How does one describe Joe Mannix (Mike Connors) in a world where crime TV has become a team sport? Can today’s audience embrace a hero that works off his gut instinct and human connections instead of a computer connecting criminals with the crime scenes? Mannix knew the hustlers, felons, the politicians and the Joe Six Packs that occupied Los Angeles. He had enough juice with the cops to get hot leads.He didn’t need a computer to keep track of things. He already outlasted the computer that was unplugged after his first season. Joe Mannix wasn’t a complete loner. His team merely consisted of Peggy Fair (Gail Fisher) instead of a dozen specialists. She got Mannix answers by working the phone and not Google searching. Mannix: The Sixth Season brings another 24 episodes of a private investigator that could track down a killer faster than entire CSI department.
“The Open Web” pits Mannix against a disturbed Rip Torn (The Larry Sanders Show). After Mannix busts the guy during a killing spree, Rip escapes the cops. It’s up to Mannix to track him down in the woods. “Cry Silence” is cry uncle when they team up Geoffrey Lewis (High Plains Drifter) and Anthony Zerbe (Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park). These two actors terrorized nearly every show in the ‘70s and ‘80s with their guest starring bad selves. Mannix is hired to tell one of them that their confession is safe with a priest (Stacey Keach Sr.). Mannix better prepare himself for getting knocked around by the duo. “The Crimson Halo” brings back first season co-star Joseph Campenella except as a whole new character. Burgess Meredith (Rocky) hires Mannix to find out who wants to kill one of his clients. What a caring guy.
Robert Reed takes a break from playing Mr. Brady to spend adult time with Mannix in four episodes. His Lt. Adam Tobias knows that Mannix can slice open a case faster than Sam the Butcher. This is still pre-Dad perm Mr. Brady so Reed looks like a real cop when he puts on the suit and badge. John Colicos (Battlestar Galactic‘s original Baltar) returns for another guest role on “The Inside Man.” Mannix must go undercover into the New Orleans mob to get information and revenge. Mannix thinks he’s got a simple case of figuring out an amnesia sufferer’s past in “To Kill a Memory.” Someone wants the solider forgotten. Future president Martin Sheen must deal with John Vernon (National Lampoon’s Animal House). “One Step to Midnight” features the legendary Harold Gould as retired mobster. “A Puzzle for One” show how tough Mannix is. He’s got to save Batman (Adam West). Carol Wayne brings a little early ‘70s sizzle to the episode.
“The Man Who Wasn’t There” starts with a fighter getting gunned down during a boxing match. Problem is that the bullet was supposed to hit Mannix in the front row. Next to him was Robert Reed. Two show could have been ended If the sniper had more ammo. Clu Gulager is a clue. “A Matter of Principle” brings together Elsa Lanchester (The Bride of Frankenstein) and Abe Vigoda (Barney Miller). Elsa hires Mannix after she sees a murder. Her concern makes her a target. Someone wants to undo all of Dr. Frankenstein’s good work. “The Faces of Murder” returns the sweet lips of Tina Louise (Gilligan’s Island‘s Ginger) to the screen. “Search for a Whisper” brings together Batgirl (Yvonne Craig) and Captain Kirk (William Shatner). Mannix gets hired by Shatner to uncover any politically damaging skeletons in his closet. Is this going to lead to another hired man cleaning the closet? “The Danford File” is a blackmail plot that points to a deceased suspect. Jessica Walter (Arrested Development) is caught up in the file.
Mannix: The Sixth Season keeps up the glory of a private investigator who uses his hands to punch instead of type on a computer. He’s got enough info in his head to be his own version of a Google search engine when he can link a few clues and confessions.
The Episodes
“The Open Web,” “Cry Silence,” “The Crimson Halo,” “Broken Mirror,” “Portrait of a Hero,” “The Inside Man,” “To Kill a Memory,” “The Upside Down Penny,” “One Step to Midnight,” “Harvest of Death,” “A Puzzle for One,” “Lost Sunday,” “See No Evil,” “Light and Shadow,” “A Game of Shadows” “The Man Who Wasn’t There,” “A Matter of Principle” “Out of the Night,” “Carol Lockwood, Past Tense,” “The Faces of Murder,” “Search for a Whisper,” “To Quote a Dead Man,” “A Problem of Innocence” and “The Danford File,”
The video is 1.33:1 full frame. The transfers bring out all the details especially Mannix’s hair. He’s sporting an Elvis-type coif. The audio is Dolby Digital Mono. You’ll get a good sense of the punches traded, the tires squealing and the bullets rattling in the mix. The episodes are subtitled.
No bonus features.
Mannix: The Sixth Season keeps up the goodness of the show. Mannix maintains his image as the private investigator that works with his gut and fists, but maintains a certain level of charm. The show does a fine job bringing in great co-stars to play the victims and suspects. Mannix maintains his status as the Man.
CBS DVD presents Mannix: The Sixth Season. Starring Mike Connors, Robert Reed and Gail Fisher. Boxset Contents: 24 Episodes on 6 DVDs. Released on DVD: January 24, 2012. Available at Amazon.com.
