flapdoodle64 The mid-1960's saw a proliferation of fantasy-oriented series, starting out in the domain of comedy, with 'Bewitched' and 'Dream of Jeanie.' 'Man From UNCLE' (MFU) is historic because it was the 1st major big budget dramatic fantasy series to capture an adult audience (Irwin Allen's big budget 'Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea' also premiered in 1964, but it never gained an adult audience).Besides being on the leading edge of the fantasy trend, MFU was one of the 1st TV series to utilize a truly cinematic approach to the photography of the scenes, which makes the series more interesting and exciting. MFU also featured some elaborate fight sequences, stunts, and car chase scenes...MFU resembles movies more than any TV series prior to it.MFU also featured TV's first Beatle-haircut character, Ilya Kuryakin, who was quite popular with admirers of male beauty...it helped that David McCallum and co-star Robt. Vaughn were both very fine actors with high personal appeal and good screen chemistry...they set the bar for many other 1960's heroic TV duos, such as Kirk and Spock, West and Gordon, etc.MFU was a ratings success and was appreciated by critics as well because of the dry banter and quasi-satirical touches (such as early episodes featuring an intro that broke the 4th wall). The success of MFU was a factor in the 1965-68 explosion of dramatic or quasi-dramatic fantasy TV shows: Mission Impossible, Wild Wild West, Time Tunnel, Lost in Space, the Invaders, Land of the Giants, etc. Two hugely influential series, Star Trek, and Batman, both premiering in 1966, were also part of this trend. Star Trek, to a large extent, was basically MFU in outer space...especially Season Two. And Batman was an simply an exaggeration of the the spoof element of MFU.Today, most popular cinematic and TV scifi owes something to Star Trek, and the whole superhero movie explosion that began in 2000 owes a debt to the 1966 Batman.Another way MFU broke ground was in outright sexiness...compared to dramatic series before it, MFU had quite a lot of sexy stuff going on. But despite the sexual liberties, MFU never got political, except in the most oblique sense...perhaps mild satire of nations and politics in general, yet never getting anywhere near jabs at actual identifiable persons or institutions. MFU's first season was the best...the producers were still experimenting with the format, the humor and satire were used with restraint, and the crisp B/W photography helped mute the cartoonish elements of the series and gave it a certain resemblance to film noir.Subsequent seasons are generally enjoyable, but humor, satire, and camp increased in Season 2 and took over in Season 3. In Season 4, a new producer stepped in and the humor was greatly reduced and the camp eliminated...Season 4 is nearly as good as Season 1.It was too late and MFU cancelled in early 1968. But, between 1968 and 1970, everything else from the mid-1960's fantasy explosion was also cancelled...my pet theory is that the sudden and irreversible evaporation of ratings for 'Batman' in '67-68 spooked everyone, causing them to flee the realm of fantasy as though it were a sinking ship...and no doubt, new trends were waiting to be mined.

roghache Like other baby boomers, I grew up with this weekly spy series. It was very popular with all my classmates, and the talk the next morning at school after its TV showing would invariably be the latest exploits of the daring young Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin. The boys all wanted to be just like them, and the girls were all besotted with them. We were all hooked on their ridiculous intelligence seeking or defensive gadgetry devices. After the spin off series The Girl From U.N.C.L.E. premiered, then all the girls wanted to be just like HER.The show chronicles the assorted adventures and derring do of two agents of the agency U.N.C.L.E. (the United Network Command for Law Enforcement)... the American Napoleon Solo and the Russian Illya Kuryakin. (For a change, the Cold War enemies were comrades here.) Together the pair use their charm, wits, and of course assorted spy gadgetry to defeat the forces of evil, notably the terrorists and other threatening international villains of the wicked agency T.H.R.U.S.H. The duo take their orders from the older Mr. Alexander Waverly. The two lead actors had the looks and the charisma to carry off the show, with great chemistry between them. Robert Vaughan plays the suave, dashing dark haired Solo, and David McCallum his cool, blond, British accented sidekick, Kuryakin. The role of Mr. Waverly is portrayed by the gentlemanly Leo G. Carroll.It's been quite a few decades, have not seen it in re runs, so have forgotten many of the details. However, it was an adventurous, suspenseful, and primarily fun show, shades of James Bond's 007. Lots of fights, close calls, torturing villains, assorted intrigue, and of course beautiful women! Around this era there was also a cute comedy spy series, Get Smart. To this very day, whenever The Man From U.N.C.L.E. comes to mind or I chance upon either of its two stars on TV, I'm filled with a great sense of nostalgia. Sigh.

millerpepin Yes the comments of wnewman106 is true. He only forgot some others marvelous 60's series. Like the Invaders, The prisoner, Time tunnel and Lost in space. And i'm very happy these days that we have now the opportunity to buy theses series on DVDs. And the sixties was a great decade. I'M so sorry that in our decade now, not enough people are ready to stand, speak free and move like the 60's. We seems to have given the world to the financial political and religious systems who controls the world. Anyway, give the passion to yours children's. In looking these series with you can teach them history. I'm historian born in the beginning 50's and my wife born in the late 60's and we exchange a lot about the 60'S and TV series and films of these times are a good way to learn.

