Be Seeing You, Patrick McGoohan

"Mel (Gibson) will always be Mad Max, and me, I will always be a number." (Patrick McGoohan)

One of the greatest actors to ever grace the small screen had died. Patrick McGoohan, who played John Drake, Number Six, and Dr. Sid Rafferty, passed yesterday at the age of 80.

Patrick McGoohan was born to Irish parents in Astoria, New York on March 19, 1998. It was only a few months later that his parents returned to Ireland where McGoohan spent his early years. When he was about seven the family moved to Sheffield, England. During World War II he was evacuated to Loughborough, Leicestershire. It was there in that he attended Sheffield College.

McGoohan left school when he was sixteen, working in a number of different jobs before becoming a stage manager at Sheffield Repertory Theatre. It was there that he began his career in acting when one of the actors was ill. It was in 1954 that McGoohan made his television debut, in an episode of You Are There. He made his debut on the West End, in Serious Change, in 1955. He also appeared in Orson Welles' York production of Moby Dick Rehearsed. That same year he made his motion picture debut in an uncredited part in The Dam Busters. For the next several years McGoohan was cast in small parts in such films as I Am a Camera, The Dark Avenger, and Zarak. He also appeared on television in guest spots on the shows The Adventures of Sir Lancelot and Assignment Foreign Legion. McGoohan was signed to Rank Organisation, who cast him in Hell Divers and The Gypsy and the Gentleman. McGoohan and the management of the Rank Organisation would come to head, and their contract would ended after only a few films. During this period McGoohan continued to appear in stage, among the Ibsen play Brand in 1959.

Fortunately for McGoohan, the role that would bring him fame was waiting right around the corner. After receiving nominations for Best Actor of the Year for his part in Brand and Best Television Actor of the Year for his part in "The Greatest Man in the World (an episode of Armchair Theatre), McGoohan really began to attract attention. Lord Lew Grade then approached him about the lead in a new television series, Danger Man. Originally John Drake would not have been very different from James Bond, carrying a gun and having a free and easy attitude towards women. McGoohan insisted on changes to the character, dictating that he would not carry a gun and he would never, ever kiss a woman, let alone anything else. The initial run of Danger Man proved to be a hit in the United Kingdom, cut short only because it failed to find similar success in the United States.

Following the first run of Danger Man, McGoohan appeared in the movies All Night Long and Life for Ruth, among others. He turned down both the roles of Simon Templar in The Saint and James Bond in Dr. No. He continued to appear on stage and also appeared in two works for Walt Disney. The first was a three part mini-series adaptation of Dr. Syn. The second was the movie The Three Lives of Thomasina. Both were among the favourite work he had done. It was afterwards that Lord Lew Grade asked Patrick McGoohan to once more appear as John Drake in a new run of Danger Man. The once half hour series was expanded to an hour, and the new series proved even more popular than the original. It even found success in the United States under the title of Secret Agent.

Having played John Drake for quite some time, Patrick McGoohan tired of the role. He then approached Lord Lew Grade about an idea for a series he had. That idea became the TV show The Prisoner. It would prove to be the most successful series on which McGoohan ever worked, developing a cult following world wide. It was so successful in fact that Patrick McGoohan, once best known as John Drake, would forever be remembered as Number Six (although many fans insist they are one and the same).

Following The Prisoner McGoohan appeared in the movies Ice Station Zebra, The Moonshine War, and Mary, Queen of Scots. He appeared in a guest apperance on the TV series Columbo (for which he won an Emmy) and in the film Un Genio, due compari, un pollo. In 1977 he appeared in the TV series Rafferty as the title character, a retired army doctor many consider a forerunner to Gregory House. Over the next several years McGoohan appeared in the films Brass Target, Scanners, Kings and Desperate Men, and Tresspasses. In 1985 he appeared on Broadway, in the play Pack of Lies. In the Nineties his most notable role may have been in the film Braveheart. While historically inaccurate to the point of slandering King Edward I, there can be no doubt that Patrick McGoohan did a good job in the role as written. In 2000 he reprised his role as Number Six in an episode of The Simpsons.

I must confess that among the eulogies I have written in this blog (which have been far too many of late), this has been among the most difficult for me to write. Patrick McGoohan had an impact on my life that few actors or other artists ever have. I remember well watching him as Dr. Christopher Syn in "The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh" as a child on The Wonderful World of Disney. I remember when I was just a little older watching him in Danger Man and The Prisoner. For me he was among the greatest actors to ever appear on television. There can be no doubt that he was versatile. One can simply look at the variety of roles he played to prove that. He played the cool, collected, and highly principled John Drake and Number Six (who may nor may not be the same character). He played the veterinarian who shuns sentimentality, only to have his spirit rekindled by a cat in The Three Lives of Thomasina. He played the unprincipled, power hungry King Edward in Braveheart (which was as far from the historical Edward Longshanks as one could get, but McGoohan did it well). Not only was Patrick McGoohan very versatile, but there is very little in which he appeared that I did not like. He seemed to have a bit of an instinct in finding good scripts much of the time, from the TV show Danger Man to the movie Mary, Queen of Scots. Whether as an actor or co-creator of The Prisoner, he certainly left his mark on film history.

