The Man from U.N.C.L.E. - The Complete Series

Received this late last week from Amazon (pre-ordered)...and what a total package of enjoyment! Well worth the wait...and the $$. Several posts delineate the contents, etc., so I'll just comment on the extras. First, both Robert Vaughn and David McCallum are present on several of the extra discs, as is frequent director Richard Donner, and other producers, etc., involved in the Man From U.N.C.L.E.

Their comments are both relevant and interesting; I particularly enjoyed the "Stars" summaries at the end of each year, that show the male and female guest stars with brief snippets of their roles; personal favorites: Barbara Felton (pre-Agent 99!), Caesar Romero, Ricardo Montoban (sp?), Joan Crawford (!!)and Janet Leigh.

On two separate discs, separate from each years collection (separately boxed) there are segments on the music of the series, the memorabilia, the original pilot "Solo" in color, public adoration of the stars, the advantages of shooting on the MGM lot, and several of the movie spinoffs.

Enclosed with each season's run package are booklets that discuss several of the problems the series' executives had with MGM and NBC...and the effects of such TV competition as the "Batman" series on plots and the tone of each season...which ultimately led to cancellation 3 1/2 years later. Of course, even with that relatively short run, there are 109 episodes...and each episode, according to Vaughn, was shot in only six days! They apparently worked much "harder" on the sets back in the 60's!

Taken all together, this "extras" package appears to have been carefully assembled to truly complement the series, and Robert Vaughn and David McCallum should be proud of the final product.

I don't purchase many TV series in their entirety, but I only wish that those I had (ie.-Xena Warrior Princess, La Femme Nikita, Silk Stalkings, Battlestar Gallactica (still a work in progress)) had the quality and quantity of the extras in this package.

If you were/are a fan of U.N.C.L.E., this is a MUST BUY!

This was well worth the wait. Haven't seen the show since it was cancelled 40 some odd years ago. Watched the first couple of shows - it still rocks and it's almost like watching it anew.

The packaging is top notch. The Amazon price is really cheap - considering what you get.

I've been a die-hard fan of "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." since discovering it on TNT, roughly 15 years ago. (Since the series itself predates me by about ten years, I can't claim to be an "original" fan, whose wait for this set has been, I'm sure, even more exhaustive than mine! For those of you out there, I salute you for your patience!) Ever since that time, I've been waiting for the series to become available, in its entirety, in some home video format. I bought most of the two-episode VHS tapes back in the day, but noticed in recent years that the quality was starting to deteriorate, as is the downfall with the VHS format.

When I discovered, through TVShowsOnDVD.com, that MFU was going to be release in one fell swoop, I jettisoned my tapes on eBay, and dug for more information. I knew the set was available through TimeLife, but after reading negative reviews about customer service and the quality of the packaging, I held off, also hoping the $250 price tag offered there would diminish with its retail release.

When my set arrived in the mail today, I could hardly wait to crack it open. The wait had been long enough. I was pleased to discover that the "flimsy cardboard packaging" which one reviewer commented on was nowhere to be found, and had instead been replaced with some sturdier cardboard, certainly worthy of a prominent display place. I was also concerned when I had read about the disc holders in the "books" for each season, and that they broke off easily, causing the discs to slide around inside the case and scratch themselves in the process. Again, these fears were alleviated after discovering each disc on its own "page", secured solidly in place. It's a little thing, yes, but important to take into consideration, especially for a collector.

That said, the set DOES vary slightly from the photo shown above. The photo shows two discs per page, when, in actuality, there is only one. This makes for some rather thick books (the set will look impressive and sizable on any shelf, due to the width of each book. The fourth season is about half the width, as it contains only six DVDs, as opposed to 11 in the preceding seasons).

I haven't even scratched the surface of this mammoth set yet (I did fire up Season Four's "The Summit-Five Affair" today, but that's all the further I've gotten), but for any fan of the series, this is the last stop. This set contains U.N.C.L.E. in its entirety...and the bonus features look amazing.

It took a long time, but the wait is over...buy it and enjoy!

I got this set when it was a Time Life exclusive. Now I wish I had waited as it will be less expensive through Amazon. But I love seeing these old episodes. I loved this show as a teenager and watching them helps me to relive my childhood. It has been so long since I saw these episodes, its like seeing them again for the first time. Get it if you can. Open channel D.

I'd really consider buying the collection if there was a list provided of the special features in each disc. Could anyone help me on this? Thanks.