Ben Burgraff (cariart) 'The Man from U.N.C.L.E.' was an bona fide television phenomena when it first aired, in 1964. The brainchild of producer Norman Felton, who was a fan of Ian Fleming's 'James Bond' novels, the missions of the United Network Command for Law and Enforcement (U.N.C.L.E.), would be set on an international scale, pitted against SPECTRE-like THRUSH, an organization composed of terrorists, anarchists, and megalomaniacs. In the original concept, a 'civilian' would be drawn into the intrigue, each week, to aid U.N.C.L.E. on a mission, and provide a link that viewers could relate to.Felton sent his notes to Ian Fleming, asking the author to create a name for the series' hero, and Fleming came up with 'Napoleon Solo', the last name 'lifted' from a gangster character from 'Goldfinger'. He offered a few other minor suggestions, and gave Felton his blessing on the endeavor. With a 'pedigree' like this, how could the series fail?Veteran writer Sam Rolfe came on board to write the pilot script and co-produce, and an excellent cast was assembled. Oscar-nominee Robert Vaughn, who'd worked with Felton on the series, 'The Lieutenant', was cast as Solo; young Scot actor David McCallum, fresh from THE GREAT ESCAPE, would play the supporting role of fellow agent Illya Kuryakin; and, in a casting coup, legendary character actor Leo G. Carroll, who'd portrayed a spy chief in Alfred Hitchcock's NORTH BY NORTHWEST, would assume the same function for U.N.C.L.E. (Getting Carroll required some creativity; while his 'official' birth date was listed as 1892, he was actually born in 1887, and NBC would never have permitted a nearly 80-year old series regular...Felton stuck with '1892', and made his scenes as easy as possible, which worked, as Carroll survived the entire series' run, not passing away until 1972).Shot in black and white for the first season, and featuring a marvelous 'bulletproof glass' opening sequence, with a majestic, John Barry-influenced theme (by Jerry Goldsmith), 'U.N.C.L.E.' debuted in 1964 as both FROM Russia WITH LOVE and GOLDFINGER were in theaters, and soon became a major hit...then reached unprecedented heights, when McCallum, with his 'Beatles'-like haircut, captured the attention of younger fans caught up with the 'British Invasion' of Rock music, and became an overnight sex symbol nationwide. McCallum's role was quickly 'beefed-up' to co-star status, and U.N.C.L.E.-mania had begun!With a terrific mix of action, tongue-in-cheek humor, and what NBC would allow for sex, the first season offered many memorable moments, including the first appearance of future 'Star Trek' stars William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy, together, in an episode (Shatner was the heroic 'civilian' called in to aid U.N.C.L.E., Nimoy was the villain's henchman).NBC was very pleased with their hit series, and Vaughn and McCallum were soon doing 'cameos' in other series, as well as promotions for the Peacock Network. One of the first 'primetime' series to be extensively marketed, a line of U.N.C.L.E. merchandise appeared, with dolls, toy guns, lunch boxes, comic books, model kits, cologne, clothing, and more filling store shelves. It was a heady time for everyone!For the second season (1965-66), 'U.N.C.L.E.' was produced in color, and a 'guest' list of legendary stars lined up for appearances on the series, but despite respectable ratings, the overall quality of the show fluctuated, with some episodes downright silly. Just as the 'Bond' films peaked in popularity in 1965, with THUNDERBALL, then began to decline as the 'craze' subsided, the novelty of 'U.N.C.L.E.' began to wear off, and new 'line' producers were more interested in comedy and campiness, discarding, by season's end, any 'edge' the series first had. By the third season (1966-67), 'camp' was the rule; a spin-off, 'The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.', flopped; and the writing was on the wall that the series was on it's way out.The producers made a last-ditch attempt to return the more dramatic elements to the series at the start of it's fourth season, in 1967, discarding the campiness, and, unfortunately, nearly all of the humor, as well, but the newly 'serious' 'U.N.C.L.E.' had lost it's audience, and the show was canceled in early 1968.The impact of 'The Man from U.N.C.L.E.' cannot be minimized. It paved the way for 'The Wild, Wild, West', 'Get Smart', 'Mission Impossible', and all the other 'spy' shows that followed in it's footsteps, became a 'cult' favorite after cancellation that is still generating interest, to this day (with successful conventions, a 'reunion' TV-movie, and a steady stream of fan mail continuing to be sent to Vaughn and McCallum, 35 years after the final episode first aired), and there is talk of a feature film in the works.And, as we fans will always remember, without the cooperation of the United Network Command for Law and Enforcement, none of this would be possible!