Amazon.com DVD Review - One of the most fondly remembered and action-packed detective series of the late '60s and early '70s, Mannix was the brainchild creators Richard Levinson and William Link (Columbo, Murder: She Wrote) and executive producer Bruce Geller (Mission: Impossible). Mike Connors won an Emmy as the title character, a tough, streetwise private eye whose hands-on approach to cases raised the hackles of his employers, the scientific-minded Intertect, and his no-nonsense boss Lou Wickersham (Joseph Campanella). Episodes generally saw Mannix taking his share of licks, either from or in the service of that week's guest star (celebs on display in this debut season include Tom Skerritt, Karen Black, Julie Adams, William Windom, and Neil Diamond in Episode 4, "The Many Deaths of Saint Christopher"). The on-screen violence, which earned the show its devoted audience as well as critical outcry, is fairly tame by today's standards, though it preserves the show's energy and drive; the chemistry between Connors and Campanella and especially Emmy winner Gail Fisher as secretary Peggy Fair (one of the first African-American characters to appear as a regular on a television series) also keep the episodes moving at a crisp pace. Modern audiences used to more high-tech crime shows like Num3ers and the CSI franchises may find Mannix's methods sort of quaint, but those who favor classic TV fare or who remember it from its lengthy network and syndicated runs will enjoy tagging along with Joe Mannix all over again.
All 24 episodes of the 1967-1968 debut season are featured on this six-disc set, including the 1967 pilot "The Name is Mannix." Connors himself is all over the DVD--not only is he interviewed with Campanella in a loose but informative featurette about their time together on the show (Wickersham was phased out by its second season in order to let Mannix work for himself), but he provides commentary on several episodes and audio introductions for just about every supplement. These include a promo clip for the show in a CBS TV special announcing the fall 1967 lineup; an interview with Connors on a 1969 episode of The Mike Douglas Show; a Paramount sales reel for prospective syndication broadcasters (with voice-over by the legendary Ernie Anderson); and a clip from a 1997 episode of Diagnosis: Murder in which Connors reprised Mannix to investigate a unsolved murder that was introduced in a '70s-era episode of that series. It's an impressive package, and should give Mannix devotees much to look forward to in regard to upcoming DVDs. --Paul Gaita

Amazon.com DVD Review - There's that great line in Blazing Saddles when Sheriff Bart grabs his gun to go capture the fearsome Mongo. "Don't do that," the Waco Kid cautions. "You'll just make him mad." Joe Mannix (Mike Connors in his signature Emmy-winning role) is a lot like that. Cut the brake line in his car, rough him up, or frame him for assault; once he's on a case, he won't quit. Doing the legwork and pursuing the thinnest of leads, Mannix is an old school private eye, which is why it's great to see him out of the high-tech Intertect firm and in his own no-tech private practice with his faithful Girl Friday, Peggy (Gail Fisher in her groundbreaking, Emmy-winning role). Mannix doesn't need computers to do his job. "I don't fly by instruments," he proclaims in "The Girl Who Came in with the Tide," "I fly by the seat of my pants like a barnstorming pilot." Which is why, in "Tide," when he recognizes a slain girl about town at the morgue and discovers she was in the company of the "swinging attorney" who once had Mannix's license suspended, he takes the case as a labor of love. Some cases put his gut instincts to the test. In "A View of Nowhere," he is convinced he witnessed a man trying to strangle a woman, but when he follows up, the couple denies anything is amiss. Some of this season's most compelling cases hit closer to home; in "In Need of a Friend," he reaches out to a man just released from prison after seven years for a crime he didn’t commit, and whom Mannix had helped to convict. Peggy’s love life also keeps him busy. In "Death in a Minor Key," Mannix goes to a small town to help clear the name of Peggy’s jazz musician boyfriend (guest star Yaphet Kotto) after he reveals he is a fugitive, and in "Last Rites for Miss Emma," her latest squeeze may be involved in the theft of morphine. In classic TV PI tradition, Mannix butts heads with the police (including a pre-M*A*S*H Larry Linville, and Robert Reed), but his "reputation" earns him considerable leeway. Mannix was a particularly hard-hitting series in its day, and it’s still bruising. In episode after episode, Mannix takes a licking, but keeps on ticking. His sports coats may now be out of fashion, but this tough and rugged series will never go out of style. In "an uptight world," it’s comforting to know that Mannix is on the job. --Donald Liebenson

The weekly adventures of private detective Joe Mannix in Los Angeles. At his side is his faithful assistant Peggy Fair. Hard-boiled and gritty, Mannix dished out justice outside the law for his clients.