I Spy
Encyclopedia
I Spy is an American
television secret-agent
adventure series. It ran for three seasons on NBC
from 1965 to 1968 and teamed Robert Culp
as international tennis
player Kelly Robinson with Bill Cosby
as his trainer, Alexander Scott. The characters' travels as ostensible "tennis bums", Robinson playing talented tennis as an amateur with the wealthy in return for food and lodging, and Scott tagging along, provided a cover story
concealing their roles as top agents for the Pentagon
. Their real work usually kept them busy chasing villains, spies, and beautiful women.
The creative forces behind the show were writers David Friedkin and Morton Fine
and cinematographer Fouad Said. Together they formed Three F Productions under the aegis of Desilu Studios where the show was produced. Fine and Friedkin (who previously wrote scripts for radio's Broadway Is My Beat
and Crime Classics
under producer/director Elliott Lewis
) were co-producers and head writers, and wrote the scripts for 16 episodes, one of which Friedkin directed. Friedkin also dabbled in acting and appeared in two episodes in the first season.
Actor-producer Sheldon Leonard
, best known for playing gangster roles in the 1940s and '50s, was the executive producer (receiving top billing before the title in the series' opening title sequence). He also played a gangster-villain role in two episodes and appeared in a third show as himself in a humorous cameo. In addition, he directed one episode and served as occasional second-unit director throughout the series.
Another way in which I Spy was a trail-blazer was in its use of exotic international locations in an attempt to emulate the James Bond
film series. This was unique for a television show, especially since the series actually filmed its lead actors at locations ranging from Spain
to Japan
, rather than relying on photography
and stock footage
. (Compare with the recent series, Alias
, which also utilized worldwide settings but rarely filmed outside the Los Angeles
region.) Each season the producers would select four or five scenic locations around the world and create stories that took advantage of the local attractions. Episodes were filmed in Athens
, Rome
, Florence
, Madrid
, Venice
, Tokyo
, Hong Kong
, Acapulco
, San Francisco, Las Vegas
, and Morocco
.
The success of the show is attributed to the chemistry between Culp and Cosby. Fans tuned in more for their hip banter than for the espionage
stories, making I Spy a leader in the buddy
genre. The two actors quickly developed a close friendship that mirrored their on-screen characters. The show also coined unique phrases that, briefly, became catchphrases, such as "wonderfulness"; Wonderfulness was used as the title of one of Cosby's albums of stand-up comedy
released concurrently with the series. Cosby also occasionally slipped in bits of his comic routines during his improvised badinage with Culp. (In one episode Scott, being interrogated under the influence of drugs, says his name is Fat Albert.) Many details of Cosby's life were also written into his character. Scott does not drink or smoke—while Kelly Robinson does both. There are frequent references to Scott's childhood in Philadelphia and attending Temple University
(Cosby is sometimes seen wearing his own Temple sweatshirt), and in the "Cops and Robbers" episode, Scotty returns home to Philadelphia to re-visit his old neighborhood.
in 1964 and Thunderball
in 1965 (which confirmed the spy craze was more than a passing fad), the "gold rush" was on at every studio to produce its own brand of secret agent TV shows, films, and spin-off merchandise. What set I Spy apart from contemporary programs such as The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
, The Avengers
, and The Wild Wild West
was its emphasis on realism. There were no fanciful 007-style gadgets, outlandish villains or campy, tongue-in-cheek humor. Although Culp and Cosby frequently exchanged breezy, lighthearted dialog, the stories invariably focused on the gritty, ugly side of the espionage business. (Culp was a guest star on the fourth episode aired of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. in 1964, and reportedly had been considered for the lead role in that series.)
Occasionally the series produced purely comedic episodes such as "Chrysanthemum," inspired by The Pink Panther
, and "Mainly on the Plains" with Boris Karloff
as an eccentric scientist who thinks he's Don Quixote. However, most episodes dealt with more serious subjects (e.g., heroin addiction in "The Loser") and didn't shy away from ending on a somber note. This is perhaps the only television drama in the Sixties to set an episode in the then-taboo region of Vietnam ("The Tiger," written by Robert Culp). While filming this episode in 1966, a romance ensued between Culp and Vietnamese guest star France Nuyen
. The two were married the following year, and Nuyen went on to appear in several more episodes.
Another unique feature of the series was a running gag involving a locked-room scenario. Time and again the two spies would be captured and left in a locked room, cellar, or warehouse. After much humorous repartee they would improvise an ingenious escape using whatever materials were at hand. For example, in "A Cup of Kindness" they create an explosive out of chemical fertilizer and dry ice.
for a proposed series in which he'd play an American James Bond-like character. He took the script to his friend Carl Reiner
, who recommended he meet with Sheldon Leonard, who was in the midst of creating I Spy. This script was eventually rewritten by Culp and produced as the episode "The Tiger." In the DVD audio commentary for the "Home to Judgment" episode, Culp reveals that his seven episodes were the only ones filmed exactly as written. He wrote them to establish a specific dramatic tone and level of quality for the other writers to follow. Nevertheless, Culp and Cosby were dissatisfied with the often frivolous and formulaic scripts they received and rewrote most of their dialog and improvised a great deal during filming.
(1972), a downbeat and violent detective story written by Walter Hill. Culp was also the director, but the film did not show any of the warmth and camaraderie characteristic of I Spy.
