In the 1960s, spies were everywhere! They were in novels, comics, on the big screen, and had spread to television. Created by Mel Brooks and Buck Henry, Get Smart debuted on 18 September, 1965 and introduced us to CONTROL’s agent 86, Maxwell Smart (Don Adams). Filled with goofy gadgets, like the shoe phone, Smart is…
Tag: spies
Family Ties (1985) – Family Ties Vacation
Season Four of Family Ties gets to a shakey start with a pretty terrible made-for-TV movie that sees the Keaton family jetting across the ocean to England. Taking the family out of their sit-com environment where they can deliver messages, and important themes, and delve into ethical situations and putting them in a slapstick version…
The Man in the Brown Suit (1924) – Agatha Christie
This week’s Agatha Christie entry to the book shelf is another delightful adventure thriller. Sure there’s a murder and suspects, but it’s definitely more akin to an adventure story, with a wonderful female heroine in the form of Anne Beddingfield. Anne finds herself caught up in an adventure that would give the cinema serials she…
Tobor the Great (1954) – Lee Sholem
DK Publishing brings me another mechanical menace from its highly enjoyable Monsters in the Movies book. This time around, he’s not so much a menace as he is menace. Very much a product of its time, the 50s, this film, dramatically set in the future of the day after tomorrow, it’s a charming, if not…
1984 (1956) – Michael Anderson
DK Canada’s Monsters in the Movies provides a glimpse into a dystopian future that may not be so different from a time we live in now, with the 1956 adaptation of Orwell’s classic novel, 1984. The screenwriters say they ‘freely’ adapted the original story so there are differences from book to screen, but thematically, it…
Horror Express (1973)- Eugenio Martin
DK Canada’s Monsters in the Movies brings me another alien menace, and this time seems to transplant it into a horror version of Murder on the Orient Express. But who better to confront the terror than two British horror legends and experts, Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing (with an appearance by Telly Savalas? Christopher Lee…
Chuck (2010) – Versus the Couch Lock, and Versus the Aisle of Terror
Eric Roberts and Dave Bautista guest star in Chuck (Zachary Levi) Versus the Couch Lock. Written by Henry Alonso Myers it debuted on 18 October, 2010 and brought some more growth to this group of spies that we’ve grown to love over the past four seasons. It seems some of Casey’s (Adam Baldwin) old team…
Chuck (2010) – Versus the Subway, and Versus the Ring: Part II
Chuck’s (Zachary Levi) world starts to fall apart in this very emotional episode that serves as the penultimate story of the third season. Written by Ali Adler and Phil Klemmer from a story by Matthew Miller, Chuck Versus the Subway debuted on 24 May, 2010. Shaw (Brandon Routh) is back, and he has an intersect…
Star Trek: Enterprise (2002) – The Seventh, and The Communicator
Captain’s log: date unknown Brannon Braga and Rick Berman pen the first episode up this week. Debuting on 6 November, 2002, this Arher (Scott Bakula)/T’Pol (Jolene Blalock) story that ends up being a bit of a thriller. The pair engage in the pursuit of a Vulcan fugitive, Menos (Bruce Davidson), who one eluded capture by…
Moonlighting (1985) – The Murder’s in the Mail, and Brother, Can You Spare a Blonde?
The short first season of the classic 80s show, Moonlighting, comes to an end this week with this episode, The Murder’s in the Mail. Written by Mary Ann Kasica and Micheal Scheff, the story debuted on 2 April, 1985. David Addison (Bruce Willis) secures a job for the Blue Moon Detective Agency, debt collection. He…
The Mind Reels 