And Now, Back to Mannix

Fistfights. Cars careening off cliffs and exploding. Running on abridge. Dodging a helicopter. The dune buggy roll. Iconicconvertibles. Signature sports jackets. 17 Paseo Verde. L.A. at itscoolest-and then there was Peggy. For generations, throughout theworld these have brought a smile to the face and a single word to mind-- Mannix. With such style up-front, the substance behind thecharacter of Joe Mannix has been overlooked-until now.Mannix ran on CBS-TV from 1967-1975 during the Golden Age ofTelevision, the last production of Desilu (the legendary studio ownedby Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz) following Star Trek and Mission:Impossible. It was syndicated in over 70 countries during its firstrun, won Golden Globe and Emmy awards, and innovated the concept ofthe personalized crime-fighter. Star Mike Connors, who embodied hisalter ego, wanted Joe Mannix to have emotion, a departure from type.And Now, Back to Mannix is not a TV log book, or even a behind thescenes book, but a behind the myth book, making the case that some TVcharacters have singular power to make societies and individualsbetter, interspersed with discussion of the richness of character,symbolism, and scenes in the series. The book includes a Foreword byMike Connors and a Prologue by David Breckman, writer and co-executiveproducer of the highly successful USA series, Monk.JoAnn M. Paul, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of ComputerEngineering at Virginia Tech. Her childhood hero was shot, drugged,poisoned, beaten, tortured, and dumped down hillsides to be left fordead. Nothing could have prepared her better for life.