I Spy

I Spy

1965
I Spy
I Spy

I Spy

7.1 | en | Action & Adventure

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 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. 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.

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Seasons & Episodes

3
2
1
EP26  Pinwheel
Apr. 15,1968
Pinwheel

What is this ring of spies set up in Africa? Melanie knows, or thinks she knows, or anyway means to find out, why not?

EP25  Carmelita Is One of Us
Apr. 08,1968
Carmelita Is One of Us

The baby has now a microdot left by her father, and the assassins won't stop there.

EP24  The Spy Business
Apr. 01,1968
The Spy Business

Army Intelligence is receiving hits on its defector, who is leaving clues to his whereabouts, Robinson's old buddy, the other S2 debriefer?

EP23  Suitable for Framing
Mar. 25,1968
Suitable for Framing

Faux Senator is arranged to assassinate a President.

EP22  The Name of the Game
Mar. 11,1968
The Name of the Game

Why, says the ex-general, don't they let us fight? He will have game, let it be us, or Robinson & Scott.

EP21  Shana
Mar. 04,1968
Shana

She has a bit of top secret propellant, the Communists have her brother.

EP20  Happy Birthday... Everybody
Feb. 26,1968
Happy Birthday... Everybody

Protecting the retired agent and family against the deranged and vengeful gotten loose on the streets.

EP19  Turnabout for Traitors
Feb. 19,1968
Turnabout for Traitors

Setup as a sellout, down and out in Acapulco. The adverse party has its front men not to be recognized from your own.

EP18  This Guy Smith
Feb. 05,1968
This Guy Smith

Vacationing at a mountain retreat, they strike at an adverse communications officer, who strikes back with a frame.

EP17  A Few Miles West of Nowhere
Jan. 29,1968
A Few Miles West of Nowhere

A nuclear power station is planned for the desert, but an operative is dead on the scene. The town is tight and runs the boys out, but they keep plugging.

EP16  Tag, You're It
Jan. 22,1968
Tag, You're It

Hare & hounds in San Francisco with the cadets, a charming tourist and a ringer.

EP15  Anyplace I Hang Myself Is Home
Jan. 15,1968
Anyplace I Hang Myself Is Home

Bouts of depression hit Scott too hard for anything but counseling. He and Robinson independently remember training school.

EP14  Home to Judgement
Jan. 08,1968
Home to Judgement

Pursued all the way down on the farm, Robinson & Scott fend off attackers.

EP13  An American Empress
Dec. 25,1967
An American Empress

San Francisco, the Empress of China, fireworks, the Reds.

EP12  The Lotus Eater
Dec. 11,1967
The Lotus Eater

Robinson takes a powder and calls it quits in the Greek archipelago.

EP11  Oedipus at Colonus
Nov. 27,1967
Oedipus at Colonus

A holy leader of men dies apparently on the eve of religious fighting in Morocco.

EP10  Apollo
Nov. 20,1967
Apollo

Undercover counterspying at NASA with an ex-wife as beard, who disappears.

EP9  The Seventh Captain
Nov. 13,1967
The Seventh Captain

Anti-submarine warfare and mysterious assassinations.

EP8  Red Sash of Courage
Oct. 30,1967
Red Sash of Courage

On the border between Greece and Yugoslavia, airplane trouble besets USAF flights. Worse than that, who has been sleeping with the mayor's daughter?

EP7  Now You See Her, Now You Don't
Oct. 23,1967
Now You See Her, Now You Don't

Betrayal and deduction on the trail of an absconded mathematician last seen on the isle of Mykonos.

EP6  The Honorable Assassins
Oct. 16,1967
The Honorable Assassins

To Marrakesh with an old man's cash and his daughter and some bandits after the old man.

EP5  Philotimo
Oct. 09,1967
Philotimo

The best you can say about a child prodigy who takes you for a ride is maybe he's defective, after all.

EP4  The Medarra Block
Oct. 02,1967
The Medarra Block

A mysterious stone cube holds the key to rebellion against the Moroccan government.

EP3  Laya
Sep. 25,1967
Laya

A very small person on the Embassy staff becomes a very large factor in espionage plans.

EP2  The Beautiful Children
Sep. 18,1967
The Beautiful Children

Deep cover agent is blown, won't leave sideline.

EP1  Let's Kill Karlovassi
Sep. 11,1967
Let's Kill Karlovassi

Assassinating a double agent on the beach in the Aegean just doesn't sound like fun.

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7.1 | en | Action & Adventure | More Info
Released: 1965-09-15 | Released Producted By: 3F Productions , Country: United States of America Budget: 0 Revenue: 0 Official Website:
Synopsis

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 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. 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.

