I Spy

I bought the entire series on DVD recently and have spent many evenings watching two or 3 episodes each. While I grew up during the shows original run, I'd only watched a few then. So for a while, due to the invariable trappings of the times it was filmed during, I was taken back a bit. However I was really involved with the adventures and characters of the two main characters (and the venerable Kenneth Tobey as their most frequent handler). This show being compared to any of the numerous other espionage series is not a serious comparison. The location filming and abilities of cast and crew made this as special a show as another series from the same time period that made such an impact on me. Culp and Cosby will forever be unique for a multitude of reasons, together they made a good entertainment greater. Long live "I, Spy".

BP

"I Spy" represented NBC at it's most daring, in 1965, and proved that actor/producer Sheldon Leonard, best known as the guiding force behind "The Andy Griffith Show", "Make Room For Daddy", and "The Dick Van Dyke Show", could offer a first-class dramatic entry, as well. Certainly in an era when civil rights was an explosive issue, and television series were predictable and shot exclusively on studio sound stages and back lots, a program that was filmed 'on location' and featured an African/American in a leading role for the first time (in a mainstream dramatic show) was not only revolutionary, but was potentially disastrous, as well. It is to everyone's credit that NBC, the most successful network at that time ("Bonanza" had a 'lock' on Number One in the ratings) was willing to take the risk, and introduce this remarkable series to American audiences.

Robert Culp was an established television star when the series debuted, a respected 35-year old actor with credentials that included one of the first major 'made-for-TV' movies (THE HANGED MAN), strong theatrical film work (PT 109 and Sunday IN NEW YORK), and Emmy-nominated TV guest performances. A gifted writer as well as actor, he and Leonard had discussed a TV series for a while, something that would capitalize on his dramatic abilities and avoid the stereotypes rampant in weekly television at the time. When a script involving a tennis pro and his trainer/manager, actually CIA agents, who would use their covers on worldwide missions, was hammered out, Culp knew he had found the right formula. The co-starring role became the focus of attention, and while Culp would later take credit for 'discovering' Bill Cosby, both he and Leonard were impressed by the 27-year old performer's brilliant stand-up comedy work (Leonard's friend, comedian Allan Sherman, had 'introduced' Cosby for the young comedian's first 'live' album), and both men deserve credit for offering the project to the 'untested' actor. With Cosby in place, filming began, and magic appeared.

While the initial focus was on Culp's flamboyant 'Kelly Robinson', with Cosby's 'Alexander Scott' relegated to the more serious role of the 'contact' man with the CIA, Cosby had a way of 'punching up' his dialog, adding hip one-liners and asides that not only improved scenes, but gave the character of Scott a humanity that the scripts lacked. The stories became funnier and far more interesting, and Culp and Leonard were more than pleased with the results. The series quickly became an audience favorite, with Cosby winning the first of three Emmys in his role. Culp began ad-libbing, as well, following Cosby's lead, and the chemistry between the actors was so natural and easy-going that "I Spy" became television's most popular 'buddy' show.

With the show 'on location' for much of the shooting schedule, a season's worth of scripts would have to be available by the start of filming, a practice unheard of for any other series. This resulted in some 'clichéd' episodes that writers had little time to polish, and Cosby and Culp's ad-libbing skills would be necessary to 'lift' their overall quality. The resulting humor would give the series a 'freshness' that not only made even the weaker entries enjoyable, but resulted in a series that still 'works', nearly forty years later.

Eventually, even the stars' best efforts couldn't disguise the thinning material, and after three seasons, "I Spy" was canceled (although Cosby would win his third Emmy in a row for the last season, a testament to his talent), and the remarkable experiment was over.

Sadly, "I Spy" did not dramatically change the African/American presence on TV, at that time, but Bill Cosby's success would provide him a window of opportunity for continued television exposure, and with each subsequent success, more opportunities would become available for gifted performers of other races. He was, and is, truly a pioneer of the medium, and the most enduring tribute of the series Sheldon Leonard created for Robert Culp may have been in introducing Bill Cosby to 'mainstream' America. It is a legacy that both Leonard and Culp were justly proud of!

This show was very unique when it comes to spy shows that were on television at the same time. Of course, the fact that it was one of the first shows to feature an African-American in a non-demeaning role made it unique as well as the humor, but there were other factors that helped make this show one of the most memorable of the 1960's. First, it was probably the only spy show that didn't rely on any special gadgetry as was the norm on shows like Mission: Impossible, The Man From Uncle and even the Wild Wild West. The two spies had to rely on their wits in order to take on their weekly antagonists. The second thing that was very unique about the show was that it relied on heavily on characterization. The characters of Kelly and Scottie were probably the most fleshed out characters on not just shows dealing with international intrigue, but of any show in that era. However, the most interesting aspect of this show was the fact that the characters actually questioned why they were in the business. Of course, this was in the middle of the Cold War, where loyalty was never an issue on the various spy shows, but this was probably the first one where the characters actually would question why they were being sent on these missions.

"I Spy" cannot be denied its contributions to history, both in television production and the Civil Rights movement. As documented in the book, "I Spy: A History of the Groundbreaking Television Series," this was the first series to cast a black actor opposite a White, with equal status and billing. And, by doing so, Bill Cosby become the first Black to win an Emmy - and he would win three in a row, as Best Lead Actor in a Drama for his work here. During that first year, show business trade magazine Variety wrote that "I Spy" was a "test show," putting NBC southern affiliates "on the spot," and that the series would show "which way the winds were blowing in Dixie." The door swung open in September 1965, and, within one year, black performers were finding regular work with non-stereotypical roles on "Mission: Impossible" and "Star Trek," and, just a couple years after that, being cast as series leads, with equal or greater status than Whites, in shows such as "N.Y.P.D.," "Room 222," and "Julia." TV, and the world, changed that quickly.

"I Spy" was also the first series to shoot around the world, introducing the technology needed to achieve this. And many believe that this is where the "buddy picture" began. Series such as "Starsky & Hutch" and "Miami Vice," and even movies like "Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid," certainly took their lead from "I Spy."

This historic series proved that sometimes television can do more than just entertain.

Apparently only one comment a year is allowed for this show, so here's 2002's.

The misgivings that I've got about the Eddie Murphy/Owen Wilson take on "I Spy" would seem to be justified by most accounts (even allowing for the presence of the scrumptious Famke Janssen), and now that Carlton Direct has closed down it's unlikely repeats of this fine spy show will be back on British television in the near future. Too bad.

Unlike most other series, the adventures of Kelly Robinson and Alexander Scott (spies under the guise of a tennis player and his coach, played by Robert Culp and Bill Cosby respectively - the latter won three Emmys in succession for his performances, which are indeed easier to take than his subsequent incarnation as the endlessly self-adoring Dr. Cliff Huxtable) benefitted from actual location shooting around the world and from intelligent scripts, some by Culp himself - though not "To Florence With Love," a two-part story which had a most unusual ending in part one; our heroes are trying to get information from someone by threatening to cover him completely in plaster of Paris, and it ends with the would-be stooge about to be totally closed up. (He cracks at the start of part 2, obviously, but there's no doubt that they really would let him suffocate if he hadn't.)

The chemistry between Culp and Cosby and the great theme music by Earle Hagen (plus scores from him and Hugo Friedhofer - bless Film Score Monthly for issuing a CD of music from the series) are two more reasons this plays well on TV today. If you take care with a product, it'll be good forever; which is why "The Cosby Mysteries" won't be fondly remembered 30 years from now. If ever.