As to myself, I cannot deny that Patrick McGoohan left his mark on me as well. He was among the first actors of whom I can really say I was aware. I have admired him since childhood. And I must admit that the principles he displayed as both Number Six and John Drake made me want to be a better person. At his passing I find myself very, very sad.

Don Galloway R.I.P.

Actor Don Galloway, best known for playing Detective Sergeant Ed Brown on Ironside, passed on January 8 following a stroke. He was 71 years old.

Don Galloway was born on July 27, 1937 in Brooksville, Kentucky. Following high school he served in the United States Army and was stationed in Germany. In 1961 he graduated from the University of Kentucky with a degree in drama. Following college he moved to New York City. It was in 1962 that he appeared in the off-Broadway play Bring Me a Warm Body, for which he won a Theatre World Award. It was not long afterwards that he would become a regular on the CBS soap opera The Secret Storm.

Galloway swiftly moved to acting in primetime television shows. He guest starred on the series The Alfred Hitchcock Hour and Arrest and Trial before being cast as the lead in the short lived NBC sitcom Tom, Dick, and Mary (part of the umbrella title 30 Bristol Court). Following the demise of that show, he guest starred on Wagon Train, Convoy, The Virginian, and Run For Your Life.

Ironside debuted in the fall of 1967, with Don Galloway playing Chief of Detectives Robert T. Ironside's sidekick, Detective Sergeant Ed Brown. Galloway remained with it the long running series until it went off the air in 1975. After Ironside went off the air, Galloway guested on such shows as Get Christie Love, Marcus Welby M.D., Charlie's Angels, Hart to Hart, Fantasy Island, Hunter, and MacGyver. He was a regular on the series Hizzonner and the daytime soap General Hospital (from 1985 to 1987).

Galloway also appeared in movies. He co-starred with Jimmy Stewart in the 1967 film The Rare Breed. In the late Sixties he appeared in the movies Gunfight in Abilene, Ride to Hangman's Tree, Rough Night in Jericho, Once Upon a Time in the West, and The Vendors. Galloway made no movies in the Seventies, although he would appear in movies from the Eighties into the Nineties such as Satan's Mistress, The Big Chill, Two Moon Junction, Clifford, and The Doom Generation.

I always thought that Don Galloway never quite received his due as an actor. In his career he played everything from the criminal Jamie Bowen in The Rare Breed to Virgil Earp on Wagon Train. His eight season stint on Ironside demonstrated that he was certainly effective as a leading man on a television series. Sadly, he never played lead in a hit series following Ironside. Given his talent, that seems a grave injustice.

Former Mouseketeer Cheryl Holdridge Passes On

Cheryl Holdridge, one of the Mouseketeers on the original Mickey Mouse Club, passed on January 6 after fighting lung cancer for two years. She was 64 years old.

Cheryl Holdridge was born Cheryl Lynn Phelps in New Orleans on June 20, 1944. Her mother Julie Phelps, a former dancer on Broadway, moved to Burbank, California while she was still young. In 1950 her mother married Herbert Holdridge, who adopted Cheryl in 1953. She was only nine years old when she was picked to perform for the New York City Ballet Company's Los Angeles production of The Nutcracker Suite. Prior to The Mickey Mouse Club Holdridge had appeared in an unbilled, bit part in the movie adaptation of Carousel.

Holdridge auditioned for The Mickey Mouse Club in the spring of 1956, and joined the show in its second season. Holdridge was swiftly included in the core group of The Mickey Mouse Club because she was a skilled dancer and she was also immensely popular. Her fan mail nearly matched that of Annette Funicello.

Holdridge had a fairly healthy career following the demise of The Mickey Mouse Club in 1959. She appeared in an uncredited part in the movie A Summer Place. She also guest starred on such shows as Westinghouse Playhouse, Bachelor Father, Bringing Up Baby, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, and The Rilfeman. For a time she was a semi-regular on Leave It to Beaver, playing Wally's girlfriend Julie Foster. Cheryl played Betty in the unsold pilot Life with Archie, based on the Archie Comics character. She also guest starred on The Dick Van Dyke Show, Dr. Kildare, My Three Sons, and Bewitched. Holdridge left acting in 1964 after she got married. After the deaths of her husbands, Cheryl would guest star on Still the Beaver (as Julie Foster) and the movie The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas.

