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The Avengers (TV Series 1961–1969)
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PumamanRedux
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 05, 2015 12:27 am    Post subject: The Avengers (TV Series 1961–1969) Reply with quote

Found out today that Lionsgate had re released the Emma Peel episodes of The Avengers to DVD.

This set contains 51 episodes on 16 discs and Wal*Mart sells this item for $19.96 in their stores

release info @ http://www.amazon.com/The-Avengers-Complete-Emma-Megaset/dp/B00E5G03I4

Someone at amazon noted that this releases 'Video quality--what I've seen so far, anyway--is good. Not great, but good. I'm surprised the set does not seem to have been remastered. In the color (colour??) episodes the tones are a little off and occasionally they blur into one another. Sound is good; again not great. Loses one star for not being cleaned up a little better.'


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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 22, 2016 1:03 am    Post subject: Reply with quote



This show was simply fab in the 1960s, so now it was hot, so rad it was shocking . . . simply shocking. John Steed was cool headed, Emma Peel was hot blooded, and the stories never made a lick of sense.

But that's just why we liked them. Very Happy

I didn't know quite what to make of it, frankly, being mostly a hard-science-fiction kinda guy. But I remember liking the one about the house that was one big machine designed to keep Mrs. Peel running around in an ever-changing maze.

The stories may-or-may-not seem dated to viewers today (depending just how strong your nostalgia is), but that snazzy title theme is timeless.

Cue the YouTube video, mate!



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Last edited by Bud Brewster on Thu Jan 17, 2019 1:01 pm; edited 3 times in total
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orzel-w
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PostPosted: Tue Jun 12, 2018 4:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Can't recall where I found it posted, but this was a photo of a reunion of the principal actors in 1993. It was a photo of a photo, terribly distorted, so I took a shot at straightening it out.


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Custer
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 13, 2018 7:59 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Diana Rigg, Patrick Macnee, Linda Thorson, and Honor Blackman... a nice photograph. A little image search found a couple of results, with watermarks but pretty sharp:





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johnnybear
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PostPosted: Thu Jun 14, 2018 3:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've still got my Emma Peel 16 DVD set by A & E and later got the 17th DVD! Is this still the best quality set on the market, and does anyone know what it's worth these days?
JB
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 18, 2019 10:57 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

Enjoy this delightful film-clip tribute to Emma Peel, accompanied by a cute song. Cool
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_ The Avengers - Short Skirt, Long Jacket [Emma Peel]


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I like this one too! Very Happy

______________ Diana Rigg Simply Irresistible


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And this clip is absolutely adorable! I mean . . . smashing! Laughing

_____ The Avengers: Emma Peel First Appearance


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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 02, 2019 1:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

Enjoy this skillfully done five minute video of scenes from the series, which feature Diana Rigg in some of her most adorable (and alluring) moments, with carefully selected shots of her colorized quite well.

(They look better than the thumbnail below.) Very Happy
________________________________


__The Avengers - A Touch of Brimstone - Fade To Color


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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)
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Pow
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PostPosted: Fri Oct 02, 2020 5:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

"The Avengers" was a British television show which ran from 1961 to 1969.

Over the years the show morphed into a very different style from its early days.

Series One: 1961. Dr. David Keel (Ian Hendry) wants to "avenge'' the deaths of his fiance and office receptionist who were both murdered by a drug ring.

Joining Dr. Keel on the hunt for the drug ring is a mysterious agent by the name of John Steed ( Patrick Macnee).

The interactions between Keel & Steed were tense due to Keel's idealism versus Steed's cold professionalism.

The show's episodes were crime or espionage oriented at this point and serious.

Steed was a rugged individual who dressed in a overcoat.

Series Two through Three: 1962~1963. Ian Hendry left the show in order to pursue a film career.

Patrick Macnee was promoted to the lead of the show and was teamed with a few different actors as co-stars.

It was Honor Blackman though who became his regular co-star on the show.

Her character was the resourceful and scientific Dr. Cathy Gale. Gale was a widow who was an anthropologist who was confident, witty, and a judo expert. Gale would wear striking leather outfits for battle scenes and was not a professional agent like Steed but a ''talented amateur."

Cathy was an expert mechanic, drives a auto & motorcycle expertly, highly-skilled with firearms and can look after herself very well indeed.

There is a tension between Cathy & Steed just as there was between Keel & Steed. Cathy dislikes Steed's cavalier treatment of people.

She is also loyal, honest, compassionate, and a humanitarian who never feels the end can justify the means.

Gale was a new concept and groundbreaking for television at that time. She was the opposite of the helpless and submissive female roles so commonly seen in film or TV.

She was able to keep up with the men just fine in both the mental and physical action arena. You underestimated her at your own peril.

The Steed character was evolving from his first appearances on Series One. Gone was the trench coat he once wore.

Savile Row suits, bowler hat and umbrella. Steed now showed impeccable sartorial splendor in his outfits.

