User reviews

Though Joe Mannix might not have had the money that Amos Burke did from Burke's Law, he kept himself well dressed. I guess the Intertec paid well, so well he went out on his own.

When Mannix first premiered in 1967 Mike Connors worked for a company called Intertec. When he went into business for himself he took with him Peggy Fair as his secretary played by Gail Fisher. She was the widow of a policeman killed in the line of duty. She was quite protective of him as I recall.

Lots of action in Mannix, because when he got the scent of his target Mannix definitely believed in a hands on approach to crime and corruption.

Mannix as PI was as incorruptible as Theo Kojak, he just had a lot less rules to go by. This was a good show and reflective of its time.

I've watched Mannix when I was a very young kid. Recently, I caught the rerun of the 1st season and I must say it caught my attention again. I am quite impressed by the scripting and story plots. The scripting (or conversations) feel real and apt for the moments, so does not appear stupid. There are also not too many dramatic type speech laced with moral attitudes (or irony) quite common in films from that era. (Or standing still delivering their dialogue). Perhaps it reflects the evolution of scripting through the 50s and 60s. Yes, the episodes are still very watchable and to some extent, enthralling. Many situations are unpredictable and there's a good balance of indoor and outdoor scenes. Part of the appeal has to do with the camera work, which reminds of Alfred Hitchcock and Orson Welles.

Formula detective show. The plot is always dumb and difficult if not impossible to follow and make sense of. . Mannix is in his forties but every woman in her twenties is instantly attracted to him, even from a distance, and there is usually a make out scene. In nearly every episode, he is hit on the head and knocked out. Every episode includes a brawl where Mannix knocks a bad guy out. He also often gets hit on the head and nearly, but not quite, gets knocked out. He drove several cars over the show's 8 year run , most notably a convertible Oldsmobile Torononado. Mannix is supremely confident and is the alpha male. He probably even tells his dentist what to do. Despite all its preposterous attributes, the show is entertaining.

Desilu Studio created this hit show starring Mike Connors and it was a blockbuster hit. Desilu had been riding high with Mission Impossible and Star Trek and of course the Lucy Show, but as Desilu was folding into Paramount, CBS bought this show and Desilu produced a superb drama. Bruce Geller who produced Mission Impossible at Desilu was given the task by Herbert Solow the dynamic Executive Vice President of Desilu to produce this hit TV show. Mannix stands as the very last of the great shows Desilu produced among them The Untouchables, Star Trek, Mission Impossible, and great comedies such as I Love Lucy, Our Miss Brooks and of course The Lucy Show. It was wonderful as a fan of Desilu to see so much quality programming from a great little studio run by Lucille Ball.

I've recently been watching DVDs of "Mannix" and although I have enjoyed it, it's become clear that the earlier episodes are the best. By season three and four, the show lost some of its zing, though it was still better than the average show.

Season one is unusual. Joe Mannix is NOT a private eye like he would be for the remainder of the series. Instead, he's an agent working for Intertech--a high tech detective agency operating more like a corporation. His boss is played by Joseph Campanella and there is always tension between him and Mannix. When season two premiered, Mannix was no longer with Intertech. Instead he's privately employed and he's got Peggy as a receptionist. This is how it continued through the remainder of the series. And a few things that remain constant--Joe regularly gets the crap knocked out of him and is often knocked out (though more so in season one and two) and he doesn't particularly like women...or at least he doesn't trust them.

My advice is see season one and two and then decide if the show is worth continuing. I'm on season five and still have a bit to go until I finish.

When we get hurt bad we learn. He didn't learn. How many bangs on the head does it take? He would have been a veggie. Dad would have liked; plenty of half naked women. I like it that he talked Armenian since that's what he is. I got it for Allen jaffe, James Wainwright, Sid Haig, Woodrow Parfey, Mike Masters, Gene Rutherford, Steve Ihnat, George Sawaya, Paul Mantee, and Frank Langella. They all delivered. Loved it Sawaya was in more than 2. Jaffe was only in 2 eps.

Mike "Touch"'Connors effortlessly carries this consistently awesome TV show.

The producers (Bruce Geller, Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts) were determined to give us what amounted to a miniature detective MOVIE each week -- complete with intriguing mystery, solid clues, clever misdirection, taut action, fast pacing, and an exciting and often surprising finale.

The fact that they succeeded as often as they did helped to make MANNIX the best written and produced PI show ever to air on American television, hands-down. (ROCKFORD and HARRY O were both terrific, but MANNIX takes the brass ring, imo).

So tune in for Mike Connors -- but stick around for the feature-quality production-values and great storytelling.

