I Spy (1965 TV series)

I Spy
Developed by	David Friedkin & Morton Fine
Starring	Robert Culp Bill Cosby
Theme music composer	Earle Hagen
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	3
No. of episodes	82
Production
Executive producer(s)	Sheldon Leonard
Running time	50-51 minutes
Production company(s)	Three F Productions
Distributor	Republic Pictures Television Peter Rodgers Organization
Release
Original network	NBC
Picture format	4:3
Audio format	Mono
Original release	September 15, 1965 (1965-09-15) – April 15, 1968 (1968-04-15)

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 Triple F Productions under the aegis of Desilu Studios where the show was produced. Fine and Friedkin (who previously wrote scripts for radio's Broadway Is My Beat and Crime Classics under producer/director Elliott Lewis) 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 (receiving top billing before the title in the series' opening title sequence). 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.

Background

Characters and settings

I Spy broke ground in that it was the first American television drama to feature a black actor (Cosby) in a lead role. Originally an older actor was slated to play a fatherly mentor to Culp's character. After seeing Cosby performing stand-up comedy on a talk-show, Sheldon Leonard decided to take a chance on hiring him to play opposite Culp. The concept was changed from a mentor-protégé relationship to same-age partners who were equals. It was also notable that Cosby's race was never an issue in any of the stories. Nor was his character in any way subservient to Culp's, with the exception that Culp's "Kelly Robinson" was a more experienced agent. (Culp revealed in his audio commentary on the DVD release that he and Cosby agreed early on that "Our statement is a non-statement" regarding race, and the subject was never discussed again.) As a strait-laced Rhodes Scholar fluent in many languages, Cosby's "Scotty" was really the brains of the team. His partner was the athlete and playboy who lived by his wits.

Culp as Kelly Robinson with Jeanette Nolan, 1966

I Spy was a trailblazer in its use of exotic international locations in an attempt to emulate the James Bond film series. This was unique for a television show, especially since the series actually filmed its lead actors at locations ranging from Spain to Japan, rather than relying on stock footage. (Compare with the recent series, Alias, which also utilized worldwide settings but rarely filmed outside the Los Angeles region, and I Spy's contemporaries Mission: Impossible & The Man from U.N.C.L.E., which were completely filmed on the Desilu and MGM back lots.) Each season the producers would select four or five scenic locations around the world and create stories that took advantage of the local attractions. Episodes were filmed in Athens, Rome, Florence, Madrid, Venice, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Acapulco, San Francisco, Las Vegas, and Morocco.

The success of the show is attributed to the chemistry between Culp and Cosby. Fans tuned in more for their hip banter than for the espionage stories, making I Spy a leader in the buddy genre. The two actors quickly developed a close friendship that mirrored their on-screen characters, a friendship that would last until Culp's death in 2010. The show also coined unique phrases that, briefly, became catchphrases, such as "wonderfulness". Wonderfulness was used as the title of one of Cosby's albums of stand-up comedy released concurrently with the series. Cosby also occasionally slipped in bits of his comic routines during his improvised badinage with Culp. (In one episode Scott, being interrogated under the influence of drugs, says his name is Fat Albert.) Many details of Cosby's life were also written into his character. Scott does not drink or smoke—while Kelly Robinson does both. There are frequent references to Scott's childhood in Philadelphia and attending Temple University (Cosby is sometimes seen wearing his own Temple sweatshirt), and in the "Cops and Robbers" episode, Scotty returns home to Philadelphia to revisit his old neighborhood.

Comedy and drama

Cosby as Alexander Scott

I Spy was a fixture in the popular secret agent genre of the 1960s—a trend that began with the James Bond films. By 1965, virtually every studio was producing secret agent TV shows, films, and spin-off merchandise. What set I Spy apart from contemporary programs such as The Man from U.N.C.L.E., The Avengers, and The Wild Wild West was its emphasis on realism. There were no fanciful 007-style gadgets, outlandish villains or campy, tongue-in-cheek humor. Although Culp and Cosby frequently exchanged breezy, lighthearted dialog, the stories invariably focused on the gritty, ugly side of the espionage business.

