Joe Mannix never came off as a cheap detective but he wasn’t rolling in dough by any means, either. You’d think he was loaded since he was never hounded by creditors or desperate for clients. He never felt obligated to take a paycheck if he didn’t trust the potential client. Compared to Jim Rockford, Mannix made Banacek look like a coupon clipper. There’s a sense that Mannix is making serious cash as private investigator in Los Angeles. He had a phone in his car and hired Peggy Fair (Gail Fisher) as a full time secretary. He kept his expenses low. He lived in his office. In one episode, it’s disclosed he only has $127.16 in the bank. Perhaps he invested most of his savings in sports jackets. Mannix: The Fourth Season gives us a P.I. who loves his job more than fat paydays.
“A Ticket to the Eclipse” introduces Darren McGavin (Kolchak and A Christmas Story) as another one of Mannix’s old army buddies from Korea. Like other guys in Mannix’s old unit; he’s criminally insane. He even confesses to Mannix that he’s killed two people already. Problem is that the police won’t do anything about it. Why? Cause Darren’s been confessing to crimes for quite a long time. He’s considered a nutjob. Things get nasty when McGavin stalks Peggy and her son. The best part is when Mannix and McGavin go kung fu fighting. “One for the Lady” frames Mannix to a degree that gets his P.I. license frozen. Who is out to get him? That’s not merely as much of a shocker as the Brady Bunch connections. Right off the bat there’s Robert Reed as Mannix’s good contact in the police force. He was on this show before being cast as the dad of six kids. What’s truly freakish is a visit to the Brady’s house. They barely redo the set so it’s quite obvious that they’re roaming around the massive set. By the end of the episode, the suspect should be Sam the Butcher.
“Figures in a Landscape” put him in search of a missing woman. Somebody doesn’t want him to complete the case. He’s dodging rifle bullets while picking up clues. Tied into the case is Victor French (Highway to Heaven) and Loretta Swit (M*A*S*H). The Mouse That Died makes the case extremely critical. Mannix gets poisoned by spies. He’s got to crack the case in hopes to uncover the antidote. Is he going to die? How is Hugh Beaumont (Leave It to Beaver) tied into the poison? “The Other Game In Town” has a high roller gambler owe a casino a major amount of cash. The guy dies in a mysterious plane crash, but his wife swears the he’s alive. What’s her hunch? The dead husband called her. She needs Mannix to find him. Rich Little gets to do some of his great impersonations as part of a Las Vegas casino’s entertainment. “The World Between” tangles Peggyup with an African country leader while they’re in the hospital. This would be a great romance if people weren’t trying to kill the guy. Mystery Science Theater 3000 fans will get a blast out of seeing Ross Hagen (Sidehackers) in the desert in Sunburst.
“Deja Vu” predicts that Mannix is going to die via a fortune teller. But isn’t nearly dying part of his job description. Sid Haig (Devil’s Rejects) and Kim Hunter (Planet of the Apes) help align the stars. “What Happened to Sunday?” dings up Mannix, but he won’t stop investigating the death of a girl that fell off a balcony. “With Intent to Kill” forces Mannix to tail another detective that’s getting death threats while working on a robbery case. “A Gathering of Ghosts” reunites Mannix with his high school football buddies. Instead of picking a nice bar, they have the fun times at a ghost town. Things don’t work out nicely since one member bites the dust. Mike Connors was a star basketball player at UCLA. He uses his connection to get NCAA champs Gail Goodrich and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar into “A Day Filled with Shadows.” A college basketball star goes missing when a mobster gets whacked. Kareem would use his thespian training to later star in Airplane. “Overkill” has Mannix’s friend’s murder get linked to a serial killer. But he suspects the cops are tying too many homicides to the suspect.
Mannix: The Fourth Season is a rush as he refuses to back off no matter how much punishment his body takes or how low the paycheck. He’s addicted to the thrill of a case. Most of the abuse he takes isn’t worth the cash. He looks so dashing in his massive array of sports jackets while nursing a sore jaw.
The Episodes
“A Ticket to the Eclipse,” “One for the Lady,” “Time Out of Mind,” “Figures in a Landscape,” “The Mouse That Died,” “The Lost Art of Dying,” “The Other Game in Town,” “The World Between,” “Sunburst,” “To Cage a Sea Gull,” “Bang, Bang, You’re Dead,” “Deja Vu,” “Duet For Three,” “Round Trip to Nowhere,” “What Happened to Sunday?,” “The Judas Touch,” “With Intent to Kill,” “The Crime That Wasn’t,” “A Gathering of Ghosts,” “A Day Filled with Shadows,” “Voice in the Dark,” “The Color of Murder,” “Shadow Play” and “Overkill.”
The video is 1.33:1 full frame. The transfer quality brings out the finer qualities of the polyester dominating 1971. The audio is Dolby Digital mono. You feel it when Mannix takes a punch to the face. The episodes have English subtitles.
None.
Mannix: The Fourth Season keeps up the rugged P.I. action. The big rush of the season is guest appearance by The Brady Bunch house. It’d be like seeing The Big Bang Theory living room on an episode of Hawaii Five-O. Connors is so fantastic in the role with his natural athleticism allowing the tumbles to look realistic. Another fine season from Joe Mannix.
CBS DVD presents Mannix: The Fourth Season. Starring: Mike Connors and Gail Fisher. Boxset Contents: 24 episodes on 6 DVDs. Released on DVD: January 4, 2011.
