A short (and hopefully complete) list of “Mannix” episodes involving old Army buddies.

There’s a running joke that Joe Mannix must have ticked off everyone he served with in Korea, since so many “Mannix” episodes feature old Army buddies that are out to get him. There are at least three seasons (out of eight total) where the writers used the “old Army buddy” trope twice, so I feel like there’s some justification for that joke.

(Did Columbo ever have an “old Army buddy” try to whack him? I remember at least one “Rockford Files” involving an old Army buddy of Jim’s, but I don’t think he was trying to kill Rockford, and I don’t think there was more than one of those. Corrections welcome.)

But I’ve never found a complete list, or even a count, of old Army buddy episodes. So this is my attempt to pull one together. Links go to the IMDB entries for the episodes. (There’s not a good “Mannix” episode guide that I know of, but the IMDB entries are pretty comprehensive.)

Just because an episode is listed does not mean that the “old Army buddy” is actually out to get Mannix. Though if you are a betting person, the odds favor the “old Army buddy” as being the bad guy…

  • “Deathrun” (season 2, episode 13). IMDB lists the directors as Gerald Mayer and Leslie H. Martinson “(uncredited)”, with Fred Beir as “Bill Chase”.
  • “End Game” (season 2, episode 19). Directed by John Llewellyn Moxey, with Steve Ihnat as “Gus Keller”.
  • “Who Is Sylvia?” (season 3, episode 19). Directed by Reza Badiyi, with Robert Colbert as “Phil Graves” and Jessica Walter as his wife.
  • “A Ticket to the Eclipse” (season 4, episode 1). Directed by John Llewellyn Moxey, with Darren McGavin as “Mark”.
  • “The Man Outside” (season 5, episode 11). I’m counting this one, even though it isn’t an old Army “buddy”, but his former commanding officer. Directed by Harry Harvey Jr., with Andrew Duggan as “Gen. Alec Holt”.
  • “Harvest of Death” (season 6, episode 10). Directed by Paul Krasny, with Paul Mantee as “Dave Winters”.
  • “The Danford File” (season 6, episode 24). Directed by Harry Harvey Jr., with Richard Bradford as “Barney Edmonds”. (N.B. I call this an “old army buddy” episode based on the user reviews on IMDB: the IMDB plot synopsis just refers to “Barney Edmonds” as “an old friend”.)
  • “A Small Favor for an Old Friend” (season 8, episode 7). Directed by Paul Krasny, with Jim Antonio as “Harry Endicott”.
  • “Desert Sun” (season 8, episode 10). Directed by Arnold Laven, with Joaquín Martínez as “Harry White Eagle” (who I think is the old Army buddy Mannix gets a call from, based on the IMDB reviews and entry).
  • “A Word Called Courage” (season 8, episode 13). Directed by Bill Bixby (yeah, that one), with Joseph Sirola as “Harry Elliott”.

There are also two episodes that feature old football buddies of Joe Mannix:

  • “Return to Summer Grove” (season 3, episode 3). Directed by Gerald Mayer, with Larry Pennell as “Troy McBride”, the old football buddy who is accused of murder…and confined to an iron lung. Also features Victor Jory as “Stefan Mannix”, Joe’s semi-estranged father.
  • “A Gathering of Ghosts” (season 4, episode 19). Directed by Reza Badiyi. “Mannix is at his college football team’s reunion in a ghost town when members start getting murdered and a teammate that did not show up, is suspected.”

Errors, corrections, and omissions to stainles [at] sportsfirings.com or stainles [at] mac.com.

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