Occasionally the series produced purely comedic episodes such as "Chrysanthemum," inspired by The Pink Panther, and "Mainly on the Plains" with Boris Karloff as an eccentric scientist who thinks he's Don Quixote. However, most episodes dealt with more serious subjects (e.g., heroin addiction in "The Loser") and did not shy away from ending on a somber note. This is perhaps the only television drama in the Sixties to set an episode in the then-taboo region of Vietnam ("The Tiger," written by Robert Culp). While filming this episode in 1966, a romance ensued between Culp and Vietnamese–French guest star France Nuyen. The two were married the following year, and Nuyen went on to appear in several more episodes.

Episodes

Season 1: 1965-66

No. in series	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	Production code
3	1	"So Long, Patrick Henry"	Leo Penn	Robert Culp	September 15, 1965 (1965-09-15)	101
5	2	"A Cup of Kindness"	Leo Penn	Morton Fine & David Friedkin	September 22, 1965 (1965-09-22)	102
2	3	"Carry Me Back to Old Tsing-Tao"	Mark Rydell	David Karp	September 29, 1965 (1965-09-29)	103
6	4	"Chrysanthemum"	David Friedkin	Edward J. Lakso	October 6, 1965 (1965-10-06)	104
7	5	"Dragon's Teeth"	Leo Penn	Gilbert Ralston	October 13, 1965 (1965-10-13)	105
8	6	"The Loser"	Mark Rydell	Robert Culp	October 20, 1965 (1965-10-20)	106
4	7	"Danny Was a Million Laughs"	Mark Rydell	Arthur Dales	October 27, 1965 (1965-10-27)	107
10	8	"The Time of the Knife"	Paul Wendkos	Gilbert Ralston	November 3, 1965 (1965-11-03)	108
9	9	"No Exchange on Damaged Merchandise"	Leo Penn	Gary Marshall & Jerry Belson	November 10, 1965 (1965-11-10)	109
11	10	"Tatia"	David Friedkin	Robert Lewin	November 17, 1965 (1965-11-17)	110
12	11	"Weight of the World"	Paul Wendkos	Robert Lewin	December 1, 1965 (1965-12-01)	111
14	12	"Three Hours on a Sunday"	Paul Wendkos	Morton Fine & David Friedkin	December 8, 1965 (1965-12-08)	112
13	13	"Tigers of Heaven"	Allen Reisner	Morton Fine & David Friedkin	December 15, 1965 (1965-12-15)	113
1	14	"Affair in T'Sien Cha"	Sheldon Leonard	Morton Fine & David Friedkin	December 29, 1965 (1965-12-29)	114
16	15	"The Tiger"	Paul Wendkos	Robert Culp	January 5, 1966 (1966-01-05)	115
17	16	"The Barter"	Allen Reisner	Harvey Bullock & P.S. Allen	January 12, 1966 (1966-01-12)	116
15	17	"Always Say Goodbye"	Allen Reisner	Robert C. Dennis & Earl Barret	January 26, 1966 (1966-01-26)	117
18	18	"Court of the Lion"	Robert Culp	Robert Culp	February 2, 1966 (1966-02-02)	118
19	19	"Turkish Delight"	William Thomas	Eric Bercovici	February 9, 1966 (1966-02-09)	119
20	20	"Bet Me a Dollar"	Richard Sarafian	David Friedkin & Morton Fine	February 16, 1966 (1966-02-16)	120
21	21	"Return to Glory"	Robert Sarafian	David Friedkin & Morton Fine	February 23, 1966 (1966-02-23)	121
22	22	"The Conquest of Maude Murdock"	Paul Wendkos	Robert C. Dennis & Earl Barret	March 2, 1966 (1966-03-02)	122
23	23	"A Day Called 4 Jaguar"	Richard Sarafian	Michael Zagor	March 9, 1966 (1966-03-09)	123
25	24	"Crusade to Limbo"	Richard Sarafian	Teleplay by: Morton Fine & David Freidkin & Jack Turley Story by: Jack Turley	March 23, 1966 (1966-03-23)	124
26	25	"My Mother, The Spy"	Richard Benedict	Howard Gast	March 30, 1966 (1966-03-30)	125
27	26	"There was a Little Girl"	John Rich	Teleplay by: Stephen Kandel Story by: Robert Bloch	April 6, 1966 (1966-04-06)	126
28	27	"It's All Done with Mirrors"	Robert Butler	Stephen Kandel	April 13, 1966 (1966-04-13)	127
24	28	"One Thousand Fine"	Paul Wendkos	Eric Bercovici	April 27, 1966 (1966-04-27)	128

