Mark Ellis's Videos (CrimeSpace) - CrimeSpace

I Spy--The Louvre of TV Thrillers

2008-03-22T04:04:02.598Z

I Spy had everything for an adolescent boy...exotic locales, lots of fist and gunfights...great music, pretty women...but more than that it had two great lead characters in the personas of Robert Culp as Kelly Robinson and Bill Cosby as Alexander Scott. Smart, witty, resourceful, tough when they had to be but thoughtful and introspective as well. The episodes veered from hardboiled and dark to the neo-existenstialist to outright farce. The seven episodes written by Robert Culp stand as classic. Better than this you don't get, either for entertainment or inspiration.

We wish to thank the United Network Command--

2008-03-22T03:57:13.266Z

--For Law Enforcement, AKA U.N.C.L.E., as in Man From.
This show and I Spy were the two most pervasive (or sinister) influences on my creative life. They got into my brain and my imaginations and planted character, concept and plot archetypes that I still use to this day. Napoleon Solo (Robert Vaughn) and Illya Kuryakin (David McCallum still stand to as a couple of the most unusual heroes for any TV series. Although MFU is often dismissed as a James Bond imitation (actually, the Wild Wild West was much closer to Bond), it was actually very original for the time. Its premise has provided a staple format for TV series, comics and movies ever since. My daughter Deirdre gave me the complete series on DVD this past Christmas.
Now THAT'S a kid!

M'man--Kolchak

2008-03-22T03:52:07.855Z

Of "Night Stalker" fame. Although this show came along when I was almost an adult >ahem< it still influenced me...great concept, characters and writing, despite the formula. I loved the black humor and Darren McGavin's dry delivery in the voice overs. Little did I know at the time, I'd end up working in a newspaper office much like Kolchak's.
As portrayed by the splendid Darren McGavin, Kolchak became the patron saint of all underpaid and under-appreciated print journalists.

Along came Joe--

2008-03-22T03:44:42.246Z

--Mannix, that is. A PI series I was very fond of growing up.

The Dynamic Duo

2008-03-22T03:40:42.860Z

Yeah, yeah, I know...this should be probably be further down the list...even as I kid I knew the show was silly, but I loved it all the same.