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The Man From UNCLE - season one (1 Viewer)

Pathfiner

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The almost 'forgotten' first season produced by Sam Rolfe ('Developer' of UNCLE) - the 1964-65 first season was available in the expensive complete 'Man From UNCLE' set (in the security case) but at last in August the rarely screened black & white original version of the show is getting an individual season release


forget those episodes full of absurd 'exploding apples', 'hiccup gas', Illya riding down a giant stink bomb, Solo dancing with a guy dressed up as a gorilla, illya fighting a guy dressed up as a yeti, giant (unseen) tidal wave making machines, everyday detergent foam posing as a matter disintergrator ...or Sonny & Cher acting terribly and absurdly silly 'ham acting' by guests capable of far stronger dramatic acting...


- THIS is the original version of the show that made it world famous & ensured that in 1966 UNCLE outgrossed James Bond in the UK at the box office


The UNCLE feature films; 'To Trap A Spy' & 'The Spy With My Face' (the only color versions of Sam Rolfe's era) were expanded versions of the pilot 'The Vulcan Affair' & 'The Double Affair' (both here in b/w - 'Vulcan Affair features Leo G. Carroll as Mr. Waverley in place of Will Kuluva's Mr.Allison - 'Double Affair' is a far more concise version, they added about 30 minutes extra footage including Donald Harron's aussie UNCLE agent for the film version)


Robert Vaughn shines as the more likeable and more professional agent Napoleon Solo here, yes he's a ladies man but here that is kept back somewhat, he's always the secret agent first and foremost...Solo effortlessly carries the lead here, more and more assisted by his charismatic trendier blonde Russian friend as the show goes on but he's very much "THE"... Man From UNCLE here...


David McCallum's illya is not in a handful of episodes (McCallum had only signed for an initial six episodes...then was hastily re-signed for the full season), while illya cameos in a few more segments ('Vulcan Affair', 'Neptune Affair' etc) in a few more the role of illya has been quickly built up (coming to Solo's rescue at the end etc) when producers spotted how popular he was, especially with younger viewers ...others feature Solo & illya as co-leads & 'The Bow Wow Affair', where illya is attacked by vicious Dobermans, mostly features illya


a good number of scripts are played very 'straight' ('Dove Affair', 'Green Opal Affair') while others feature touches of humour as opposed to the lighter humour of color season two and silly comedy of about half of season three episodes


'The Project Strigas Affair' (guests William Shatner & Leonard Nimoy just pre-Star Trek) and 'The Fiddlesticks Affair' clearly anticipate Bruce Geller's 'Mission: Impossible' which debuted over a year later in 1966


- 'Fiddlesticks Affair' has Solo & illya put together a small team to break into a THRUSH underground vault (beneath a casino on a carribbean island) containing 55 million dollars to destroy their cash ...while the girl team member (guest Marilyn Mason) using electronic dice 'wins' & 'loses' at the casino as required, then after losing pulls a gun and threatens to shoot herself - creating a diversion - they succeed their mission and leave the THRUSH chief & his men looking completely silly (in pure IMF style)

- this 'Mission: Impossible' style episode comes complete with it's incidental music by Lalo Schifrin !



while some other episodes (filmed in 1964) anticipate the style of the 1965 Steed/Emma Avengers shows - complete with a model aeroplane attacking UNCLE HQ in 'The Mad Mad Tea Party Affair' - an episode that takes place 90% within UNCLE HQ in New York


we see the THRUSH tracker rifles introduced and used here (with their 'negative' picture telescopic sights) plus the UNCLE guns (that transform into a mini rifle) the original cigarette case communicators (that need 'plugging in' to power points in the earliest filmed episodes) plus the UNCLE helicopter makes its debut and we see some of the other UNCLE HQ in London & Washington etc ...


some notable guest stars feature

- William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Robert Culp, Carroll O'Connor, Ricardo Montalban, George Sanders, Cesar Romero, Ann Francis, Eddie Albert, Jill Ireland, June Lockhart, John Van Dreelin, Werner Klemperer, Henry Jones, a young Kurt Russell, Lee Merriwether, Dan O'Herlihy, Elsa Lancaster, Barbara Feldon, Yvonne Craig, Martin Balsam, Glenn Corbett, Fritz Weaver, Ivan Dixon, Patricia Crowley, Linden Chiles, Brooke Bundy, Burt Brinckerhoff, Marta Kristen, Sharon Farrell, Jeremy Slate, Ken Murray, William Marshall, David Sheiner, Slim Pickens, Richard Anderson, Senta Berger, Murray Mathieson, Peter Haskell, Richard Haydn, Alfred Ryder, Richard Kiel, Madlyn Rhue, Ralph Taeger, Lloyd Bochner....