I was not even born when the original Mickey Mouse Club first aired, but I remember Cheryl Holdridge from her many guest appearances. In fact, I remember her very well from The Rifleman episode "A Young Man's Fancy," in which she played the object of Mark's affections, and from the Bewitched episode "The Girl Reporter," in which a young reporter pursued Darrin after her boyfriend developed a crush on Samantha. Holdridge played both parts very convincingly. It is perhaps because of her talent that Holdridge had a very good career following The Mickey Mouse Club, unlike many of her fellow Mouseketeers. If she had not retired from show business to get married in 1964, who knows how far her career might have gone.

Ron Asheton Passes On

Ron Asheton, songwriter and guitarist for The Stooges, passed on Janurary 6. He was 60 years old.

Ron Asheton was born in Washington D.C. on July 17, 1948. He started playing accordion at age five. He took up guitar at age 10. It was in 1967 that Asheton formed The Stooges with brother Scott (the drummer), and James Osterberg (the singer--soon to be famous as Iggy Pop). Originally called The Psychedelic Stooges, a name which would change shortly. They often played with garage rock/protopunk band MC5. In 1969, they released their first album The Stooges. The band had few hits, although they developed a cult following. The Stooges broke up in 1974.

Following the initial breakup of The Stooges, Asheton formed the band The New Order (not to be confused with the British band). After the collapse of The New Order, Asheton then played with Destroy All Monsters. He also played with the short lived Australian band New Race. During the Nineties he was part of the band Dark Carnival. In more recent years he performed with Mark Arm of Mudhoney, J. Mascis (of Dinosaur Jr.), Thurston Moore (of Sonic Youth), and Mike Watt (of The Minutemen) under the name The Wylde Rattz. He also played with The Stooges again in the Naughts.

While the average person may not have heard of Ron Asheton, he was a pioneer in rock music. Had it not been for Ron Asheton and The Stooges, punk rock might never have existed. His raucous, dirty guitar influenced punk guitarists ever since. It was the raw, unrehearsed energy of The Stooges which would provide the cornerstone for punk music. And the source of much of that raw energy was Ron Asheton. Rock 'n' roll certainly would not have been the same without him.

Pat Hingle R.I.P.

Character actor Pat Hingle, who appeared in everything from The Andy Griffith Show to Clint Eastwood movies, passed on January 3 from myelodysplasia. He was 84 years old.

Pat Hingle was born Martin Patterson Hingle on July 19. 1924 in Miami, Florida. He was only six years old when his father abandoned his family. Hingle's mother had to move from place to place finding what work she could. Hingle attended the University of Texas as an advertising major, but dropped out in 1941 Hingle to join the United States Navy. He served aboard the U.S.S. Marshall. Following the war he returned to the University of Texas. While he initially became involved with the theatre department as a means of meeting girls, he soon learned that acting was what he wanted to do. In college he appeared in over 35 plays over a three year period. After graduation Hingle moved to New York where he acted on stage and in television. He made his debut on television in the 1951 episode of Suspense entitled "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde." He made his debut on Broadway in 1954 in a part in the play End as a Man. That same year he made his first appearance on film in an uncredited role in On the Waterfront.

Pat Hingle would have a long career on the Broadway stage. Hingle was a regular on Broadway throughout the Fifties and Sixties, appearing in such plays as Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (originating the role of Gooper), The Dark at the Top of the Stairs, J.B. (playing the title role), Blues for Mister Charlie, The Odd Couple (as a replacement for Walter Matthau as Oscar Madison), and Johnny No-Trump. He appeared less frequently on Broadway after 1970, but would go onto appear in such plays as The Selling of the President, and the 1997 revival of 1776.

Hingle also had a very healthy film career. He appeared in the films The Strange One and No Down Payment (both released in 1957). It was while he was in the Broadway play J.B. that he was offered lead role in the film Elmer Gantry. Hingle lost the role down after accidentally plummeting 54 feet down an elevator shaft, fracturing his skull, one of his wrists, and many of his ribs. In the Sixties he appeared in such films as Splendour in the Grass, The Ugly American, Invitation to a Gunfighter, Nevada Smith, Jigsaw, and the Clint Eastwood movie Hang 'Em High. During the Seventies much of Hingle's career was spent in television, but he continued to appear in movies, including WUSA, The Carey Treatment, The Super Cops, Independence (in which he played John Adams), the Clint Eastwood film The Gauntlet, and Norma Rae. In the Eighties he appeared less frequently on film, although he did appear in the movies Going Berserk, Running Brave, the Dirty Harry movie Sudden Impact, The Falcon and the Snowman, and Maximum Overdrive. His most notable role during the Eighties may have been in the 1989 movie Batman, in which he appeared as Commissioner Gordon. He was the only actor besides Michael Gough (as Alfred) to appear in all four movies of the Nineties Batman franchise. Beyond the Nineties Batman movies, from the Nineties to the Naughts Hingle would appear in the films The Grifters, Lightning Jack, The Quick and the Dead, The Hunter's Moon, Muppets in Space, the 2000 version of Shaft, and Waltzing Anna. He played his final role in the movie Undoing Time, released just last year.