Season 2: 1966-67

No. in series	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	Production code
29	1	"So Coldly Sweet"	Paul Wendkos	Stephen Kandel	September 14, 1966 (1966-09-14)	201
30	2	"Lori"	Paul Wendkos	Morton Fine & David Friedkin	September 21, 1966 (1966-09-21)	202
31	3	"Sophia"	Robert Fine	Morton Fine & David Friedkin	September 28, 1966 (1966-09-28)	203
32	4	"vendetta"	Alf Kjellin	Marion Hargrove	October 5, 1966 (1966-10-05)	204
33	5	"A Gift from Alexander"	Alf Kjellin	Barry Oringer	October 12, 1966 (1966-10-12)	205
34	6	"Trial by Treehouse"	Richard Sarafian	Michael Zagor	October 19, 1966 (1966-10-19)	206
35	7	"Sparrowhawk"	Paul Wendkos	Walter Black & Marion Hargrove	October 26, 1966 (1966-10-26)	207
36	8	"Will the Real Good Guys Please Stand Up?"	Richard Sarafian	Rick Mittleman	November 2, 1966 (1966-11-02)	208
37	9	"Bridge of Spies"	Alf Kjellin	Stephen Kandel	November 9, 1966 (1966-11-09)	209
38	10	"One of Our Bombs Is Missing"	Earl Bellamy	Barry Oringer	November 16, 1966 (1966-11-16)	210
39	11	"To Florence with Love: Part 1"	Robert Butler	Norman Borisoff	November 23, 1966 (1966-11-23)	211
40	12	"To Florence with Love: Part 2"	Robert Butler	Norman Borisoff	November 30, 1966 (1966-11-30)	212
41	13	"Lisa"	Richard Sarafian	Jackson Gillis	December 7, 1966 (1966-12-07)	213
42	14	"Little Boy Lost"	Paul Wendkos	Chester Krumholz	December 14, 1966 (1966-12-14)	214
43	15	"Father Abraham"	Tony Leader	Stephen Kandel	December 21, 1966 (1966-12-21)	215
44	16	"Rome... Take Away Three"	Alf Kjellin	Teleplay by: Morton Fine & David Freidkin & Bill S. Ballinger, Story by: Bill S. Ballinger	December 28, 1966 (1966-12-28)	216
45	17	"Tonia"	Alf Kjellin	Michael Zagor	January 4, 1967 (1967-01-04)	217
46	18	"Child Out of Time"	Alf Kjellin	Morton Fine & David Friedkin	January 11, 1966 (1966-01-11)	218
47	19	"The Trouble with Temple"	Tom Gries	Morton Fine, & David Friedkin	January 25, 1967 (1967-01-25)	219
48	20	"The War Lord"	Alf Kjellin	Robert Culp	February 1, 1967 (1967-02-01)	220
49	21	"A Room with a Rack"	David Friedkin	Michael Zagor	February 8, 1967 (1967-02-08)	221
50	22	"Mainly on the Plains"	David Friedkin	Morton Fine & David Friedkin	February 22, 1967 (1967-02-22)	222
51	23	"Get Thee to a Nunnery"	Alf Kjellin	Teleplay by: Marion Hargrove Story by: Barbara Merlin & Milton Merlin	March 1, 1967 (1967-03-01)	223
52	24	"Blackout"	Alf Kjellin	Barry Oringer	March 8, 1967 (1967-03-08)	224
53	25	"Magic Mirror"	Tom Gries	Robert Culp	March 15, 1967 (1967-03-15)	225
54	26	"Night Train to Madrid"	David Friedkin	Stephen Kandell	March 22, 1967 (1967-03-22)	226
55	27	"Casanova from Canarsie"	Hal Cooper	Rick Mittleman	March 29, 1967 (1967-03-29)	227
56	28	"Cops and Robbers"	Christian Nyby	Jerry Ludwig	April 12, 1966 (1966-04-12)	228

