The MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E.

   US tv series (1964-8). Arena Productions/MGM for NBC TV. Executive prod Norman Felton. Writers included Harlan ELLISON, Howard Rodman, Sam Rolfe, Henry SLESAR, David Victor. Dirs included Don Medford, Boris Sagal, Joseph Sargent, Barry Shear. 105 50min episodes. 1st season b/w, subsequent 3 seasons Colour.

   This was one of tv's first reactions to the success of the James Bond films. Robert Vaughn starred as Napoleon Solo, a member of U.N. C.L.E. (United Network Command for Law and Enforcement). With the assistance of his Russian colleague Ilya Kuryakin (David McCallum) he fought to prevent the sinister organization T.H.R.U.S.H. (Technological Hierarchy for the Removal of Undesirables and the Subjugation of Humanity- an acronym chosen, it has been suggested, because of its assonance with "the Russians") from taking over the world. Most of the plots featured futuristic technology (vaporizers, etc.); the style was tongue-in-cheek. TMFU's success led to the creation of a sister series, The Girl FromU.N.C.L.E., which began in 1966, starring Stefanie Powers; it lasted only 1 season of 29 episodes.8 feature films had theatrical release outside the USA. Each consisted of 2 episodes edited together, sometimes with added footage, to make 90min films: The Spy with My Face (1965), To Trap a Spy (1966), One of Our Spies is Missing (1966), One Spy Too Many (1966), TheSpy in the Green Hat (1966), The Helicopter Spies (1967), The Karate Killers (1967) and How to Steal the World (1968). A subsequent telemovie was Return of the Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1983).The Man from U.N.C.L.E. series of ties was complex, 23 titles appearing from ACE BOOKS in the USA and 16 from Souvenir Press in the UK. 10 of the 23 ACE BOOKS were reprints from books originated by Souvenir, and 6 of the Souvenir books were reprints of books originated by Ace; in the case of \#3 in the Ace sequence, the reprint confusingly appeared before its original. None of the books was based directly on the tv scripts; all were original stories. As all the Souvenir editions appeared, either before or after their UKrelease, in Ace editions, we list only the Ace sequence: \#1: The Thousand Coffins Affair * (1965) by Michael AVALLONE, \#2: The Doomsday Affair *(1965) by Harry Whittington, \#3: The Copenhagen Affair * (1965) by John Oram, \#4: The Dagger Affair * (1966) by David MCDANIEL, \#5: The Mad Scientist Affair * (1966) by John T. PHILLIFENT, \#6: The Vampire Affair * (1966) by McDaniel, \#7: The Radioactive Camel Affair * (1966 UK) by Peter LESLIE, \#8: The Monster Wheel Affair * (1967) by McDaniel, \#9: The Diving Dames Affair * (1967 UK) by Leslie, \#10: The Assassination Affair * (1967) by Joan Hunter HOLLY, \#11: The Invisibility Affair * (1967) by Thomas Stratton (Robert COULSON and Gene DEWEESE), \#12: The Mind Twisters Affair* (1967) by Stratton, \#13: The Rainbow Affair * (1967) by McDaniel, \#14: The Cross of Gold Affair * (1968) by Fredric Davies (Ron ELLIKand Steve Tolliver), \#15: The Utopia Affair * (1968) by McDaniel, \#16: The Splintered Sunglasses Affair * (1968 UK) by Leslie, \#17: The Hollow Crown Affair * (1969) by McDaniel, \#18: The Unfair Fare Affair * (1968 UK) by Leslie, \#19: The Power Cube Affair * (1968 UK) by Phillifent, \#20: The Corfu Affair * (1967 UK) by Phillifent, \#21: The Thinking Machine Affair * (1967 UK) by Joel Bernard, \#22: The Stone-Cold Dead in the Market Affair * (1966 UK) by Oram, and \#23: The Finger in the Sky Affair * (1966 UK) by Leslie. McDaniel felt A.A. Wyn, publisher at Ace, was not paying him enough; the initial letters of the chapters in \#8 spell out AAWYNISATIGHTWAD.Girl from U.N.C.L.E. spin-offs of a similar kind were TheBirds of a Feather Affair * (1966) by Michael Avallone; The Blazing Affair * (1966) by Avallone; The Global Globules Affair * (1967 UK) by Simon Latter; The Golden Boats of Taradata Affair * (1967 UK) by Latter; The Cornish Pixie Affair * (1967 UK) by Peter Leslie.

   JB/PN