The Wonderfulness of "I Spy" Arrives on DVD

The cultural significance of I Spy--which Timeless Media will release as a boxed set on June 24th--has been covered in numerous books and essays. It was, after all, the first U.S. television series to feature an African American actor in a lead role. In 1965, that was a landmark achievement--and a bold one. Four of NBC's affiliates in the southern U.S. refused to broadcast I Spy.

The irony is that the people responsible for the success of I Spy went out of their way to avoid focusing on the fact that co-star Bill Cosby was an African American. Their show was simply about two friends who happened to be spies. It was incidental that one was white and one was black. In fact, racial insults were banned from the show after a season one episode ("Danny Was a Million Laughs") in which Martin Landau's smarmy criminal flips a coin to Scotty (Cosby) and tells him: "Here you are, boy. I'll leave my shoes out for you tonight."

The series was the brainchild of actor-turned-producer Sheldon Leonard. After producing such hits as The Danny Thomas Show, The Andy Griffith Show, and The Dick Van Dyke Show, Leonard wanted to create an hour-long drama. With the James Bond craze in full throttle in 1965, Leonard developed the idea for an espionage series that utilized international locales--but few gadgets. Robert Culp, who had approached Leonard with a proposed TV series about a retired spy, was a natural choice for one of the roles. The original premise was for Culp to play a protege to an older spy. Leonard dropped that idea when Carl Reiner suggested the other role be played by an up-and-coming stand-up comic named Bill Cosby--who had no acting experience.

Cosby's "test" episode "Affair in T'sien Cha" did not go well. The acting novice was stiff and his natural charm came across as muted. Still, Leonard and and Culp pushed ahead with the series (that episode was eventually broadcast midway through the first season).  I Spy debuted on September 15, 1965, with Culp starring as Kelly Robinson, a veteran espionage agent who maintains his cover as an Ivy League-educated tennis pro. His Rhodes scholar partner, Alexander Scott (or Scotty), acts as Robinson's trainer.

Yes, that's Culp as Chuang Tzu.

Culp, who also wrote several episodes, was clearly the intended star during the first season of I Spy. He appears in the opening credits, his name comes first, and the font size of his name is larger than Cosby's. The breakout star, though, turned out to be Cosby. He won the first of three consecutive Emmys for Outstanding Continued Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Dramatic Series. Each year, Robert Culp was among the other nominees in the same category (Culp even played a double role in the season 2 episode "The War Lord," also appearing as the villainous Chuang Tzu).

The success of I Spy can be attributed almost entirely to the breezy interplay between Culp and Cosby. The two, who became good friends off-screen, sometimes improvised their dialogue. A favorite expression was "wonderfulness," which was first used in the second episode "A Cup of Kindness." As Scotty makes a homemade explosive to escape from a warehouse, he explains how he'll use a cigarette as the fuse. Kelly quips back: "Is there no limit to the wonderfulness of your mind?"

Mr. & Mrs. Culp in "The Tiger,"
an episode written by Robert Culp.

While some episodes tilted toward comedy ("Chrysanthemum") and others went for straight drama ("The Loser"), the best ones were a combination of both (the delightfully twisty "Dragon's Teeth"). Many well-known performers appeared on the show, such as Boris Karloff, Dorothy Lamour, Keye Luke, and Don Rickles. Some of the guest stars gained fame later on television or in films, to include: Carroll O'Connor, Gene Hackman, and Nicolas Colasanto (Coach in Cheers). I Spy also provided a unique platform for African American performers. Earth Kitt won an Emmy for playing a drug addicted singer in "The Loser." Other episodes featured Ivan Dixon (Kinch on Hogan's Heroes), Greg Morris (Barney on Mission: Impossible), and Godfrey Cambridge. Culp's favorite guest star may have been France Nuyen, who appeared in four episodes. She and Culp were married from 1967-70.

The snazzy credits complimented
Hagen's theme.

From a production standpoint, I Spy stood apart from its espionage TV series rivals by setting the action in scenic international locales. In fact, much of I Spy was filmed throughout the world, in colorful countries like Hong Kong, Greece, Mexico, and Italy. Finally, no mention of the show would be complete without highlighting the catchy opening theme by Earle Hagen. The composer also scored the background music for the series, often incorporating ethnic music from an episode's locale.

Hickey & Boggs movie poster.

While never a Top 20 TV series, I Spy enjoyed a solid three-year run. Four years after its cancellation, Cosby and Culp reteamed as a pair of private eyes for the theatrical film Hickey & Boggs (1972), which was directed by Culp. They also reunited again for the 1994  made-for-television movie I Spy Again. It was intended as a pilot for a television series which would feature the grown children of Kelly and Scotty as spies.

The new I Spy boxed set from Timeless Media includes all three seasons on 18 discs. The picture and sound quality are excellent. Although the discs feature no extras, there is an attractive booklet containing a brief history of the series, synopses of each episode, and interesting trivia.


The Cafe received a review copy of the I Spy boxed set from Timeless Media.

