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I SPY
Mar 25, 2009 23:18:46 GMT -5
Post by HoudiniDerek on Mar 25, 2009 23:18:46 GMT -5
So one day I was at home with my wife. We wanted to watch something, but we couldn't agree. I like watching new things and Sara gets comfortable watching the same thing we have on DVD. Well, I was on hulu.com and we were looking at the TV shows they offer and we saw I SPY listed. I told Sara that some of the girls on this forum said it was a good show and that Robert Culp and Bill Cosby was in it. She liked THE COSBY SHOW and said that she would give it a chance...as long as it wasn't like THE GREATEST AMERICAN HERO. (She does not really care for the show). So, we watched the pilot episode and we both really enjoyed it. I saw it at Best Buy and I got the first season for Christmas from my in-laws...although belated since I was working over the hoildays and missed it. We have watched about half the season so far and it is still really good. I am hoping to get the other two seasons soon. Anyone else watched it? What did you think? Good and bad?
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I SPY
Mar 27, 2009 9:06:19 GMT -5
Post by mmderdekea on Mar 27, 2009 9:06:19 GMT -5
Heck, are you SERIOUS? "I Spy" was truly a ground-breaking show, and superb overall, although I'm sorry to say I never liked Cosby's "acting"--it was his first acting job, as he was mostly gaining fame as a comedian--and even though he was coached, I never thought he was any good in the show as an actor. As a friend/brother/partner of Kelly's, the relationship was magnificent--no mention of race, just two men living and working together in a very difficult job which tested their morals/emotions. This wasn't James Bond type spying, this was oftentimes the down and dirty, without gadgets and with orders to follow they did not like. Kelly (Culp) was the emotionally vulnerable, physical, very flawed character--who drank too much, was too promiscuous, and suffered angst and depression fairly regularly. Luckily, this meant we oftentimes saw him with his shirt off! Scotty (Cosby) was the more reserved and private guy, cerebral, and with a boatload of anger just underneath the surface. Their interplay made the show incredibly special as did some of the episodes, the best ones being the ones Culp wrote. Oddly, Cosby won three Emmy's and Culp none, during the shows run, which was plainly unfair, even though Culp handled the losses with dignity, fully supporting his friend. Culp and Cosby befriended each other immediately and that relationship has withstood the test of time for 40 years. A really great show. The "I Spy Forum" at: www.network54.com/Forum/172251/is an amazing message board which celebrates all aspects of the show. Lots of hubba-hubba shots of Culp! Mona
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I SPY
Mar 27, 2009 9:32:51 GMT -5
Post by HoudiniDerek on Mar 27, 2009 9:32:51 GMT -5
I think Cosby is very good in the show. I think that reserved nature stifles his acting to some degree because you can see the talent when he and Culp get into some of their banter. I think it was more the way he was written. I haven't seen enough of the show to know if that continues or not, but I will have to watch to see if I think either deserve Emmys.
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I SPY
Mar 27, 2009 9:53:11 GMT -5
Post by mmderdekea on Mar 27, 2009 9:53:11 GMT -5
Lots of people think Cosby's acting was good. It just didn't resonate with me at all, but that may also be because Culp SO overshadowed Cosby in the acting department, and handsome department and body department and brown hair department and interesting character department, my focus was naturally on Kelly's "wonderfulness".
Mona
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I SPY
Mar 27, 2009 10:16:00 GMT -5
Post by MelMac on Mar 27, 2009 10:16:00 GMT -5
Overall, watching a few episodes of the series myself, I think they were both quite talented in the show. Their banter worked very well, and reflected their friendship off camera. It made for an enjoyable show overall. Not many shows at the time had that feeling of realism and that the actors liked working with each other.
I saw something very similar with Robert Conrad and Ross Martin in "The Wild Wild West" - in the last season, when Martin was sidelined for a time after his heart attack, the people who subbed for him didn't quite click with Conrad as West. There was that friendship that clearly showed between the two actors, and probably why it lasted as long as it did - and probably would've lasted longer had the censors not been hypersensitive with violence in the late '60s.
As far as Cosby and the Emmy - it's just an award, and I always have felt that if the person wins it, they deserve it (though I have wondered at times why they won). But, one also has to consider that Culp had his detractors in the industry at the time for several reasons, and some of those detractors were those who voted for the winner of the Emmy. I'm not saying that's why he lost to Cosby, but it would have an impact.
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I SPY
Mar 27, 2009 11:29:39 GMT -5
Post by HoudiniDerek on Mar 27, 2009 11:29:39 GMT -5
Lots of people think Cosby's acting was good. It just didn't resonate with me at all, but that may also be because Culp SO overshadowed Cosby in the acting department, and handsome department and body department and brown hair department and interesting character department, my focus was naturally on Kelly's "wonderfulness". Mona Thankfully, I don't watch for it for the handsomeness of the characters. Must make me more objective.
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I SPY
Mar 27, 2009 13:47:11 GMT -5
Post by greenguy on Mar 27, 2009 13:47:11 GMT -5
I Spy is one of the greats from the 60's and right now on amazon.com all 3 seasons of I Spy are just $10.49 each. A great price!
