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I Spy, anyone?

brianluxbrianlux Posts: 41,725
edited June 2011 in All Encompassing Trip
A while back I mentioned to my wife how much I used to like the show "I Spy" with Bill Cosby and Robert Culp. She'd never seen it so when I came across a good deal on the DVD set of the first season, I picked it up. The series premiere can be viewed with commentary by Robert Culp. He doesn't talk about the episode itself, but rather the creation of the series itself. Culp talks about how ground breaking "I Spy" was in those days, matching up and black and a white guy together on a series. At first, one of the producers wanted the emphasis to be 75% Culp, 25% Cosby but Culp, Cosby and others involved said, "No way- it's got to be 50/50". Culp also talks about the risks they took in making the show more real than, say, the James Bond films (and 007 is cleverly referenced in the first episode!) and by introducing contemporary current issue topics- race relations, that sort of thing. Very cool! I never knew any of this when they first came out (I was a young teenager and just thought the guys were cool). Culp also mentioned that the freedom to take those kinds of risks is not there today. (Bummer!)

Great show!

(Also, I hadn't realized Culp has passed away in March, 2010. Kudos and R.I.P. Mr. Culp.)
“The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man [or woman] who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.”
Variously credited to Mark Twain or Edward Abbey.













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