Lucille Ball Productions) which was filmed at a different studio (Universal). I don't think CBS/Paramount (or CBS Studios) has access to "Here's Lucy."

QUICK EDIT: This is enough to make even my head spin, but it's the price of actually reading credits, a habit that I can't shake.

Edited by Napoleon Solo, 29 June 2008 - 06:51 PM.

[Brian Flagg]

I understand that Buffalo Springfield appears in an episode. Do they perform? Are there any music substitutions? Are the episodes uncut?

[FLEMINGFAN]

Always liked that show, too, especially the first season when he worked for INTERTECH(?).

Sad about 'Peggy", too.

[Napoleon Solo]

I understand that Buffalo Springfield appears in an episode. Do they perform? Are there any music substitutions? Are the episodes uncut?

Yes, the group appears. Yes, the group performs. Stephen Stills gets a "special music and lyrics" credit in the end titles. The episodes (all the ones I've seen) run in the 50-51 minute range so I would say they are uncut.

Buffalo Springfield episode information:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0641707/

[TheSaint]

I understand that Buffalo Springfield appears in an episode. Do they perform? Are there any music substitutions? Are the episodes uncut?

Yes, the group appears. Yes, the group performs. Stephen Stills gets a "special music and lyrics" credit in the end titles. The episodes (all the ones I've seen) run in the 50-51 minute range so I would say they are uncut.

Buffalo Springfield episode information:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0641707/

Y'know, it's funny...so far there's been a Neil Diamond appearance and a Buffalo Springfield appearance in the 1st season of Mannix and neither appearance was cut not blurred, yet there have been cuts from The Odd Couple, Hawaii 5-0 (not to mention the loss of a full episode), and, of course, the wholesale replacement of the entire soundtrack from the first 1/2 of the 2nd season of The Fugitive. What exactly are the guidelines CBS/Paramount are following? They seem to change from show to show. This stuff makes my head hurt.

[Napoleon Solo]

Y'know, it's funny...so far there's been a Neil Diamond appearance and a Buffalo Springfield appearance in the 1st season of Mannix and neither appearance was cut not blurred, yet there have been cuts from The Odd Couple, Hawaii 5-0 (not to mention the loss of a full episode), and, of course, the wholesale replacement of the entire soundtrack from the first 1/2 of the 2nd season of The Fugitive. What exactly are the guidelines CBS/Paramount are following? They seem to change from show to show. This stuff makes my head hurt.

Stictly a guess: given the "special music and lyrics" credits for Neil Diamond and Stephen Stills in Mannix, those songs may have been written for the episodes they appeared in. Thus, perhpas, the rights are more clear cut (they'd be in the same category as the soundtracks of the episodes) and not requiring extra rights fees.

[TheSaint]

Stictly a guess: given the "special music and lyrics" credits for Neil Diamond and Stephen Stills in Mannix, those songs may have been written for the episodes they appeared in. Thus, perhpas, the rights are more clear cut (they'd be in the same category as the soundtracks of the episodes) and not requiring extra rights fees.

I can't speak to what Buffalo Springfield performed but the song(s) Neil Diamond sang I've heard on the radio.

[TheSaint]

One more dvd to go and I'm done with the set! No word yet on when Season 2 will be available, or should I ask if?

They've got a photo gallery on the last disc and it includes 2 photos of Connors from his previous tv series TIGHTROPE.

[Napoleon Solo]

One more dvd to go and I'm done with the set! No word yet on when Season 2 will be available, or should I ask if?

They've got a photo gallery on the last disc and it includes 2 photos of Connors from his previous tv series TIGHTROPE.

I enjoyed the set. I hope there is a season 2 set. At the very least, we got a chance to see 24 episodes that have been rarely seen since the 1967-68 season.

[TheSaint]

Just finished the set. I'm disappointed that the chase scene seen in the credits wasn't from an actual episode but was filmed for the credits. Please let this have sold well enough to garner a 2nd season release.

[Blofeld's Cat]

Just finished the set. I'm disappointed that the chase scene seen in the credits wasn't from an actual episode but was filmed for the credits. Please let this have sold well enough to garner a 2nd season release.

Never knew that. The usual thing in TV (especially in those days) IS to lift a scene for an early ep or two.

[TheSaint]

I got the season 1 set as a Father's Day gift. The one thing I hadn't realized is hwo Intertect boss Lew Wickersham was based on MCA Corp. CEO Lew Wasserman and that's why Joseph Campanella wore the black plastic-rimmed glasses. This comes up on the William Link audio commentary for the pilot and the Campanella-Mike Connors interview.

I re-watched the pilot while listening to the Link commentary. He talks about Columbo so much you'd think they used the wrong commentary.

[Napoleon Solo]

I got the season 1 set as a Father's Day gift. The one thing I hadn't realized is hwo Intertect boss Lew Wickersham was based on MCA Corp. CEO Lew Wasserman and that's why Joseph Campanella wore the black plastic-rimmed glasses. This comes up on the William Link audio commentary for the pilot and the Campanella-Mike Connors interview.

I re-watched the pilot while listening to the Link commentary. He talks about Columbo so much you'd think they used the wrong commentary.

I couldn't get all the way through it. It was a nice idea but Link really didn't have anything to do with the pilot (he even says they scrapped the script he and Levinson wrote, which involved California wine country as a setting). Thus, his observations aren't terribly insightful beyond the "what if Humphrey Bogart worked at MCA" notion that sold the show. And, as noted above, he talks about Columbo a lot.

The problem, of course, is that Bruce Geller (who shows up in an episode playing a director) died 30 years ago. Had he been around, having him comment on the pilot might have been extremely interesting.

[TheSaint]

Today is Mike Connors' birthday. What a nice birthday gift an announcement concerning the release of Mannix Season 2 would have been.