The Man From UNCLE - on its way apparently! (1 Viewer)

[Mark To]

I'm what you call color phobic. I think TV went downhill when it went to color. Firstly, any series that was split between color and black and white, the black and white episodes were superior:
Man from UNCLE, Lost in Space, The Fugitive, Combat, Petticoat Junction, My Three Sons, Beverly Hillbillies, Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea.
Then there are all of the great dramas that were exclusively in black and white:
The Defenders, Naked City, Route 66, The Nurses, The Lieutenant, New Breed, East Side West Side, Slattery's People, Ben Casey, Cain's Hundred, Mr. Novak, Eleventh Hour, Breaking Point, Outer Limits, For the People, Dr. Kildare.
But speaking of UNCLE, I transferred mine a couple of years back before the DVD explosion hit, figuring there was no way this would ever be released. I'm still sceptical, but not as much so. I know its commonly thought of by fans that first season was the best but I'm partial to second as that was when I first started to watch the show and it was also when McCallum became a full-fledged partner.

 

[Jeff#]

Actually Kuryakin became a "full-fledged partner" of Solo's rather early on in the first season, because viewer fan mail demanded more of him -- particularly female viewers smitten with David McCallum. Vaughn and McCallum made a great team, and they worked well together.

Dr. Kildare was in color by the last season (1965 to 66). Although I've never seen the show, I know that because I once had some old TV GUIDE issues from that period, and at that time all shows in color were designated with the word COLOR in a rectangle next to the name of the show in the listings. It was also during that time when the series was seen two nights a week as a 1/2 hour program instead of one night as a one hour show as it had previously. That's why there were 58 episodes in the 5th season. Judging by the TV Tome website, one other thing that's notable about the final year is that it looks like this was one of the earliest series to have multi-part story arcs.

From what I read on NBC everything on their prime-time schedule in the 1965-1966 season was shot in color except for the first season of I Dream of Jeannie and a failed WWII action drame called Convoy.

Norman Felton from the U.N.C.L.E. series was Executive Producer of Dr. Kildare as well!

Other than that, a black & white series switching to color film was always a good move both professionally (in terms of ad revenue) and artistically. It certainly benefitted The Fugitive to an extent, as did increasing the appearances by Bill Raisch as Fred Johnson -- the one-armed man.

Two WWII series seen in B & W for a few years were in color for their final seasons: Combat! and Quinn Martin's 12 O'Clock High. They were both much more realistic in color, although ratings aside it was tougher for the producers to find much color film from WWII. It exists (thanks to such notable filmmakers as George Stevens and John Ford), but stock footage doesn't work as well in B & W or color. Re-enacting aerial battles is the best way to go, but in 1960s television there just wasn't a weekly budget for that sort of thing.

 

[Jeff#]

As for the Irwin Allen series you mentioned, Mark, I think Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea and Lost In Space both visually looked a LOT better in color, but they were also a lot sillier and the plots became more cartoonish by their second seasons. Keep in mind that Voyage's second year was Lost in Space's first, so that's an indication that the writers wanted to establish both series in a more "serious" manner first before going crazy and losing much credibility. Remember that Voyage episode in which Vincent Price transforms Admiral Nelson and his crew into puppets? Sometimes that show could be almost as laughable as Lost in Space.

 

[FrancisP]

The problem with the Man From UNCLE was not absurd ideas or camp. It was simply bad writing. It's pretty much the same for any bad episode of a series. I've seen plenty of absurd ideas that have worked because they are well written. The Suburbia Affair was a good example. It was campy but it worked because it was well written.

The Voyage episode with the puppets is my favorite. If I could only have one episode, that would be it.

 

[Jeff#]

"The Surburbia Affair" is one of the better episodes of The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'s third season, even though it was played for laughs. Every year of the show had its high points. Don't forget that was also the season that brought us many of its lowest where the humor didn't work at all, including "The Hot Number Affair" with Sonny & Cher as garment workers Jerry and Ramona....who listen to Sonny & Cher on the radio!

The 2 parter "The Concrete Overcoat Affair"'s knife / catfight between Janet Leigh and Letecia Roman on a table was the only good thing about it. Somehow Eduardo Cianelli and his elderly mob goons shooting up a wedding was a poor fit plotwise. The other 2 parter from the same year "The Five Daughters Affair" was one of the more ambitious efforts of the 3rd season, and with more famous faces than other shows from that period.

The writing in the 4th season was consistently on target, which is why it's the series at its finest. Even if it was the most serious, there were still cute moments now and then. The ones I recall are from the 2-parters.

In "The Prince of Darkness Affair", Carol Lynley played the classic U.N.C.L.E. series unsuspecting young woman who gets sucked into the world of espionage. Her character provides comedy relief in an otherwise straightforward story. And she looks great doing it (an over 40 Lola Albright wasn't bad either in that red sequin minidress and boots)!