...with a few notable bit parts by James Doohan ('Scotty') & Batman's 'Aunt Harriet' Madge Blake (as a suitably evil THRUSH agent !)


..plus the Beautiful ill fated Sharon Tate is one of the lovelies in 'The Girls of Nazerone Affair'


each enhance this definitive if not in color first season handled expertly by Sam Rolfe & Norman Felton (who even cameo as Jill Ireland's party guests in 'The Giuoco Piano Affair')


Note the 'spoken intro' where Solo, illya, & Mr.Waverley introduce themselves is featured for the first six episodes...then the memorable 'Solo behind bullet proof glass' intro features with the original (& I think best) trumpet led strident arrangement of Jerry Goldsmith's superb theme tune - and the 'freezing picture' end credits (lampooned so affectionately later in 'Police Squad..in color')


For me even minus color this is THE season of 'The Man From UNCLE' where it began and in the right spirit (note final season producer Anthony Spinner both updated the by then failing show adding computer alley and attempted to return to Sam Rolfe's original premise re the more serious toned episodes, even adding a trumpet led 'beatier' version of the theme to try to recapture the feel of this first season to try to save the show after the terrible venture into silly camp comedy in many season three episodes had ruined it)


A DVD set worth grabbing if you love the premise of a action/adventure with a touch of humour spy show


while a number of the script ideas that seemed somewhat OTT back then - like modern day pirates kidnapping people, or pilots intentionally crashing planes etc...even using a poisoned umbrella to stab someone as George Sanders does to illya (exactly anticipating the infamous 'umbrella murder' in London of a Eastern European dissident in 1976) have all since come true...


Re-Open Channel D...
 

Matt Hough

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Thanks for this very informative rundown of the first season. I grew up during the era of UNCLE, but while it was my brother's favorite show (mine was The Fugitive back then), I never got much into it (I did see all the feature films/expanded TV episodes at the theater), so I'd like to give the first season a try.
 

Sam Favate

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I would hardly call the first season "forgotten." It seems to me that most Uncle fans consider it the best season.
 

AndrewCrossett

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This is one of those old "hip" shows, along with stuff like Peter Gunn and 77 Sunset Strip, that I always heard my parents talking about but never got to see because they didn't seem to be in syndication. I wonder why not? I never saw an episode of this show growing up in the 70's.
 

AndyMcKinney

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The only UNCLE I saw growing up was the 15 Years Later Affair on the original network airing, and around that same time, The Spy With My Face on one of the cable movie channels.


Although the show was in some US syndication, it was never anywhere that I could see it.
 

Bob Gu

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This may be hard to believe, but back in the late sixties and the early seventies, in the aftermath of the Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy murders, shows like THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E and THE WILD WILD WEST were deemed too violent, by parent groups and anti-TV violence groups and were more or less banned, from syndication, until cable in the '80s. Local TV stations did not want to deal with the pressure groups.

I wonder what those groups would make of todays TV crime/adventure shows with all the gore, torture, and dismemberment going on.
 

Pathfiner

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I said 'almost' forgotten - and it's true to a large extent in the eyes of the wider public even if many fans (I include myself in that) consider Sam Rolfe's produced first season to be the strongest.


how many, beyond the most devoted show fans, recall those b/w episodes off hand...? (or even knew there was a non color first season ?)


