Why I Spy is better than Muncle

[mrssamstewart]

1) The guys use real weapons. LOL missing the doint of Muncle, ino, but Kelly and Scotty use guns and knives and regular telephones. They drive ordinary cars, stay in regular hotel rooms, and if someone tries to kill them it's with a Chinese herbal potion and not with, say, a room full of bubbles. They're average working Joe-type spies, even though their specific organization is never mentioned (except to say they work for "The Pentagon"), and they still kick ass. There's a lot to be said for that.

2) For the era, the series is remarkably non-racefaily. I did cringe from time to time at the odd Charlie Chan reference, but for the most part other races and ethnicities are treated with dignity and respect. It also impressed me to learn that when one of the episodes made a "shoeshine boy" joke at Bill's expense, both he and Robert Culp went to the producers and told them never to do that again. Which brings me to another point:

3) Hot Bill Cosby is hot. Ino, it was a foreign concept to me too, especially since I grew up thinking of him as the lolzy dad with the lolzier sweaters. But he's lean and wears A++++ suits and has snarky shippy chemistry with Robert Culp and spends a lot of time with his shirt off, especially in the Hong Kong episodes, and that is a trend I can only encourage.

4) The show is also surprisingly non-genderfaily for its era. I admit that my opinion on mid-sixties TV genderfail is based primarily on Muncle and ST:TOS, but sry2say those shows seem more in tune with the era's attitude towards women. But on I Spy, the women don't just have schmancy titles and powerful positions as window dressing for their being there to fuck Captain Kirk Napoleon Solo Kelly Robinson. They have complicated personalities and interesting dialogue and figure into the plot in non-sexual aspects, and the actresses who play them are trufax talented. They're also allowed to look older than 22 and consume solid food and still be considered sexy, which puts them miles beyond about 90% of current television shows. The fact that many of the same actresses also guest-starred on both Muncle and ST just makes me regret that those shows didn't make as good use of their talents, and by "talents" I mean "aspects of their personality that do not include their cleavage."

5) Characters in non-English-speaking countries actually speak their countries' languages. The Japanese characters speak Japanese; the Chinese ones speak Mandarin or Cantonese; the Mexican ones speak Spanish. Also Scotty, Bill Cosby's character, can actually speak those languages too, and makes an effort to do so. The show's producers deserve credit in this respect too for hiring A++++ foreign actors, or at the very least bilingual Lolmerican actors (y halo thar bb!George Takei!). It must have been ridiculously expensive, but I'm glad it was a priority to them.

6) Both shows have A+++++ guest stars, but I Spy makes better use of them. Look, I have no objection to Martin Landau in any context. But if I have to choose between Martin Landau as a Dracula knockoff and Martin Landau as a lolariously obnoxious Ugly American who trolls restaurant waitstaff - well, okay, you make a good point there, he's awesome in both contexts. But at least in the latter he gets to act, rather than simply camp it up.

7) Awesome location shots are awesome. I admit it; I'm a sucker for pretty landscapes, especially ones I haven't seen before. Mexico City 40 years ago was an A+ ~*~modern metropolis~*~, and watching two hot guys bum around it while fighting crime is pretty much my definition of aesthetic perfection.

8) It's available on Hulu. Admittedly this does not help out non-Lolmerican memers who wish to discover the show, nor those who don't like watching streaming vids. But as the episodes on the DVDs are so ridiculously out of order, I like having them all in one place and properly arranged for my convenience, even if it does mean having to sit through the same 30 seconds of ads three times an hour. Besides, I hear there's a hack that lets you watch Hulu in other countries. :D? :D?

9) Less badfic. Of course, this is because there is less fic, which is quite unfortunate. But at least what there is isn't horrible.

10) Less meme backlash. Whatever your theories on Munclespammer/Munclehater/whatever, those shifts can get mightily tedious for those who'd like to discuss other important matters such as pooping, current events, or that handsome and talented actor Jeffrey Dean Morgan. Picspamming I Spy screencaps tends to get either no response or "huh?" but at least it doesn't start wank. Most of the time, anyway.

Comments

[leviathan0999]

The episodes on the DVDs are so ridiculously out of order

Not anymore. There are now season-by-season DVD box sets with the episodes in order of airing. This is not as good as arranging them in order of production -- Friedkin and Fine, the producers, regularly dropped in lines of dialogue that would give a flavor of continuity by mentioning places the agents had been -- but it's better than stirring all three seasons like soup, as the original DVDs did. You can get them on Amazon.com for about 12 bucks a season, which is, what, 50 cents per episode? Hard to beat that value for the money.

BTW, if you're looking for I Spy fic, possibly bad, but definitely gen, you might enjoy Busy Making Other Plans by me:
http://leviathan0999.dreamwidth.org/100640.html