Mannix (TV Series) Merry Go Round for Murder (1969) User Reviews

They owed us this episode after the last one!

[planktonrules · 9/10 · 28 July 2013]

The previous episode of "Mannix", "The Solid Gold Web", was simply awful--possibly the worst of season two. It was so bad that I felt the producers owed us a good one and fortunately, "Merry Go Round for Murder" was a dandy episode. The plot was very nice and I particularly liked the part played by Ruth McDevitt as the scatterbrained but sweet Miss Johnson.

The show begins with a detective and a nervous client meeting Mannix late at night. They want Mannix to guard the man for a day--just until he can get out of the county. Apparently, he has $250,000 in CASH and folks are trying to kill him. However, before Mannix can even refuse the case, a car speeds along--shooting the other detective and taking the body and the briefcase full of cash. Whose money was this? Who killed the other detective? And, why steal the body? The path all leads, of all places, to an old school that is now in ruins--run by a dippy but sweet old lady (McDevitt).

All in all, a very good episode. I liked the plot quite a bit and thought it one of the better episodes of season two. Worth your time. And if you do watch, then keep an eye on Mrs. Devereaux's earrings and clothes--they are a late 60s hoot!

Good episode

[Guad42 · 8/10 · 27 November 2020]

Mannix is set up for a patsy when he is used as a witness for a fellow detective while the detective is dealing with his client who has big money on him. The detective is killed in a drive by shooting and his body disappears. Later the client dies after the wife calls Mannix to come get him. There are a couple problems with this episode. The first is beyond their control. The fellow detective was supposedly killed in the beginning. The problem is he was played by Paul Carr. No way does Carr accept a role where he is in one scene with ten lines so I knew he wasn't dead so he had to be a bad guy stealing the money. Also, the car in the drive by didn't stop long enough to load a body. The second problem is the wife played by Sue Ane Langdon. She called Mannix just to get him over in time to set him up. He should have been suspicious then but later agrees to meet her and it is an ambush. Mannix chases her after the ambush fails but she gets away. Later the bad guys visit her at her home. Why would she go home after setting Mannix up and why didn't he look for her there? For that matter, once they had the money, why didn't Paul and Sue Ane just switch cars and get out of town. The guest stars are always good on this show. Larry Linville is the cop on the case. Warren Stevens makes a great bad guy. Ruth McDevitt is an old pro. Paul Carr makes several appearances on Mannix and he is always good. An underrated actor for sure. This is the last time that Joe Mantell shows up as Albie. Maybe the producers didn't want the comic relief anymore or he was taking screen time from Peggy. Maybe she had him knocked off. She does know a lot of people because she always comes through with information so maybe she knows a guy who knows a guy. Despite the few problems this is a good episode.

A MERRY GO ROUND WITH LOTS OF MAZUMA!

[tcchelsey · 9/10 · 22 February 2023]

9 STARS. John Meredyth Lucas, who at the time was writing and producing STAR TREK, wrote this top episode.

Lucas did a lot of fine work for the series, but again you have to pay close attention to the details. This is rule number one in watching this series.

Joe's mission is to temp bodyguard a guy with a quarter million dollars (in cold cash). Guess what happens? And very quickly. The rest is a rather clever mystery and very well acted. Paul Carr (as Pete) is the guy who gets Mannix into this mess. Prior to this part, Carr had a regular role on THE DOCTORS tv series.

A good role for Sue Ann Langdon (as Mrs. Devereaux), who figures prominently in the case. Langdon was a tv regular in both tv sitcoms and drama. Warren Stevens (as Harry) is especially good, as you never really know if you should trust him, and veteran Ruth McDevitt is fun as Miss Johnson, someone's kindly grandma. McDevitt, in fact, had a regular part as Grandma on the short-lived western series PISTOLS AND PETTICOATS.

Larry Linville returns as the law, on a rotating basis with Ward Wood and Robert Reed. There's also an appearance of Red West (as Arlan), who gained international fame as lead bodyguard to Elvis, also appearing in bits in many of his films, later to carve out a solid acting career. He was the first to write a tell-all book about Elvis, which predicted his sudden death.

The crew once again filmed some sequences around Griffith Park, the best place to play cops and robbers! SEASON 2 EPISODE 24 remastered CBS dvd box set.