Culp made a guest appearance on The Cosby Show
on April 9, 1987, in an episode titled "Bald and Beautiful" in which he plays an old friend of Dr. Huxtable's named "Scott Kelly," which was a play of words on both of their I Spy characters, Alexander Scott and Kelly Robinson.
In I Spy Returns (1994), a nostalgic
television movie
, Culp and Cosby reprised their roles as Robinson and Scott for the first time since 1968. The original opening title sequence is reused with no changes other than the addition of the word 'Returns' beneath 'I Spy' and a new arrangement of the theme music. Cosby was the executive producer. Here the aging agents have to leap into action once again to rescue their children, Bennett Robinson (George Newbern
) and Nicole Scott (Salli Richardson-Whitfield) who are now operatives for their fathers' agency. This was shown as a "CBS Movie Special" on February 3, 1994.
Culp again reprised the role of Kelly Robinson during a dream sequence in a 1999 episode of Bill Cosby's series, Cosby
, entitled "My Spy." Cosby's character falls asleep while watching I Spy on television and dreams he's caught up in an espionage adventure. With Cosby's name replaced with that of his character here, Hilton Lucas, the old title sequence was again faithfully recreated.
The duo also reunited once more for an appearance at a TV special marking the 75th anniversary of the NBC
television network in 2002. Cosby was actually on stage with his Cosby Show co-stars at the time in reference to that sitcom. However, he called on Culp (who was in the audience) to join him as well and both men received a round of applause and cheers when they donned their sunglasses and tossed off a few wisecracks in a nod to their secret agent characters.
A movie
remake I Spy followed in 2002 with Eddie Murphy
and Owen Wilson
. The film ignored its source material and made no effort to stay faithful to the original. This included reversing the character names so that Alexander Scott (Wilson) was now the white agent and Kelly Robinson (Murphy) the black athlete. The film was a commercial and critical flop. In his 2009 Movie Guide, film critic Leonard Maltin describes the film as an "In-name-only reincarnation of the smart 1960s TV show.... An object lesson in bad screenwriting, with an incoherent story, and characters that make no sense."
The original television series and the 1994 reunion movie are both available on DVD
. Episodes 1-25 of the first season of the television series are also available on Joost
and all 82 episodes are available on Hulu
and Videosurf, from the DMGI Classics channel.
A number of original novels based upon the series were published, most written in the mid-to-late 1960s by Walter Wager
under the pseudonym "John Tiger." The I Spy novels were published by Popular Library
:
The following tie-ins, not by Wager, were also published.
Gold Key Comics
also published six issues of an I Spy comic book between 1966 and 1968.
I Spy: A History And Episode Guide to the Groundbreaking Television Series, published by McFarland & Company, Jefferson, NC, in January 2007, examines I Spys contribution to American television and society by being the first series to star a black and a white actor together, and also being the first weekly production to film around the world, developing the technology to make this possible. This "biography of a television series" was written by Marc Cushman and Linda J. LaRosa, with a foreword by Robert Culp. I SPY: A History to the Groundbreaking Television Series
and The Dick Van Dyke Show
. Earle Hagen
, Leonard's regular composer, wrote the main theme and scored most of the episodes (collaborating on three with Carl Brandt; Hugo Friedhofer
, Nathan Van Cleave
, Robert Drasnin
and Shorty Rogers
also wrote music for the series). During the show's run, two albums of re-recorded music composed (except where indicated) and conducted by Hagen were released.
Music from the Television Series I Spy (Warner Bros. WS-1637):
I Spy (Capitol ST-2839):
In 2002 Film Score Monthly
released a limited-edition disc of original soundtrack music from the series.
, Ltd. (PRO), but original production company Three F Productions remains the copyright holder.
Selected episodes of the series were made available on VHS
in North America in the early 1990s.
Image Entertainment
released the complete series on DVD in Region 1 in 2002, initially in a series of single-disc volumes (each with four episodes), which were later compiled into three box sets. The episodes were not presented in any particular order. In addition, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
released the 1994 reunion made-for-TV film on DVD in Region 1 on October 8, 2002. This release has been discontinued and is now out of print.
In April 2008, Image/PRO reissued the series, this time organized in order of original broadcast, in three box sets, one for each season. This includes Robert Culp's bonus audio commentary on four episodes that he wrote (originally issued in 2002 on a single DVD called The Robert Culp Collection).
In Region 4, Umbrella Entertainment
has released all 3 seasons on DVD in Australia.
. The series also airs in the United States on broadcast television channel Retro Television Network
and formerly on American Life TV Network cable channel.
was also the title of a short-lived thriller series starring Raymond Massey
that aired in 1956.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
television secret-agent
Espionage
Espionage or spying involves an individual obtaining information that is considered secret or confidential without the permission of the holder of the information. Espionage is inherently clandestine, lest the legitimate holder of the information change plans or take other countermeasures once it...
adventure series. It ran for three seasons on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
from 1965 to 1968 and teamed Robert Culp
Robert Culp
Robert Martin Culp was an American actor, scriptwriter, voice actor and director, widely known for his work in television. Culp first earned an international reputation for his role as Kelly Robinson on I Spy , the espionage series in which he and co-star Bill Cosby played a pair of secret agents...
as international tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
player Kelly Robinson with Bill Cosby
Bill Cosby
William Henry "Bill" Cosby, Jr. is an American comedian, actor, author, television producer, educator, musician and activist. A veteran stand-up performer, he got his start at various clubs, then landed a starring role in the 1960s action show, I Spy. He later starred in his own series, the...
as his trainer, Alexander Scott. The characters' travels as ostensible "tennis bums", Robinson playing talented tennis as an amateur with the wealthy in return for food and lodging, and Scott tagging along, provided a cover story
Undercover
Being undercover is disguising one's own identity or using an assumed identity for the purposes of gaining the trust of an individual or organization to learn secret information or to gain the trust of targeted individuals in order to gain information or evidence...
concealing their roles as top agents for the Pentagon
The Pentagon
The Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, located in Arlington County, Virginia. As a symbol of the U.S. military, "the Pentagon" is often used metonymically to refer to the Department of Defense rather than the building itself.Designed by the American architect...
