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In 1964, two years after James Bond first shot up the movies, an American counterpart arrived to take a stab at television success. With input from Bond’s creator, Ian Fleming, Napoleon Solo (Robert Vaughn) emerged as The Man from U.N.C.L.E., taking on the sinister forces of the less than menacingly-titled evil organization T.H.R.U.S.H., along with a host of other ne’er-do-wells. While later seasons began to lean on satire and camp, the first year plays it straight, ending up an enjoyable if not completely original take on the spy-vs.-spy genre.
Like Bond, Solo was intended to work alone (hence the oh-so-subtle name), but early episodes featuring Ukrainian agent Illya Kuryakin (David McCallum) proved so successful with viewers that Kuryakin became a permanent fixture and Solo’s full-time partner. Under the guidance of U.N.C.L.E. head honcho Waverly (Leo G. Carroll), Solo and Kuryakin employed a variety of espionage techniques to protect the innocent and generally screw up whatever evil plans might be afoot.
Creator Sam Rolfe aimed for a slightly less bombastic tone than the Bond films, a wise idea given the constraints of television. From the opening sequence that introduces the three main characters and the secret U.N.C.L.E. headquarters in New York, there’s a refreshing matter-of-factness that goes along with some of the more insane ideas that audiences expect to encounter in a spy thriller. An early episode includes Solo and Kuryakin attempting to thwart a former Nazi scientist who wants to revive a cryogenically frozen Adolph Hitler. Plots like that do lend credence towards seeing The Man from U.N.C.L.E. as a parody, but the cast and creators play it just straight enough to preserve a lighthearted feel without turning the whole story into a joke.
A big part of that comes from the work of Vaughn and McCallum as the slightly odd-couple agents. The suave, self-assured, and fairly ruthless Solo works best when compared to the colder and more philosophical Kuryakin. The actors play well off each other and the numerous guest stars to keep the plots moving along at a good clip—and with enough humor to keep things interesting. It’s not as flashy as its big screen counterpart, but it’s effective enough.
The variety of guest stars that show up during the season deserves some mention as well, as familiar faces turn up in some fairly unexpected places. While guys like Robert Culp and Martin Balsam add some nice touches as villains and agents, the most surprising has to be the episode that includes William Shatner as an exterminator who’s caught up in an unexpected game of mistaken identities and double-crosses between U.N.C.L.E. and members of the Soviet diplomatic team—which happens to include an assistant played by Leonard Nimoy.
The first season of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. isn’t likely to satisfy those going for an action fix or the kind of satire that the show indulged in later seasons. It’s a little too deliberate and reserved for those kinds of shenanigans. Instead, it offers a gentlemanly game of espionage with just a hint of a smirk, and for somebody like Napoleon Solo, that’s all you need.