As the author Jon Heitland says in 'The Man From UNCLE' book - with a foreword by Robert Vaughn - while shows like 'Star Trek' (which in prime time original runs had fared far worse than UNCLE originally did in the American ratings) were constantly rerun through the 70's 'The Man From UNCLE' lay virtually dormant and untouched in the MGM vault - having somehow got 'tagged' as being too violent as wrongly grouped with more openly graphic violent shows like 'The Untouchables' (!)


only the color UNCLE films - and then chiefly those taken from seasons two, three, and four (thus a good bit lighter in tone) were rerun mostly later on film channels - and often two of the weakest; 'One of Our Spies is Missing' & 'The Karate Killers' - even now TCM only ever seem to regularly screen 'One of Our Spies...'


while later when the show was finally rerun often only the latter three color seasons were screened - in the UK the first b/w season was only ever screened by the BBC back in the sixties, while a very early seventies run on ITV (of just the fourth half season episodes) and later runs in the 90's on BBC only consisted of the color seasons (was that the same in the USA ?) as the lack of color in the first season told against it


- even a much later cable channel rerun here by 'Granada Plus' channel after 2000 only began in color from season two (even tho' they had purchased the entire series, their duty officer told me over the phone that the b/w first season was deemed to be 'unsuitable for TV broadcast' solely due to the lack of color !)


I'm not sure when the first b/w season of 'The Man From UNCLE' was last screened in the USA but here in Britain it was way back in the sixties !


it's a clear sign of how badly 'forgotten' Sam Rolfe and his key first season had later become (Rolfe was to UNCLE what Bruce Geller was to 'Mission: Impossible' & Gene Roddenberry was to 'Star Trek') in the eyes of the wider public that when they made 'The Return of...: The Fifteen Years Later Affair' in 1983 apparently the studio had to be reminded to put on the credit: 'The Man From UNCLE Developed by Sam Rolfe' (which the TV show had always later carried) as the studio had very nearly left it off...!


at least now we will be able to once more revisit the era when the show was more credibly produced...


tho' Warners initial promotion seems to include a few errors indicating they aren't familiar with the first season either (!)


- they imply the show 'features' William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy (yeah only as guests in just the one episode !) before even mentioning show stars Robert Vaughn & David McCallum...


...while the reference to them 'saving themselves' from attack by cheetahs appears to refer to an incident in 'The Green Opal Affair' where it's actually only Solo who is being attacked (illya only cameos in that story and does not go on the mission itself)
 

Neil Brock

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As a big UNCLE fan, I was always partial to the second season, as that is when I first started watching the show as a kid. I also like the theme song from this season the best. As for the first season, I never really saw it until syndication and being a big Illya fan, I don't love it as much as most UNCLE fans because he's not really much of a factor in many of the episodes. I do love the Bow Wow Affair as that's all Illya along with Susan Oliver, my favorite actress.


Speaking of how hard the show was to find, it only ran in NY in syndication until the very early 70s but meanwhile Girl From UNCLE was on throughout the decade. When I first started collecting in the early 80s, there were only a couple of stations in the country even running the show. It was very hard to get. I think the only national cable runs it had were CBN (cut to pieces of course) and TNT in the middle of the night.
 

Pathfiner

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To be fair illya has a co-lead role in quite a number of the first season episodes - 'The Quadripartite Affair' , and it's sequel 'The Giuoco Piano Affair', also 'The Shark Affair', 'The Project Strigas Affair', 'The King of Knaves Affair', 'The Terbuf Affair', 'The Fiddlesticks Affair', 'The MAD MAD Tea Party Affair', 'The Secret Sceptre Affair', 'The Four Steps Affair', 'The Never Never Affair', 'The Girls of Nazarone Affair', 'The Gazebo in The Maze Affair' (where illya is the victim of an umbrella jab from George Sanders that anticipated the actual 'Umbrella murder' in London in 1976) and 'The Odd Man Affair' while of course taking the lead in 'The Bow Wow Affair'


- that is 15 episodes out of the 29, considering David McCallum wasn't initially signed to do the show on any regular basis to start with and the original idea besides Napoleon Solo was for guest stars to partner him like Patricia Crowley in the pilot (often these would be female but a few guys too) besides a recurring UNCLE agent partner in illya (even a young 13 year old Kurt Russell does that job in 'The Finny Foot Affair')


Season two in color with the 'cool flute' led theme was overall pretty good too besides the odd weaker show like; 'The Foreign Legion Affair' & 'The Round Table Affair' (which pointed the way towards the silly camp comedy episodes that ruined about half of season three and ultimately killed the show...)


season three has it's o.k. episodes such as; 'The Candidate's Wife Affair', 'The Her Masters Voice Affair', 'The Do it Yourself Dreadful Affair' (written by Harlan Ellison as was 'The Pieces of Fate Affair'), 'The Suburbia Affair', 'The Deadly Smorgasbord Affair', 'The Galatea Affair', 'The Thor Affair', etc...