Culp as writer

Co-star Culp wrote the scripts for seven episodes (one of which he also directed), including the show's first broadcast episode, "So Long, Patrick Henry." In the Sixties it was exceedingly rare for an actor in a dramatic series to write scripts for, much less direct, their own show. Prior to joining I Spy, Culp wrote a pilot script for a proposed series in which he would have played an American character like James Bond. He took the script to his friend Carl Reiner, who recommended he meet with Sheldon Leonard, who was in the midst of creating I Spy. This script was eventually rewritten by Culp and produced as the episode "The Tiger." In the DVD audio commentary for the "Home to Judgment" episode, Culp reveals that his seven episodes were the only ones filmed exactly as written. He wrote them to establish a specific dramatic tone and level of quality for the other writers to follow. Nevertheless, Culp and Cosby were dissatisfied with the often frivolous and formulaic scripts they received and rewrote most of their dialog and improvised a great deal during filming.

Awards and nominations

• First-time actor Bill Cosby won three consecutive Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series in 1966, 1967 and 1968 (becoming the first African-American male actor to do so). Robert Culp was also nominated in the same category for all three seasons of I Spy.
• Eartha Kitt, who played a drug-addicted cabaret singer in "The Loser" (written by Culp), was nominated in 1966 for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Single Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Drama.
• In 1967 Culp was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Writing Achievement in a Drama for his third-season script "Home to Judgment."
• In addition to writing the theme music, Earle Hagen composed an original musical score for many episodes of the series, often flavored with the ethnic music of the Far East, Mexico or the Caribbean. Hagen received Emmy nominations for all three seasons of the show and won for the "Laya" episode in 1968.
• I Spy won as "Best Dramatic Series" at the 1967 Golden Globe Awards for its 1966-1967 season.

Remakes

In I Spy Returns (1994), a nostalgic television movie (and unsold pilot episode for a new series), Culp and Cosby reprised their roles as Robinson and Scott for the first time since 1968. The original opening title sequence is reused with no changes other than the addition of the word 'Returns' beneath 'I Spy' and a new arrangement of the theme music. Cosby was the executive producer. Here, Robinson has become director of the agency, while Scott has left the business. However, the aging agents have to leap into action once again, this time to keep an eye on their children, Bennett Robinson (George Newbern) and Nicole Scott (Salli Richardson-Whitfield) who are now operatives. This was shown as a "CBS Movie Special" on February 3, 1994.

Culp again reprised the role of Kelly Robinson during a dream sequence in a 1999 episode of Bill Cosby's series, Cosby, entitled "My Spy." Cosby's character falls asleep while watching I Spy on television and dreams he's caught up in an espionage adventure. With Cosby's name replaced with that of his character here, Hilton Lucas, the old title sequence was again faithfully recreated.

