Mannix

This review is for the episode "Warning:Wild Blueberries"(season 1/disc 2). I wanted to see this episode because rock group of yore Buffalo Springfield appears in it. The story involves a girl of about 19 who gets in trouble while staying at a commune. Her father hires Mannix to check up on her. The whole episode is naturally loaded with vintage 60's touches-casual cigarette smoking within office buildings, which Mad Men makes a point of presenting properly...the brown beltless slacks Mannix wears in one scene...a gorgeous open air interior view of a new Ford Mustang convertable as two characters are talking and driving as well as the to be expected representation of the youth of the day bedecked in flowers and nehru shirts sitting in a small underground club called the Lost Dimension which is where indeed we find the prized appearance of Steven Stills, Neil Young, Richie Furay, Bruce Palmer and Dewey Martin live on stage. Mannix has come to the club on a tip to try and dig up some information about our troubled leading lady. Their appearance is brief and largely in the background but there are several front and center full band camera pans of the group which is pretty exciting before the story is turned back to Mannix and his mission. They are seen and heard playing two songs, first at the beginning of the episode and once again at the end. First song is Bluebird and it is live, not just them lip synching to the recording. If you concentrate on blocking out the main dialogue between Mannix and the other people in the club you can follow quite nicely the Springfield's pacing through the song. And near episodes end we see them again running through a slightly slower but very expressive For What It's Worth. A real treat but at the same time torturingly brief. But I still recommend this certainly to any fans of B.S. as well as fans of the Mannix series. Special mention to character actor Phil Leeds and Valora Noland the troubled girl's roommate                   8/16/08