This being Thursday, it's time for another edition of Thursday Movie Picks, the blogathon run by Wandering Through the Shelves. As always, being the final Thursday of the month, it's time for another TV edition, with the theme being fictional globetrotting. That is, no reality/competition shows and no travel shows, news, or documentaries. That makes it slightly more difficult until I hit on two different possibilities. Perhaps I could have gone with a theme within a theme by sticking to just one of the two genres, but I decided not to:
The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1964-1968). Napoleon Solo (Robert Vaughn) and Illya Kuryakin (David McCallum) play spies from a secret international spy agency designed to fight non-national organizations that want to take over the world. The show was immensely popular, such that extra material was written for some up the episodes such that, with a longer running time, they could be released as movies.
Voyagers (1982-1983). Tragic Jon-Erik Hexum plays a "Voyager", a time traveler whose job it is to make certain history turns out the way it's supposed to; this results in his going all over the world to right the various wrongs in history. But he accidentally went to the wrong time and picked up a bratty kid (Meeno Peluce) who knows more about history than Hexum, who's on the show for sex appeal.
Quantum Leap (1988-1993). Scott Bakula plays a researcher in time travel who decides to test out his device before the government pulls the funding. He winds up trapped in the past, but with the help of a holographic version of his friend (Dean Stockwell), he travels to various times and places to try to get home.
3 comments:
Quantum Leap is one where I would catch a random episode here and there and liked but it was on the wrong night for me to be a regular viewer in those pre-DVR days. It's running on one of the sci-fi channels now and if I can ever catch it at the start I might work my way through. I like both leads.
Voyagers is another that I caught the occasional episode but it came and went quickly. Hexum's is a tragic story.
The Man from U.N.C.L.E. was one that I liked but wasn't a regular viewer, I was more an Avengers/Mission Impossible guy, but I have probably seen all the episodes through the years.
This one presented some difficulty, there just aren't that many shows that feature traveling people anymore-at least not that I watch, than I realized it was quite a common subject in the 60's & 70's and just like that I had my three.
It Takes a Thief (1968-1970)-Master cat burglar Alexander Mundy (Robert Wagner) is granted his release from prison on the proviso that he work with the US government using his particular skills to obtain sensitive info that they need to keep the world safe. Under the direction of agent Noah Bain (Malachi Thorne) who explains “Look Al, I’m not asking you to spy, I’m just asking you to steal!” Mundy jetted around the world to exotic locales on various jobs sometimes accompanied by his elegant thief of a father Alistair (Fred Astaire).
The Persuaders! (1971-1972)-After coming to blows in a bar fight fantastically rich globetrotting playboys English Lord Brett Sinclair (Roger Moore) and American Danny Wilde (Tony Curtis) are prevailed upon by the presiding judge to team up to use their distinctive expertise to solve crimes that have baffled the police. At first reluctant they soon become fast friends and adroit crime stoppers in far-flung spots around the world. The series only lasted a year because Moore departed to become the new James Bond.
Run for Your Life (1965-1968)-When attorney Paul Bryan (Ben Gazzara) is told by his doctor he has a terminal disease and will die within nine to eighteen months he decides he has a whole lot of livin’ to do and hits the road. Week after week Paul heads to a new place and new adventures as a man constantly on the move.
I never saw The Man From Uncle and it was never on reruns but I would love to see it. Voyagers! I actually watched that show and it wasn’t that good..hated the annoying kid. I was shocked when he died. I love Quantum Leap and I am watching it again. Funny, the Al character would never go today because he is such a lech plus some of the words they used they actually bleep out now.
Those are all great picks! I heard about every single one of them, but somehow haven't seen any 😅
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