While Hingle appeared frequently on stage and in movies, he may be most familiar to viewers from his long career in television. In the Fifties he appeared on such shows as Appointment with Adventure, The Goodyear Television Playhouse, The Phil Silvers Show (AKA Sgt. Bilko), The Philco Television Playhouse, Studio One, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, and The United States Steel Hour. In the Sixties he appeared on such shows as Cain's Hundred, The Untouchables, The Twilight Zone, Route 66, Rawhide, Daniel Boone, The Andy Griffith Show, Mission: Impossible, The Invaders, and Bonanza. Hingle was considered for the role of Artemus Gordon on The Wild Wild West. The role would ultimately go to Ross Martin. Hingle started the Seventies out filling in for Milburn Stone, who played Doc Addams, on Gunsmoke while that actor was ill. For six episodes Hingle played Dr. John Chapman. Throughout the decade he appeared on such shows as Kung Fu, Hec Ramsey, McCloud, Barbary Coast, and Barnaby Jones. From the Eighties into the Naughts, Hingle continued to appear on television, in such shows as M*A*S*H, Hart to Hart, Murder She Wrote, Cheers, Wings, and Homicide. Although he had a long career in television, Hingle played only a few recurring characters in series beyond Dr. Chapman on Gunsmoke. He appeared in recurring roles on Stone (as Chief Paulton), Hail to the Chief (as Lamar Montgomery), and The Court (as Chief Justice Townsend). Hingle also appeared in several telefilms, including The Ballad of Andy Crocker, Tarantulas: The Deadly Cargo, Elvis (as Colonel Parker), Of Mice and Men, The Habitation of Dragons, and Truman (as Boss Pendergast). Hingle also played in the mini-series War and Remembrance (as Admiral Halsey) and The Shining.

Pat Hingle was perhaps best known for playing such authority figures as police officers, judges, politicians, and military officers. In truth this belied his sheer versatility as an actor. In his prolific career Hingle played everything from hard working husband Herman Kreitzer in No Down Payment to the Ugly American Homer Atkins in the movie of the same name to dedicated track coach Bill Easton in Running Brave. Even when he was playing authority figures, he could be very versatile. After all, Pat Hingle didn't simply play dedicated lawman Commissioner Gordon in the Batman franchise, but also the corrupt Judge Adam Fenton in Hang 'Em High. Indeed, it is a mark of Hingle's versatility that he was prolific in three different media--on stage, in film, and on television. Most actors can only boast being a star of one of these. Pat Hingle was a star on all three.

Pulp Illustrator Edd Cartier Passes On

Edd Cartier, who illustrated such legendary pulp magazines as The Shadow and Astounding Science Fiction, passed on December 25, 2008 at the age of 94.

Edd Cartier was born Edward Daniel Cartier in North Bergen, New Jersey in 1914. His father ran the Cartier Saloon in North Bergen. The building which housed the saloon also held a dance hall, gas station, indoor parking garage, machine shop, and watch repair shop. His oldest brother was a mechanic at Teterboro Airport in Bergen County, New Jersey. While young Cartier not only got to fly with aircraft manufacturer Anthony Fokker and aircraft designer Igor Sikorsky, but he knew both Charles Lindbergh and Howard Hughes while young. He developed an interest in art while young. His father let him paint Christmas pictures on the windows of Cartier Saloon.

Cartier attended the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. An instructor there was also an illustrator for Street and Smith, the most largest pulp magazine publisher of the time. Cartier started selling illustrations for $8.00 each to such Street and Smith pulp magazines as Detective Story, Wild Wild West Weekly, and, of course, The Shadow. While he wanted to be a Western artist, upon graduating the Pratt Institute, Cartier found himself illustrating The Shadow following the legendary Tom Lovell. In 1939 John W. Campbell lured Cartier away from The Shadow to the new science fiction magazine Unknown.

