I Spy - good spy entertainment from the past
(1 votes, average: 1 out of 5)
Over the years there has been a lot of good spy entertainment both on TV and the movies. One show I quite like is I Spy starring Robert Culp and Bill Cosby. The show is based on the espionage genre about two secret agents who carry out missions on behalf of their employer, the Pentagon, in far-flung places. I caught a few of the episodes on YouTube, but they usually get taken off after a while, possibly because of copyright issues. Anyway, these are both very good actors in their own right, especially Culp who guest starred in four Columbo films, playing the killer in the first three and the a father of a killer in the fourth.
The show was probably inspired by the success of one of the earlier James Bond movies.
Whist it might not have some of the very technical gadgets and gizmos that we see in some modern spy shows, it should be appreciated this series was made in the 60’s and was quite ahead of its time.
The series showcases clever ways the two stars carry out some of their missions, though some scenes do seem quite amateurish; I guess that has more to do with how we view it after having watched some of the more recent spy stuff, which use more advanced gadgets and ideas.
The show can be a good viewing for spy enthusiasts as a point of comparison of how these kind of shows have developed over the years. But its good viewing in its own right. A spin-off I Spy movie was released quite recently with Owen Wilson and Eddie Murphy playing the roles of Culp and Cosby respectively.
