Les espions

If I think back to all of it, this show started it all. For some viewers who have not watched it, and best remember Bill Cosby from The Cosby Show. When ever this show will be shown in re-runs on T.V.Land. Just might find this show very enjoyable. Bill Cosby and Robert Culp were perfectly cast has Alexander Scott and Kelly Robinson two undercover agents going on dangerous missions and enjoying sight seeing. This show in many ways tried not to be to serious or to silly. It is a great blend of action and humor.

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.

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

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.

Robert Culp didn't "phone in" his performances. One throw-away shot had him discover a dead body just before a commercial break, and the expression on his face was genuinely intense.

The show was ground-breaking for showcasing black talent. Yes. And huzzah for that! But it was a cracking good show regardless of racial issues. Among the many reasons already mentioned, the heroes were vulnerable. They were not stronger, better-armed or backed up by SWAT teams ready to rappel from helicopters. They often got into situations where they elected to run ... yes, RUN! Like intelligent, realistic men when facing superior odds. They were beaten (temporarily) more than a few times, and sometimes were close to death. And they weren't the only heroes in the program, as secondary characters appearing only in that episode would step in and prove useful.

"I, Spy" turns out to be superior Cold War fodder in that it showed perhaps the most realistic (although certainly still unreal, being it was early television) depiction of the stalwart American intelligence operatives trying to keep a lid on a shifting world of mayhem, out on the edge, largely alone.

And the friends, with humor and intelligence, leveraged each other into a team more formidable than three independent agents could ever muster.

These fellows showed a healthy appreciation for good things and fine women, but when the chips were down they were quick to be Boy Scouts ... and made it look convincing and even "cool." It is childishly acceptable and common to make fun of the mores of those days, but having grown up on Norman Rockwell I can tell you that the concept of being a "good guy" was serious in those days, and many men behaved with a genuine courtesy and courage that seems unrealistic today.

Cosby deserved his Emmies ... but Culp really supplied better performance than almost anyone else in those years.

Looking for a new favorite? Something you haven't already memorized and become slightly tired of? Get these DVD's and make your acquaintance with two of the coolest, yet still "upright" heroes fictional America ever produced.