welcome to.... 
S.J. Dibai's House of  I SPY


GeoCities will be closing on October 26th! This site will go offline at that point! Enjoy it while you can.


No, your eyes do not deceive you. This is not a picture of Eddie Murphy and Owen Wilson.


Whether you're an I SPY expert or just a web surfer who's never heard of the show, this site is for you. I will be talking about all the things that made I SPY so special, including the casting, the location photography, and the dialect used by the series' stars. I will also have more in-depth features for the I SPY connoiseur. So just kick back, relax, and be sure to bookmark this page because you'll probably want to revisit it! :-)

General Information (didn't he fight in the Civil War?) about the series:
Cast:
Robert Culp as Kelly Robinson
Bill Cosby
as Alexander Scott (who was usually known as "Scott" or "Scotty")
Ken Tobey as Russ Conway (season three)

Production Credits:
Creator and Executive Producer: Sheldon Leonard
Producers: Morton Fine
and David Friedkin
Script Continuity: Michael Preece
(Hollywood) Director of Photography: Fleet Southcott
Location Production Manager: Leon Chooluck
Location Production Facilites/Consultant and Location Director of Photography: Fouad Said
The Catchy Theme Music: Earl Hagen
The Ultra-Cool Title Sequence: Format Productions

I SPY ran in first-run installments from September 15, 1965 to April 15, 1968 on NBC. It produced a total of 82 episodes. For its first two seasons (56 episodes), it was seen on Wednesday nights at 10:00. For its final season, NBC moved it to Monday nights at that same time--in which time slot the ratings plummeted and Sheldon Leonard was more or less forced to pull the plug. The entire series was done in color, despite the plethora of black-and-white publicity photos of its stars.

So, what is this I SPY all about, anyway?
Kelly Robinson is a globetrotting tennis player, a guest at some of the finest mansions around the world--the consummate "tennis bum." He was a law student at Princeton before he went on to become a star athlete. Alexander Scott, his trainer and traveling companion, is a linguist and quite the intellectual. Scotty attended Temple University and went on to Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. He often serves as Kelly's interpretor. What most of the outside world doesn't know, however, is that these guys are more than just a winning tennis company--together, they comprise one of America's top intelligence teams!

Kelly and Scotty have a very close, personal relationship. Scotty once described Kelly as "somebody who was like a brother to me." (
Was because he thought Kelly was dead, but that's another story--see episode #34, "Trial By Treehouse.") Even though they are such great friends, they have wildly different personalities. Kelly spends much of his time drinking, smoking, and womanizing, while Scotty would rather read or take pictures to send home to his mother, whom he calls regularly--he cares VERY much about his family. Both of them are well educated, well-read, and extremely talented as agents. And they both have a sense of humor. Much of their dialogue is quite memorable for that reason. In fact, one has to wonder how many of their witty exchanges were actually scripted. It is well-known by now that Culp and Cos had a knack for ad-libbing.

Something that's very interesting about
I SPY is the answer to the question, "Who did they work for?" (Or "For whom did they work?" if you're a grammatical purist.) They definitely worked for the US government, but even though people assume that the CIA was their specific employer, this isn't so. Episode #71, "Anyplace I Hang Myself Is Home," includes a scene in which Russ Conway (I'll tell you about him in a minute) says to a class of spy-school students, "...we're more military than the CIA, and less publicized." Of course, this episode is not without its inaccuracies if previous episodes are to be believed, but you get my point. Truth be told, the guys' department or agency was never specified; it was usually referred to as "The Department." Of course, this being an especially hot time in the Cold War, their enemies' employers were collectively known as "The Other Side."

Getting back to Russ Conway, he was our boys' hard-nosed boss. Ken Tobey had appeared in episode #53, "Magic Mirror," as a tough superior named "Gabe," but when he became a recurring cast member, his character's name changed to "Conway," then "Russ Conway," and finally "Russell Gabriel Conway." And how's this for trivia: in the end credits of "Anyplace I Hang Myself Is Home," an episode in which Tobey's character is definitely named Russ Conway, it says, "Ken Tobey as Jeff." Want to be even more confused? Okay--episode #2, "A Cup Of Kindness," features Kelly's former mentor, whose name is Russ Conley!

All in all,
I SPY ran for three exciting seasons that will probably never be forgotten in the annals of television history. As the series progressed, the relationship and dialogue between Kelly and Scotty just got better. And even though I SPY had its share of bad scripts, it still maintained a certain level of quality throughout its run. Even the worst episodes rose above the level of complete trash due to Culp and Cosby's coolness and chemistry. (I am now eligible for the alliteration prize!) And now, let's see what else makes I SPY so darn special....

