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by Billy Ingram
Although the four year run of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. was wildly inconsistent it still remains one of the most intriguing dramatic shows of the 1960s. The Hollywood Reporter’s Bill Ornstein wrote this in his review of the series when it debuted in 1964: “Shades of Herbert Rawlinson in The Black Box and Pearl White in the Perils of Pauline [mix] as a potent appetite-whetter for those who like a thrill every few minutes and those fixed for fantasy and will go along with most of the modernized shenanigans just to get an added booster in that after-dinner cocktail.”
When the Television Academy questioned actor David McCallum, who portrayed spy Illya Kuryakin, on the legacy of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. here was his response:
“It has one element, which is the feeling of relief and escapism is the only word from what was at that time. A politically delicate situation, difficult situation.
“And the Russians really weren't involved that much but they were the other side. It was the east and the west. And there is a significance about some television that relates to life but everything else is entertainment. And there's nothing wrong with entertainment, but it's transitory. It's not going to last.
“I Love Lucy will last as long as people like to watch I Love Lucy. But there's going to come a generation that says, ‘what the hell is this?’ It's inevitable.
“And I don't think… I remember once being somewhere, there was an old lady and she was in a bed. It was probably in the hospital and she said that she was so happy because she could look for whatever Monday night, or whatever night it was, and watch The Man from U.N.C.L.E. It made her week and made her feel better. And I thought, that's really why we do it. It's not just the sheckles [money] and the fame and the ‘I’m on television.’”
