50th Anniversary of "I Spy"

[Benzadmiral]

Fifty years ago yesterday, "I Spy" with Robert Culp and Bill Cosby premiered on NBC. It was a groundbreaking series in a lot of ways: a white character and a black, working together, living in hotel rooms together, saving each others' lives; actually filming in the overseas locations where the episodes were said to take place; a showcase for Culp as writer as well as lead actor; a more realistic take on the spy genre than James Bond or U.N.C.L.E.; the "buddy-adventure" brought to perfection*, with the mix of humor and danger that prefigured many movies and TV shows to come.

We have no need to speak here of the accusations against Bill Cosby. Actors are not their characters. Let's appreciate his Alexander Scott, the multilingual spy who made a point of writing regularly to his mother, and who once told his partner Kelly, "If you're going to play Superman, somebody's got to carry your phone booth!"

And Culp was one of the top TV actors of the Sixties, a multitalented fellow who wrote and directed as well as acted. A classy fellow from all accounts. "I Spy" should be remembered. So if you have any of the episodes on DVD, slip a favorite in tonight and enjoy some of the best of Sixties TV.


* Yes, there were Paul Newman and Robert Redford in "Butch Cassidy," and their partnership on screen and their dialog was great. But Kelly and Scotty were there first.


Scotty: "You think that's gonna get you your three dollars back?"
Kelly: "Did the Magna Carta free the peasants or not, Jack?!"

 

[4wheeldog]

Originally Posted By: Benzadmiral
Fifty years ago yesterday, "I Spy" with Robert Culp and Bill Cosby premiered on NBC. It was a groundbreaking series in a lot of ways: a white character and a black, working together, living in hotel rooms together, saving each others' lives; actually filming in the overseas locations where the episodes were said to take place; a showcase for Culp as writer as well as lead actor; a more realistic take on the spy genre than James Bond or U.N.C.L.E.; the "buddy-adventure" brought to perfection*, with the mix of humor and danger that prefigured many movies and TV shows to come.

We have no need to speak here of the accusations against Bill Cosby. Actors are not their characters. Let's appreciate his Alexander Scott, the multilingual spy who made a point of writing regularly to his mother, and who once told his partner Kelly, "If you're going to play Superman, somebody's got to carry your phone booth!"

And Culp was one of the top TV actors of the Sixties, a multitalented fellow who wrote and directed as well as acted. A classy fellow from all accounts. "I Spy" should be remembered. So if you have any of the episodes on DVD, slip a favorite in tonight and enjoy some of the best of Sixties TV.


* Yes, there were Paul Newman and Robert Redford in "Butch Cassidy," and their partnership on screen and their dialog was great. But Kelly and Scotty were there first.


Scotty: "You think that's gonna get you your three dollars back?"
Kelly: "Did the Magna Carta free the peasants or not, Jack?!"


"And that, gentlemen, is how a mainspring is rusted!" That was a line from a show that took place all in flashbacks. Kelly had been turned down for the cost of repair on his watch. He was writing his report late in to the night. That was the last line.

 

[Benzadmiral]

Originally Posted By: 4wheeldog


Scotty: "You think that's gonna get you your three dollars back?"
Kelly: "Did the Magna Carta free the peasants or not, Jack?!"

"And that, gentlemen, is how a mainspring is rusted!" That was a line from a show that took place all in flashbacks. Kelly had been turned down for the cost of repair on his watch. He was writing his report late in to the night. That was the last line.

That was "No Return on Damaged Merchandise," written by Garry Marshall (yes, THAT Garry Marshall) and Jerry Belson, who'd honed their craft on "The **** van Dyke Show." Probably my favorite episode, and one to show people who've never seen the show, or who say that "frame" stories never work. ("I'm doin' William Shakespeare on the typewriter here, man!")

The late episode "Carmelita Is One of Us" has one of the funniest scenes ever put on film, as the two characters have to stop in the Mexican desert to change a baby's diaper. (It was on Youtube a couple of years ago, but now I can't find it.)

Another to watch is "Home to Judgment," written by Culp himself -- the episode that should have been the series finale.

 

[Benzadmiral]

Oh, and I ran across this: http://theconsummateculp.com/2015/09/why-i-spy-still-matters/