A teenage baseball team hires Mannix to find their missing coach, who is a parolee who been running, and hiding his identity, ever since he got out of prison.A teenage baseball team hires Mannix to find their missing coach, who is a parolee who been running, and hiding his identity, ever since he got out of prison.A teenage baseball team hires Mannix to find their missing coach, who is a parolee who been running, and hiding his identity, ever since he got out of prison.
Photos
- Lee Thomas
- (as Jonathan Lippe)
- Nurse
- (as Scottie MacGregor)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe cast includes two future residents of Walnut Grove, Minnesota on Little House on the Prairie (1974). Katherine MacGregor was a regular on the series as the thoroughly unlikable Harriet Olesen, and Charlotte Stewart appeared in 45 episodes as the schoolteacher, Miss Beadle.
- GoofsA woman falls down a few feet, on the landing in the fire escape stairs. She lands on her back and, all of a sudden, she is unconscious. She might be in pain, but she would absolutely be conscious due to a fall from such short distance.
- Quotes
Mr. Bryant: [Joe enters Mr. Bryant's garage] Yes, sir, can I help you?
Joe Mannix: Maybe. My name is Joe Mannix. I'm a private investigator.
Mr. Bryant: Something wrong?
Joe Mannix: Well, I'm looking for a Lee Thomas.
Mr. Bryant: So am I. He's gone.
Joe Mannix: When was the last time you saw him?
Mr. Bryant: Oh, 4:00 yesterday afternoon. He left for the park. Crazy about baseball. He manages a kid's team.
Joe Mannix: What else can you tell me about him?
Mr. Bryant: Why? Is he in trouble?
Joe Mannix: I won't really know until I find him.
Mr. Bryant: Well, I can't really tell you much, Mr. Mannix. He's pleasant, but kind of quiet, and he never talked much about himself.
Joe Mannix: How long has he worked for you?
Mr. Bryant: Oh, seven or eight months. Good mechanic, great hands.
Joe Mannix: Any idea where he's from?
Mr. Bryant: No. But he never gave me a minute's trouble. He did his work, never watched a clock. I can't pay him what he's worth, but I let him sleep upstairs. There's a room and bath up there.
Joe Mannix: Did he have a girlfriend?
Mr. Bryant: [thinks for a second] Uh, not that I know of.
Joe Mannix: I wonder if I might borrow a wrench or some tool that might have his fingerprints on it.
Mr. Bryant: Why?
Joe Mannix: Well, Lee Thomas didn't exist up until eight months ago. That's when they issued his Social Security number.
Mr. Bryant: You figured he changed his name, huh?
Joe Mannix: It looks that way. Well, if his prints are on file, we'll find him, and if I can put a name to him, maybe I can help him.
Mr. Bryant: Well, his toolbox is over there on the bench.
Joe Mannix: [walks over to the tool box] This one?
Mr. Bryant: Yeah, that's the one.
[Joe opens the box and looks inside, he then takes out his handkerchief and pulls out a wrech]
Series writer Daniel B. Ullman cooked up a very original script, all about a team of little leaguers who actually hire Joe to find their coach and mentor who totally disappeared. Give it an "A" for originality. It eventually comes out that he has a criminal past, an ex-con who has ruffled some feathers and the mob wants him dead.
Murray Golden did an excellent job with this cast, right down to the kids. He may have signed a few autographs for the crew, having ties to BATMAN and the GREEN HORNET in the 60s.
Jonathan Goldsmith leads the cast as Lee Thomas, the man at large. He set a record in his career by appearing in over 350 tv shows and became a tv commercial legend as the distinguished Dos Equis "most interesting man in the world" who made you want to go out buy beer! One classy guy.
Two LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE alumnus appear; Charlotte Stewart (as Barbara) and Katherine MacGregor, who plays a nurse. In a gag appearance, look for all purpose character actor Val Avery playing a guy named "Mel Cooley." Was that from the DICK VAN DYKE SHOW? Shifty Woodrow Parfrey plays Willie, always fun to watch.
Popular juvenile actor Gary Dubin plays one of the little leaguers. Gary is fondly remembered as Punky, Danny's bud on the PARTRIDGE FAMILY. Gary was an actor for years, also a personal gymnastics trainer up until his sudden death from cancer in 2016. He is missed.
In another series appearance, veteran J Pat O'Malley plays Mr. Bryant and stone-faced Ward Wood returns as Malcolm, our favorite LAPD detective.
This episode moves, and even Peggy is in danger, again thanks to Daniel Ullman's creative writing, a veteran of tv westerns; LARAMIE and WYATT EARP. Some fancy footwork here, comparable to any knock 'em down western. Western writers were, in fact, the backbone of this series.
I agree, I do NOT think Joe charged the kids a dime.
Worth staying up late for. SEASON 5 EPISODE 7 remastered color CBS dvd box set.
- tcchelsey
- May 11, 2023