The Man From UNCLE - on its way apparently!

News to me. I'd have to look into it more.

I know that TV Zone is available in the USA, but is primarily a U.K. mag, right? So I wonder if this is an R2 release or an R1 release? Perhaps worldwide, since its such a big property.

We'll see what we can find out. Thanks, John.

Wait, I forgot! It's already out on DVD in the U.K.! Hmmm...

Wow, U.N.C.L.E. on DVD in any form here in the U.S. is like a dream come true!

Robert Vaughn is certainly an excellent source of information on DVD releases of his most famous TV series, although it would be curious as to why they wouldn't put out the first season first. The original B & W pilot "The Vulcan Affair" with Patricia Crowley and William Marshall was actually shot in color for feature film release. So was "The Double Affair" (which became the movie "The Spy with my Face"). That film was also contained an extended version of the tame bedroom scene with Napoleon Solo and Luciana Paluzzi from another B & W episode "The Four Steps Affair".

In the early 1990s there were some 23 volumes (46 episodes) of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. released on VHS, and in no particular order.

I would drop everything for season sets of this show. I would seriously hope that they release season 1 since there were some fabulous episodes in that season including 'The Project Strigas Affair' featuring a pre-Star Trek William Shatner & Leonard Nimoy.

Miss Randi

I've been wondering why this series wasn't out. I would definitely buy it. I hope they don't skip the first season but it would hardly be a first. Initially, the first 71 episodes of The Saint were skipped and The Avengers releases have been out of order.

So from looking at the set thats already out in the UK,it is just a set of 5 TV movies that came after the series?

Now that I've read Robert Vaughn's quote:

He's only guessing with "probably".

I think Vaughn was thinking back to the early 1980s when the now defunct CBN Cable used to rerun The Man from U.N.C.L.E. , but they went through the color episodes from the other 3 years until they finally had the black & whites. Other shows with one B & W season that were given that kind of disrespect for many years include I Dream of Jeannie, The Wild Wild West, and one that was colorized: Gilligan's Island.

The first 2 seasons of Bewitched not in color were kept out of syndication for many years until TV Land brought it back.

Keep in mind that computerized colorization was still the rage 20 years ago. One of the better B & W shows that was colorized at the time included a few episodes of Steve McQueen's "Wanted: Dead or Alive", but when that fad thankfully ended the downside was that most of those 94 episodes never saw the light of VHS tape in any form.

10-4 Jeff#

I keep forgetting about some of these series that I have to add to my list

This is great news! I'd love to have all four seasons.

The "movies" in the UK box set are compiled from episodes of the TV series. The only movie that was shot after the series ended was the 1983 TV movie RETURN OF THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E.: THE FIFTEEN YEARS LATER AFFAIR.

I hope they release the movie versions as well as they contain some alternate footage and as was pointed out earlier, in some cases a lot of it.

That's true a box set of five movies was released here.



Although true the movies are compiled episodes. They are NOT just editted together versions. In total they made eight such movies and these were all full colour (not colourised) even though the episodes they came from were in some cases B&W. They were made contemperously with the show being shot and include scenes not included in the episodes.

I do hope that all seasons of the show are released in the near future though (and I wouldn't mind seeing Girl from UNCLE as well).

It'd be a shame if they skipped the first season of the Man from U.N.C.L.E., arguably it's best just because of a perceived possible bias from B&W bigots. It hasn't stopped them from putting out Casablanca on DVD and I'd have to believe that consumers would rather see the best the series had to offer rather than just what was shot in colour.

While we're on the subject of the Man From UNCLE, the latest episode of Little Steven'sx Underground Garage was devoted to the show (as a theme). The episode, which was broadcast yesterday, is titled "Say UNCLE" and you can hear it here:

http://www.littlestevensundergroundg...y/archive.html

Steven's shows are always well-researched, well-written and often funny as hell. If you haven't heard it, I recommend it.

Yeah, I hope that's incorrect about bypassing the 1st-season. That's undoubtedly the best season. Surely dvd connoisseurs aren't the type to be b&w-phobic, are they? Seems like we're beyond that nowadays. The people who switch channels upon the horror of seeing b&w are hardly the type who'd be buying ANY 'vintage' dvd-sets, I would think. In other words, the gap between people who'd opt for or even blind-buy a season-1 versus a season-2 (in color), would seem awfully negligible. The fickle folk would have no interest in either, would they? At least, that's how it would appear to me. But what do I know?

Whatever the case, it would be a disservice to have the rather crummy 3rd-season out before the 1st.

The Man From UNCLE currently airs on Goodlife Network. While I am not a regular watcher, I can confirm that they do show the B&W episodes so its not like they've vanished off the face of the earth.

Steve

I think we're missing the point here. It's not an issue of black & white vs. color. Sure, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. looked better in color as would any show that started in
B & W, but this is a matter of quality. The first season had a more intense feel to it, and the humor was more subdued than it would increasingly become in the second season ("The Very Important Zombie Affair" with Claude Akins) and most notably the outlandish third season (which such episodes as "The Take Me to Your Leader Affair" guest starring Nancy Sinatra and "The Abominable Snowman Affair".)

The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. was in the words of Tim Brooks & Earle Marsh a "pinnacle of silliness", but it too had its charm as it played during Man's third season. Yet seeing April Dancer try to escape from a harem or a giant toaster were beyond belief! Oddly enough, "The Little John Doe Affair" was completely believeable for Girl from U.N.C.L.E. , showcasing Wally Cox and Pernell Roberts.

Then when Girl was cancelled, The original series was retooled for what would become the final season. The 4th year of U.N.C.L.E. was the greatest in the series, because it comes off as both modern (for its time) and more mature and as close in tone to the grittiness of the first season. Maybe even more so, because an old friend of mine who used to post on this forum correctly opined that the fourth season was "too serious" but it WORKED. Along with much enjoyable new incidental music during the last year, some wonderful first season music was brought back -- particularly in the 2-parter "The Prince of Darkness Affair" with Bradford Dillman and in "The Deadly Quest Affair" when Darren McGavin kidnaps and poisons Ilya Kuryakin.

It was also in the fourth year when U.N.C.L.E. New York City headquarters were redesigned, and Mr. Waverly finally got a regular secretary named Lisa Rogers! The exciting 2-parter "The Seven Wonders of the World Affair" were the last two episodes of the series. Leslie Nielsen played an Army general, who late in the story is accidentally exposed to his own gas that was going to be used to take over the world! Some location shooting was done at San Francisco International not long before the airport opened to the public, and also in a junkyard of all places. Although the story was filmed at a time when nobody knew the show was cancelled, Mr. Waverly's comments to Solo and Kuryakin in the aftermath of the death and destruction that occurred was a cool, yet downbeat way to end the series.

The Man from U.N.C.L.E. was cut short after 16 episodes that year, only to be replaced on the NBC schedule in January 1968 by an even bigger hit: Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In.

I haven't seen all the episodes, but from what I understand, season 1 is considered the best among fans of the show, despite being B&W. In fact, the Little Steven radio show I referenced above goes into detail about an episode called "The Bow-Wow Affair," which is from the first season. Steven talks about how cool Illya Kuryakin was on the show, and how exciting it was to see Susan Oliver in a fight scene. I'd support the show on DVD, and would like to see season 1 first.

great news but I also want season in B&W

I want all of the seasons too, and I can't imagine the first year not being released in spite of Mr. Vaughn's belief.

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.

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.

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.

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.

"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.

-- 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.

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.

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.

-- 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!