. Their real work usually kept them busy chasing villains, spies, and beautiful women.
The creative forces behind the show were writers David Friedkin and Morton Fine
Morton S. Fine
Morton Fine was an American screenwriter.A native of Baltimore, Maryland, Fine worked in an advertising agency, a bookstore, and an aircraft factory before joining the Army Air Force in 1942. A graduate of St...
and cinematographer Fouad Said. Together they formed Three F Productions under the aegis of Desilu Studios where the show was produced. Fine and Friedkin (who previously wrote scripts for radio's Broadway Is My Beat
Broadway Is My Beat
Broadway Is My Beat, a radio crime drama, ran on CBS from February 27, 1949 to August 1, 1954. With Anthony Ross portraying Times Square Detective Danny Clover, the show originated from New York during its first three months on the air. For the remainder of the series, the role of Detective Danny...
and Crime Classics
Crime Classics
Crime Classics was a U. S. radio docudrama which aired as a sustaining series over CBS from June 15, 1953, to June 30, 1954.Created, produced, and directed by radio actor/director Elliott Lewis, the program was a historical true crime series, examining crimes and murders from the past...
under producer/director Elliott Lewis
Elliott Lewis
Sir Neil Elliott Lewis, KCMG , Australian politician, was Premier of Tasmania on three occasions. He was also a member of the first Australian federal ministry, led by Edmund Barton....
) were co-producers and head writers, and wrote the scripts for 16 episodes, one of which Friedkin directed. Friedkin also dabbled in acting and appeared in two episodes in the first season.
Actor-producer Sheldon Leonard
Sheldon Leonard
Sheldon Leonard was a pioneering American film and television producer, director, writer, and actor.-Biography:...
, best known for playing gangster roles in the 1940s and '50s, was the executive producer (receiving top billing before the title in the series' opening title sequence). He also played a gangster-villain role in two episodes and appeared in a third show as himself in a humorous cameo. In addition, he directed one episode and served as occasional second-unit director throughout the series.
Characters and settings
I Spy broke new ground in that it was the first American television drama to feature a Black actor (Cosby) in a lead role. Originally an older actor was slated to play a fatherly mentor to Culp's "Kelly Robinson." But after seeing Cosby performing stand-up comedy on a talk-show, Sheldon Leonard decided to take a chance on hiring him to play opposite Culp. The concept was changed from a mentor-protégé relationship to same-age partners who were equals. It was also notable that Cosby's race was never an issue in any of the stories. Nor was his character in any way subservient to Culp's, with the exception that Culp's "Kelly Robinson" was a more experienced agent. (Culp revealed in his audio commentary on the DVD release that he and Cosby agreed early on that "Our statement is a non-statement" regarding race, and the subject was never discussed again.) As a strait-laced Rhodes scholar fluent in many languages, Cosby's "Scotty" was really the brains of the team. His partner (Culp) was the athlete and playboy who lived by his wits.Another way in which I Spy was a trail-blazer was in its use of exotic international locations in an attempt to emulate the James Bond
James Bond (film series)
The James Bond film series is a British series of motion pictures based on the fictional character of MI6 agent James Bond , who originally appeared in a series of books by Ian Fleming. Earlier films were based on Fleming's novels and short stories, followed later by films with original storylines...
film series. This was unique for a television show, especially since the series actually filmed its lead actors at locations ranging from Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
to Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, rather than relying on photography
Photography
Photography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
and stock footage
Stock footage
Stock footage, and similarly, archive footage, library pictures and file footage are film or video footage that may or may not be custom shot for use in a specific film or television program. Stock footage is of beneficial use to filmmakers as it is sometimes less expensive than shooting new...
. (Compare with the recent series, Alias
Alias (TV series)
Alias is an American action television series created by J. J. Abrams which was broadcast on ABC for five seasons, from September 30, 2001 to May 22, 2006...
, which also utilized worldwide settings but rarely filmed outside the Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
region.) Each season the producers would select four or five scenic locations around the world and create stories that took advantage of the local attractions. Episodes were filmed in Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
, Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
, Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
, Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
, Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
, Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
, Acapulco
Acapulco
Acapulco is a city, municipality and major sea port in the state of Guerrero on the Pacific coast of Mexico, southwest from Mexico City. Acapulco is located on a deep, semi-circular bay and has been a port since the early colonial period of Mexico’s history...
, San Francisco, Las Vegas
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
, and Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
.