"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.

One of my and many others most favorite TV show of all time! This show has it all, great production and acting, cast, writing, action, great visuals from the beginning credits to the end and awesome Lalo Shiffrin music to boot! This is the kind of TV show that not only showcased the best of the times it was originally done in, but also could serve as a inspiration and lesson to the writers and producers of action TV shows today to at least TRY to match this kind of quality in their productions!

... and I realize that's a weird comparison since this is a detective series and supernatural is about, well, the supernatural.

But my reaction to both Mannix and Supernatural are pretty much the same. If I miss an episode, it doesn't matter much to me, but if one or the other is on and I'm looking for something to watch or I need something to watch while I'm exercising, these two will fit the bill.

Connors, for some reason, just seemed so bland and never appealed to me as P. I. The two characters I did like were his secretary/receptionist Peggy and her young son. They were put in harm's way so much you have to wonder why she stuck around.

Also, the plots were just never that engaging. At one point Mannix even had a timely episode centering on the death penalty, and the show even managed to make that topic somewhat boring.

The show is a good time passer if you need one.

Despite over thirty films to his credit, Mike Connors will be best remembered for his television work. In 1959, he created a sensation as the undercover agent with the hidden gun behind his back, in "Tightrope", and in 1967, at 42, he introduced one of the most popular detectives in television history, "Mannix".

The initial concept of the series was intriguing; a high-tech investigative agency, Intertect, headed by Joseph Campanella, possessed all the tools to analyze and fight crime, except one; a P.I.'s instincts, that ability to play hunches and make correct decisions by 'gut feeling'. So they hired the best veteran private eye in the business, Joe Mannix, and utilized his services whenever the 'human touch' was required, while backing him with all their resources.

While the Intertect episodes were often imaginative, and Connors and Campanella had good chemistry, CBS quickly realized that the program's fans were watching because of the rugged Mannix, who, each week, despite being beaten, tortured, drugged or worse, managed to emerge victorious. So Campanella and Intertect were dropped by the second season, and Mannix returned to more traditional digs, accompanied by a new secretary, Peggy Fair (Gail Fisher), the widow of a cop. With aid from his 'buddies' on the Force (Robert Wood, Jack Ging, and "Brady Bunch" patriarch, Robert Reed), Joe Mannix would take on cases as simple as petty theft, to unsolved murders, while still taking more than his share of abuse each week.

With his chiseled features and thick jet-black hair, Mannix was a hero attractive enough to appeal to women, yet tough enough to keep men watching, as well. Fiercely loyal to his Greek heritage and many friends, a sucker for a 'hard luck' story, and with a well-stocked (and used) medicine cabinet, the series 'fit' like a pair of well-worn, comfortable shoes, and audiences quickly developed a viewing habit that would last seven more seasons, until 1975. The success of "Mannix" would open the door for a whole new generation of 'gumshoes' that followed, from "Cannon" and "Barnaby Jones", to "The Rockford Files" and "Magnum, P.I."

It is a heritage that Mike Connors can be proud of!

Mannix, by far, is still the best PI series ever produced.

The grittiness is fantastic, and Mike Connors adds such a real, human touch. Gail Fisher also makes the show very worthwhile. I just bought the Season 2 DVDs, and they bring me back to my youth as I was glued every week to watching this wonderful show!

I can only hope that those who did not grow up with this show are able to see and appreciate the great work. While the CSIs of the this TV generation are interesting, Mike Connors showed how a true star can make a show excel.

Great job, again.

Mannix was one of the top private eye shows of all time. Mike Connors did a great job in the role, and the writers always strove for creative plots that stretched the genre.

It was a rare series that never got old. The last few shows in the series were as good as the first few shows.

In the first season, Mannix worked for a high tech agency, and was the maverick among their investigators.

They decided to move him out on his own, which eliminated some very interesting character struggles, but also introduced the wonderful Gail Fisher as his secretary, Peggy. She was worth losing the Intertec character conflict.

First, credit where it's due - the opening and closing theme music from Mannix was written by the well-known film and TV composer, the guy who wrote memorable themes for TV's Mission: Impossible, and of course, one of the best TV themes ever, Mannix, Lalo Schifrin. And I can't take credit (or the blame) for the 'Summary' or 'Title' of this review. My old friend, the late Gary Owens, was responsible for that. Mr. Schifrin even credited Gary, when he used the above title for a vinyl LP of some of Schifrin's music.

