U.N.C.L.E. a day is my obsessive-compulsive approach at working through The Complete Man for U.N.C.L.E., now available on DVD. One episode, one review a day (usually – occasional hiatuses may occur due to travel).
The continuing series of nearly-pointless reviews of every episode of Man from U.N.C.L.E. ever made continues with an episode that is… well, it has it’s moments: “The Shark Affair.”
Something I meant to mention was that yesterday’s episode was the first time we had the “Introduction to U.N.C.L.E” title sequence. Basically, since the show was the first spy/espionage program on any network, the producers decided it was appropriate to have a psuedo-documentary style introduction that walked through U.N.C.L.E. HQ to explain the premise of the organization (and show). What I love about this opening is the end of the segment where the cast TURN TO THE CAMERA and tell the viewer what their position in the organization is. It’s just awesome.
Anyway, when it comes to this episode: Well, it’s basically 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea… without a submarine and with a less aggressive villian. We have Captain Shark, played by future spy Robert Culp, who is kidnapping the best and brightest as a modern Noah. Meh.
Oh, and pay attention to the opening scene if you watch this episode. The first officer in the ship that Shark attacks will get some more “naval” action a couple of years later: It’s James Doohan, who will later play Scotty on Star Trek (and we will see EVEN MORE Trek foreshadowing in a few episodes).
UPDATE: Look! You can watch it now!