The success of the show is attributed to the chemistry between Culp and Cosby. Fans tuned in more for their hip banter than for the espionage
Espionage
Espionage or spying involves an individual obtaining information that is considered secret or confidential without the permission of the holder of the information. Espionage is inherently clandestine, lest the legitimate holder of the information change plans or take other countermeasures once it...
stories, making I Spy a leader in the buddy
Buddy
Buddy may refer to:* A friend or a partner for a particular activity* Buddy , pet of former U.S. President Bill Clinton* Buddy memory allocation, a dynamic memory allocation system for computers...
genre. The two actors quickly developed a close friendship that mirrored their on-screen characters. The show also coined unique phrases that, briefly, became catchphrases, such as "wonderfulness"; Wonderfulness was used as the title of one of Cosby's albums of stand-up comedy
Stand-up comedy
Stand-up comedy is a comedic art form. Usually, a comedian performs in front of a live audience, speaking directly to them. Their performances are sometimes filmed for later release via DVD, the internet, and television...
released concurrently with the series. Cosby also occasionally slipped in bits of his comic routines during his improvised badinage with Culp. (In one episode Scott, being interrogated under the influence of drugs, says his name is Fat Albert.) Many details of Cosby's life were also written into his character. Scott does not drink or smoke—while Kelly Robinson does both. There are frequent references to Scott's childhood in Philadelphia and attending Temple University
Temple University
Temple University is a comprehensive public research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Originally founded in 1884 by Dr. Russell Conwell, Temple University is among the nation's largest providers of professional education and prepares the largest body of professional...
(Cosby is sometimes seen wearing his own Temple sweatshirt), and in the "Cops and Robbers" episode, Scotty returns home to Philadelphia to re-visit his old neighborhood.
Comedy and drama
I Spy was a main fixture in the wildly popular secret-agent genre of the 1960s—a trend that followed hot on the heels of the hugely successful James Bond films. After the blockbuster earnings of GoldfingerGoldfinger (film)
Goldfinger is the third spy film in the James Bond series and the third to star Sean Connery as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Released in 1964, it is based on the novel of the same name by Ian Fleming. The film also stars Honor Blackman as Bond girl Pussy Galore and Gert Fröbe as the title...
in 1964 and Thunderball
Thunderball (film)
Thunderball is the fourth spy film in the James Bond series starring Sean Connery as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. It is an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Ian Fleming, which in turn was based on an original screenplay by Jack Whittingham...
in 1965 (which confirmed the spy craze was more than a passing fad), the "gold rush" was on at every studio to produce its own brand of secret agent TV shows, films, and spin-off merchandise. What set I Spy apart from contemporary programs such as The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
The Man from U.N.C.L.E. is an American television series that was broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1964, to January 15, 1968. It follows the exploits of two secret agents, played by Robert Vaughn and David McCallum, who work for a fictitious secret international espionage and law-enforcement...
, The Avengers
The Avengers (TV series)
The Avengers is a spy-fi British television series set in the 1960s Britain. The Avengers initially focused on Dr. David Keel and his assistant John Steed . Hendry left after the first series and Steed became the main character, partnered with a succession of assistants...
, and The Wild Wild West
The Wild Wild West
The Wild Wild West is an American television series that ran on CBS for four seasons from September 17, 1965 to April 4, 1969....
was its emphasis on realism. There were no fanciful 007-style gadgets, outlandish villains or campy, tongue-in-cheek humor. Although Culp and Cosby frequently exchanged breezy, lighthearted dialog, the stories invariably focused on the gritty, ugly side of the espionage business. (Culp was a guest star on the fourth episode aired of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. in 1964, and reportedly had been considered for the lead role in that series.)
Occasionally the series produced purely comedic episodes such as "Chrysanthemum," inspired by The Pink Panther
The Pink Panther
The Pink Panther is a series of comedy films featuring the bungling French police detective Jacques Clouseau that began in 1963 with the release of the film of the same name. The role was originated by, and is most closely associated with, Peter Sellers...
, and "Mainly on the Plains" with Boris Karloff
Boris Karloff
William Henry Pratt , better known by his stage name Boris Karloff, was an English actor.Karloff is best remembered for his roles in horror films and his portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in Frankenstein , Bride of Frankenstein , and Son of Frankenstein...
as an eccentric scientist who thinks he's Don Quixote. However, most episodes dealt with more serious subjects (e.g., heroin addiction in "The Loser") and didn't shy away from ending on a somber note. This is perhaps the only television drama in the Sixties to set an episode in the then-taboo region of Vietnam ("The Tiger," written by Robert Culp). While filming this episode in 1966, a romance ensued between Culp and Vietnamese guest star France Nuyen
France Nuyen
France Nuyen is a French actress.-Biography:Nuyen was born in Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhône, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France. Her mother was French, her father Vietnamese. During World War II, her mother and grandfather were persecuted by the Nazis for being Gypsies...
. The two were married the following year, and Nuyen went on to appear in several more episodes.
Another unique feature of the series was a running gag involving a locked-room scenario. Time and again the two spies would be captured and left in a locked room, cellar, or warehouse. After much humorous repartee they would improvise an ingenious escape using whatever materials were at hand. For example, in "A Cup of Kindness" they create an explosive out of chemical fertilizer and dry ice.