...but sadly 'My Friend the Gorilla Affair', 'Hula Doll Affair', 'Pop Art Affair', 'Yo Ho Ho And A Bottle of Rum Affair','Come With Me To The Cashbah Affair' & 'Matterhorn Affair' etc were grim viewing...
 

Pathfiner

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following on from above supervising producer David Victor became concerned the show had got 'too silly' in half the season three episodes and issued the team with a firm directive listing points he wanted the writers & directors to put right


A few points he felt - one was that Solo & illya bickered too much, Mr.Waverly was turning up in the field too often(which was getting too unlikely) and scripts had got too lightweight and comedic in style...


Victor's memo must have reached the production team during a two part story...


if you watch 'The Karate Killers' UNCLE movie ('The Five Daughters Affair' parts 1 & 2 combined) note the very abrupt change of style that suddenly occurs mid way through it - in 'part one' there are firemen running about like Keystone cops, future Bond foes Curt Jurgens, Telly Savalas & comedy star Terry-Thomas all 'hamming it up' and a general light hearted romp style abounds....


...but then after Solo, illya, & guest Kim Darby are left tied up to meet their fate... (going into 'part two') the whole thing notably changes style into a more traditional UNCLE action/adventure as they track down the formula and end up at THRUSH arctic base for a escape & shoot out with only guest star villain Herbert Lom (who played it straight throughout) featured in the second half of the story - no more comedic romp at all unlike earlier on ....the earlier guest stars are only seen in brief cameos at the wedding scene right at the conclusion...


fourth season producer Anthony Spinner had a directive to make the show more serious, he got in 'computer alley' (with ex-NASA computers) for UNCLE HQ dressed the UNCLE girls in yellow tops & blue skirts, added a new regular Lisa (Barbara Moore) as Mr. Waverly's attractive secretary and oversaw far more serious episodes ; 'The Summit Five Affair', 'The Test Tube Killer Affair', 'The Fiery Angel Affair', 'The Survival School Affair' etc...


...but by then sadly wider viewer interest had been lost in the preceeding season, & the show was axed about half way through...leaving the next episode due; 'The Frozen Time Affair' unfilmed
 

Dave Scarpa

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I have to get around to watching this I've had the security case set and Girl from Uncle for awhile and haven't watched them yet
 

Pathfiner

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please don't get me started on The Girl From UNCLE ! (LOL)


what a waste !!!!


I LOVE Stephanie Powers - and Beautiful, sexy, vivacious, swinging sixties young Stephanie, a very talented actress indeed, was incredibly HOT as April Dancer - wow !!!


she could (and SHOULD) have been 'The American Emma Peel' (of 'The Avengers') as April ....yet they wasted her shockingly in a spoof series that looked cheap, seemingly shot on the MGM backlot, and had the most inept absurd scripts imaginable


Not only did they waste lovely Steph - the writers seemed to want to humiliate her most episodes - April found herself in the daftest of situations, like taking the place (down on her knees) of a 'musical' bottle she'd taken...and being tapped on the head and having to make a noise like the bottle she'd removed...!


Far from being depicted in a positive light often April Dancer was reduced to a 'damsil in distress' requiring saving by her partner or some other guy...


Steph and Noel Harrison have spoken of being 'sent home' by the producers after getting a fit of the giggles at the silly scripts they were being handed, unable to take it seriously...


yet 'The Girl From UNCLE' (like 'The Bionic Woman' later) could and should have worked as a spinoff from a top parent show - UNCLE and THRUSH were in place, Mr. Waverly (Leo G.Carroll) came across from the parent show, even Robert Vaughn made a special guest appearance as Napoleon Solo in 'The Mother Muffin Affair' (which featured Boris Karloff dressed up as a woman....)


