For a full viewing experience a fan must prepare the proper dinner to accompany their DVD. Grill a ribeye steak, bake an Idaho potato and pour a tumbler of Scotch before you press play on Mannix: The Third Season. You know that’s what Mannix (Mike Connors) would devour during one of his two-fisted cases. After a major retooling between the first and second season, Joe Mannix refused to change for his third season. He remained a self-employed private eye working out of the bottom floor of his apartment. His main source of support was his secretary Peggy Fair (Gail Fisher). She wasn’t there to take messages and send out his dry cleaning. She could handle a gun if things got out of control in the office. Mannix: The Third Season features 25 episodes letting us know he’s an independent operator who won’t be shaken off a case.
“Eagles Sometimes Can’t Fly” reminds us why it’s important to avoid horseplay while shopping at a liquor store. Two of Peggy’s friends get goofy with the cashier. After they calm down, real robbers pop inside and the floor becomes a blood bath. The main witness thinks Peggy’s friends did it since she saw them faking trouble a few minutes before the bullets. Peggy’s friends won’t listen to Mannix’s advice so his hands are full as he slaps sense into them and hunts down the real robbers. Mannix’s police connection is Robert Reed (Brady Bunch‘s Mr. Brady). “Return to Summer Grove” brings Mannix back to his hometown. One of his old friends is a murder suspect. The guy can’t clear his name because he’s stuck inside an iron lung. One of Mannix’s suspects is Larry Pennell (The Beverly Hillbillies‘ Dash Rip Rock). This return makes Mannix talk it out with his father. The old man is upset that his son didn’t take over the vineyard. Things get comical when dad claims his kid can’t stand getting his hands dirty. Has he not seen how many times Mannix gets busted up? He doesn’t have clean hands. He didn’t raise Sonny Drysdale.
Somebody wants to kill Robert Conrad (The Wild Wild West) on “The Playground.” He’s an action movie star like Steve McQueen who can’t get enough of daredevil stunts. It’s almost like Conrad is going to kill himself before the maniac gets him. “A Penny for the Peepshow” has nothing to do with an adult entertainment establishment. A beautiful woman shows up with a strange tale involving a large sum of money and paperwork. Three escaped convicts bust into Mannix’s office and take them hostage. Leave it to Mannix to take control and discover things aren’t connecting in these coincidences. Larry Linville (Frank Burns on M*A*S*H is the cop connection. Memory: Zero lets him juggle an endangered secretary and a blackmailed real estate developer. Frank Campanella is the cop which is interesting since his brother Joseph played Mannix’s boss at the old company.
“Medal for a Hero” uncovers a stolen fur and jewelry ring. What concerns Mannix is a list of cops amongst the evidence. One of the suspected dirty names belongs to Peggy’s dead husband. Mannix wants to clear his name so his wife will know he was a clean cop. Bobby Troup (Emergency!) is part of the investigations. “Murder Revisited” gives us Don DeFore (Mr. Baxter from Hazel) involved with a murder and the suspect is a twin. “War of Nerves” has Hugh Beaumont (Mr. Cleaver from Leave It to Beaver) mixed up with a terrorist plot involving nerve gas. I suspect Eddie Haskell and Lumpy Rutherford are behind this.
Mannix: The Third Season is a glorious time with the private eye who doesn’t mind taking a bullet for a client. He can always buy another sportsjacket. There’s just way too many network TV shows that deal with teams solving crimes. Mannix’s team consisted of his fists and his gut. Peggy helped out when the trouble knocked on the office door. Time to go flip the steak and get ready for the next episode.
The Episodes
“Eagles Sometimes Can’t Fly,” “Color Her Missing,” “Return to Summer Grove,” “The Playground,” “A Question of Midnight,” “A Penny for the Peep-Show,” “A Sleep in the Deep,” “Memory: Zero,” “The Nowhere Victim,” “The Sound of Darkness,” “Who Killed Me?,” “Missing: Sun and Sky,” “Tooth of the Serpent,” “Medal for a Hero,” “Walk With a Dead Man,” “A Chance at the Roses,” “Blind Mirror,” “Harlequin’s Gold,” “Who is Sylvia?,” “Only One Death to a Customer,” “Fly, Little One,” “The Search for Darrell Andrews,” “Murder Revisited,” “War of Nerves” and “Once Upon a Saturday.”
The video is 1.33:1 full frame. The transfers are from the 35mm so you get the details in the frame. You’ll be amazed by Mike Connors’ hair that’s second only to Jack Lord’s hair during this TV era. The audio is Dolby Digital Mono. You’ll hear the punches in your own gut. The episodes are Closed Captioned.
None.
Mannix: The Third Season is another trip back to a time when a private investigator didn’t need to put together a team to solve a case. He wasn’t shy when it came to knocking heads to get things shaking. You just don’t mess with Mannix cause he won’t be distracted.
CBS DVD presents Mannix: The Third Season. Starring: Mike Connors, Gail Fisher and Robert Reed. Boxset contents: 25 episodes on 6 DVDs. Released on DVD: October. 27, 2009. Available at Amazon.com
