My Favourite TV: The Man from U.N.C.L.E
Like most great TV from our past this show did not age well. Running from 1964-1968 for a total of 105 episodes this rather camp and self-knowing spy drama thrilled me throughout my formative years (actually seeing the transmission dates I can’t help wondering if I watched the re-runs).
The reason I was reminded of this not so great show (despite its favourite status) was the fact that I had the movie DVD box set bought for me this Christmas. On a weekly basis I dutifully watched 5 Man from U.N.C.L.E films. I must admit that they were almost uniformly bad. I don’t mean questionable… I mean really bad. The scripts were laughable, the acting universally poor and the effects often downright embarrassing. Yet I loved this show so much! I’m not sure whether it shows how much my taste has matured or just how undiscerning I was as a child. For several years I really wanted to be either Napoleon Solo or more often Illya Kuryakin (as I was blonde back then) – and that was before I noticed girls much so couldn't have been entranced by that aspect. If only life were that simple [laughs].
Anyway, that’s one of my more embarrassing TV secrets. Though I’m not entirely sure if it’s my worst…..
6 comments:
Don't feel bad, we enjoy the most bizarre things as children. I recently downloaded a song I grew up listening to and loved as a child, and it turns out it has the most vapid lyrics and simpleton tune ever. It's "That's Where I Went Wrong" by The Poppy Family if you want to listen to it. Maybe that song had something to do with me becoming a feminist, maybe my psyche snapped after listening to the whining over and over of a girl done wrong yet she blamed herself. LOL
I've never seen this, but I'll take your word on it and avoid! We're all fairly undiscerning as children - I mean, I used to love Knight Rider! Actually, I blogged about this a while back. I can actually predict reasonably well whether stuff I liked and thought highly of a long time ago is actually good or not before I revisit them.
What I find amusing is how some people refuse to acknowledge that the stuff they liked as kids is sometimes garbage. There's nothing wrong with liking stuff, but believing it to be well made and worth watching for reasons other than nostalgia just because you like it is plain silly!
It's always a bad idea to go back and watch old shows. I can't believe that I used to watch Gilligan's Island religiously and find it hillarious. I do vaguely remember watching the Man from U.N.C.L.E. On the other hand, I recently saw Bewitched again and was impressed by a lot of the human and puns. (And Samantha now strikes as much more of a hottie! It's strange to see a Western movie star without all of the plastic surgury fixes that distort a person's natural features.)
V V said: Don't feel bad, we enjoy the most bizarre things as children.
True. Even though I recognise MfU to be rather bad TV I still have a soft spot for it - or maybe a soft spot for what it representated.
AM said: There's nothing wrong with liking stuff, but believing it to be well made and worth watching for reasons other than nostalgia just because you like it is plain silly!
Ah... Star Wars you mean?
Karlo said: It's always a bad idea to go back and watch old shows. I can't believe that I used to watch Gilligan's Island religiously and find it hillarious.
A few of our cable channels show re-runds from the 70's and 80's which I remembered enjoying. Watching them now is a cringe worthy experience.
Karlo said: On the other hand, I recently saw Bewitched again and was impressed by a lot of the human and puns. (And Samantha now strikes as much more of a hottie!
Oh... I *always* thought that Sam was a hottie [grin]
I don't know how I missed that when I was 6.
Strange to say, this was NOT a show I watched when it was first on or in it's sybdication re-runs. I woul love to see an episode or two now that you've said it was so bad....LOL! I don't think I will go to a lot of trouble to do this though....LOL!
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