Episodes
Season 1: 1965-66| No. in series |
|Title | |Written by | |Prod. code |
|---|
Culp as writer
The series was additionally notable in that co-star Culp wrote the scripts for seven episodes (one of which he also directed), including the show's first broadcast episode, "So Long, Patrick Henry." In the Sixties it was exceedingly rare for an actor in a dramatic series to write scripts, much less direct, for his/her own show. Prior to joining I Spy Culp wrote a pilot scriptTelevision pilot
A "television pilot" is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell the show to a television network. At the time of its inception, the pilot is meant to be the "testing ground" to see if a series will be possibly desired and successful and therefore a test episode of an...
for a proposed series in which he'd play an American James Bond-like character. He took the script to his friend Carl Reiner
Carl Reiner
Carl Reiner is an American actor, film director, producer, writer and comedian. He has won nine Emmy Awards and one Grammy Award during this career...
, who recommended he meet with Sheldon Leonard, who was in the midst of creating I Spy. This script was eventually rewritten by Culp and produced as the episode "The Tiger." In the DVD audio commentary for the "Home to Judgment" episode, Culp reveals that his seven episodes were the only ones filmed exactly as written. He wrote them to establish a specific dramatic tone and level of quality for the other writers to follow. Nevertheless, Culp and Cosby were dissatisfied with the often frivolous and formulaic scripts they received and rewrote most of their dialog and improvised a great deal during filming.
Awards and nominations
- First-time actor Bill Cosby won three consecutive Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series in 1966, 1967 and 1968. Robert Culp was also nominated in the same category for all three seasons of I Spy.
- Eartha KittEartha KittEartha Mae Kitt was an American singer, actress, and cabaret star. She was perhaps best known for her highly distinctive singing style and her 1953 hit recordings of "C'est Si Bon" and the enduring Christmas novelty smash "Santa Baby." Orson Welles once called her the "most exciting woman in the...
, who played a drug-addicted cabaret singer in "The Loser" (written by Culp), was nominated in 1966 for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Single Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Drama. - In 1967 Culp was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Writing Achievement in a Drama for his third-season script "Home to Judgment."
- In addition to writing the theme music, Earle HagenEarle HagenEarle Harry Hagen was an American composer who created music for movies and television. He is remembered for co-writing and whistling "The Fishin' Hole", the melody of the main theme to The Andy Griffith Show, the instrumental classic "Harlem Nocturne" used as the theme to television's Mickey...
composed an original musical score for many episodes of the series, often flavored with the ethnic music of the Far East, Mexico or the Caribbean. Hagen received Emmy nominations for all three seasons of the show and won for the "Laya" episode in 1968. - I Spy won as "Best Dramatic Series" at the 1967 Golden Globe Awards for its 1966-1967 season.
Reunions and remakes
Four years after the series ended its three-year run in 1968, Culp asked Cosby to co-star with him in the film Hickey & BoggsHickey & Boggs
Hickey & Boggs is a 1972 neo-noir detective movie written by Walter Hill and directed by Robert Culp. The film marks the first reunion of Culp and Bill Cosby since they starred together in the 1960s television series I Spy.-Plot:...
(1972), a downbeat and violent detective story written by Walter Hill. Culp was also the director, but the film did not show any of the warmth and camaraderie characteristic of I Spy.
Culp made a guest appearance on The Cosby Show
The Cosby Show
The Cosby Show is an American television situation comedy starring Bill Cosby, which aired for eight seasons on NBC from September 20, 1984 until April 30, 1992...
on April 9, 1987, in an episode titled "Bald and Beautiful" in which he plays an old friend of Dr. Huxtable's named "Scott Kelly," which was a play of words on both of their I Spy characters, Alexander Scott and Kelly Robinson.
In I Spy Returns (1994), a nostalgic
Nostalgia
The term nostalgia describes a yearning for the past, often in idealized form.The word is a learned formation of a Greek compound, consisting of , meaning "returning home", a Homeric word, and , meaning "pain, ache"...
television movie
Television movie
A television film is a feature film that is a television program produced for and originally distributed by a television network, in contrast to...
, Culp and Cosby reprised their roles as Robinson and Scott for the first time since 1968. The original opening title sequence is reused with no changes other than the addition of the word 'Returns' beneath 'I Spy' and a new arrangement of the theme music. Cosby was the executive producer. Here the aging agents have to leap into action once again to rescue their children, Bennett Robinson (George Newbern
George Newbern
George Young Newbern is an American television and film actor best known for his roles as Bryan MacKenzie in Father of the Bride and its sequel Father of the Bride Part II as well as Danny in Friends...
) and Nicole Scott (Salli Richardson-Whitfield) who are now operatives for their fathers' agency. This was shown as a "CBS Movie Special" on February 3, 1994.
Culp again reprised the role of Kelly Robinson during a dream sequence in a 1999 episode of Bill Cosby's series, Cosby
Cosby
Cosby is a situation comedy television series broadcast on CBS from September 16, 1996 to April 28, 2000, loosely based on the British sitcom One Foot in the Grave. The program starred Bill Cosby, Phylicia Rashād...
, entitled "My Spy." Cosby's character falls asleep while watching I Spy on television and dreams he's caught up in an espionage adventure. With Cosby's name replaced with that of his character here, Hilton Lucas, the old title sequence was again faithfully recreated.
The duo also reunited once more for an appearance at a TV special marking the 75th anniversary of the NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
television network in 2002. Cosby was actually on stage with his Cosby Show co-stars at the time in reference to that sitcom. However, he called on Culp (who was in the audience) to join him as well and both men received a round of applause and cheers when they donned their sunglasses and tossed off a few wisecracks in a nod to their secret agent characters.
