Mannix (TV Series) Enter Tami Okada (1974) User Reviews

A nice change of pace

[planktonrules · 8/10 · 16 April 2017]

When the story begins, a courier headed to the Japanese consulate in Los Angeles is picked up by a fake diplomatic driver. Soon, a private eye from Japan arrives. Tami Okada (Mako) has been hired to find the missing man and thus restore honor to the family. What follows is a partnership between Tami and Joe Mannix, as both teach the other about their respective cultures. It's a nice change of pace for the show...a bit like the movie "Red Sun"....but where both the leads are nice folks instead of one of them being a thug. Well worth seeing and some much needed freshness breathed into the show in its eighth season.

By the way, this is the second time Japanese Village in Los Angeles has been featured on "Mannix"--the other much earlier in the series. The place apparently closed down in 1975 but sure looks like it was an interesting place.

Both a backdoor pilot and a commercial? You be the judge

[rkrossfan · 8/10 · 20 November 2017]

This episode seemed to exist for a few reasons OTHER than entertainment. First it's almost a complete backdoor pilot for a new fish out of water Japanese guy in America detective show. And secondly it's an advertisement for the Japanese Village amusement park in SoCal.

We start out at the airport where a Japanese official is kidnapped by a bogus limo driver while he was carrying an important briefcase. Mannix is hired by a Japanese native Tami Okada (Mako) who is also a private detective in his home country. What follows is a terrific buddy cop show with Joe and Tami carrying out their investigation. I call this a backdoor pilot because in all 8 seasons I cannot recall a single character or actor getting as much screen time as Mako does. He is involved in every aspect of the show and is shown as Joe's equal. He also teaches a great deal about Japanese culture and customs. It never materialized but this man deserved his own detective show! Oh well, your loss CBS.

Almost all the location shots occur at the aforementioned Japanese Village (including a completely unnecessary Dolphin show). Not sure if the producers of the Show owed Six Flags a favor or not. Guess it didn't work out as the park closed very soon after the episode aired.

I thoroughly enjoyed the show for Mako's performance as the titular character. Can't say the story stuck with me much as it was pretty generic. But enjoy Tami Okada and wish he would have gotten his own show. He was that good!

Mako's show for sure

[Guad42 · 8/10 · 25 February 2022]

I agree with an earlier reviewer who wrote this feels like a pilot. Mako has too much screen time and the character is too unique. It is a reasonable conclusion. Back in the mid 70s, PI and cop shows had a "hook" to separate them from the competition. Ironside had a wheelchair. Longstreet was blind. McCloud was a cowboy in New York. Columbo had unlikely mannerisms for a sharp cop. Barnaby Jones was old. Cannon was fat. Tami Okado (Mako) would have been the hip Japanese PI adjusting to America as he solved cases. I would have liked to see it.

The case is a bit too convoluted. A Japanese courier is kidnapped and Tami comes to US to solve it before the courier's father commits hari kari. He enlists Joe to help out. Why Joe? No idea. The pair go to the Japanese village to meet the courier's girlfriend Midori (Miko Mayama). She says she knows nothing but after the conversation, she calls the courier. Later Tami pokes around Little Toyko and deliberately sets himself up for a hit. He is beaten up by two hoods, one American and one Japanese. Joe breaks it up. Later, Joe tangles with them and get his usual hit over the head. Midori confesses she lied earlier to them and, since then she was visited by the two hoods. She says the courier has been kidnapped again. Our detectives end up at a Buddhist temple looking for courier and find him dead. He supposedly committed ritual suicide, but Tami knows better. He was murdered. Joe and Tami go back to Midori. She says the courier got away from the kidnapper but without his briefcase and he was trying to get it back. Our pair now go to the Japanese consulate. A consulate man (Clyde Kasatsu) reports the briefcase had nothing but papers and it was dropped off at the consulate so they considered the case closed. Joe and Tami split up and Tami goes back to his room. He surprised the American hood waiting for him and captures him. The bad guy's fingerprints were at the Buddhist temple. He finks on his Japanese partner. Turns out the case had information on the Japanese partner who was sent to kill an American businessman doing business with Japan. The police capture the Japanese partner. Lt Malcolm reports the Japanese consulate driver is taking the American businessman to the airport. Joe figures out the driver is an undercover bad guy so he and Tami head to the airport. They get the driver, figure out there is a bomb on the plane and Joe chases down the plane on the runway. Bomb is disarmed and all ends well.

