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 eight 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!
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!