Boy I sure did like that show

[giantsloth]

And I still do. Robert Culp died yesterday. Tonight I mixed myself a martini and watched an episode of I SPY, the show that he and Bill Cosby starred in for three seasons in the 1960s. I watched "Home to Judgment," which Culp also wrote, probably the darkest and grittiest episode of the series. And that was how I said goodbye to this guy I never

Comments

[snurri]

I knew Culp from "The Greatest American Hero," and I have never watched "I Spy" (though I did read some of the comics that one of my uncles had). But you have now convinced me to finally watch it.

[giantsloth]

Looks like it's up for free at Hulu: http://www.hulu.com/i-spy. I'm not sure where I'd suggest you begin. It is still an artifact of the mid-60s. Plotting is nowhere near as complicated as today's best shows. Gender issues are exactly what you'd expect. Race issues beyond the Cosby/Culp relationship aren't always the greatest, either--there's an episode that Culp directed where he also plays a warlord in full Fu Manchu drag and accent. Maybe check out something from the first season, as that's when they had the biggest travel budget for the location shots.

[oracne]

I didn't get to see the show until long after it aired, but the chemistry between the two leads still holds up.