I Spy on DVD

No, not the horrible Owen Wilson/Eddie Murphy imbroglio of last summer, but the original TV series starring Robert Culp and Bill Cosby. Image Entertainment has released all three seasons of the show in three seven-disc sets, which run about $60 each. The big question is, does the show hold up?

Actually, it does -- in most respects. I Spy was unusual among television espionage shows in that its protagonists did not battle a shadow conspiracy. Its world was quite realistic, and so were the concerns of its protagonists, Kelly Robinson (Culp) and Alexander Scott (Cosby). The two worked in a realistic Cold War universe and they had successes, failures, doubts, and misgivings.

The show's first two seasons were shot primarily in exotic places; the first season in Hong Kong and Asian locales, the second season mainly in Greece, Spain, and other Mediterranean settings. (NBC News teams around the world created a lot of the footage.)

But the crux of I Spy was the relationship between Robinson and Scott. Cosby set the tone, employing an extremely laid-back delivery that seemed revolutionary in contrast with most TV acting of the era, and Culp picked up on it and matched him with a similar deadpan cool. The scripts (mainly written by Culp) matched this concern with the personal and many-featured storylines about the toll that the shadow war took on its participants.

I Spy was the first network drama that featured an African-American in a leading role, but Cosby was determined from the beginning to downplay the racial angle. Alexander Scott was chosen for his job because he was the best man for it. Other actors of color were also featured, but I Spy was color-blind when it came to casting -- heroes and villains of all races were featured. As a result, the episodes hold up well today; there are no "big" messages or predictably noble black men.

In fact, the only problem with the DVDs is the condition of the video masters, which is quite variable and bordering on the noisy. There are lots of "pepper flakes" and white lines showing, but rather than finding this distracting, I took it as proof of authenticity. You may feel differently.

The sound, of course, is TV mono -- adequate, but far from impressive.

Even with those minor caveats, I loved seeing these shows again. It was refreshing to see how well Cosby handled himself and reassuring to learn that at least one of the shows I remembered fondly from my youth has withstood the test of time.

Now, how about a season-by-season breakdown of Have Gun Will Travel?

...Wes Phillips
wes@onhometheater.com

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