of this page) to prove that he was wrong, wrong, dead wrong--I now have to turn around and say that he’s generally right with his choices of the seven greatest TV spies and agents. Herewith, Mr. Sassone’s picks:1. Kelly Robinson and Alexander Scott, I Spy (Robert Culp, Bill Cosby)
2. Angus MacGyver, MacGyver (Richard Dean Anderson)
3. Stingray, Stingray (Nick Mancuso)
4. Fox Mulder and Dana Scully, The X-Files (David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson)
5. Sydney Bristow, Alias (Jennifer Garner)
6. Jack Bauer, 24 (Kiefer Sutherland)
7. The IMF Team, Mission: Impossible (headed by Peter Graves)
I have to agree with some of the folks leaving their comments at TV Squad, that Sassone really missed the boat by not including urbane John Steed (Patrick Macnee) and the lovely Emma Peel (Diana Rigg), from The Avengers, on this rundown. And how could he have forgotten about Alexander Mundy (Robert Wagner) from It Takes a Thief? Or Maxwell Smart (Don Adams) and Agent 99 (Barbara Feldon) from Get Smart? Or James West (Robert Conrad) and Artemus Gordon (Ross Martin) from The Wild Wild West? Or Simon Templar (Roger Moore) from The Saint? I’d substitute any of those characters for Stingray, who I didn’t even remember from television seasons past. Heck, I’d even replace Stingray with bartender-espionage agent Jake Webster (again played by Robert Conrad) in the too-short-lived ABC-TV series Assignment: Vienna.
Still, I Spy is unquestionably the favorite in this category. And though I stopped watching 24 after its first season (too much repetition of theme, too many cheesy twists, and far too little character development), and I was never an Alias viewer (despite Ms. Garner’s obvious physical attractions), both of those shows probably deserve inclusion on Sassone’s list. Darn him!
Check out all of Sassone’s comments about spy and secret agent television series here.
4 comments:
Can't remember the character's name--Drake?--but actor Patrick McGoohan was the hero of the best TV show about spies ever made, Danger Man (released in the U.S. as Secret Agent). Complex plots, and McGoohan. Not to mention Johnny River's big hit wailing in the background--Secret--AAyy-gent-man.
Jersey Jack is correct; John Drake was the best TV spy ever. Unless Number Six on The Prisoner wasn't John Drake (as McGoohan continues to insist), in which case he was the best TV spy ever. On the best TV show of any kind. Ever.
How can you all have missed the Sandbaggers ? Surely any right-minded individual would accept that (for the first two series anyway) this is the all-time finest espionage program ever to be shown on television.
Danger Man and The Prisoner are absolutely the BEST!!!
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