Cartier was drafted during World War II. He served as an infantryman and heavy machine gunner for a tank battalion in the European theatre. Wounded in the Battle of the Bulge and later when the hospital train he was on blew up, he was given both a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star. Following the war Cartier returned to Street and Smith. He illustrated Astounding Science Fiction, The Shadow, and Doc Savage. He also illustrated covers for Street and Smith's comic book line, including Red Dragon Comics and Super-Magician Comics. During the Fifties Cartier was the primary illustrator for both the Fantasy Press and Gnome Press. Cartier was also a draughtsman for an engineering company. Starting in the late Fifties he was art director for the Mosstype Corporation for over 25 years.

Edd Cartier was not only one of the last surviving pulp illustrators, but also one of the best. He had a strong style which was put to good use on his noirish illustrations for The Shadow and his more whimsical ones in Astounding Science Fiction and Unknown. He was also very prolific. He did over 800 illustrations for The Shadow, 200 illustrations for Unknown, and 300 for Astounding Science Fiction. His influence was seen on comic book artists such as Mort Meskin, Joe Orlando, and Jerry Robinson, and science fiction/fantasy illustrators such as Frank Kelly Freas. When it came to pulp illustration, Cartier's talent was only matched by a very few.

Spy Shows of the Sixties Part Five

"I will not make any deals with you. I've resigned. I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered. My life is my own." (Number Six,from the episode "Arrival" of The Prisoner)

In American television the spy cycle came to an end in the 1967-1968 season. No new spy series would debut for the entirety of the 1968-1969 season. There were a few spy shows remaining on the air. Sadly, the 1968-1969 season would be a very difficult one for most of them.

One of few exceptions was the series Mission: Impossible. Oddly enough, the 1968-1969 season would be the most successful season Mission: Impossible ever had. That season Mission: Impossible made its only appearance in the top twenty shows for the year, at #11. The series would remain on network television until 1973. At nearly seven seasons, Mission: Impossible was the longest running American spy series, and the second longest spy series in either the United Kingdom or the United States (The Avengers beat it by a few episodes).

Both The Prisoner and The Saint would return as summer replacements. The Prisoner had ended production long ago, but for The Saint this was its last season. Having tired of the role, Roger Moore had decided to leave the show. The final season of The Saint debuted on NBC on April 18, 1969.

Get Smart would also survive the season, although it would not remain on the National Broadcasting Company (NBC). For its fourth season NBC moved Get Smart from the 8:30 Eastern time slot on Saturday to the 8:00 Eastern time slot that same night. While the difference may have only been a half hour, it was enough to seriously hurt the show's ratings. Opposite The Jackie Gleason Show on the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (it would be 25th in the ratings for the whole season) and The Newlywed Game on the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), the ratings for Get Smart dropped so low that NBC cancelled the comedy in February 1969. Fortunately, CBS would pick up the series up almost immediately. Get Smart would survive for one more season on CBS. Get Smart would not be the only spy series to leave the air during the 1969-1970 season. It Takes a Thief was cancelled as well. Fellow spy comedy Hogan's Heroes would be cancelled during the 1970-1971 season, a victim of CBS's effort to revamp its schedule to appeal to younger, more urban audiences.

The Avengers had survived the 1967-1968 season with respectable ratings and as a result appeared on ABC's fall schedule for the first time (previously it served as a summer or mid-season replacement). Unfortunately, turmoil in the production of the show and ABC's unfortunate choice of when to schedule The Avengers would spell its doom. It was in April 1967 that Diana Rigg decided to leave The Avengers. This created a crisis for the production team, who were now faced with replacing the wildly popular Emma Peel. In secret the producers began screen testing actresses to find Diana Rigg's replacement. Among the actresses who were considered were Gabrielle Drake (who would go on to appear in the series UFO), Jane Merrow (who had appeared in the 1963 serial Lorna Doone and Danger Man), and Barbara Steele (who had appeared in the movie 8 1/2).

At the same time that the producers started searching for a replacement for Diana Rigg, it was decided to change the style of the show. Throughout the two Emma Peel series, The Avengers had faced a modern day version of the Hellfire Club, a sentient man eating plant, killer pussycats, and a device which could swap minds. Despite the fact that these episodes had been wildly successful on both sides of the Atlantic, the decision was made to move the show away from fantasy and more towards reality. James Bryce, who had produced the majority of the Cathy Gale run of the show, was hired as the new producer. Brian Clemens (who had developed the show for Sydney Newman) and Albert Fennell, both of who had produced the Emma Peel run of The Avengers, left The Avengers very shortly afterwards, unhappy with the direction the series was taking.