"The Seven Wonders of the World Affair" had at least two funny moments. One are the drunken sailors who become trigger happy with their ship's machine guns! The other had Solo & Kuryakin chasing someone in a junkyard who gets away. An Asian man operating a crane picks up the car our heroes are still in. He says "Taxi, gentlemen, taxi?" as he drops the car to the ground as the act ends and the screen fades to the usual blur before the commercial! Of course the guys jump out of the car first.

 

[Jeff_HR]

I certainly hope any "B&W" bias does not preclude a 1st season.

 

[Dan McW]

-- In many cases, shows that went to color went downhill because the creativity of the writers was beginning to dry up. This could explain any drop-off in those b/w-to-color shows cited by Mark above, although The Man From U.N.C.L.E. seemed to go into a freefall as soon as it went to color. The Wild Wild West, to me, though, had a number of outstanding episodes throughout its three color seasons--but one could argue that the b/w season was the best.

-- Re Jeff's remark about The Fugitive getting "artistically" better with color: Surely most fans of the show, as with U.N.C.L.E. fans, prefer the b/w eps. With U.N.C.L.E. there's a script-quality issue with the color eps, but with The Fugitive the b/w eps have more of a documentary feel to them and a heightened sense of mystery and fear revolving around the central character. Color killed that. More Bill Raisch was great for the series no matter what kind of film was in the camera.

Combat! was infinitely better in b/w because of stronger guest-stars, Robert Altman-directed eps early on, and fresher writing creativity. And, with so many b/w theatrical films about WWII and all that b/w WWII newsreel footage, it would seem b/w Combat! eps would be more "realistic." Plus, b/w better disguised those Southern California shooting sites!

-- Had some shows lasted a little longer and gone to color, it might not have made much difference. Take Perry Mason and The Dick Van Dyke Show. They would have been in color had they made it to fall 1966, although TDVDS likely would have had more mileage left in it script-wise than Perry Mason. But, I can't imagine The Untouchables in color, had it lasted another 3-4 years. It seems to belong forever in a b/w, noirish, '30's-gangster-movie world.

 

[Jeff#]

I never regarded The Fugitive as being "documentary-like" in black & white. It was a TV drama / action series with the high concept of a man on the run for a murder he didn't commit. Granted the action was increased by the final season, but strong scripts and quality acting by guest stars and David Janssen were elements that continued throughout the entire series.

As for the original Perry Mason, there was on episode in color during the 1965-66 season "The Case of the Twice-Told Twist" but I never cared for that series or Raymond Burr.

 

[LaurenceGarvey]

The first colour season of THE AVENGERS was better than the B&W seasons. An exception that proves the rule?

In general, I agree with that rule, though. THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN was another show better in B&W.

 

[Dan McW]

-- I probably could have described my thoughts about (cue the announcer) "The Fugitive—In Color" better. I may just be a lot like Mark, who prefers b/w if given a choice.

That's true about the Fuge's scripts and acting, Jeff--there's hardly a "bad" show in the whole series. As a big fan of the show, I don't know if I've ever seen a stinker of an episode. When I said "in many cases" that b/w shows go downhill with a switch to color, I wasn't thinking of The Fugitive.

-- I knew there was the one color Perry Mason (which I special-ordered from Columbia House) that was shot as an experiment, I think, in anticipation of an all-color 10th season.

I don't know when Perry (the series) jumped the shark, but it must have by the time they aired that final-season episode where Burr plays a dual role as Perry and as a sailor with a strong British (more specifically a Cockney?) accent. Jeff, if you haven't seen that one, it'll really seal your opinion about Burr!

 

[Jeff#]

I think I'll pass on that dual-role Burr story, Dan!

But I don't believe CBS' "experiement" of making that sole Perry Mason in color, simply because that episode was shot in 1965. Experimental color broadcasts were done by CBS and NBC coast to coast in 1953 and 1954, when shows normally in black & white were televised in color -- including The Jackie Gleason Show and The Red Skelton Show. I used to have some old TV GUIDE issues from that period.

The first season of GUNSMOKE in color was the same year The Avengers and countless other series went color (1966 to 1967), and it was one of the most powerful seasons in GUNSMOKE's long history in terms of plots and guest stars!

But in the case of The Avengers, I regard the premiere season with Diana Rigg (also the first shot on film, which is actually the fifth season) as equally entertaining as her second year.

 

[Steve...O]

Never The final season does have its share of bizarre episodes, but it also has some very good ones also. In short, the series was canceled early on in that season, and the writers knew it. Having nothing to lose, they stretched their imaginations quite a bit. Having said that, I'm glad the show never made it to a 10th color season. Aside from the fact it looked beautiful in B&W, a show that runs that long runs the risk of having to recycle plots and storylines to keep things moving. Besides both Burr and Hopper had gained so much weight the show would have had to go widescreen to show them in the same scene.