A movie remake, also titled I Spy, followed in 2002 with Eddie Murphy and Owen Wilson. In this iteration, the character names are reversed, so Alexander Scott (Wilson) is now the white secret agent and Kelly Robinson (Murphy) the black athlete, now a boxer. The film was initially a commercial and critical failure. In his 2009 Movie Guide, film critic Leonard Maltin describes the film as an "In-name-only reincarnation of the smart 1960s TV show.... An object lesson in bad screenwriting, with an incoherent story, and characters that make no sense."

The original television series and the 1994 reunion movie are both available on DVD. Episodes 1-25 of the first season of the television series are also available on Joost and all 82 episodes are available on Videosurf, from the DMGI Classics channel, and can be streamed on Hulu.

Get Smart, the spy-spoof television series, did a parody of the show in the 1968 episode titled "Die Spy". In this, agent Maxwell Smart (Don Adams) pretends to be an international table-tennis champion. The episode faithfully recreates the theme music, montage graphics, and back-and-forth banter between Robinson and Scott—with actor/comedian Stu Gilliam imitating Cosby. Robert Culp makes an uncredited cameo appearance as an inebriated Turkish waiter.

Merchandising

Original novels, comic books, and reference books

File:ISpyNovel.jpg

Bill Cosby and Robert Culp on the cover of this 1960s paperback based upon the series

A number of original novels based upon the series were published, most written in the mid-to-late 1960s by Walter Wager under the pseudonym "John Tiger." The I Spy novels were published by Popular Library:

• I Spy (1965, no book series number on cover)
• I SPY #2: Masterstroke (1966)
• I SPY #3: Superkill (1967)
• I SPY #4: Wipeout (1967)
• I SPY #5: Countertrap (1967)
• I SPY #6: Doomdate (1967)
• I SPY #7: Death-Twist (1968)

The following tie-ins, not by Wager, were also published.

• Message From Moscow (1966) by Brandon Keith. This was a hardcover novel published for young readers by Whitman.
• I Spy (2002) by Max Allan Collins - novelization of the motion picture remake

Gold Key Comics also published six issues of an I Spy comic book between 1966 and 1968.

• I Spy: A History and Episode Guide to the Groundbreaking Television Series by Marc Cushman

Soundtracks

Unlike many television series of the time, every episode of I Spy received an original score - as was the case with the other shows from Sheldon Leonard, like The Andy Griffith Show and The Dick Van Dyke Show. Earle Hagen, Leonard's regular composer, wrote the main theme and scored most of the episodes (collaborating on three with Carl Brandt; Hugo Friedhofer, Nathan Van Cleave, Robert Drasnin and Shorty Rogers also wrote music for the series). During the show's run, two albums of re-recorded music composed (except where indicated) and conducted by Hagen were released.

Music from the Television Series I Spy (Warner Bros. WS-1637):

1. I Spy (1:57)
2. Tatia (3:00)
3. Hi Yo Scotty (2:42)
4. Angel (2:44)
5. Away We Go To Tokyo (2:25)
6. Rickshaw Ride (2:50)
7. Away We Go To Mexico (2:18)
8. Ah So! (2:16)
9. The International Set (2:23)
10. Another Kind Of Blues (2:46)
11. Fiesta Del Sol (2:05)
12. The Wonderfulness of You (2:23)
13. Made In Hong Kong (2:17)

I Spy (Capitol ST-2839):

1. I Spy (2:10)
2. Over The Wall (2:15)
3. Montezuma's Revenge (2:25)
4. Islands In The Sea (3:06)
5. The Golden Age (2:08)
6. The Voice In The Wind (Earle Hagen and Gene Lees) (2:58)
7. To Florence With Love (Hugo Friedhofer) (2:20)
8. Sophia (2:40)
9. Rots Of Ruck (2:20)
10. There's No Escape (3:40)
11. Domingo (2:25)
12. The International Set (2:21)

In 2002 Film Score Monthly released a limited-edition disc of original soundtrack music from the series.

