THOSE WERE THE DAYS - The Avengers
Searching for something else, I led myself to YouTube videos of the opening sequences for several TV shows I used to watch, when I was a kid in Nigeria, in the 70s and part of the 80s.
I had a good time reacquainting myself with many of these programs. Nostalgia... recalling moments from a previous time that I'd long forgotten... and now I'm mining YouTube for as many of them I can find!
Remember The Avengers? No, not the comic book series. The British television program that featured 2 secret agents in 1960s Britain, which ran from 1961 to 1969. I LOVED that show, and we never missed an episode, especially the Diana Rigg years.
Even though the program originally aired in Britain in the 60s, I didn't get to watch it until the late 70s/early 80s, since I obviously wasn't around in the 60s.
The Avengers was a combination of your run-of-the-mill thriller and science fiction elements, and both leads were all too cool for school, making an otherwise routine pair of spies significantly more interesting to watch!
I remember dressing up like John Steed (played by Patrick Mcknee), swinging an umbrella that, in my imagination, doubled as a weapon, much like Steed's did in the series. Although, I barely recall much; and now that I've rediscovered it, I'm going to go digging for a DVD set or two...
A shitty Hollywood adaptation starring Uma Thurman and Ralph Fiennes was released in 1998. It was a flop!
Here's one of several opening sequences of the original cult hit (more to come)... those were the days:
I loved "The Avengers." And that first title sequence in your clip is the classic of all classics. Dig how that thing is shot and cut. Shadows, silhouettes, all kinds of hip shit happening.
Now, if you're checking out DVDs, I highly recommend a black-and-white episode called "The House That Jack Built." There's a 15-minute sequence in it where no dialogue is spoken... it's just Emma Peel walking through this mysterious mechanical maze house. I thought that was intriguing (though the fansite I just linked to thought it was tedious).
Being a filmmaker, you need to check it out just as an exercise in technique. I've always wanted to challenge myself with writing a long sequence in a drama episode where no dialogue is spoken, relying solely on visual storytelling.
The Avengers! I arrived in the late 60s but, like you, it wasn't until the 70s, here in Blighty, and then the 80s, in Nigeria, that I watched the series. Nostalgia indeed...
To this day Emma Peel (Ms Rigg) is a role model and style icon in my books... Sexy, no nonsense fashionista extraordinare... *Sigh* And Mr Steed was just the coolest. Alas, men like that are not common on the streets of London, not these days, if ever.
It might seem run of the mill now, but British TV and film from the 60s was ace!
Haven't watched the 21st century remake and not sure that I ever will. Musn't sully my fond memories.
Me too! I loved that show. I remember it first came on TV on ABC but then I could go on about all the shows I was hooked on back then, Man from U.N.C.L.E., The Saint, The Green Hornet (Bruce Lee-...need I say more?) The Rat Patrol (terrific WWII action TV show)
They just can't make them like they used to anymore and I just have NO interest in seeing Heroes or The Biggest Loser
Without question, Emma Peel (the producers wanted a character with man appeal...ergo, "M" appeal...get it?) is one of the most influential characters in the last 50 years of pop culture.
Diana Rigg seems to have totally turned her back on that phase of her life. She never even discusses it in interviews. She was wise enough to skip a cameo in the remake, a heaping piece of shit directed by Jeremiah Chechick.
@ Geniousbastard: Interesting tidbit about "M" appeal... I never knew that. Mind you, she had serious girl appeal too. And none of that Spice Girly "Girl Power" sh!t, either! I swear that if you woke me in the middle of the night, I could don a Peel-esque outfit without even thinking too hard about it... and don the persona to go with it!
And given what you said about some of your female students in another post on this blog, it's a shame more young women don't have such a"peel"ing role models these days...
Love! Love! Love! The Avengers. Own all the DVD's... well, actually, own all the Emma Peel DVDs. Steed and Peel were Mulder and Scully for the '60s. Love so much about the mystery of the pairing. And talk about a style. One of the reasons I got into TV writing.