It was after Clemens and Fennell had left that a replacement for Diana Rigg was finally found. Although there are other stories, the most common one is that young actress Linda Thorsson was hired with the approval of Don Boyle, then head of ABC in the United States. Linda Thorsson was cast as Tara King, a young woman fresh from training. As a result, initially Tara was a weaker character than Cathy Gale or Emma Peel ever had been. While Mrs. Gale and Mrs. Peel were rarely in need of rescue, Tara often played the damsel in distress. Eventually, the character was revamped so as to be stronger. Linda Thorsson herself would not have it easy starting out on The Avengers. She was immediately sent to a health resort to lose weight. It was also insisted she dye her hair blonde to offer a contrast to Emma Peel. As a result, her hair fell out and she was forced to wear wigs for several months until her naturally brunette locks grew back. The Avengers was also the first time Linda Thorsson had ever appeared before the camera. She was fresh from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, where she had received no training in acting for television or film.

Producer John Bryce soon had problems of his own. He found himself falling far behind the production schedule, with the contract with ABC in the United States to fill. He had only shot three and a half episodes when Brian Clemens and Albert Fennell were invited back and given total control of the series. Clemens and Fennell reshot one of Bryce's episodes and pitched the rest as unacceptable. To save time, they recycled a script that had been meant for Emma Peel, "Split," as a Tara King episode.

The Avengers could perhaps have survived the turmoil taking place during its production (it had before), had it not been for ABC's fall 1968 schedule. ABC scheduled the series at 7:30 Eastern time on Monday night. This placed it opposite Gunsmoke on CBS (which would rank #6 in the top twenty five shows for the season) and Laugh In on NBC (then the number one show for the season). It was hardly a surprise, then, that ABC announced the cancellation of The Avengers in February 1969. With the necessary money from the United States, The Avengers could not continue in the United Kingdom either. The longest running spy series of all time was over.

Strangely enough, the final series of The Avengers was the first to debut in the United States before it did the United Kingdom. The last season of The Avengers debuted in the United States on September 23, 1968. It would not debut in the United Kingdom until January 12, 1969, only about a month before ABC in the United States cancelled it.

While The Avengers was cancelled due to low ratings, The Wild Wild West would be cancelled for an entirely different reason. Following the assassinations of Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr., the television industry was faced with renewed outcries over violence on television. In previous years at most the networks might cancel some of the more offensive series and then go about their business, but in 1968 the networks actually blinked. Initially the networks severely cut the amount of violence contained in television shows. Whereas once many Westerns had featured massive bar fights, the fights were now restricted to a punch or two. And stunts which had once been acceptable on network television shows, such as falling off a horse in a Western, were even counted as possibly being "violent." Even the gunfight which opened every episode of Gunsmoke was cut in favour of a new opening. Indeed, Harry Castleman and Walter J. Podrazik in their book Watching TV: Six Decades of American Television referred to the 1968-1969 season as "the One Punch Season."

Despite the fact that the networks had dramatically cut the amount of violence in their shows, the public outcry continued unabated. At least two networks then took the next step of cancelling shows which had been criticised for violence. In November 1968 NBC bought the contracts for the Saturday cartoons Birdman and the Galaxy Trio and Super President and cancelled both of them while they were still in production. It cost the network around $750,000. Both series went off the air that December. As to CBS, they cancelled another show which the watchdog groups had attacked for violence: The Wild Wild West. While its ratings had fallen since its debut in the 1965-1966 season, the series was still getting respectable ratings when it was taken off the air. In fact, for the 1969-1970 season CBS would air reruns of The Wild Wild West (although they were specifically selected and edited for violence) as a summer replacement. The reruns consistently won their timeslot. Wile only Birdman and the Galaxy Trio, Super President, and The Wild Wild West were cancelled due to violence, the fact that they were cancelled at all because of such demonstrated the turnaround in the networks' attitude towards violence. And unfortunately for the spy series, it also showed the growing power of watchdog groups opposed to violence on television.

Outcries over television violence from watchdog groups would continue well into the Seventies, and among their favourite targets were the spy shows of the Sixties. In fact, The Wild Wild West would be targeted by a watchdog group even as it made its first run in syndication. It was in November 1970 that a group called the Foundation to Improve Television filed a lawsuit to prevent WTOP-TV in Washington D.C. from showing The Wild Wild West before 10:00 PM, contending it violated "the constitutional rights of child viewers" in exposing them to alleged violence. In January 1971 the lawsuit was dismissed in U.S. District Court, but it would not be the last attempt by a watchdog group to remove shows they considered overly violent from the air.

