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Before Columbo and The Rockford Files, there was Mannix—and its very first case brought Hollywood’s private-eye drama straight to Palm Springs.

NBC Palm Springs historian Steve Summerall recently highlighted the desert’s starring role in the 1967 pilot episode of Mannix. Airing on September 16 of that year, the episode followed detective Joe Mannix, played by Mike Connors, as he chased down the kidnapped daughter of a retired mobster.

The pilot doubled as a cinematic tour of the Coachella Valley. Locations included the Palm Springs Airport, the area’s date groves, and the iconic aerial tramway. The climax came in a high-stakes helicopter battle staged over one of the region’s many golf courses, blending Hollywood action with unmistakable desert scenery.

The production, however, left its mark on Connors in more ways than one. During the helicopter scene, he dislocated his shoulder, and later broke his left wrist when an on-screen punch landed against a steel back brace hidden under another actor’s costume. Those injuries, Connors later admitted, caused discomfort for the rest

Palm Springs Spotlighted in 1967 Mannix Pilot