Diagnosis Murder (TV Series) Hard-Boiled Murder (1997) User Reviews

Mannix 25 years later

[safenoe · 8/10 · 25 November 2020]

This is a groundbreaking episode which serves as a sequel to the 1973 Mannix episode Little Girl Lost, and which reunites the cast from that episode: Mike Connors, Julie Adams, Beverly Garland and Pernell Roberts. Hard-Boiled Murder integrates scenes from Little Girl Lost so that Mannix can solve the murder of Lou Reynolds, who was brutally murdered in front of his daughter.

In a rarity, one of the scenes in Hard-Boiled Murder is set in the rain! Seems it never rains in Southern California, but here it does.

oddest cross over of tv shows at least up till that time.

[billcary · 9/10 · 29 July 2022]

I remember watching this episode. Was a huge fan of series. What seems odder though was that for some reason (i can't remember why now) i watch the mannix episode EARLIER THAT DAY! I wasn't a fan of mannix so i'm not sure through the adverts for this episode i put it together or maybe they were advertising it as what it was a crossover 25 years in the making. I don't remember now, been to many years ago. I rarely if ever watched mannix so there must have been a reason. The odder part of the whole thing which is why i think the channlel i saw mannix on that day did it for this cross over, was about 3 4 months later they reaired it. Not current to a rerun of diagnosis murder the same night again. I didn't think much of it at the time, just thought it was odd. Given the fact mannix lasted 6 or 7 years, i'm assuming one was aired on purpose the way it was, and the other aired later in the "normal" rotation it would have aired (meaning that episode was up next based on airing them in the correct order). That network that i think was tv land but might be remembering wrong like me tv aired stuff in the original order at least to the point they had episodes for. (ie gunsmoke only some seasons, bonanza just the ones with adam, etc.) i don't think tv land and cbs are or were owned by same people so not sure how this got coordinated but thought it was pretty cool. I know somebody recently said that the top gun movie just barely set a new record between original movie and sequel, (forgot what other movie had just set it a few months earlier but it was only by like 2 years less than the top gun series) and now i wonder if this is the longest time between a original episode and the 2nd part (more or less) finale/ crossover of all time. Usually crossovers air on same night, consecutive nights, consecutive weeks, and in modern era with mid seasons finales, occasionally months, NOT 20+ YEARS! I guess now that we're 25 years past this do we do something now with barry van dyke as a cross over with this show now?

Don't remake, don't reimagine ... just solve the case!

[eschwartzkopf · 10/10 · 6 November 2009]

"Hard-Boiled Murder" may be a unique creature of 1990s television, when networks still cranked out fare for the "older" (i.e., of drinking age, in Hollywood terms) audience that would at least recognize characters from 1960s-1970s shows. And who better to turn up with Dick Van Dyke than another '60s icon in Mike Connors, reprising his role of the rock 'em, sock 'em Joe Mannix.

The beauty here is that, instead of some oddball, come-out-of-retirement bit, the writers went back and found a Mannix episode -- "Little Girl Lost " -- where the detective tied up some loose ends, but never solved the case. He also promised the subject of the episode that, someday, he'd find out who killed her father.

Advance the timeframe 25 years (just about the same interval from the original Mannix episode) and Mannix is still doggedly on the case, and still surviving as one of the lone-wolf PIs. Using a spare-but-telling collection of clips from the Mannix episode as flashbacks, the story progresses with several of the original players from a quarter-decade past reprising their roles.

Since this is a "Diagnosis: Murder" show, there's a bit less of the harder edge of "Mannix," and the solving of one mystery -- the corruption angle -- seems a bit soft and hasty. The twist ending that solves the original murder also might be bit predictable, but it's a nice bit to finally close the case.

Sure, it's a trick concept that's not going to work for every show every week, but it's a concept done very well here. And viewers who knew about the show at its initial broadcast in 1997 got a bonus: Nick at Nite, which handled Mannix reruns, broadcast "Little Girl Lost" in the hour prior to the premiere of "Hard-Boiled Murder" on CBS, and it showed the nice continuity of the storyline.

Joe Mannix is still on the case

[Guad42 · 10/10 · 10 September 2021]

I give this one a "10" for concept more than for execution. Crossovers/sequels are not new on TV. Maverick, Sugarfoot, Cheyenne, and Bronco did it in the 50s. Jack Webb did it on his shows. Barnaby Jones and Cannon worked together. Murder She Wrote and Simon and Simon saw Magnum in Hawaii. Cheers characters visited Frasier and the NCIS people crossed over among many other examples. I can't think of a single show that did it after a 20 plus year interval and between two shows that have no obvious connection but it works here.

Joe Mannix is doggedly chasing the case begun in Little Girl Lost decades prior. At the beginning of the show, he is wounded by a sniper and ends up in Doctor Mark Sloan's emergency room. The two of them are old friends as Sloan had patched Joe up numerous times over the years. The tests taken in the ER reveal Joe has a heart problem requiring immediate surgery. Joe nixes the idea as he has a case to solve. The show now follows Joe around as he does it. It is good to see that the Mannix character is the focus here and not just around for window dressing. Dr Sloan's role is to follow Joe around and nag him about his condition. There are two cases here - one of corruption and another about Joe's sniper. Joe loses a fistfight but gets revenge later. There is less physical stuff than in a usual Mannix episode but we have to remember Mike Connors is 20 plus years older and it would be a bit unbelievable to be doing the same stuff. Both cases get solved and the bad guys get their just rewards. In one case, that is unfortunate.

Pernell Roberts, Julie Adams, and Beverly Garland reprise their characters from the Mannix episode. Julie Adams, forever linked with the Creature From The Black Lagoon, is great as always. Beverly Garland is good. She helped Joe out in the climatic fight in the original Mannix outing. Too bad he wasn't able to return the favor in this episode. This is Pernell Roberts' last credit on his imdb page and his second to last one was another DM appearance three years prior. He never has been the most demonstrative of actors and it really shows here. I have seen him better.

I'll repeat a comment I wrote for my Little Girl Lost review. Another reviewer wrote in his Mannix show review that Joe was knocked out 55 times and shot 17 times. In the eight year run of the show, that worked out to being knocked out 6.875 times and shot 2.125 times per year. Mannix started in Sep 67 and the DM episode is in Feb 97 so let's call it 30 years. Assuming Joe maintained the same pace of operations, that means Jos is knocked out 206 times and shot 63 times. Joe should have had a lot more physical problems than just his heart!

I wish Gail Fisher had made an appearance as Peggy Fair. I believe she had some challenges later in life so it might not have been possible. Too bad, it would have been great to see her. Joe makes the rather cryptic comment that "Peggy is all I need" and then says she is on vacation. If Peggy has been his secretary for 29 years (excluding the first year when Joe worked for Intertect) then she is doing it for more than the money. Her pay can't make up for all the threats, kidnappings, and shootouts. I hope they have a Perry Mason/Della Street thing going on. Of course, if they did, then they would vacation together. I'm going with the story that Peggy was visiting her grown up son Toby and his family and taking Joe along would complicate things. I think Joe and Peggy are a happy couple and have been for years.

If you're a Mannix fan, you have to see this episode of DM. Even if you're not, it is a good show. Pretty sure Joe didn't get paid again so I hope Medicare covers his heart procedure.