Thursday Television Review: I Spy

Robert Culp and Bill Cosby ready for action

I Spy (1965-1968)

Starring: Robert Culp and Bill Cosby

Summary

Tennis bum, Kelly Robinson (Robert Culp), and his assistant Alexander Scott (Bill Cosby) roam around the world looking for a tennis match to play in order to pay their way. The two seem natural enough and many people enjoy watching Kelly play a round, usually victorious! They are good friends that always have a good time.

Behind the shine, however, Kelly and Scotty are really secret American agents, working to stop villains all over the world. Traveling using tennis as a cover, the two are able to stop many a mobster and overall bad guy, and hopefully come out alive. Finding acceptance in the high society in Hong Kong, South America, and Europe, the two find ways to get information.

Bill Cosby - snappy as ever

Kelly trusts Scotty with his life and vice versa. The two have a witty balance to each other and are not afraid to let the other know what they’re thinking. Saving each other from any harm that comes upon them, they still find time for a joke.

Of course, they come out the victor and know that they saved the world from another serious problem! Not to mention, they have time for a set!

Review

Like many of the spy genre series done during the 1960s, I Spy was another added to the list that held the action and suspense that audiences were attracted to in the Cold War era. It held something, however, that many other series didn’t: a believability with natural humor.

Shows like Get Smart and in later seasons, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. came at the subject of the spy genre as comedies. Making fun of all the gadgets that could be had and all the scrapes that they could get themselves into and out of endlessly. I Spy was much more dramatic and attempted to be realistic, like a counterpart Mission: Impossible. They never tell anyone who they’re with, that they’re secret agents, and their conversation is realistic.

The two agents are more than just “secret agents”, they are friends. Because they’re friends and know each other, they can work together seamlessly. The humor that Bill Cosby was known for was just getting started during I Spy and allowed him to gain footing in his field. Although he was playing in a dramatic series, he let his humor flow naturally, allowing the viewers to enjoy the episodes as real entities. This also makes the series seem more believable, because not everyone is dead serious in life like they appear to be in Mission: Impossible where everything is dramatic. In real life, there are ups and downs, funny moments and dramatic ones. This ebb and flow between Robert Culp and Bill Cosby is very evident and creates a lovely chemistry, for a great experience.

Robert Culp with guest star Roger C. Carmel

The pairing of these two helped bridge a gap occurring in the racial sector. These two were equals in the show, one wasn’t above the other. This allowed for equal opportunity and helped develop the characters on and off the screen for each other and for society.

The music and the action of two tennis bums roaming around the world is very appealing for a show of this nature. If you get a chance, listen to the music! Since they filmed on location, we get to see the world from a 1960s perspective and it’s fascinating! You get to learn a part of history you may have missed before.

Interesting side-note: when I Spy was ending after three seasons, another spy series wanted to pay homage to it with cameos and similar plots. Get Smart aired an episode called “Die, Spy” in which the main characters go undercover as table tennis bums, traveling all over the world playing matches. Their assistant is a black man, paying homage to Bill Cosby. A cameo appearance by Robert Culp adds excitement, as well as the I Spy theme being played throughout parts of the episode. A humorous adaptation, see the cameo with Robert Culp here!

Don Adams with Robert Culp on Get Smart

Caution: As with every spy series of that era, there are some deep topics at times (including capturing murderers, stopping drug lords, etc) and the appearance of a love-interest, so parents with children can watch with caution as they should with all shows of this era. Overall, it is a clean series.

Ellen Nolan