Whos best? TV detectives Rockford or Mannix?

Answer 1

I am more partial to James Garner, he was handsome and very interesting in his day. Mannix was okay, but my crush was always in James Garner.

Columbo was interesting. He'd play dumb, but by doing that, he got the most information. Interesting tactic of his, if I do say so myself!

Answer 2

Rockford! Its a fun show with a refreshingly un-cool TV detective.In fairness to Mannix, I'm not to familiar with that show. Columbo is good too. It really comes down to the writing.

Answer 3

Rockford

Answer 4

Mannix 4 sure

Answer 5

Best Tv Detectives

Answer 6

I absolutely love Rockford

Answer 7

Here's my take. It's from a Facebook Note I wrote a while ago after having watched both complete series.

Location: Both in Los Angeles.

Timeframe: Mannix was late 1960s to early 1970s. Rockford was from the mid to late 1970s.

Number of Seasons: Mannix went eight seasons. Rockford went halfway into the sixth season but James Garner had to quit the show, thus ending the series, on the advice of his doctor. James Garner had numerous back and knee injuries due to his doing a lot of his own stunts, particularly driving.

Backstory: Mannix was a veteran, and he'd also worked as a mercenary. He was Armenian (as is Mike Connors, the actor who played him), and he could speak Armenian. Rockford was a veteran of the Korean War, and he was a war hero in spite of getting busted from Seargent to Private First Class. He spent five years in prison after being framed, and he was eventually pardoned. Neither of them had ever been married.

Weaponry: Mannix carried a semi-automatic with an extra clip in Season One, and a revolver in later seasons. Rockford kept a revolver in his cookie jar since it was illegal for a felon to have one.

Fighting Style: Mannix was a black belt in karate. Rockford fought dirty, with kicks to the shins and distractions. In the pilot episode, Rockford kept a roll of coins in his pocket to hit people with. If Mannix and Rockford went toe-to-toe, Mannix would clearly win.

Getting Beat Up: Mannix always wins a fair fight, other than two fights that he lost to Ted Cassidy. Rockford often won, but he did on occasion lose fair fights.

Role Playing: Mannix rarely pretended to be someone other than himself during an investigation. He was often evasive, but he almost never outright lied. Rockford regularly used aliases during his investigations, the most frequently used one being Jimmy Joe Meeker, a Texan. Notably, Rockford regularly printed fake business cards to support whatever alias he was using.

Getting Shot: Mannix seems to get shot more than Rockford, but he also uses a gun more.

Killing People: On average, Mannix has one kill per two episodes. Rockford may have never killed anyone.

Rate: Unknown what Mannix made when he worked for Innertect, but his rate when he was on his own was initially $100/day, plus expenses. At some point during the series, it went up to $200/day, plus expenses. Rockford was $200/day, plus expenses, for the life of the series.

Cashflow & Financial Status: A major difference between the two. Mannix lived a pretty nice lifestyle. In Season One, he had a well-decorated single family home. In later seasons, he lived in a three-level condo that doubled as his office. Rockford lived in a beat up, illegal trailer in a parking lot at the beach. Mannix seemed to get paid regularly when he was an independent, making $20,000 on one case alone. He often did pro bono cases. Rockford rarely did pro bono cases yet, somehow or other, he almost never got fully paid for his work.

Recurring Support Characters: Another major difference between the two. Mannix had only one truly recurring character at a given time early on...his gruff but supportive boss, Lew Wickersham in Season One, and his secretary Peggy in later seasons. He did have four different police lieutenants that he worked with. All of the Mannix regulars had unimpeachable morals. Rockford had a much wider cast surrounding him...his father, his lawyer Beth, his shifty friend Angel, and his one ally in the police force, Dennis Becker. He also had numerous characters that appeared in a few episodes in the series.

Relationships with Women: Mannix was universally perceived as a handsome man. Rockford had his charm, but it only seemed to attract more earthy women.

Relationship with the Police: A huge difference. Mannix was very well-liked by the police department, to the extent that he could kill people in self-defense, with no witnesses, and be back out on the street on the case with his gun before the end of the day. Mannix's secretary was the widow of a police officer, who could get any information from the police department through her connections. Rockford was despised by the police, with Dennis Becker being the only person on the force that was an ally. The police were always arresting Rockford for meddling, even though he went out of his way to only take closed cases.

Driving Skills: Mannix had good driving skills, but Rockford had great driving skills. Mannix was more known for bailing out of moving vehicles than driving them although, in reality, Mannix didn't bail out of vehicles all that often. Rockford's J-turn is a pop culture icon. Interesting, Mannix's bailing out of moving cars and Rockford's J-turn were each the the thing they were most known for. Rockford has the edge here.

Villains: The villains on Mannix were sometimes over-the-top caricatures, and the plots on Mannix were a little more out there. Rockford's villains were slightly more grounded.

BOTTOM LINE: If I was going to hire someone, it would be Mannix. If I was going to hang out with one of them, it would be Jim Rockford.

Answer 8

Of those two, I would choose Mannix.

But Columbo is the smartest.

Answer 9

I like them both. ddtdigest comments are all accurate and excellent!