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Cast

Bill Cosby , Robert Culp

Director

Sheldon Leonard

Producted By

3F Productions ,

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Reviews

P_Cornelius What a tremendously influential series was I Spy. Both for American television in general and the individual viewers who had the opportunity to tune in every week back when it first aired. Me, in particular. Thanks to I Spy, and the debonair Kelly Robinson, I first took up a tennis racket and began a love affair with the tennis court that continues to this day. But even far more influential than Robinson and tennis, there is Alexander Scott.When it was all said and done, it was Bill Cosby's Alexander Scott who remains most vivid in my memory. Witty. Intelligent. Sophisticated. Lethal. Yet restrained in emotion and reserved in manner, he never forgot his respectable lower middle class big city origins. Nobody has ever encapsulated the qualities of the American hero better than Cosby in this role.You simply have to watch the entire series to appreciate the greatness of Cosby's performances. While his persona was intense, it was never out of balance, out of control. Cosby never played the fool. Which could not be said of his partner, Kelly, who was always going off the deep end, whether out of anger, depression, or joy. Kelly might go on a month long drunk, lose himself in a quest for revenge, or, just about every week, foolishly fall into some hopeless love affair. No matter. Scott was always there to save him, reel him back in, make everything OK and save the day.And there's something else about these two guys. They were always loyal patriots. If their government sometimes involved them in shady acts and moral compromises, they never reacted by turning on their country or their own kind. They knew they faced a greater evil. And they knew that only they (and their fellow agents) stood between their friends' and families' way of life and countries, the USSR and Communist China, in particular, that were ready and eager to subjugate them all.Finally, the runtime of this series is usually about 51 minutes. What a luxury to see a TV series that has the time to spin out a story AND delve into meaningful character development.
Victor Field Apparently only one comment a year is allowed for this show, so here's 2002's.The misgivings that I've got about the Eddie Murphy/Owen Wilson take on "I Spy" would seem to be justified by most accounts (even allowing for the presence of the scrumptious Famke Janssen), and now that Carlton Direct has closed down it's unlikely repeats of this fine spy show will be back on British television in the near future. Too bad.Unlike most other series, the adventures of Kelly Robinson and Alexander Scott (spies under the guise of a tennis player and his coach, played by Robert Culp and Bill Cosby respectively - the latter won three Emmys in succession for his performances, which are indeed easier to take than his subsequent incarnation as the endlessly self-adoring Dr. Cliff Huxtable) benefitted from actual location shooting around the world and from intelligent scripts, some by Culp himself - though not "To Florence With Love," a two-part story which had a most unusual ending in part one; our heroes are trying to get information from someone by threatening to cover him completely in plaster of Paris, and it ends with the would-be stooge about to be totally closed up. (He cracks at the start of part 2, obviously, but there's no doubt that they really would let him suffocate if he hadn't.)The chemistry between Culp and Cosby and the great theme music by Earle Hagen (plus scores from him and Hugo Friedhofer - bless Film Score Monthly for issuing a CD of music from the series) are two more reasons this plays well on TV today. If you take care with a product, it'll be good forever; which is why "The Cosby Mysteries" won't be fondly remembered 30 years from now. If ever.
ISpyDude This is definitely one of *the* best TV series ever made. It broke the mold of conventional television in several ways: It was the first series to do actual location work around the world. It was the first series to feature a black lead. It was the first series to feature a multi-racial cast and guest-cast on a regular basis.Culp was definitely wanted by Sheldon Leonard (creator). Culp offered Bill Cosby to play his partner, Alexander Scott. The networks reluctantly agreed, but Cosby instantly proved that the network's apprehension was unfounded.Fortunately, some TV stations are nice enough to re-air the series (KDOC in California aired it three years ago, with some [mostly minor] syndication cuts. WFTC in Minnesota is currently running it, with no syndication cuts. Obviously I'm very happy right now!) Even better, "I Spy" has some new episodes released on video and on DVD (what, no laserdisc?) With luck, "I Spy" will regain some popularity as these episodes really are timeless and should be more readily available for all.
mluna This was a great series.Why does it remain on a shelf somewhere, instead of claiming its rightful place in late-night-retro-TV - re-runs ??It was so quick and witty and sixties-era-cool and campy.My imagination makes me wonder if anyone 'owning' the showno longer wanted it broadcast, after its original run,or what?It seems I do remember a few years of re-runs on NYC TVChannel 9--then WOR, now "The WB"-- from @ 1968, but onlyuntil @ 1972 at the latest.Where did it disappear to, and why?I'd love to know.MLL