A movie
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
remake I Spy followed in 2002 with Eddie Murphy
Eddie Murphy
Edward Regan "Eddie" Murphy is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, singer, director, and musician....
and Owen Wilson
Owen Wilson
Owen Cunningham Wilson is an American actor and writer, known for his roles in the films The Haunting, The Royal Tenenbaums, Zoolander, Meet the Parents, Wedding Crashers, You, Me and Dupree, Bottle Rocket, the Cars series, The Darjeeling Limited, Marley & Me, Midnight in Paris, Shanghai Noon,...
. The film ignored its source material and made no effort to stay faithful to the original. This included reversing the character names so that Alexander Scott (Wilson) was now the white agent and Kelly Robinson (Murphy) the black athlete. The film was a commercial and critical flop. In his 2009 Movie Guide, film critic Leonard Maltin describes the film as an "In-name-only reincarnation of the smart 1960s TV show.... An object lesson in bad screenwriting, with an incoherent story, and characters that make no sense."
The original television series and the 1994 reunion movie are both available on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
. Episodes 1-25 of the first season of the television series are also available on Joost
Joost
Joost is an Internet TV service, created by Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis . During 2007-8 Joost used peer-to-peer TV technology to distribute content to their Mozilla-based desktop player; in late 2008 this was migrated to use a Flash-based Web player instead.Joost began development in 2006...
and all 82 episodes are available on Hulu
Hulu
Hulu is a website and over-the-top subscription service offering ad-supported on-demand streaming video of TV shows, movies, webisodes and other new media, trailers, clips, and behind-the-scenes footage from NBC, Fox, ABC, and Obstacle on October 20th 2011 Nickelodeon and CBS and many other...
and Videosurf, from the DMGI Classics channel.
Popular culture parodies
- Mad magazine published a satirical comic of the series in 1967 called "Why Spy?" featuring characters named "Killy" and "Scoot".
- Get SmartGet SmartGet Smart is an American comedy television series that satirizes the secret agent genre. Created by Mel Brooks with Buck Henry, the show starred Don Adams , Barbara Feldon , and Edward Platt...
, the spy-spoof television series, did a parody of the show in the 1968 episode titled "Die Spy". In this, agent Maxwell Smart (Don AdamsDon AdamsDon Adams was an American actor, comedian and director. In his five decades on television, he was best known as Maxwell Smart in the television situation comedy Get Smart , which he also sometimes directed and wrote. Adams won three consecutive Emmy Awards for his portrayal of Smart...
) pretends to be an international table-tennis champion. The episode faithfully recreates the theme music, montage graphics, and back-and-forth banter between Robinson and Scott—with actor/comedian Stu Gilliam imitating Cosby. Robert Culp makes an uncredited cameo appearance as an inebriated Turkish waiter.
Original novels and comic books
Walter Wager
Walter Herman Wager was an American novelist.-Early life:Walter Wager grew up in the East Tremont section of The Bronx, the son of Russian Jewish immigrants; his father, Max, was a doctor, and his mother, Jessie, was a nurse...
under the pseudonym "John Tiger." The I Spy novels were published by Popular Library
Popular Library
Popular Library was a New York paperback book company established in 1942 by Leo Margulies and Ned Pines, who at the time was a major pulp magazine, newspapers and magazine publishers...
:
- I Spy (1965, no book series number on cover)
- I SPY #2: Masterstroke (1966)
- I SPY #3: Superkill (1967)
- I SPY #4: Wipeout (1967)
- I SPY #5: Countertrap (1967)
- I SPY #6: Doomdate (1967)
- I SPY #7: Death-Twist (1968)
The following tie-ins, not by Wager, were also published.
- Message From Moscow (1966) by Brandon Keith. This was a hardcover novel published for young readers by WhitmanWestern PublishingWestern Publishing, also known as Western Printing and Lithographing Company was a Racine, Wisconsin firm responsible for publishing the Little Golden Books. Western Publishing also produced children's books and family-related entertainment products as Golden Books Family Entertainment...
. - I SpyI Spy (film)I Spy is a 2002 American spy comedy film starring Eddie Murphy and Owen Wilson. The film was based on the television series of the same name, that aired in the 1960s which starred Robert Culp and Bill Cosby.- Plot :...
(2002) by Max Allan CollinsMax Allan CollinsMax Allan Collins is an American mystery writer. He has written novels, screenplays, comic books, comic strips, trading cards, short stories, movie novelizations and historical fiction. He wrote the graphic novel Road to Perdition , created the comic book private eye Ms...
- novelization of the motion picture remake
Gold Key Comics
Gold Key Comics
Gold Key Comics was an imprint of Western Publishing created for comic books distributed to newsstands. Also known as Whitman Comics, Gold Key operated from 1962 to 1984.-History:...
also published six issues of an I Spy comic book between 1966 and 1968.