In 1973 the National Association for Better Broadcasting filed a petition with the FCC to deny Los Angeles independent station KTTV's licence renewal on the grounds that its programming was too violent. It was for this reason that on October 1, 1973 KTTV signed an agreement that would remove 42 animated cartoons from the station's programming, including the 1966 series The New Adventures of Superman, Aquaman, Marine Boy, and even Mighty Mouse. The station also agreed to issue a parental guidance warning before 81 live action series the Natonal Association for Better Broadcasting considered violent, including 77 Sunset Strip, Batman, Have Gun-Will Travel, The Untouchables, and, of all things, The Lone Ranger. Among the spy series affected were The Avengers, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., and, of course, The Wild Wild West.

The agreement between the National Association for Better Broadcasting and the KTTV would force the major television syndicators to take action. In late October, 1973 Kevin O'Sullivan, president of Worldvision Enterprises, called a meeting with 11 other syndication companies to take action against what he called "...the blacklisting and greylisting of television series." As it was, O'Sullivan need not have bothered. It was in September 1975 that the FCC declared the agreement between National Association for Better Broadcasting and the KTTV improper, stating that KTTV had relinquished too much control over their programming to the watchdog group.

KTTV was not the only station targeted by the National Association for Better Broadcasting. The group also petitioned the FCC to deny renewal for the operating licence of KTTV's sister station KCOP on the basis of alleged excessive violence in their children's programming. The FCC responded by stating that Section 326 of the Communications Act prohibited censorship by the Commission and renewed KCOP's licence.

While the National Association for Better Broadcasting's efforts to prevent the renewal of the licenses of television stations whose programming they considered objectionable failed, it would have an impact on one of the spy series of the Sixties. Listed alongside such fare as The Untouchables on the National Association for Better Broadcasting's blacklist, The Man From U.N.C.L.E. became a show that was controversial for its alleged violence. While the series did very well in syndication during its first several years since NBC had cancelled it, The Man From U.N.C.L.E. was suddenly shown in much fewer markets than it once had. By the late Seventies, it was difficult to find the show on any local station's schedules. The Man From U.N.C.L.E. was not the only series affected by the blacklisting of watchdog groups. The classic Western Have Gun-Will Travel was also so affected.

Strangely enough, other spy series of the Sixties were not so adversely affected by the blacklists of watchdog groups. For all that it may have been the prime target of watchdog groups for years, The Wild Wild West continued unabated in syndication. The Avengers would also continue to air on local stations across the United States. In fact, it would even be part of the lineup of The CBS Late Movie in the late Seventies and early Eighties. This leaves the question as to why The Man From U.N.C.L.E. was so adversely affected by being blacklisted by watchdog groups for alleged violence when The Wild Wild West and The Avengers were not. After all, all three series were spy shows that delved heavily into science fiction and fantasy. The reason could simply be due to the nature of the action in the three series. Set in the modern day United States, The Man From U.N.C.L.E. sometimes featured gunplay, not as much as The Untouchables and other crime dramas, although it did occur. On The Wild Wild West and The Avengers, most of the action came in the form of hand to hand combat. In fact, it must be pointed out that James West and Emma Peel were among the first characters in the United Kingdom and the United States to use kung fu on the small screen. For a Western gunplay did not occur that often on The Wild Wild West. As to The Avengers, set in the United Kingdom, there were whole episodes in which guns did not appear. It is possible that when looking at shows which were alleged by watchdog groups to have violence, station managers around the United States also paid attention to the nature of that violence, whether it was gunplay or fisticuffs. And given that very few fist fights are fatal, they may not have taken the violence in shows featuring hand to hand combat that seriously. It is notable that other series which were seriously hurt by the blacklists of watchdog groups such as Have Gun-Will Travel and The Untouchables, were also ones in which gunplay played a role.

Even as The Man From U.N.C.L.E. saw its syndication profits dry up due to unfair accusations of violence, a revival in interest in the spy series was beginning. The continued popularity of the Tara King run in France led to a revival of The Avengers called The New Avengers in 1975. The new series would air on The CBS Late Movie starting in 1978. The Saint would be revived in 1978 as Return of The Saint, with Ian Ogilvy playing the famous Simon Templar. Return of The Saint would also run on The CBS Late Movie starting in 1979. Here it must be pointed out that The CBS Late Movie was very significant in the revival of interest in the spy series of the Sixties. Not only did CBS air The New Avengers and Return of The Saint on The CBS Late Movie, but they also aired The Avengers, The Saint, and The Prisoner.

The late Seventies saw a cycle towards television show reunion movies, with the casts of such shows as Father Knows Best and Gilligan's Island reuniting for movie length continuations of their series. Quite naturally, with renewed interest in the spy series of the Sixties, a few of the old spy series would also see reunions. The first such reunion movie would be The Wild Wild West Revisited in 1979. It would be successful enough to warrant a sequel, More Wild Wild West in 1980. Given Ross Martin's death in 1981, there would be no more. The Wild Wild West would only be the first of the spy series to have reunions. It would be followed by The Return of the Man from U.N.C.L.E.: The Fifteen Years Later Affair (1983), Get Smart, Again (1989), and I Spy Returns.

