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Mike Connors is Mannix
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Even better for Connors were his feelings upon viewing the first season of the vintage series, which ran for eight seasons, from 1967 to 1975 on CBS-TV
Joe and I were both in shock—we thought that the show held up very well,” said Connors. I think it’s because we always had producers and writers who had a good deal of integrity and didn’t fluff things up. When they got hired, they put their hearts and souls into the show.
Mannix’s first season was produced by Desilu Productions, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz’s production company, and Connor’s is quick to acknowledge how Lucy herself was integral in getting the show off the ground.
“Lucille Ball, who had a great deal of influence, told the networks that she wanted to put the focus on my character and not the high tech stuff—back in those days, computers were beyond the belief of a normal person,” Connors said. So by the second season, they got rid of the computers and made me a lone P.I., and then the show took off.”
Posted by Laurence Lerman on July 3, 2008 | Comments (2)
In response to: Mike Connors is Mannix
Griff commented:
It will be interesting to see how the first season of MANNIX fares in the marketplace. The show's first year is so different from the subsequent seven seasons -- it was at least as much about Mannix's frustrations and bitterness in working for the computerized, button-down p.i. agency (headed by Joseph Campanella) than it was about solving crimes. An interesting concept for a show, but Lucille Ball's instincts were correct -- the program later worked better with Mannix on his own. [The end of the last episode of the first season, in which Mannix tells off his boss and walks out, remains one of the most surprising and uniquely satisfying moments in '60s TV.]
In response to: Mike Connors is Mannix
Kent Gibbons commented:
The other highlight of this DVD, which I received for Father's Day, is the audio commentary from William Link on, at least, the pilot. Basically he talks about how he and Richard Levinson, his longtime partner (think Columbo), pitched the concept, submitted the pilot, then it was almost completely rewritten by Bruce Geller, the exec. prod. So as it wasn't really their show anymore, and he wasn't involved with the production, Link instead just told stories about how he and Levinson used to work, how they got started, how many shows they had on the air (I think he said they had 15 in all, some kind of record). Very amusing although completely irrelevant to what's on the screen!