Noel Harrison might have been an unlikely UNCLE agent as Mark Slate but he & Stephanie had a good partnership which deserved stronger and more credible scripts and proper locations etc


it seems as if the whole thing was regarded as little more than a 'joke' by MGM from the word go, - maybe they didn't see any credible mileage in a serious spy show featuring a female lead character ? - and unsurprisingly the show was axed after just one season - that plus the third season dive into similar comedy by 'The Man From...' no doubt sealed the fate of both shows


but 'The Girl From UNCLE' WAS a perfectly viable idea and with the three regulars (& the odd crossover of each shows respective stars) could have been an excellent spinoff show and, as 'The Bionic Woman' later proved, might have gone beyond just the one season...


what a wasted oppertunity - hope I haven't put you off your DVD set (sorry !), judge for yourself of course ...but boy did they waste the gorgeous Ms. Powers !
 

bmasters9

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Pathfiner said:
but 'The Girl From UNCLE' WAS a perfectly viable idea and with the three regulars (& the odd crossover of each shows respective stars) could have been an excellent spinoff show and, as 'The Bionic Woman' later proved, might have gone beyond just the one season...


what a wasted oppertunity - hope I haven't put you off your DVD set (sorry !), judge for yourself of course ...but boy did they waste the gorgeous Ms. Powers !

Agreed! In fact, she did much better, IMO, as Jennifer Hart in Hart to Hart!
 

Alan Tully

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Dave Scarpa said:
I have to get around to watching this I've had the security case set and Girl from Uncle for awhile and haven't watched them yet

I think that's the story with most folks. I have a wall full of unwatched box sets (which I will get around to watching...one day), & I'll add U.N.C.L.E. season one soon.
 

Neil Brock

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Blame NBC for both the 3rd season Man From UNCLE and the abysmal Girl From UNCLE. Both were during the 1966-67 season when the network wanted the shows to be like Batman, which had taken the country by storm. At least Man has the advantage of 2 1/2 seasons of predominantly good shows. Girl was only on in the one season where the network insisted they go campy. April should have been like Emma Peel, using karate and kicking ass. Instead, she's no better than Lois Lane, always having to be rescued. If they were going to go that route, the show probably would have worked better if they kept Mary Ann Mobley as she was more that type while Powers was more hard edged. Unfortunately, since Girl only lasted one year, we didn't get any good seasons on that show, only the one bad one.
 

Pathfiner

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That's exactly what the problem was both for 'Man From...' (third season) and 'Girl From..' - the Batman craze (which quickly peaked...then fell off mega fast !)


in retrospect Bruce Geller's 'Mission: Impossible' (which a few 'Sam Rolfe' first season 'Man from UNCLE' episodes pre-empted) was often a FAR sillier show in premise...BUT was always played 100% 'straight' thus it worked...despite not even being in the world we know with strange named fictional countries like 'Logosia', 'Cheguale' etc...


Martin Landau & later Leonard Nimoy putting on latex faces and 'becoming' another actor (no matter how taller, shorter, fatter, older, younger, completely differing bone structured face etc) was quite absurd...yet it was played 'straight' thus worked !


while Man & Girl From UNCLE had Solo dancing with a guy dressed as a gorilla, illya riding a stink bomb down....April being tapped on the head and making a 'bottle-like' noise !! - no wonder 'Girl From...' was quickly axed & 'Man From...' didn't survive despite the return to a much better fourth season style...


Stephanie Powers was treated with respect later in 'Hart To Hart' - her character was a perfect fit for her and she was allowed to play a bit of comedy into the role but never made to look silly


they really seemed to want to humiliate April Dancer in 'Girl From...' either by doing silly things or having her helpless & in need of rescue


such a shame as the younger Stephanie looked so HOT and was so 'cool' as April Dancer....had they treated her character with the respect she deserved they might have had another hit show (while 'Man From...' ought to have retained it's credibility)


i do wonder if the studio execs actually WANTED to 'kill off' some of these shows that had a direct appeal to the younger viewers, as they could not have done a better job in ruining these shows had they set out to do so...
 

Tom St Jones

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Hey guys, I was wondering if the 11th disc with the extras, which was part of the original Time Life edition (I don't know about the first retail version), is included with this set? Thanks
 

bmasters9

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Tom St Jones said:
Hey guys, I was wondering if the 11th disc with the extras, which was part of the original Time Life edition (I don't know about the first retail version), is included with this set? Thanks
I have that first individual U.N.C.L.E. release, and thought I might say that the bonus disc from the full release is not included with this individual first one. All it is is 10 discs of episodes.
 

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