All that being said, I have always thought Mannix was one of the all-time great detective shows ever to hit TV. Mike Connors (known in the 1950's as "Touch" Connors! Figure THAT out!) was just terrific as the tough guy/nice guy detective, Joe Mannix. His secretary, Peggy Fair (played by Gail Fisher - and I don't think the character's last name was mentioned more than once in the entire run of the episodes in which she appeared, from its second season, starting in September of 1968, to its eighth season, which finished in April of 1975).

In its first season, Mannix was working in the rather contrived situation of a large, "computerized" detective agency with many employees. Thankfully, the producers (Desilu, at the time, soon to become Paramount Television) had the sense to dump all the phony baloney bells and whistles of all that. Starting with season two, they got rid of the unnecessary characters, and had our hero Joe Mannix become self-employed, with Peggy holding down the fort whenever Joe left the office, which was quite often.

When you watched Mannix, you'd see lots of action, a fair amount of suspense, and even when the scripts weren't great, they were always good. So if you have yet to see this series, as of this writing, the show is running on MeTV, seen all over the US, originating in Chicago.

If you'll allow me this, dear reader, Three Cheers For DESILU Productions, which, with Mannix, went out with a BANG!!!

I loved Mannix as a youngster, and I have fun watching it on MeTV now. He was a real manly man, tough but he could be tender (as with Peggy & Toby). If times had been different, I believe they would have had Joe & Peggy be a couple. Mike & Gail had a great chemistry together, and he was a good father-figure for Toby. It was one of the great early detective shows, lots of action!

Loved the series when it was first on and now I have the DVD set which I watch when exercising. What made it so good was the humanity of Mannix and the scripts were so intelligent. Joe was just so likable and always wanting to do the right thing. I have to chuckle though, they seemed to use the same basement set throughout the series but would just change the items in the scene. And Joe got driven off the same road in several episodes but I only notice because I watch the episodes sometimes 4 or 5 days a week. Bottom line, this is a series that withstood time and great care went into the plots. The filming was terrific, real pros behind the cameras. Mike Connors was a gentleman even off the show. He was going to be Matt Helmin the movie series until Dean Martin wanted the role and it worked out for both of them.

I thought that I recalled that I liked Mannix when I watched it in my teens, but my wife and I caught some episodes a few nights ago and it struck me that Mannix is quite dated. Maybe for its time, it was groundbreaking or whatever but that cachet has vanished. Aside from the great theme music and the charismatic masculine leading man who smoked too much, the acting is often wooden as if unrehearsed or like the director simply didn't care that much. The similarities of the writing to Mission Impossible are obvious --both Bruce Geller productions. The much ballyhooed violence which was an attraction to viewers back then, looks pretty darn tame today. One repetitive theme that we chuckled about was that so many episodes featured someone being killed by falling from a height (with the accompanying scream); usually a high rise or a cliff. In one episode a guy who had been shot fell back out of a fully open window. How many people living 5 floors up keep their windows fully open?? It was a formula I guess, to inject something exciting and violent. Oh one more thing...Compared to Columbo? Forget it.

He's not as fabulously wealthy as Amos Burke,nor famous as Jim Rockford or Columbo,but few television detectives have remained and beloved and under the radar cool as Mike Connors' Joe Mannix. The television series "Mannix" was the return of the private eye detective shows and this was a reply to the domination of the weekly espionage shows that were all over the place during the 1960's. Created by the team of Richard Levinson and William Link under executive producer Bruce Geller and associate producer Barry Crane along with producers Wilton Schiller along with Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts(whom wrote scripts for some of the episodes)and under the executive in charge of production Herb Solow and Douglas S. Cramer for Desilu/Paramount Television,"Mannix" produced an astounding 194 episodes-all in color for CBS and ran for an impressive eight seasons on the network from September 16,1967 until April 13,1975. The theme music was composed by the great Lalo Schirfin(one of the all time television theme greats).

"Mannix" is one of the great detective shows of all time and here's why. One,you had some very good writing and excellent camera work in both angles and continuity. The other,right from the start however,Mike Connors emitted broad-shouldered,Everyman solidness. Mannix solves his cases with his brains,his gun,and his fists. He was an all-purpose detective. In season one of "Mannix"(and from the debut episode),the intital concept of the series was intriguing from the start: a high-tech investigative agency,Intertect,headed by Joesph Campanella(the boss Lew Wickersham)possessed all the tools to analyze and fight crime,except one;a P.I.'s instincts,that ability to play hunches and make correct decisions by 'gut feeling'. So they hired the best veteran private eye in the business,Joe Mannix to take the cases and solve the crimes. Mannix utilized his services whenever the 'human touch' was required,while backing him with all their resources. While the Intertect episodes were often imaginative,and Connors and Campanella had good chemistry,fans were tuning in each week to watch Joe Mannix solve cases,deal with crime and mysteries and take on the baddies despite being beaten,tortured,drugged or worse managed to emerge victorious. With his chiseled features and thick jet black hair,Mannix was a hero attractive enough to appeal to women,yet tough enough to keep men watching as well despite being fiercely loyal to his Greek heritage.