NEWLY EXPANDED! You're black, Jack, and that's a fact: How I SPY broke racial stereotypes.
Sheldon Leonard created I SPY for two leading men. Leonard found his first man in Robert Culp, an experienced professional in the acting biz, not to mention a talented writer and director. But who would be the other half of the duo? Leonard looked all around and found nobody--until he saw a young comedian on TV and liked what he saw. Leonard ran a background check on this guy and met him in person. Yep. This was the guy. His name: Bill Cosby. Cosby had just what Leonard was looking for: he was young, good-looking, athletic, physically fit, talented, and he had a great sense of humor. Two obstacles: one was that he had never acted before. No biggie. He didn't realize it at the time, but he had a natural acting talent. Cosby received much support from the staff and was enthusiastically mentored by Culp, who knew that he would dig the Cos right from the start (that "digging" was indeed mutual). But there was one other problem: Cosby was black. (Not to say that he isn't now, but you know.....) Leonard had no problem with the Cos' skin color, but he was afraid that the NBC executive whose approval he needed would object. Said executive did not.....on the basis of skin color, anyway.

Cosby's erratic, amateurish performance in the series pilot (the woefully unrepresentative "Affair In T'Sien-Cha," aired as episode #14) didn't exactly bowl over the network execs, leading them to suggest that Leonard replace him. Leonard, unwavering, stood by his casting choice. He would not let NBC have I SPY without Cosby--and he knew how badly NBC wanted to get a piece of the Sheldon Leonard pie. So, on September 15, 1965, the peacock network dared to premiere America's first dramatic series to feature a black lead. No, the casting choice was not accepted universally. For example, Birmingham, AL, Albany, GA, Savannah, GA, and Daytona Beach, FL refused to air it. But overall,
I SPY ushered in a new age in American television. Its success--and the three Emmys that Cosby won for his work on the series--proved that racial stereotypes are just a load of bull. And I ain't talkin' about the guy on Night Court.

In a time when racism still ran rampant and many people perceived blacks as inherently unintelligent and silly-acting, the Cos was faced with the task of pulling off a serious dramatic role. Even though Scotty was endowed with ample amounts of wit, he was not the typical black character whose purpose was to bring comic relief to the show. He was a Rhodes Scholar, for crying out loud! And he was not a sidekick, either; he was not a Rochester to Kelly's Jack Benny. He and Kelly were equals, meaning that Cosby was entitled to as much screen time as Culp. Was the ascending comedian with no acting experience ready to take on the huge challenge facing him, knowing that if he blew it, the Civil Rights Movement may never forgive him? In retrospect, the answer is a resounding "Yes." Cosby proved himself as an actor very quickly. Already in the episode that was chosen as the series premiere, the Culp-scripted "So Long Patrick Henry," Cosby showed that he could handle both intense drama and light comedy, a versatility that was necessary for this series. At this early stage, he still had some kinks to work out, and indeed he never played his role as ferociously as in this episode, but even an experienced actor needs time to grow into a role. Cosby worked at his craft, with Culp's help. In some of the early episodes like "Dragon's Teeth" (#5) and "Danny Was A Million Laughs" (#7), Cosby seemed somewhat uncomfortable, underplaying his role a bit and looking a little awkward. Nevertheless, give him credit: in "Chrysanthemum" (#4), easily the silliest episode of the series, Cosby was forced to play the unlikely role of straightman to a bumbling agent with a comical French accent! Perhaps the idea was totally out-of-phase with the concept of the series, not to mention common sense, but Cosby did quite well in this challenging position. And then there's another Culp-written episode, "The Loser" (#6). This is a frighteningly intense episode, one of the darkest and most disturbing of the series. And here is Cosby, the stand-up comic, acting his guts out. He's captured, he's begging for help, he's hung up on rescuing a girl who doesn't want to be rescued--he's emotional as all-get-out! It was a chance for Cos to put his dramatic mettle to the test. He passed with flying colors, but he was still not quite the Scotty we all knew by the end of the first season. By the 8th episode, "The Time of the Knife," Cosby had fully settled into his role, playing it in the relaxed, understated manner that characterized Scotty for the rest of the series. This was also the point at which the easygoing rapport between him and Culp was set in motion for good. Oh, it had sprouted in episode #3, "Carry Me Back To Old Tsing-Tao," but by "The Time of the Knife," you knew they didn't even need a script for their humorous banter. And that's just the thing--Cos and Culp were perfect for their roles. The on-screen chemistry that they had was unbeatable, and by way of I SPY, they became great friends in real life. After I SPY ended, the two continued to work together sporadically, but that's a different story altogether.....