While his clothes were designed by the famous Pierre Cardin; Steed remained a secret agent. His stylish umbrella concealed a sword while his dapper bowler had a steel plate inside.

The hardness of Steed from Series One also disappeared.

Now he had impeccable manners, old~world sophistication, and a playful sense of humor.

Cathy represented a more youthful partner, modern views and the latest fashions.

Steed was more representative of the past with his stereotypical Englishman demeanor and vintage autos.

Series Four through Five: 1965-1968.

"The Avengers" was one of the first British shows sold to the American ABC TV Network for prime-time.

So this is the version of TA that Americans were first introduced to and loved.

Honor Blackman decided to exit the show and Diana Rigg was hired to portray another ''talented amateur'' Mrs. Emma Peel.

The episodes are now lighter and more comedic in tone in this iteration. There is no tension between Steed & Emma as was evident with Steed's earlier partners.

Like Cathy Gale, Emma is independent, smart, and very capable of handling herself in dangerous situations.

Where Cathy was a judo expert it was decided that Emma's fighting skills would be more karate

The easy & friendly banter between Steed and Emma is playful & humorous.

The creators of TA came up with Emma's name when they decided that this new female character should have ''man appeal.''

The show also now had more science-fiction and fantasy elements to it. Spy-Fi.

Diana disliked the leather outfits that the Cathy Gale character had worn for her action oriented scenes.

Rigg insisted on a more comfortable fabric for her athletic wear.

The show was a fun spoof of the espionage genre as well as detective and s-f.

Unhappy with her treatment by the producers of TA, Diana Rigg would leave the show. She and Patrick Macnee would remain lifelong friends.

Series Six : 1968 through 1969. Linda Thorson joins the show as Steed's fourth partner.

She plays Tara King who is a recently graduated agent.
Young, inexperienced, innocent; Tara is a contrast to the Cathy & Emma characters.

The creators felt that TA should be less of a parody and return to a more realistic style for this iteration.

This final version suffered greatly from the loss of Diana Rigg. Linda's role just never could live up to Emma Peel.

I found it interesting to read about just how TA morphed over time altered their style and cast.

The show that it was in 1961 became different as it went along over the years.

Many long running TV shows don't change all that much even with cast members going and coming.

"Gunsmoke" ran for twenty seasons and was much the same series it was at the end as it had been in the beginning.

I'm not saying that the writing, acting, and directing wasn't good. It simply remained what it always had been within its premise.

"Bonanza" is much the same for its fourteen year run.

Nothing wrong with that. TV shows can be like good old comfort food in that you want what you want without any new frills or dressings.


Last edited by Pow on Thu May 25, 2023 2:59 pm; edited 1 time in total
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johnnybear
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PostPosted: Sat Oct 03, 2020 8:00 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm thinking of having a rerun of the show in the near future too! Start with the early surviving episodes and then bleed into the Cathy Gale shows without a break...
JB
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Sun Jul 31, 2022 1:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

Johnny, I love binge-watching my favorite series, both the old and the new ones!

Once I get into a series, I stick with it for a day or so, watching 10 or 12 episodes before I finally decide to take a break.

Then I switch to another series or movie franchise and watch THAT one for a few days! Very Happy

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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
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Pow
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PostPosted: Sat Aug 13, 2022 3:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Wikipedia:

The Avengers was sold to ABC in 1965. It would be one of the first British television series to be aired in the US in prime-time.

The producers received a bigger budget and could afford to move from videotape to 35 mm film. This transition meant the episodes now shot using a single-camera setup, this gave producers greater flexibility for more sophisticated visuals and camera angles. More outdoor location filming also improved the look of the show. The series would be filmed in color starting in 1966.

Thoughts: I believe these elements all contributed greatly for the show's success with America's audience. Had the series continued shooting in black and white and on videotape, I doubt the show would have lasted long at all in the US. In fact, I doubt ABC would have purchased it under those conditions at all.

Thoughts: The move into science fiction plots would also have immense appeal to Americans. US audiences were fans of such spy/science fiction TV series as The Man from U.N.C.L.E., The Wild, Wild West, Mission: Impossible and the comedic Get Smart. All of those espionage shows contained SF elements, and The Avengers benefitted from following that trend, even though the show did not begin with SF plots at all in its inception.

Wiki: "Mission...Highly Improbable" (November 18, 1967) would see Steed and Emma shrunk to doll size. "Return of the Cybernauts" (September 30, 1967) saw the powerful metallic robots revived from the previous season's "The Cybernauts" (October 16, 1965). "The See-Through Man"(February 4, 1967) had Steed and Emma encounter an invisible man. "The Positive Negative Man (November 4, 1967) saw the duo battle a man who could electrocute individuals with a single touch of his hand.

Thoughts: SF was here to stay with The Avengers now, and the show was better for it.

Wiki: The Avengers dished out parodies of other TV shows with such episodes as "Mission: Highly Improbable," The Girl from A.U.N.T.I.E.," and "The Winged Avenger."

