Robert Culp and Bill Cosby were the hippest cold warriors on 1960s TV, swinging spies who joshed, joked, and goofed like old chums between tight situations and cloak-and-dagger cases. They didn't merely make the world safe... more » for democracy; they effectively broke the color barrier by giving us black and white partners as both friends and equals. The first DVD collection of episodes includes a pair of unrelated stories from late in the series. "A Few Miles West of Nowhere," directed by Arthur Marks (Detroit 9000), pits the boys against rural small-town godfather Andrew Duggan, a bully who turns the town into club-wielding vigilantes poisoned against all outsiders, especially government officials. Richard Kiel (Jaws from the James Bond films) costars as a giant half-wit who Duggan turns into a hateful henchman. "The Trouble with Temple," directed by Tom Gries (Helter Skelter), brings the boys to Spain where they investigate actor Jack Cassidy, who is suspected of smuggling state secrets, and meet not-so-dumb blonde Carol Wayne, Cassidy's sweet, smart, neglected girlfriend. "Temple" brims over with character at the expense of its espionage plot but delightfully breaks genre expectations, while "Nowhere" rather lazily falls into cliché. Ultimately, it's Culp's charm, Cosby's comic understatement, and the duo's loose patter and easy camaraderie that make these both thoroughly enjoyable episodes. --Sean Axmaker« less
Actors:Bill Cosby, Robert Culp Director:I Spy Genres:Action & Adventure, Television Sub-Genres:Action & Adventure, Classic TV Studio:Image Entertainment Format:DVD - Color,Full Screen DVD Release Date: 04/29/2008 Original Release Date: 01/01/1965 Theatrical Release Date: 00/00/1965 Release Year: 2008 Run Time: 23hr 49min Screens: Color,Full Screen Number of Discs: 5 SwapaDVD Credits: 5 Total Copies: 1 Members Wishing: 0 Edition: Box set MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated) Languages:English See Also:
"I don't intend to focus on the series, which is excellent, in this review. What I want to center on is the lousy packaging of the Newly Remastered version of I Spy by Image Entertainment. The previous release of I Spy, in 2002-03, had each season boxed in seven separate cases. The new release uses those multi-disc cases and the ones selected by Image are as cheap as they come. Not only did pieces of the cases break apart during shipping, leaving the DVDs to rattle around loosely, damaging them. But the interior flip holder broke away as well. I bought seasons 1, 2, and 3 from Amazon, and they were all like this. It isn't Amazon's fault. They could have shipped the order twenty times and Image's shoddy packaging would have yielded the same result everytime.
I have been a long time customer of Image Entertainment, going back to laserdisc days. But I shall never buy another product from them again and risk its mailing to me in such cheap, unacceptable cases. They saved a penny and lost a customer. Real stupid in these economic times to treat your customers like gum on your shoe, instead of gold. When I attempted to contact Image, their email for customer inquiries was dead. I telephoned them and they didn't want to hear about the problem. They REFUSED to take my name and telephone number."
Tennis anywhere?
Gregg A. Gendiellee | Reno, NV USA | 02/08/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This review covers all three seasons of "I Spy." Having never seen the complete first season during the 1960s, I was quite impressed with the quality of the scripts, Bill Cosby's acting-this was his first serious acting work after his brilliant start in stand-up comedy-and the overall sense of fun which this series possessed. Culp and Cosby played brilliantly off of each others' styles. Anyone who remembers the show would appreciate having this series in their collection. Anyone too young to remember the series should give it a try; great guest stars, solid storylines and the prototype for many series to follow are all here."
I SPY - SEASON 1
Greek | USA | 03/02/2010
(5 out of 5 stars)
"THE BEST!!!!!!!! SEASON 1-3 BUY THM ALL YOU WILL BE VERY HAPPY YOU ALL DID!!!!!!!!THE COMEDY SIDE IS GREAT TOO!!!!!!! ENJOY EVERYBODY!!!"
A new series to me
Deanna Dematteo | Palmdale, CA | 07/14/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I love the old shows but I only remember seeing one episode of I Spy when I was a kid. My love though is Robert Kulp. I absolutely loved him on the Columbo shows and on The Greatest American Hero. I also have a few comedy LPs for Bill Cosby so I figured why not. I'm very happy with this "new" series. I don't understand why I don't remember any of the episodes except for one when I was a kid (maybe it was up against another show). I definitely missed out. A James Bondish type of series."
It's region-free !!!!
Ioannis Glentzes | 04/10/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Weird title for a review but helpful for all europeans (like me). The disks are region-free and play just fine on every dvd player.
As for the show itself, it's fantastic. I tried it just because of the price and the 2 leading actors and i wasn't dissapointed. I had watched the 1st season of "The man from U.N.C.L.E" before the that and i pretty much hated it. Thankfully "I,spy" is a vastly superior show with real and subtle humor (not the silliness of "the man..."), good stories (if a bit dated but that's to be expected) , great acting and fantstic production values.
Bill Cosby is great and very serious in his role while Robert Cult impresses not only with his solid acting but with the way he moves around the scenery. The guy seems like he is a gymnastics' athlete in some action scenes.
The picture quality is a mixed bag. On the one hand the restoration is good and the picture is quite sharp and vivid and looks great on a good upscaler. On the other hand there are many dirty spots which might bother some people (not me).
For this price this set is a real bargain with many hours of entertainment. I definately plan on buying the remaining 2 seasons."