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

[John H Ross]

There's an interview with Robert Vaughan in the current issue of TV Zone magazine in which he discusses his role in the BBC series "Hustle".

During the interview he indicates that UNCLE season sets are definitely on the way, but he suspects they may skip the first (black and white) season and go straight to the colour ones.

I guess it's possible they may tie their release dates in with the forthcoming feature film (which, I'm sure, will be crap).

Personally I hope the start from the beginning.

Does anybody have more details?

John

 

[David Lambert]

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.

 

[David Lambert]

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

 

[Jeff#]

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.

 

[Randi]

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

 

[Dave Farley]

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.

 

[John H Ross]

I thought I'd print the relevant bit of the article here:

Startquote:

Likewise, UNCLE remains poorly represented on the DVD shelves; there's a box set of five stories available in the UK, but remarkably no season collections have yet been compiled.

"They're definitely coming out" (Vaughn) promises. "The first year was all in black and white, so they probably won't show those. The other remaining three years will be coming out"

End quote.

Hope that helps

John

 

[Gordon St Pierre]

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?

 

[Jeff#]

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.

 

[Jeff Willis]

10-4 Jeff#

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

 

[Steve Phillips]

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.

 

[DavidofLondon]

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).

 

[Henry V]

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.

 

[Sam Favate]

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.

 

[Bert Greene]

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.

 

[Steve...O]

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

 

[Jeff#]

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.

 

[Sam Favate]

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.

 

[oscar_merkx]

great news but I also want season in B&W

 

[Jeff#]

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.