The Friday Night Late Movie: Robert Culp and Eli Wallach Face a Cold Night's Death

When a scientist is found dead at a remote Arctic research station, Frank Enari (Eli Wallach) and Robert Jones (Robert Culp) are sent to complete the high-altitude experiments on chimpanzees and monkeys. Strange events hamper the two from the beginning: an audio tape is mysteriously erased, the generator is turned off while they’re sleeping, their food supply is almost destroyed, and Jones is locked outside in the subzero temperature. Each man begins to suspect the other as the tension builds to an unexpected climax.

Essentially a two-character play, A Cold Night’s Death benefits from compelling performances from Culp and Wallach. Credit must also be given to Christopher Knopf’s clever script which portrays Jones and Enari as something of an odd couple. They almost act married at times: Enari divides up the chores and ends up cooking and cleaning while Jones performs the more “manly” task of shoveling snow to make water. The two scientists bicker almost constantly. When Enari thinks Jones is acting irrationally, he moves his bed to another room—the symbolic equivalent of making Jones sleep on the couch.

The confined sets, the dark hallways, and director Jerrold Freedman’s sometimes extreme camera angles create an atmosphere of uneasiness. Things don’t even look right at the Tower Mountain Research Station.

A Cold Night’s Death (aka The Chill Factor) was broadcast in the early 1970s during what I consider to be the “Golden Age” of made-for-television movies. It was shown on the ABC Movie of the Week, which consisted of 73-minute films of all genres. Although the casts were typically TV performers and the budgets were understandably modest, there were several memorable movies. To mention just a few: Bing Crosby starred in the disturbing Dr. Cook’s Garden; Jan-Michael Vincent was surprisingly good as a hippy Marine in Tribes; and a then-unknown director named Steven Spielberg made the offbeat chase thriller Duel.

The Friday Night Late Movie: Robert Culp as a Modern-Day Sherlock Holmes in "Spectre"

Gene Roddenberry produced and co-wrote this 1977 made-for-TV supernatural thriller that borrows liberally from Dark Intruder (1965) and The Devil Rides Out (1968). Robert Culp plays William Sebastian, a criminologist with a unique medical condition—part of his heart is missing as a result of an occult encounter. Sebastian summons old friend (and alcoholic) Dr. "Ham" Hamilton (Gig Young) to accompany him to an English country estate on a case of possible demonic possession.

Before they even reach their destination, they encounter a beautiful woman who turns out to be an evil succucbus (fortunately, Sebastian knows how to destroy her with a holy book). But things really get strange when they arrive at the estate of Sir Geoffrey Coyn (James Villiers) and his sister Anitra (Ann Bell). Our intrepid heroes have to deal with a mysterious murder, a human-like beast with a hairy hand, exploding dinner glasses, and a creepy ceremony in a cave. Is Sir Geoffrey really possessed as his sister claims? Or is there a more fiendish plot afoot?

 
As made-for-TV movies go, this is a stylish affair that takes advantage of its atmospheric British locations (it's almost as if Hammer Films had made a movie for the small screen). Culp and Young are good as a modern-day Holmes and Watson…though with issues. In some of Culp's films, his intensity bordered on being overpowering, but he's very much in control here. Young doesn't have a lot to do, but the supporting cast of veteran British actors--including John Hurt and Gordon Jackson (from Upstairs, Downstairs)--is in fine form. Roddenberry's wife Majel Barrett (Nurse Chapel on the original Star Trek) has fun as Sebastian's witchy housekeeper.
 
Spectre was a pilot for a TV series that, sadly, never materialized. It's too bad that Sebastian's "hip" clothes and groovy pad date the movie, but that's really just a minor distraction in an otherwise engaging supernatural picture. It was released theatrically in Britain with some additional footage.
 
Young, who was a real-life alcoholic, died shortly after filming Spectre.

(If you're a Robert Culp fan, click here to read a review of his best Outer Limits episode.)

31 Days of Halloween: "Demon With a Glass Hand" on The Outer Limits

Trent is a man “born ten days ago” who has no previous memory and is being pursued throughout a huge deserted office building by alien beings that want to kill him. His actions are guided solely by his hand, which is made of glass with a tiny computer inside. The hand has two digits—the thumb and pinky—and talks to Trent. It tells Trent how to destroy the aliens, but says it can’t answer additional questions until Trent restores the three middle fingers…which are in the possession of the aliens.

This fascinating episode, penned by science fiction writer Harlan Ellison, was the highlight of season 2 of The Outer Limits (with “The Inheritors” coming in a close second). The story unfolds like a riddle, with Trent’s hand providing clues along the way. Robert Culp is perfect as the puzzled Trent, who plays a puppet to his own hand, acting and reacting without ever knowing the complete goal.

The episode benefits considerably from its setting and photography. The Bradbury Building in Los Angeles (where parts of Blade Runner were also filmed) provides a vast interior, where shadows lurk down every corridor and one never knows what lies behind an office door. The expressionistic photography (always an Outer Limits trademark) enhances the setting with unusual angles and deeply textured lighting.

The only flaw is an unexpected relationship that sets the stage for an effective ending, but otherwise comes across as forced and unlikely. Still, that’s a minor complaint against an otherwise original, well-crafted tale.

You may note some similarities between this story and a famous film series. I won’t divulge the famous film here (because it gives away a plot twist), but Ellison did sue the film’s producers and settled out of court.