My Favorite Detective Show From The 60's.

Mannix (1967-75)

One of the most violent detective series in TV history, "Mannix" tells the weekly adventures of private eye Joe Mannix,

who originally worked for a high-concept computerized firm known as Intertect, but later opened his own agency at 17 Paseo Verde, Los Angeles, California. Peggy Fair was his black secretary, who was frequently kidnapped. Lots of shootings, car chases, fights, and crashes.


JOE MANNIX is "a hard-boiled private eye, in the classical tradition." Formerly the pride of Intertect, a high-tech detective firm, Joe left to start his own detective agency where he relied less on sophisticated gadgetry and more on his own wits and a wicked right hook. This Korean War veteran is remarkably even-tempered and seems to take fist fights, high-speed car chases and bullet wounds in stride. Although his rugged good looks, snazzy convertible-with a car phone!- and dizzying array of loud sports jackets attract an endless stream of beautiful women, he seems intent on remaining a bachelor. The one woman who's a constant prescence in his life is his ever-faithful secretary, Peggy Fair. But she didn't come along until the second season.

To tell the truth, it was the first season that really shined. Originally Joe was a hotshot op for Intertect, a high-tech, ultra-modern Pinkerton-like high-tech detective agency headed by Lew Wickersham. Where Lew was a white-collar, straight company man, Mannix was a rough-and-tumble loner with his heart on his sleeve and a loaded gat. The tension between the two gave the show an edge most PI shows could only dream of, as Wickersham rattled on and on about databases, company reputations and computer analysis, while Mannix's M.O. seemed to consist

solely of hunches, fistfights, and an occasional gun battle. In You Can Get Killed Out There, an episode near the end of the first season, Joe and Lew's differences boil over and Joe leaves Intertect rather than accept an assignment. The following episode, Another Final Exit had Joe cutting all ties with Intertect. And yet, nobody seems to remember the first season.

By the second episode of the second season, The Silent Cry, the Mannix most of us remember was firmly in place. The one-man agency wit Gail Fisher in her regular role as faithful secretary Peggy Fair, the widow of a police officer killed in the line of duty, and the mother of one son, Toby. One of the first blacks to be cast in an American drama, Peggy made quite an impression. In a recent chat online, several folks were convinced that in fact, Joe and Peggy were "doing it", and that CBS didn't reveal the relationship due to the "racial sensitivities" of the time. Whatever. There was certainly affection there, and Peggy was an integral part of the agency, running background checks, brainstorming with Joe and rescuing Joe from the local jail or hospital. And she could be counted on to be threatened or kidnapped once or twice a season, just to keep things rolling. Source: Thrilling Detective.com.

What I remember most about watching this show is that is was always past my bedtime on a schoolnight, so I would have to sneak and peek out of the bedroom door in order to watch it. I loved this show! I actually have the theme song as one of my ringtones.