I Spy: A History And Episode Guide to the Groundbreaking Television Series, published by McFarland & Company, Jefferson, NC, in January 2007, examines I Spys contribution to American television and society by being the first series to star a black and a white actor together, and also being the first weekly production to film around the world, developing the technology to make this possible. This "biography of a television series" was written by Marc Cushman and Linda J. LaRosa, with a foreword by Robert Culp. I SPY: A History to the Groundbreaking Television Series
Soundtracks
Unlike many television series of the time, every episode of I Spy received an original score - as was the case with the other shows from Sheldon Leonard, like The Andy Griffith ShowThe Andy Griffith Show
The Andy Griffith Show is an American sitcom first televised by CBS between October 3, 1960, and April 1, 1968. Andy Griffith portrays a widowed sheriff in the fictional small community of Mayberry, North Carolina...
and The Dick Van Dyke Show
The Dick Van Dyke Show
The Dick Van Dyke Show is an American television sitcom that initially aired on the Columbia Broadcasting System from October 3, 1961, until June 1, 1966. The show was created by Carl Reiner and starred Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore. It was produced by Reiner with Bill Persky and Sam Denoff....
. Earle Hagen
Earle Hagen
Earle Harry Hagen was an American composer who created music for movies and television. He is remembered for co-writing and whistling "The Fishin' Hole", the melody of the main theme to The Andy Griffith Show, the instrumental classic "Harlem Nocturne" used as the theme to television's Mickey...
, Leonard's regular composer, wrote the main theme and scored most of the episodes (collaborating on three with Carl Brandt; Hugo Friedhofer
Hugo Friedhofer
Hugo Wilhelm Friedhofer was an American film music composer born in San Francisco. His father was a cellist trained in Dresden, Germany; his mother, Eva König, was born in Germany.Friedhofer began playing cello at the age of 13...
, Nathan Van Cleave
Nathan Van Cleave
Van Cleave was a composer and orchestrator for film, television, and radio. He usually used "Van" as his first name.- Biography :...
, Robert Drasnin
Robert Drasnin
Robert Drasnin is a composer and clarinet player.Robert Drasnin was born on 17 November 1927 in Charleston, West Virginia. At an early age Drasnin was interested in the Clarinet so he took lessons but when his family moved to Los Angeles he wasn't to start until 1938...
and Shorty Rogers
Shorty Rogers
Milton “Shorty” Rogers , born Milton Rajonsky in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, was one of the principal creators of West Coast jazz. He played both the trumpet and flugelhorn, and was in demand for his skills as an arranger. Rogers worked first as a professional musician with Will Bradley and...
also wrote music for the series). During the show's run, two albums of re-recorded music composed (except where indicated) and conducted by Hagen were released.
Music from the Television Series I Spy (Warner Bros. WS-1637):
- I Spy (1:57)
- Tatia (3:00)
- Hi Yo Scotty (2:42)
- Angel (2:44)
- Away We Go To Tokyo (2:25)
- Rickshaw Ride (2:50)
- Away We Go To Mexico (2:18)
- Ah So! (2:16)
- The International Set (2:23)
- Another Kind Of Blues (2:46)
- Fiesta Del Sol (2:05)
- The Wonderfulness of You (2:23)
- Made In Hong Kong (2:17)
I Spy (Capitol ST-2839):
- I Spy (2:10)
- Over The Wall (2:15)
- Montezuma's Revenge (2:25)
- Islands In The Sea (3:06)
- The Golden Age (2:08)
- The Voice In The Wind (Earle HagenEarle HagenEarle Harry Hagen was an American composer who created music for movies and television. He is remembered for co-writing and whistling "The Fishin' Hole", the melody of the main theme to The Andy Griffith Show, the instrumental classic "Harlem Nocturne" used as the theme to television's Mickey...
and Gene LeesGene LeesFrederick Eugene John "Gene" Lees was a Canadian music critic, biographer, lyricist, and former journalist. Lees worked as a newspaper journalist in his native Canada before moving to the United States where he was a music critic and lyricist...
) (2:58) - To Florence With Love (Hugo FriedhoferHugo FriedhoferHugo Wilhelm Friedhofer was an American film music composer born in San Francisco. His father was a cellist trained in Dresden, Germany; his mother, Eva König, was born in Germany.Friedhofer began playing cello at the age of 13...
) (2:20) - Sophia (2:40)
- Rots Of Ruck (2:20)
- There's No Escape (3:40)
- Domingo (2:25)
- The International Set (2:21)
In 2002 Film Score Monthly
Film Score Monthly
Film Score Monthly is an online magazine founded by editor-in-chief and executive producer Lukas Kendall in June 1990 as The Soundtrack Correspondence List...
released a limited-edition disc of original soundtrack music from the series.
- "So Long Patrick Henry": The Defector/Main Title (1:05)
- Hong Kong/Elroy (1:25)
- What's the Trouble? (1:05)
- Keep Running/You Lose (4:10)
- That's My Man (1:27)
- Stop That Plane (2:25)
- The Whistle Blows (2:14)
- "007" (:45)
- End Title (:52)
- "The Time Of The Knife": Tokyo/Jean and Kelly/Jean's Pad/Trailing (6:19)
- Oops, the Troops!/Away We Go/Shiftycraft/Dead for Real (3:32)
- "Turkish Delight": Away We Go to Mexico/Bye Bye Scotty/Rapido/On the Road Again/Trunk Store/Chicken Hearts/Lt Hernandez (5:14)
- Taxi Tour (2:01)
- Japanese Trick/Parting Is Such Sweet Sorrow/How About That/Babe, With Rocks (5:15)
- End Title (:38)
- "The Warlord": Burma/The Chase/And On and On/Of Some Value (9:14)
- My Lord/She Is Chinese (4:47)
- Prelude to Dreamsville/The General Dies (4:12)
- Down the River (1:55)
- "Mainly On The Plains": The Plaza/Main Title (3:19)
- Don Silvando/Blonde Gothic/Travelin'/Sighted (3:37)
- Don Quixote II/Attack/Upsy Daisy (4:45)
- My Professor, the Nut/Wild Stuff/Goodbye Crooks (3:55)
- Don Strikes/So Long, Don (2:41)
- End Title (:38)
Syndication and home video
The underlying rights to the original series are now owned by independent film company Peter Rodgers OrganizationPeter Rodgers Organization
The Peter Rodgers Organization is a television syndication company, based in Hollywood, California. It distributes more than 2,000 films, dozens of documentaries and off network television series to global markets...