Thoughts: Interesting that their episodes spoofing American TV shows helped make The Avengers a hit with US audiences. Americans are not exactly known for their appreciation of parody-type humor.

Thoughts: Unfortunately, the series never really recovered from the loss of Diana Rigg when she chose to exit the show. Part of her decision was based upon how poorly the producers had treated her. Foolishly they thought Rigg could easily be replaced by another young, attractive actress. They would discover that was not to be the case.

Thoughts: Linda Thorson was indeed young, attractive, and a talented actress. Nonetheless, she could not fill Rigg's iconic boots, nor duplicate the chemistry with Patrick Macnee that he had with Diana Rigg.

Thoughts: The New Avengers (1976~1977) saw the series revived, it even brought back Patrick Macnee as John Steed, now working with agents Purdy (Joanna Lumley), and Mike Gambit (Gareth Hunt). However, this iteration never recaptured the fun or chemistry of the original version, and is best forgotten. The same goes for the awful Avengers feature film with Uma Thurman as an emotionless Emma Peel. Even Sir. Sean Connery as the villain couldn't save this turkey.

Thoughts: Perhaps The Avengers is simply the type of series that cannot be rebooted today. It remains a wonderful show that is a product of its era. And you cannot recapture those times anymore than you can recapture a past winter, spring, summer, or autumn of your life.
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Sun Sep 25, 2022 4:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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Your fine post inspired me to find a suitable YouTube video which saluted this great show.

This one fits the bill. You'll love it. By jove, I certainly did! Cool


________________ The Avengers - Must See TV


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I just discovered that I can stream the series on Amazon Prime Video! I think I'll start with season 5, when it was first filmed in color!
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Sun Sep 25, 2022 6:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

__________________________________________________

Today I discovered that I can stream episodes of The Avengers on Amazon Prime, and after reading Pow's recent post I started watching season 5 (the first one in color).

Episode 1 is From Venus With Love (Jan 20th, 1967), in which John Steed and Emma Peel investigate the strange murders of several astronomers by ab energy weapon that zaps them instantaneous into white-haired old men — and dead as doornails. Sad

Speaking only as a fan of the show from my teenage years, not as as expert on the series, it would seem that this wonderful show thoroughly embraced science fiction stories by season 5. Admittedly they leaned heavily towards tongue-and-cheek tales in which John and Emma exposed political plots that employed elaborate hoaxes.

From Venus With Love is all about a strange organization called the British Venusian Society (BVS), which believes there's life on Venus, and they're raising money to allegedly make contact with them.

The head of the BVS is Miss Barbara Shelley, the lovely lady who starred in Village of the Damned (1960) and Five Million Years to Earth (1967), the latter of which was released the same year as this episode.

The solution to the sci-fi mystery in this episode involves a complex application the newest scientific discovery — laser light — and a device which is built into a snazzy Bond-like sports car that races around the country side and assassinates scientists who support a British space program, at the expense of medical research which a wacky mad scientist thinks is more important.

To be honest, his objections seem quite logical in the grand scheme of things, so the story has some real merits. Very Happy

The FX in the climax involves the mad scientists using his snazzy tripod-mounted laser weapon to gleefully blast away at poor John Steed as he scrambles around the villain's lab. The villain slices up the furnishings with beautiful blue laser beams, while poor Mrs. Pee is strapped down and helpless, like the heroine in "The Perils of Pauline". (Younger members will have no idea what that means . . . Rolling Eyes)

It's an excellent action scene!


_The Avengers Emma Peel found Ford GT with laser


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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)
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Pow
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 26, 2022 4:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The Avengers Forever! website also enjoyed this episode, Bud.

Trivia from that site: Shhh, don't tell anyone, lasers don't do anything shown in this episode---least of all make a loud sound.

Best lines: When Venus asks Steed his occupation he remarks, "Following in father's footsteps. He spent his life depositing money. I spend mine withdrawing it."

Emma when faced by death with the laser quips, "It's quicker than a peroxide rinse."
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 26, 2022 5:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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Episode 3 season 5 was . . . well, pretty good, but episode 4 was boffo, mate! Very Happy

The See-Through Man was indeed about an invisible dude, a Russian major to be exact, who buys the formula for an invisibility pill from a funny little British scientist who gleefully invents miracles on a regular basis and sends the patent applications to the government — which promptly dismisses them as ridiculous.

He's been doing that for years, but the rejections didn't bother him, because he just moves on to his next project! Very Happy

The problem is that he lost the formula after he sold it (unwittingly) to the Russian, and when Steed tell him that he sold it to "enemy agents", he's devastated! But he promises to recreated it so that England's army of invisible soldiers can battle Russia's army of invisible soldier!

My question is . . . how will anyone know who won! Shocked
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The wonderful thing about this series is the way it's rarely too silly or too serious. It walks the fine line between drama and humor just as well as the best James Bond films did. Very Happy

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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)
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