Beyond reunion movies, two American spy shows would be also be revived. Debuting in 1988 and airing only around two seasons, Mission: Impossible brought Peter Graves back as Jim Phelps, complete with a new IMF team. In 1995 Get Smart was revived, with Don Adams playing Maxell Smart (now Chief of CONTROL) and Barbara Feldon playing Agent 99 (now a politician). Their son Zach (who, sadly, took after Max) was now a CONTROL agent teamed with Agent 66 (Elaine Hendrix). The series did not prove to be successful, lasting only seven episodes.

The Nineties would see Hollywood beginning to adapt old television series with all new casts. There have been a few of the spy series which have been adapted as feature films, although the first such movie at least has its original star. Get Smart was the first of the spy series of the Sixties to be made into a feature film (here I am not counting episodes of shows combined to make a theatrical release). That having been said, The Nude Bomb only features Don Adams as Maxwell Smart and Robert Karvelas as Larrabee from the original series. In fact, Max doesn't even work for CONTROL, but instead for a group called PITS (Provisional Intelligence Tactical Service). Despite this, Max was still fighting KAOS. The movie proved to be a disappointment at the box office and for many fans as well.

Since The Nude Bomb, there have been many other major motion pictures based on the spy shows, and they are largely a mixed lot. In 1996 a movie based on Mission: Impossible was released. Although controversial with some fans and the movie received mixed reviews, but did well at the box office. It was followed by Mission: Impossible II in 2000 and Mission: Impossible III in 2006. A feature film based on The Avengers was released in 1998. The film would bomb with critics and audiences, and particularly with fans of the original series. The year 1999 would see the release of a movie based on The Wild Wild West. Not only was the movie reviled by critics and bombed at the box office, but it offended both its fans and the series' original star, Robert Conrad. In 2002 a major motion picture based on I Spy was released. Sadly the movie departed from the series in incorporating a bit too much comedy and including some outlandish spy gadgets more suited to U.N.C.L.E. or Bond. It fared badly with critics and at the box office. Another feature film based on Get Smart (featuring Steve Carell and Anne Hathaway as Max and 99) was released last year. The film received mixed reviews and was largely considered inferior to the original series. The movie did do well at the box office, so well that a sequel is planned.

There may well be other feature films based on spy series in the near future. Reportedly Will Smith has been signed to star in a big budget adaptation of It Takes a Thief, set for release in 2010. There have also been rumours of A Man From U.N.C.L.E. movie for years. For a time director Quentin Tarantino was reported wanted to make a A Man From U.N.C.L.E. film. Later it was reported that director Matthew Vaughn was in negotiations to adapt the series to film.

In addition to feature film adaptations, there is at least one mini-series adaptation of a Sixties spy show. In 2006 it was announced that British network Sky1 and American Movie Classics (AMC) were co-producing a mini-series remake of The Prisoner to last six to eight episodes. Sky1 would pull out of project due to creative disagreements with AMC. ITV (the network upon which the original series first aired) then stepped in to co-produce the miniseries with AMC. The mini-series will be broadcast in both the United Kingdom and the United States sometime this year.

In all, the spy cycle on American television in the Sixties lasted four years and produced several series. It has certainly had a lasting impact with regards to its shows. A Man From U.N.C.L.E., Get Smart, The Wild Wild West, and Mission: Impossible all continue to be popular to this day. British series which played such a large role in the sixties spy craze on American television, such as The Avengers, Danger Man, The Saint, and The Prisoner also continue to be popular. All of these series are available on DVD and merchandise for some of these series is sold to this day. Pop culture references to these series abound, in such shows ranging from The Simpsons to NCIS (on which David McCallum, once Illya Kuryakin, plays Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard).

While the shows of the Sixties spy cycle would also leave their mark on pop culture, they would also leave their mark on American television history as well. The spy shows would break barriers and make innovations in American television. Spy shows can take credit for both the first female lead in an American action/adventure series (Honey West) and the first African American in a lead role on an American drama (I Spy). The spy series of the Sixties were groundbreaking in other ways as well. The Man From U.N.C.L.E. presented a world where many nations cooperated in an international organisation to fight crime, and where an American and Russian could not only be partners, but friends as well (keep in mind the show debuted not shortly after the Cuban Missile Crisis). Both Mission: Impossible and Hogan's Heroes presented us with teams in which minorities had important roles. Since the Sixties there have been only a very few successful spy shows in the United States, but the spy series of the Sixties long ago left their mark on both American pop culture and American television history.