, Ltd. (PRO), but original production company Three F Productions remains the copyright holder.
Selected episodes of the series were made available on VHS
VHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
in North America in the early 1990s.
Image Entertainment
Image Entertainment
Image Entertainment, Inc. is an independent licensee, producer and distributor of home entertainment programming and film & television productions in North America, with approximately 3,000 exclusive DVD titles and approximately 250 exclusive CD titles in domestic release, and approximately 450...
released the complete series on DVD in Region 1 in 2002, initially in a series of single-disc volumes (each with four episodes), which were later compiled into three box sets. The episodes were not presented in any particular order. In addition, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is the home video distribution arm of Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation. It was established in November 1979 as Columbia Pictures Home Entertainment, releasing 20 titles: The Anderson Tapes, Bell, Book and Candle, Born Free, Breakout,...
released the 1994 reunion made-for-TV film on DVD in Region 1 on October 8, 2002. This release has been discontinued and is now out of print.
In April 2008, Image/PRO reissued the series, this time organized in order of original broadcast, in three box sets, one for each season. This includes Robert Culp's bonus audio commentary on four episodes that he wrote (originally issued in 2002 on a single DVD called The Robert Culp Collection).
In Region 4, Umbrella Entertainment
Umbrella entertainment
Umbrella Entertainment is an Australian owned, independent all-rights feature film, documentary and television program distribution company that was set up in 2001 by Jeff Harrison...
has released all 3 seasons on DVD in Australia.
| DVD Name | Ep # | Release Date | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Region 1 | Region 4 | ||
| I Spy Returns | 1 | October 8, 2002 | N/A |
| I Spy Season 1 | 28 | April 29, 2008 | September 1, 2007 |
| I Spy Season 2 | 28 | April 29, 2008 | December 1, 2007 |
| I Spy Season 3 | 26 | April 29, 2008 | December 15, 2008 |
Syndication
, I Spy currently airs twice a day, six days a week, on FamilyNetFamilyNet
FamilyNet is a broadcast television network owned by ComStar Media Fund and based in Atlanta, Georgia. The network was founded in 1979 as the National Christian Network, and took the name FamilyNet in 1988 under the ownership of Jerry Falwell. The channel was acquired by InTouch Ministries in...
. The series also airs in the United States on broadcast television channel Retro Television Network
Retro Television Network
The Retro Television Network is a system of television stations that airs classic television shows as well as more recently produced programs...
and formerly on American Life TV Network cable channel.
Other uses
I SpyI Spy (1955 TV series)
I Spy is an American television series created by Edward J. Montagne and Phil Reisman Jr. and made by Rean Productions, Inc. andGuild Films. It ran from 1955-1956 for a total of 39 episodes and starred Raymond Massey as Anton, the Spymaster....
was also the title of a short-lived thriller series starring Raymond Massey
Raymond Massey
Raymond Hart Massey was a Canadian/American actor.-Early life:Massey was born in Toronto, Ontario, the son of Anna , who was born in Illinois, and Chester Daniel Massey, the wealthy owner of the Massey-Ferguson Tractor Company. Massey's family could trace their ancestry back to the American...
that aired in 1956.
See also
- The AvengersThe Avengers (TV series)The Avengers is a spy-fi British television series set in the 1960s Britain. The Avengers initially focused on Dr. David Keel and his assistant John Steed . Hendry left after the first series and Steed became the main character, partnered with a succession of assistants...
- Honey WestHoney West (TV series)Honey West is an American crime drama television series that aired on ABC during the 1965-1966 television season. The series stars Anne Francis as female private detective Honey West and John Ericson as her partner Sam Bolt....
- James BondJames BondJames Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
- The Man from U.N.C.L.E.The Man from U.N.C.L.E.The Man from U.N.C.L.E. is an American television series that was broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1964, to January 15, 1968. It follows the exploits of two secret agents, played by Robert Vaughn and David McCallum, who work for a fictitious secret international espionage and law-enforcement...
- The SaintThe Saint (TV series)The Saint was an ITC mystery spy thriller television series that aired in the UK on ITV between 1962 and 1969. It centred on the Leslie Charteris literary character, Simon Templar, a Robin Hood-like adventurer with a penchant for disguise. The character may be nicknamed The Saint because the...
- Danger ManDanger ManDanger Man is a British television series that was broadcast between 1960 and 1962, and again between 1964 and 1968. The series featured Patrick McGoohan as secret agent John Drake. Ralph Smart created the program and wrote many of the scripts...
aka Secret Agent - Spy filmSpy filmThe spy film genre deals with the subject of fictional espionage, either in a realistic way or as a basis for fantasy . Many novels in the spy fiction genre have been adapted as films, including works by John Buchan, John Le Carré, Ian Fleming and Len Deighton...