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

I purchased the complete series set from Time Life in 2007 and it is excellent. Every episode uncut, unaired pilot, a wealth of extra features and bonus discs. Now, it is being released to retail at an even lower price and I highly recommend it. Only one minor complaint: why not include all 8 "movies" instead of just one? Bring on "The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. too, even though that series pales in comparison with the original.

Fans had been waiting for The Man from U.N.C.L.E. to come to DVD for years, when Time Life finally released a megaset containing all four seasons (105 episodes) and extensive bonus materials, late in 2007. This boxed set is still currently being sold by Time Life for $249.95. Last week, Amazon was apparently selling this same `briefcase' set at a presale price of $139.95, which was a fabulous buy. This week however, the set is now listed as `unavailable' for preorder, and there is no sales price listed. This is not the first time Amazon has pulled this collection off the shelf. We will soon see what Amazon's price will be. Keep your fingers crossed, Best Buy's presale price for the set is $179.99.

Time Life also had exclusive rights to Get Smart, which is only now beginning to be released to the general public. Fortunately, it appears that the U.N.C.L.E. set will be made available much, much sooner. Rather than wait, I got my set through a private sale some months ago. It is a very attractive collection, and while the cardboard briefcase packaging is pretty cool, you may not want to test its durability, as 41 DVD's do weigh quite a bit. Each season is arranged in a separate binder, that can easily be stored like a normal multi DVD set. Two bonus discs are in cardboard sleeves. The photo of the contents of the set is a bit misleading, as some items are shown more than once.

Image and sound quality is very good for a program of this age, and all the episodes are subtitled. Series creator Norman Felton's original concept was to bring a James Bond like character to American television. He even consulted with Bond creator Ian Fleming in the development of the series, and it was Fleming that supposedly came up with the name `Napoleon Solo'. Some of the early episodes featured Solo (Robert Vaughn) operating as a lone agent in the field, however the popularity and charisma of David McCallum as the ultra-cool Russian Illya Kuryakin, led the writers to expand what was intended to be a supporting role. The special chemistry between the two leads, was one of the key factors in the meteoric rise in popularity of the show. The dashing and debonair Vaughn, is quite a gifted actor, and Leo G. Carroll as Mr. Waverly, rounds out the U.N.C.L.E. team. Some fans feel that the first season, which was shot in black and white, was grounded a bit more in reality than the later seasons, but elements of fantasy were very much present from the start. The program had a ton of fabulous guest stars, and a bevy of beautiful women.

The bonus materials total over four hours, and cover many facets of the U.N.C.L.E. universe, including the gadgets, the music, collectables, and the fabulous women that appeared on the series. Trailers, promos, interviews, TV clips, and photo galleries are also included. Those that are hooked on all things U.N.C.L.E. may also want to check out the various soundtracks from the series, as well as John Heitland's informative book, `The Man From U.N.C.L.E. Book: The Behind the Scenes Story of a Television Classic'.

After a long wait, it appears that we are in the home stretch, with the finish line in sight. Once this megaset actually becomes available to the general public, hopefully at an attractive price, those that have been waiting for so long, can put everything in the past, and we can all just enjoy this classic program. It took a while, but it will finally be U.N.C.L.E. time!

The last time I saw The Man From Uncle was on reruns back in the mid-1980s, and the series was as enjoyable then as it had been back in 1965.

Too bad Ian Fleming did not live to produce this show, as the originating idea and storyline came from both his mind and pen. As Ian Fleming saw it, Solo was to be paired with a female partner, not Ilya, with Ilya being only a minor walk on character. With Ian Fleming no longer in the picture, no pun intended, the popularity of Kuryakin with the viewers caused Solo to eventually be paired with him. Interesting, no.

Finally, October 21, 2008, the duo will be back on TV screens, only this time on our home TVs whenever we wish. The material is finally being reissued. Now how about reissuing HIGH CHAPARRAL?

Semper Fi.

This is not the fist box set of an entire series I have seen but it is the first box series that is coming out from the start as a box set and not one year at a time. I loved the Man From U.N.C.L.E. when I was a teenager growing up in the 60's and have been looking for the last 5 or 6 years to see if the series would come out. I am thrilled to see the first really smart thing that has been done with an older series. I only hope it goes over great and lets Hollywood know this is the way to go in the future. I am so sick of seeing half a year at a time coming out and milking all of us collectors for far more than we need to be milked. Again great idea and and I hope whoever did it is listening and will do it more often. Keep it up.

What we know now about the contents is as follows.
DISC COLLECTION SEASON 1
EPISODE LIST

DISC ONE
1. The Vulcan Affair
2. The Iowa-Scuba Affair
3. The Quadripartite Affair

DISC TWO
4. The Shark Affair
5. The Deadly Games Affair
6. The Green Opal Affair

DISC THREE
7. The Giuoco Piano Affair
8. The Double Affair
9. The Project Strigas Affair

DISC FOUR
10. The Finny Foot Affair
11. The Neptune Affair
12. The Dove Affair

DISC FIVE
13. The King of Knaves Affair
14. The Terbuf Affair
15. The Deadly Decoy Affair

DISC SIX
16. The Fiddlesticks Affair
17. The Yellow Scarf Affair
18. The Mad, Mad Tea Party Affair

DISC SEVEN
19. The Secret Sceptre Affair
20. The Bow-Wow Affair
21. The Four-Steps Affair