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I SPY
Mar 27, 2009 14:49:33 GMT -5
Post by HoudiniDerek on Mar 27, 2009 14:49:33 GMT -5
All three seasons are relatively cheap everywhere. I don't think I have seen it above 13 dollars at any store.
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I SPY
Mar 27, 2009 18:07:42 GMT -5
Post by mmderdekea on Mar 27, 2009 18:07:42 GMT -5
They came out with the first set based on shooting location (all episodes shot in Rome, for example) per DVD and then a second set based on actual episode chronological order. Most like to watch the chronological order ones. Just for you all to know. You MUST listen to Culp's narrative on his 7 masterful episodes. If you just watch a few of episodes, stick with Culp's: I'd suggest the pilot episode, "Goodbye Patrick Henry", "The Loser", and "Home To Judgement".
Mona
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I SPY
Mar 27, 2009 20:14:51 GMT -5
Post by HoudiniDerek on Mar 27, 2009 20:14:51 GMT -5
I plan to watch the entire series, but I am not watching it just for Culp.
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Team Blue
Agent
"Business" attire... .45 semi automatic, aviators, three piece suit....
Posts: 118
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I SPY
Mar 28, 2009 15:04:11 GMT -5
Post by Team Blue on Mar 28, 2009 15:04:11 GMT -5
They came out with the first set based on shooting location (all episodes shot in Rome, for example) per DVD and then a second set based on actual episode chronological order. Most like to watch the chronological order ones. Just for you all to know. You MUST listen to Culp's narrative on his 7 masterful episodes. If you just watch a few of episodes, stick with Culp's: I'd suggest the pilot episode, "Goodbye Patrick Henry", "The Loser", and "Home To Judgement". Mona Yes, his eps are great. Although not Clup written episodes, I also enjoyed... "A Cup of Kindness" ("I was only asking about the exporting of some tennis rackets. That does not include the exporting of the tennis player!") "Send Me Back to Tsngesomethingorother" (sorry don't have an episode list in front of me LOL). Given your avatar Houdini - I like Hogan's Heroes too - you'll like this ep. Colonel Crittendon is in it. ROFL. "It's All Done with Mirrors" (Carroll O'Connor as an evil scientist. Definitely NOT Archie Bunker!) Great series. I've watched the first season so far.
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I SPY
Mar 28, 2009 15:31:15 GMT -5
Post by HoudiniDerek on Mar 28, 2009 15:31:15 GMT -5
CARRY ME BACK TO OLD TSING TSAO is the episode you were after. Sadly, I prefer Bernard Fox in HOGAN'S HEROES. I do like the episodes I have seen so far. It was very well done for the time.
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I SPY
Mar 29, 2009 10:07:21 GMT -5
Post by jopierce on Mar 29, 2009 10:07:21 GMT -5
Slow to catch up on this thread. Good to see the DVDs down in price. When I saw them at the Borders near here, the whole series was about $90+ or something prohibitive like that...
Probably won't buy it, since it's still out of the budget right now, but now I know what to put on my Birthday and Christmas lists....
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I SPY
Mar 30, 2009 14:12:50 GMT -5
Post by prometheus74 on Mar 30, 2009 14:12:50 GMT -5
I've heard some good things about that show (even before reading this thread). I'll have to check iit out.
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dolfyn
Agent
As good as me.
Posts: 342
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I SPY
Apr 3, 2009 0:04:43 GMT -5
Post by dolfyn on Apr 3, 2009 0:04:43 GMT -5
I've heard good things about this show too. My Mum watched it back when it originally aired, & says she really enjoyed it. ;D I'm considering buying it eventually. It's a bit expensive here in Australia, though. Feel the love. dolfyn.
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I SPY
Oct 28, 2009 14:35:43 GMT -5
Post by jopierce on Oct 28, 2009 14:35:43 GMT -5
Did we have a thread for I, Spy fanfiction?
There's not a lot of it out there, anyway, but I just wanted to pimp my first I, Spy fic.
Taksim
All they had to do was get a Soviet Defector from Istanbul to D. C. It should have been easy.
Rating: PG
Written by Jo Z Pierce for jedi_penguin in the Yuletide New Year Resolutions 2009 Challenge
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I SPY
Oct 28, 2009 14:55:56 GMT -5
Post by MelMac on Oct 28, 2009 14:55:56 GMT -5
As far as I know, we didn't, but have had a lot on Culp being in the series. I do recall a story being done where Kelly and Scotty had to be rescued by Bill and Ralph - with Ralph giving a nod to how "similar" the two looked.
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I SPY
Oct 29, 2009 12:16:07 GMT -5
Post by jopierce on Oct 29, 2009 12:16:07 GMT -5
I posted that yesterday...
Then, last night, I was watching Jeopardy. The clue was "Bill Cosby and Robert Culp" - for "What was 'I, Spy?"
I thought it was funny.
I am also anxious. They say things come in threes.
That probably means that Robert Culp should be showing up at my doorstep anytime soon, as I ordered.
I better mop the floors.
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I SPY
Oct 30, 2009 0:30:03 GMT -5
Post by HoudiniDerek on Oct 30, 2009 0:30:03 GMT -5
You will have to do that after he leaves too.
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