The cast is good. Mako had a long career with lots of IMDB credits, but he was overly qualified for most of the parts he did. He deserved a better career, but I guess you can say that about many actors. Hell, Gail Fisher deserved better than she got. He was nominated for best supporting actor for the Sand Pebbles. He lost to Walter Matthau in the Fortune Cookie.

There is breaking of an old custom. Early in the episode, Tami says he can't talk over the phone and wants to meet Joe to pass on information. Normally that is a death sentence on Mannix, but Tami does actually meet Joe. One of the few times a character says he can't talk and wants a meeting and actually stays alive to take the meeting.

This is another episode where Joe is hit over the head and where he knows an old friend who is in a perfect position to provide timely information. In this case, a cab dispatcher. Joe has an info network that never lets him down. He would have gotten paid for this case too.

This is a fine outing. Good dialogue with Mako passing along bits of Far East wisdom while making pithy observations. Joe is a little more relaxed than in other cases as he enjoys the company. Makes me wish Mako had gotten a series out of this.

Great guest star outing!

[unspiek · 9/10 · 22 July 2022]

I just now saw this episode, which was new to me, on a rerun cable channel. It was terrific, easily the best episode of 'Mannix' I've ever seen, due to the splendid performance of guest star Mako. And Connors seemed to be enjoying himself a bit more than usual.

This did indeed look like a pilot. It's always hard to guess why such things didn't get picked up. Maybe the people who needed to be impressed thought the writing was weak, which would have been a little cruel, but fair. That was the weakest link here. But the performances were grade A, and the show was really enjoyable. I wish I'd recorded it.

JOE AND HIS JAPANESE BUD.

[tcchelsey · 10/10 · 23 August 2023]

An original episode, and lots of fun, written by Oscar winner Robert Pirosh, who did many stories for the WALTONS. He began his career writing two films for the MARX BROTHERS, perhaps the only cop show writer associated with a comedy team.

Oscar nominated Japanese actor Mako guest stars as Tami (Tommy) Okado, a private detective who really needs Mannix. A Japanese diplomat has vanished somewhere in LA and Tami has been assigned to the case. Joe and Tami make a great team, and in a way, learn from each other as they dig deeper into this international mess.

True, this does have the feel of a pilot episode for another cop show. If you can recall, there was KHAN, a Chinese detective, albeit briefly. The show starred Knigh Dhiegh, who played really nasty guys on HAWAII FIVE O. It was promoted as a contemporary CHARLIE CHAN, but lasted only a half season in 1975. Dhiegh was sort of a Chinese version of Victor Buono.

Mako was nominated for an Oscar early in his career for a solid role in THE SAND PEBBLES. Prior to this episode he appeared on IRONSIDE. Also guest starring is Miko Mayama, who became famous for dating Burt Reynolds. Miko claimed she learned English by watching BUGS BUNNY cartoons, and it paid off in her acting career. In later years it was widely debated (and thanks to her) that watching tv could help people learn English. For cult tv fans, Miko played Tamula in an episode of STAR TREK.

Two super character actors turn up. Billy Benedict (from the BOWERY BOYS) has a small role, a favorite of casting directors. Do not miss Bill Zuckert, playing a car dispatcher. Zuckert was in a ton of tv shows, usually as tough guys or cops.

Filmed at the Jananese Village in Buena Park, which actually closed down about a year after this episode and is now a business park with lots of truck traffic.

Another top late night episode. SEASON 8 EPISODE 8 remastered color Paramout/CBS. 6 dvd box set. Released 2012. Mannix is on the cover, but you can also see Peggy in the background. Classic portrait.