EXCITING LOCATION PHOTOGRAPHY!!!!!
Another thing that makes I SPY special is its extensive use of location photography. "Location photography?" you say, "How could they have done that for a TV show in the 1960s?!?!?!" Well, we owe A LOT of it to an unconventional director of photography named Fouad Said. (All together now: foo-AHD sah-EED. Good.) Said, a native of Egypt, was at first rejected by his own union when he came to Hollywood. He was far too young (in his early 30s while he was doing I SPY) and he insisted on using foreign equipment, as it was smaller and more efficient than its American counterparts. The smaller equipment allowed him to make a "portable studio," which was quite a revolutionary concept at the time. Yes, this was controversial, but it--along with a ridiculously large budget--enabled I SPY to travel abroad and film a portion of almost every episode on location. So, when you're seeing Hong Kong, Tokyo, Mexico, Italy, Spain, Greece, and Morocco, you're seeing the real thing. Oh, yeah--I SPY did do some episodes that took place in the US as well, but Said seems to have had less to do with those.

   

I SPY-SPEAK

Well, I could either talk about the guys' unusual (for TV spies, that is) wardrobe, or I could talk about the dialect that Cos and Culp created backstage and ended up using on the series. Hmm...take a look at the picture on the left. Do you really want me to talk about these guys' fashion sense??? Or would you rather have me talk about something that allows me to define the word "wonderfulness"?

Yeah, that's what I thought.


Yes, folks, you cannot possibly speak the language of
I SPY without the word "wonderfulness."

wonderfulness (WON-der-ful-ness)
n. greatness; joy or benefits that can be derived from something. Usage: Sentence construction is always as follows: "The wonderfulness of...." In I SPY-SPEAK, it is correct to say "Thank you" when showing gratitude or appreciation, but "The wonderfulness of your kindness" is more common.

Nouns that are similar to "wonderfulness," such as "magnificence" and "brilliance," can be used similarly.

Another characteristic of
I SPY-SPEAK is the unusual usage of the reflexive pronoun "yourself." Examples: "For yourself."  "What about yourself?" Be careful, because in standard English, this usage is incorrect!

Here are a few common expressions to have on hand:

"Another fine mess you've gotten me into."
"Go for yourself."
"I wish you would."
"No good."
"Well, what have we here, boys and girls?"

...and if you ever find yourself in a locked room...

"Well, here we are again in our famous locked room!"

Always say "true" twice: "True, true." (Kelly broke this rule quite noticeably in episode #1, "So Long Patrick Henry," but since it was so early in the series, we'll forgive him.)

It helps to address your friend using a name that is not really his. Jack, Herman, Stanley, and Duke are all good choices.

And finally, there is a word that the Cos and the Culp (THE Culp?) used backstage, but never on the series: "sorrowfulness."

And there you have it, Stanley, the wonderfulness of
I SPY-SPEAK. I wish you would try it, but if you don't want to, I suggest you just go for yourself.


I used to have a blurb here, written in rather bloated I SPY-SPEAK, about the wonderful DVDs that Image Entertainment has put out of the series. However, my attempt at writing an entire paragraph in I SPY-SPEAK would have had Cos and Culp laughing derisively at the House of I SPY--and we can't have that, now can we? So here's the deal: the entire I SPY series is available on DVD! You can buy the DVDs individually, with three or four (usually four) episodes apiece, but why would you do that when the DVDs are all neatly collected on three box sets? And don't forget that this includes the Robert Culp Collection, featuring all seven episodes that Culp wrote, plus audio commentary from the man himself--Bill Cosby! (Just kidding. Robert Culp.) And the box sets can be found for a more-than-reasonable price if you just shop around! So look for them wherever DVDs are sold. You'll find them in the "Adults Only" section. (Kidding again.)


SOME COOL LINKS (all will open in a new window):

IT'S BACK! The Classic Photo Collage: Culp and Cos Through The Years! Click here to see it.

THE I SPY FORUM, where you can discuss this great series and see reviews of the episodes. Click here to enter the FORUM.

THE I SPY RESOURCE CENTER, where you can find all sorts of groovy info, links, and ARCHIVES from the FORUM and the House of I SPY! Click here to check it out.

This site is near its end. It had a good run, from January 11, 2000 to (I expect) October 26, 2009. But I haven't been devoting much time to it lately anyway. Life changes, priorities change, and now this site's host will soon be closing. I'll let the House of "I SPY" have a graceful exit. You can still e-mail me from here for the time being. Thank you very much for visiting and supporting this site! Wonderfulness of your kindness!

last updated Friday, September 18, 2009