The Man From U.N.C.L.E. The Complete Season One

I consider myself very fortunate that I was born in the 1950s and witnessed some of the most incredible achievements of mankind as I grew up.

When it comes to TV I saw Elvis Presley and The Beatles perform on the Ed Sullivan Show, witnessed man landing on the moon, endured Watergate, saw the end of the Vietnam War and so many other historical events and groundbreaking TV series.

I also was there when the very first James Bond movie premiered: Dr. No, and got swept up in the spy craze of the 1960s.

One of the best James Bond influenced TV series was The Man From U.N.C.L.E. It featured Robert Vaughn as American secret agent Napoleon Solo and David McCallum as his Russian sidekick Illya Kuryakin.

Leo G. Carroll played their boss Mr. Alexander Waverly.

Every week agents Solo and Kuryakin managed to get into all sorts of trouble and with the aid of various common citizen would make their escape.

U.N.C.L.E.’s chief nemesis was Thrush (a sort of second-rate Spectre) an organization populated by would-be world conquerers.

When the series first aired it consisted of very well written and thrilling exploits.  Incredible technology was introduced such as their cigarette case communicators (later it would evolve into a ballpoint pen), customized weapons and other such high-tech gadgets.

There were plenty of nasty bad guys, gorgeous women, and exotic locales--everything a spy could want.

Interestingly enough James Bond's creator Ian Fleming was partially responsible for the creation of the TV series.

I recall as a child dressing in a black turtleneck shirt like Illya’s, fabricating a ‘communicator’ in a box of matches and getting a Man From U.N.C.L.E. attache case with Solo’s customized handgun with a scope, barrel extension, stock, silencer and a special U.N.C.L.E.  badge for Christmas.

Sadly as the show progresses it evolved into a parody of itself with silly and repetitive plots.

Warner Bros. released a The Man From U.N.C.L.E. The Complete Season One DVD collection with 29 episodes on 10 DVDs.

John 6:44 - No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.