1. "So Long Patrick Henry": The Defector/Main Title (1:05)
2. Hong Kong/Elroy (1:25)
3. What's the Trouble? (1:05)
4. Keep Running/You Lose (4:10)
5. That's My Man (1:27)
6. Stop That Plane (2:25)
7. The Whistle Blows (2:14)
8. "007" (:45)
9. End Title (:52)
10. "The Time Of The Knife": Tokyo/Jean and Kelly/Jean's Pad/Trailing (6:19)
11. Oops, the Troops!/Away We Go/Shiftycraft/Dead for Real (3:32)
12. "Turkish Delight": Away We Go to Mexico/Bye Bye Scotty/Rapido/On the Road Again/Trunk Store/Chicken Hearts/Lt Hernandez (5:14)
13. Taxi Tour (2:01)
14. Japanese Trick/Parting Is Such Sweet Sorrow/How About That/Babe, With Rocks (5:15)
15. End Title (:38)
16. "The Warlord": Burma/The Chase/And On and On/Of Some Value (9:14)
17. My Lord/She Is Chinese (4:47)
18. Prelude to Dreamsville/The General Dies (4:12)
19. Down the River (1:55)
20. "Mainly On The Plains": The Plaza/Main Title (3:19)
21. Don Silvando/Blonde Gothic/Travelin'/Sighted (3:37)
22. Don Quixote II/Attack/Upsy Daisy (4:45)
23. My Professor, the Nut/Wild Stuff/Goodbye Crooks (3:55)
24. Don Strikes/So Long, Don (2:41)
25. End Title (:38)

Syndication and home video

The underlying rights to the original series are now owned by independent film company Peter Rodgers Organization, Ltd. (PRO), but original production company Triple F Productions remains the copyright holder.

Selected episodes of the series were made available on VHS in North America in the early 1990s.

Image Entertainment released the complete series on DVD in Region 1 in 2002, initially in a series of single-disc volumes (each with four episodes), which were later compiled into three box sets. The episodes were not presented in any particular order. In addition, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment released the 1994 reunion made-for-TV film on DVD in Region 1 on October 8, 2002. This release has been discontinued and is now out of print.

In April 2008, Image/PRO reissued the series, this time organized in order of original broadcast, in three box sets, one for each season. This includes Robert Culp's bonus audio commentary on four episodes that he wrote (originally issued in 2002 on a single DVD called The Robert Culp Collection). As of 2012, these releases have been discontinued and are now out of print.

On March 7, 2014, it was announced that Timeless Media Group had acquired the rights to the series in Region 1 and will be releasing a complete series set on June 24, 2014.

In Region 4, Umbrella Entertainment has released all 3 seasons on DVD in Australia.

DVD Name	Ep #	Release Date
		Region 1	Region 4
I Spy Returns	1	October 8, 2002	N/A
I Spy Season 1	28	April 29, 2008	September 1, 2007
I Spy Season 2	28	April 29, 2008	December 1, 2007
I Spy Season 3	26	April 29, 2008	December 15, 2008
The Complete Series	82	June 24, 2014

Syndication

In 2011, I Spy aired twice a day, six days a week, on FamilyNet. The series also airs in the United States on broadcast television channels Retro Television Network and the Soul of the South Network. In 2015, reruns of I Spy were pulled by the Aspire and Cozi TV networks as a result of allegations of sexual assault by Cosby.

Other uses

I Spy was also the title of a short-lived thriller series starring Raymond Massey that aired in 1956.

See also

• James Bond
• Spy film
• Danger Man aka Secret Agent
• Honey West
• The Avengers
• The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
• The Saint

External links

• I Spy at IMDb
• I Spy at TV.com
• I Spy: The Series
• Museum of Broadcast Communications
• I, Spy Fanfiction Archive
• I SPY: A History to the Groundreaking Television Series, info on 2007 book
• Official Bill Cosby Site
• Official Robert Culp Site
• theconsummateculp.com/i-spy
• Sound samples of the TV series score