However,Campanella and Intertect were dropped by the second season. Mannix left the firm at the start of the 1968-69 season and set up shop as a private investigator,accompanied by a secretary,Peggy Fair(Gail Fisher,in one of the first roles on a drama series for a African-American actress),the widow of a cop. With aid from his 'buddies' on the force(Robert Wood,Jack Ging,and "Brady Bunch" patriarch Robert Reed who played Mannix's superior Lt. Tobias),Mannix would take on cases as simple as petty theft,to unsolve murders,blackmail,while still taking his share of abuse each week. Over the course of eight seasons,Mannix was shot 17 times,knocked unconscious 55 times and was drugged 12 times. "Mannix" proved to be a winner in the ratings too,nominated for several Emmys and it was producer Bruce Geller's most successful show after the huge runaway success of "Mission:Impossible". In 1970,actress Gail Fisher became the first black actress to win the Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her role as Peggy Fair on "Mannix"(beating out Barbara Anderson of Ironside and Peggy Lipton of The Mod Squad),and was nominated for four Emmys,winning once and 3 Golden Globe Awards(she won in 1973 for Best Actress)and in 1971.

THE BEST EPISODES: Season One of its debut episode "The Name is Mannix",and episode 13 of the series "A View of Nowhere" were impressive. Seasons 2 thru 4 were brilliant,while the last few episodes of its last two seasons(season 7 from the 1973-1974 season,and the final season 1974-1975,season 8)were action packed and fill to the hill with excitement. The success of "Mannix" would open the door for a whole new generation of 'gumshoe detectives' to follow,from "Hawaii Five-O",to "Columbo","Ironside"(which premiered that same year-1967), "Dan August","MacMillan and Wife","Banacek","Kojak","Baretta","Cannon", to "Barnaby Jones","The Rockford Files",and "Policewoman".

I recall watching Mannix in the early 1970's, as a young teen.

It was considered so violent at the time that there were constant complaints and Mannix was almost cancelled after the first season!.

I can even recall my own Father objecting to me watching Mannix!.

Another issue for some critics was the flirty relationship between Joe Mannix and his secretary the beautiful Peggy.

You see, not only did Mannix introduce a more realistic and yes more violent (for the time) detective series to viewers, but it also introduced a flirty yet innocent (certainly by today's standards) relationship between Mannix, a white man and Peggy (his Secretary) a black woman.

Something extremely rare at the time, in fact, If memory serves me, at that period in time, there were only two shows which dared to show a relationship between a black person and a white person.

Apart from Mannix (Mike Connor) and Peggy (Gail Fisher), there was also Jim Kirk (William Shatner) and his flirting with lieutenant Uhura ( Nichelle Nicholas) in Star Trek the original series.

Back to Mannix:

It was much like Star Trek, the New age of TV. It brought realism and a more gritty feel to viewers and of course, it brought with it some backlash!.

That said, beyond all doubt, if it were not for Mannix and the superb acting of Mike Connor, We would never have seen such shows as Starsky & Hutch, the Streets of San Francisco and would never have witnessed true to life Detective and Cop shows, which we so enjoy today .

YES, some of the story lines were poor, some scripts writers let down the show.

But, all that stated, Mannix was ground breaking for so many reasons and in the main, was an exceptionally good show.

Acting was always good, both Connors and Fisher were genuinely always way above average!, and their relationship was genuinely worth watching, they played off each other as good actors should, which made Mannix really special.

I gave Mannix 9 out of 10.

This accounts for above average acting at all times and it's ground breaking production.

My dad used to watch this, and it has been a pleasure to watch it, all these years later. Good plots, a little action and still retains the innocence of early 1970s innocence. I really miss that.

The first thought I had as I watched MANNIX in 1967 was they Hired a Sean Connery Look-A-Like..they could be Twins or at least Brothers.. They even Dressed him like James Bond in his first movies...does anyone else see this ?? Great series watching them on ME TV now..

