"The Girl from U.N.C.L.E." (1966) TV series 1966-1967

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Seasons:

1

Release Date:

13 September 1966 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure

Plot:

This spinoff from "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." features the adventures of sexy spy April Dancer, who works...

Plot Keywords:

Spy | Beautiful Woman | Acronym In Title | Female Spy

Cast

Stefanie Powers	...	April Dancer (29 episodes, 1966-1967)
Leo G. Carroll	...	Alexander Waverly (29 episodes, 1966-1967)
Noel Harrison	...	Mark Slate (28 episodes, 1966-1967)

Runtime:

60 min (29 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

Arena Productions

Trivia:

April Dancer was originally to have been named Cookie Fortune. The name April Dancer is attributed to James Bond creator Ian Fleming, who had suggested the name for an UNCLE operative when he helped in the creation of "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." (1964) prior to his death.

Quotes:

April Dancer: [April is talking to Mark who is hiding in a tree] Do try to look more like a sycamore won't you?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Concerto Macabre: The Films of John Brahm (2007) (V)

No wonder it lasted one season....it was pathetic.

The format episode for this spin off was from an earlier 1966 episode of its parent show,The Man From U.N.C.L.E which was an fantastic episode called,"The Moonglow Affair",which starred Mary Ann Mobley and Norman Fell in the roles of April Dancer and Mark Slate. But here what gets me with this show,which is very synonymous with one of the bad spin-off to one of the most successful espionage shows of all time. By the way,The Man From U.N.C.L.E. was an intelligent and brilliant and very innovative 1960's spy show,but when its spin-off,The Girl From U.N.C.L.E. premiered on NBC-TV in September of 1966,the show from which it came from,did not deserve this kind of treatment nor the physical abuse of its original format. It there was any wonder why some of the episodes were so blant,sexist,and incredibly stupid within the silly plots and goofy dialogue within the characters,it was no wonder that this show lasted only one season,it was just that pathetic. The episodes themselves,were typical fun,but were corny as the popcorn left over for a movie,and as cheesy and most of all,totally stupid. Only 29 episodes were produced of this series,which was under its executive producers David Victor and Douglas Benton,and Norman Felton and based on the characters created by Sam Rolfe(the original architect for U.N.C.L.E). The series ended its run in 1967.

But here was gets me,how did April Dancer went from being an assistant secretary of the head chief of the organization to becoming one of the first female secret agents for U.N.C.L.E.? That is anybody guess of how she did this,but in all aspects,it was any wonder that this girl would be one,as I put it,a cross between Nancy Drew and Penelope Pitstop. U.N.C.L.E agent April Dancer(played by Stephanie Powers)wasn't the best of the female secret agents either. She was a total accident prone girl who was in some ways an sympathetic ditz who always manages to get herself in some tight situation,only to get herself deeper and deeper into serious complications with diabolical villains or even worse ending up with some mad scientist's deadly schemes only to be rescued by her male partner,U.N.C.L.E. agent Mark Slate(played by Noel Harrison),but only to come to her aid at the last minute to save her from a terrible and sinister fate. However,this does get boring very quickly,and it shows in some of the episodes. Out of all of the episodes,there was only one that was very good and the rest were just either plain silly or repulsive.

If this show proved anything is that some of the best intentions from their offspring can bear the the fruits of the original,and that's a crying shame to see a grand show like the Man From U.N.C.L.E. didn't deserved this kind of treatment,especially from its loyalists of fans.