Steve

 

[Jeff#]

Ha ha ha! Well, it didn't seem to matter with Ironside and Burr did that show for eight years. Then he turned up as a panelist on Match Game.

Too bad TV series shot in a widescreen aspect ratio didn't become a reality until the mid 1990s, beginning with the short-lived C-16 on ABC.

 

[Sam Favate]

I disagree. Although the 1967 season of the Avengers was still good, the show got noticably campier with the introduction of color. The prior B&W seasons were a touch grimmer and more realistic -- not Danger Man realistic, but more than, say, the Invisible Man episode from 1967 (which I think exemplified the show's camp). Not putting down the B&W or color Avengers -- I like 'em both. But if forced to choose, I'd have to say the writing was better in B&W.

 

[Jeff#]

As much as I liked the Mrs. Gale episodes (and Honor Blackman is one of my favorite actresses from that era), the only problem I have is that it seems the original B & W videotapes of her shows weren't preserved. What I first saw on A & E in the early 1990s were filmed kinescopes. The images are on the grainy side and the audio is even worse. Were the DVD releases of that period of The Avengers the same? A & E put those out on video. As far as the Ian Hendry shows go, I've only see one here in the U.S. and they too were originally taped.

There was plenty of camp in the one season the series was filmed in black & white, including the man-eating plants episode. But it really has nothing to do with switching to color as I see it. Just that the writers run out of original ideas and like to up the fantasy and sci-fi elements. But again that happened with Rigg's first season (1965-66).

The Wild Wild West got wilder as the series progressed. There was a show that all kinds of behind-the-scenes problems (a number of producers) in its first season. By the second year, things got under control even before creator / Producer Michael Garrison's untimely death in his own home and Bruce Lansbury took over a permanent producer.

 

[Jeff#]

I forgot to mention with The Avengers that being shot on tape in the early years as it was, that it was technically limited in what they could convincingly do.

Like any show at that time done on videotape it had to be shot like a stage play for TV, with a technical director instead of a DOP. The pre-Diana Rigg episodes are "talky" and the primary shortcoming is that they rarely went outdoors. When they needed to, I'm not sure but it looks like they used Film for those shots and then transferred the film pieces to tape for the final product.

"Police Surgeon" with Ian Hendry & Patrick Macnee was intended as a serious drama, but when it became The Avengers after only 6 episodes, it got increasingly (but gradually) lighter in tone. That's even more apparent when Honor Blackman replaces Ian Hendry. The first true male / female espionage duo has to have humor between the leads...even if it was intended to remain platonic. But by the time Honor left in 1964, and after a 1 year break in production plus the move to film AND the increasingly popularity of fantasy shows (Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie, etc) explains the shift. NOT because of switching to color film at that time. That was coincidental.

By the way, the 3rd and final season of My Favorite Martian was shot in color, and it's really no different than the black & white episodes. But shows like WWW, Bewitched, Jeannie, and countless others actually improved as the seasons passed.

 

[Dan McW]

-- Jeff, I've got "The Case of the Dead Ringer" ready for you, just in case!

-- Why was the one episode shot in color? The show was struggling somewhat against a color powerhouse (Bonanza) in its final season, but why shoot just the one ep in color? I thought the book which I cite below mentioned the "experiment" factor, but I may have read that somewhere else.

-- It's a little-known fact, but the 10th season of Perry Mason would have premiered with a special episode shot in Ultra Panavision starring Burr, Orson Welles and Victor Buono and titled "The Case of the Two-Ton Trio."

-- I don't think Perry Mason really jumped the shark, either, even in the final season. I got a kick out of "TCOT Dead Ringer," actually, and the outrageous final episode, "TCOT Final Fade-Out," is surely among the best swan songs in TV history. "The Perry Mason TV Show Book," quoted at www.perrymasontvseries.com, mentions how the cast and crew learned of the show's cancellation in November 1965 and how the writers "delivered several bizarre plotlines" afterward.

 

[Jeff#]

Since we're going in so many directions and away from the original intent of this topic (The Man from U.N.C.L.E.) I'd like to add one more thing of interest: A trivia question: What was the first prime-time TV series with regular characters to feature a story arc? Hint: It wasn't a soap opera!

 

[Mark To]

Well, both Dr. Kildare and Ben Casey in their last seasons features story arcs. That would have been 1965-66. I can't really think of anything before that except Peyton Place which started in 1964 and was a soap opera.

 

[Jeff#]

OK, I'll tell ya.....Never mind the doctor shows. Think westerns: The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp was the earliest that I know of, and that was 5-part series finale in 1961. It was the story of The Gunfight at O.K. Corral retold yet again! How many shows from that era even had finales? This one had a five-parter to boot, some 22 years before M*A*S*H did the same thing!