I read over people's criticisms of Mannix, and if I'm being honest, although I'm a huge fan, I'm not offended. In fact, I agree with them. Yeah, he does get knocked out from letting people sneak up behind him on a consistent basis. He also leaves his office unlocked sometimes, and walks in to get startled by either a beautiful woman, or another man holding a gun. So he does make some silly mistakes quite often, that would have him dead if he was a real person. But this series is so adventurous, intriguing, and occasionally funny, that I didn't care about the lack of believability. I've been working from home since May 2022. I found that when my shift ended, I didn't know what to do with myself. I would surf the net on my laptop. I needed to give my eyes a break after looking at a computer screen for 8 hours, so I gave TV a chance. I wasn't feeling optimistic, as I figured nothing decent was on. Was I ever wrong! I discovered this show flipping through the channels, and I've been addicted ever since.

Korean war veteran turned PI, Joseph "Joe" Mannix (Mike Connors) starts out working for a detective agency in LA called Intertect, which utilizes computers to solve crimes. He rarely sees eye to eye with his boss Lew (Joseph Campanella). He preferred to follow his own intuition, rather than listening to the computers. It also didn't help that he was being micromanaged: there's cameras in the employees' offices, and Lew gives feedback via an intercom system the whole day (if that wasn't a future prediction, I don't know what is). Understandably annoyed, Mannix quits and becomes self-employed. He acquires a secretary, Peggy (Gail Fisher). Her husband was a police officer who had gotten killed in the line of duty. Casting her was groundbreaking in and of itself, since she was the first African American to have a recurring role on television. Throughout the course of the series, their relationship started to seem more like they were married, and less like an employer-employee dynamic. She usually worried about him when he was out doing his investigations... Had seen both his highs and lows. Overall, she stood by him through thick and thin. There were a couple of times when he yelled at her so intensely that he made her cry. After all of that, might as well date each other. I personally think they would've made a cute couple. They looked better than Harry and Megan. He was tall, tan, had thick hair and strong facial features. And she was pretty, so it wouldn't have been like two dorky/unattractive people together.

The content of the episode's storylines was progressive for the late 60s/early 70s, which makes it fascinating to watch now, since we're still having the same issues. Not just micromanagement in the workplace, but the series addressed racism, PTSD, suicide, alcoholism, hallucinations. The writers did an exceptional job of handling sensitive topics, considering they weren't even intending for the show to be a social commentary. The acting was brilliant by everybody involved - the main and supporting characters - something you definitely don't see anymore. I think a lot of it has to do with people being miscast, so if they're chosen for a role that doesn't fit them, it's not like their acting abilities shine through. It's funny how Mike Connors hadn't even planned on acting as a career. He went to law school to become an attorney. He was introduced to a director by his basketball coach, who said he liked his voice and the expressiveness of his face while he was playing. It's amazing how your life can turn out to not be what you envisioned, and you can still end up successful.

It did start to get somewhat outlandish, so I do recommend stopping at season 7.

By the way, in reference to the reviewer who called Mannix a dirty old man for being flirtatious towards women who were substantially younger than he was. The age difference between him and the various female characters was ten years at the most - I wouldn't exactly call that weird. The only time I can think of him fitting that description is in the episode "Voices in the Dark," where Carol Lynley played a former athlete who had gotten paralyzed after a car accident and was being phone stalked. He was 46 at the time, and she was 29. But they didn't become romantically involved. He was just making sure she stayed safe. Later on in the series, it did seem kind of ridiculous for him to be interested in young women on a serious level. But from 1967 to 1971, he was in his early to mid-40s. The actresses were in their late 20s to early 30s, so it's not like they were young enough to be his daughters. I'm 31, and I've been approached by men who were older than me by a lot more than a decade. I wouldn't mind if a guy 41 or 42 flirted with me. At least we're both from the same generation.

Don't listen to the negative reviews. There's nothing wrong with Mannix. It's the best neo-noir that was ever made!

Mannix lasted eight seasons, which says the show was a quality show and had a following it also survived the launch of a number of other detective shows in the 1970's. Do we have any of these shows left in the current TV landscape, the answer to that is no. I think that Nash Bridges was probably the last, and CBS cut that although they have not had anything close to it in ratings on a Friday night in five years. This genre can come back if you were to stick with the Rockford, Magnum, Mannix formula that worked back then, do a car chase as part of it, not as the whole thing like they have tried to do in the 90's with movies of 70's and 80's TV.....The formula that works is the Rockford Movies of the 1990's which got exceptional ratings until CBS got greedy. A Hollywood producer should look at that and look at Tom Selleck for a role, he is doing something similar right now. What is needed is a movie star actor/actress who may have not had recent success but can come back to the small screen, like James Garner did. I think it would work again.