DISC EIGHT
22. The Sea-Paris-and-Die Affair
23. The Brain-Killer Affair
24. The Hong Kong Shilling Affair

DISC NINE
25. The Never-Never Affair
26. The Love Affair
27. The Gazebo in the Maze Affair

DISC TEN
28. The Girls of Nazarone Affair
29. The Odd Man Affair

DISC ELEVEN
SPECIAL BONUS FEATURES include:
- Featurette--The Spy-Fi Tour: Archives, Art and Artifacts
- U.N.C.L.E. Feature Film--One Spy Too Many
- Bonus Feature: U.N.C.L.E. V.I.P.S.--A Celebration of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. Guest Stars

DISC COLLECTION SEASON 2
EPISODE LIST

DISC ONE
1. Alexander the Greater Affair, Part I
2. Alexander the Greater Affair, Part II
3. The Ultimate Computer Affair

DISC TWO
4. The Foxes and Hounds Affair
5. The Discotheque Affair
6. The Re-Collectors Affair

DISC THREE
7. The Arabian Affair
8. The Tigers Are Coming Affair
9. The Deadly Toys Affair

DISC FOUR
10. The Cherry Blossom Affair
11. The Virtue Affair
12. The Children's Day Affair

DISC FIVE
13. The Adriatic Express Affair
14. The Yukon Affair
15. The Very Important Zombie Affair

DISC SIX
16. The Dippy Blonde Affair
17. The Deadly Goddess Affair
18. The Birds and the Bees Affair

DISC SEVEN
19. The Waverly Ring Affair
20. The Bridge of Lions Affair, Part I
21. The Bridge of Lions Affair, Part II

DISC EIGHT
22. The Foreign Legion Affair
23. The Moonglow Affair
24. The Nowhere Affair

DISC NINE
25. The King of Diamonds Affair
26. The Project Deephole Affair
27. The Round Table Affair

DISC TEN
28. The Bat Cave Affair
29. The Minus-X Affair
30. The Indian Affairs Affair

DISC ELEVEN
SPECIAL BONUS FEATURES include:
- Featurette--The Cloak & Swagger Affair: The Untold History of The Man From U.N.C.L.E.
- "Solo"--The Original Color U.N.C.L.E. Pilot
- Bonus Feature: U.N.C.L.E. V.I.P.S.--A Celebration of U.N.C.L.E. Guest Stars!

DISC COLLECTION SEASON 3
EPISODE LIST

DISC ONE
1. The Her Master's Voice
2. The Sort of Do-It-Yourself Dreadful Affair
3. The Galatea Affair

DISC TWO
4. The Super-Colossal Affair
5. The Monks of St. Thomas Affair
6. The Pop Art Affair

DISC THREE
7. The Thor Affair
8. The Candidate's Wife Affair
9. The Come with Me to the Casbah Affair

DISC FOUR
10. The Off-Broadway Affair
11. The Concrete Overcoat Affair, Part I
12. The Concrete Overcoat Affair, Part II

DISC FIVE
13. The Abominable Snowman Affair
14. The My Friend the Gorilla Affair
15. The Jingle Bells Affair

DISC SIX
16. The Take Me to Your Leader Affair
17. The Suburbia Affair
18. The Deadly Smorgasbord Affair

DISC SEVEN
19. The Yo-Ho-Ho and a Bottle of Rum Affair
20. The Napoleon's Tomb Affair
21. The It's All Greek to Me Affair

DISC EIGHT
22. The Hula Doll Affair
23. The Pieces of Fate Affair
24. The Matterhorn Affair

DISC NINE
25. The Hot Number Affair
26. The When in Roma Affair
27. The Apple a Day Affair

DISC TEN
28. The Five Daughters Affair, Part I
29. The Five Daughters Affair, Part II
30. The Cap and Gown Affair

DISC ELEVEN
SPECIAL BONUS FEATURES include:
- Interview--Double Agents: The Robert Vaughn and David McCallum Reunion
- The Secret Tapes of Illya Kuryakin: Home Movies from the Set of The Man From U.N.C.L.E.
- Bonus Feature: U.N.C.L.E. V.I.P.S.--A Celebration of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. Guest Stars

DISC COLLECTION SEASON 4
EPISODE LIST

DISC ONE
1. The Summit-Five Affair
2. The Test Tube Killer Affair
3. The "J" for Judas Affair

DISC TWO
4. The Prince of Darkness Affair, Part I
5. The Prince of Darkness Affair, Part II
6. The Master's Touch Affair

DISC THREE
7. The Thrush Roulette Affair
8. The Deadly Quest Affair
9. The Fiery Angel Affair

DISC FOUR
10. The Survival School Affair
11. The Gurnius Affair
12. The Man From Thrush Affair

DISC FIVE
13. The Maze Affair
14. The Deep Six Affair

DISC SIX
15. The Seven Wonders of the World Affair, Part I
16. The Seven Wonders of the World Affair, Part II

SPECIAL BONUS FEATURES include:
- Featurette--MGM's Secret Operations
- Bonus Feature: U.N.C.L.E. V.I.P.S.--A Celebration of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. Guest Stars

PLUS...
The Man From U.N.C.L.E. Bonus Disc 1

The Man From U.N.C.L.E. Bonus Disc 2

The Man From U.N.C.L.E. Attaché Case