Iconic TV Duos

As stated in my previous blog, I've been greatly enjoying the return of The X Files.  The new scripts have kept the same interesting mix of suspense, sarcasm, horror and humor.  And its leads are as charismatic together as ever.  Their banter and individual reactions to a fantastic crisis are still spot on.  Gillian Anderson's Dana Scully seeks the rational explanation that science can support while David Duchovny's Fox Mulder wants truth no matter the cost.  In honor of the return of this alluring duo, I thought I might list some of my favorite personal favorites from television's iconic duos.

John Steed & Emma Peel of THE AVENGERS - Perhaps I am out of date, but when The Avengers are mentioned, I think of elegant British secret agents instead of Marvel super heroes.  Patrick Macnee played suave super spy John Steed throughout the long run of The Avengers TV show.  Its episodes evolved from black and white to color while its tone shifted from dramatic espionage capers to more bizarre exploits required in saving the world from madmen.  While John Steed remained on duty throughout the run, his line up of partners changed, originally starting with a male doctor before adding female heroes to the mix.  Airing in the 60's, the show was groundbreaking in allowing its women to stand toe to toe with Steed in the action scenes.  Each new comrade in action brought a special vibe to the series.  The most popular pairing was John Steed with Emma Peel (Diana Rigg), talented amateur adventurer with a penchant for high kicks.  The show can easily be seen as a forerunner of The X Files with its male and female leads as well as fantastic menaces. 

U.N.C.L.E.'s  Robert Vaughn & I.

Napoleon Solo & Illya Kuryakin of THE MAN FROM U.N.CL.E. - While John Steed & Emma Peel were busy in the service of safe guarding Her Majesty's realm, a number of similarly unique spy pairs were in action in the states.  Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin worked for U.N.C.L.E. to safeguard the world from madmen of various specialties, often employed by the criminal organization called T.H.R.U.S.H..  Like The Avengers, The Man From U.N.C.L.E. began its run in black and white before switching to color.  Its adventures also grew more outlandish.  Interestingly, Robert Vaughn's confident character of Solo really wasn't into a partnership at the start of the series, but the appeal with viewers of the quiet and intense Illya Kuryakin (David McCallum) meant a slight change to the format's focus.  The two agents sparkled together in scenes of action or interplay, but quite often they did find themselves functioning separately on the same case.

Batman & Robin of BATMAN - It would be impossible not to mention the 'official' dynamic duo in such a list!  Batman and Robin were conceived by Bob Kane and had a multitude of adventures for decades in the pages of comic books before taking the leap to the television screen in the 60's without leaving much of its colorful trappings behind.  The television version in fact was a lighter version of Gotham City's grim detective.  The show heartily indulged in humor as Batman and Robin donned masked costumes to fight bizarre criminals.  Not much psychology went into the relationship of a millionaire seeking vengeance for his murdered family alongside his youthful ward, but Adam West and Burt Ward brought a straight laced heroism to their characters in or out of costume.

James T. Kirk & Spock of STAR TREK - Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock of The Enterprise were efficient explorers of space, the final frontier.  Kirk (William Shatner) was human and prone to lead with instinct.  Spock (Leonard Nimoy) was a pointy eared Vulcan, an emotionless adherent to logic.  Interestingly, this mix can sort of be seen in the clash between Scully's scientific rational and Mulder's urge to uncover the unknowable.  And so we come full circle with TV's iconic duos. 

Comic Book Characters Soar

     A few years ago I got to meet Lou Ferrigno at a Philadelphia comic con.  That's where the above picture is from and it's the perfect place for an actor that used to play a green skinned comic character called the Hulk.  He was engaging to chat with and cool to fans.  The guy has a great story - an American dream type - of going from picked on teen to successful body builder to TV star.
     Lou Ferrigno's birthday was a few days ago - November 9th to be exact.  It seems he's 63 and still looks great.  He's left behind his days of hulking out and being green, but the Hulk's still out there in comic books and films.  People age, comic characters get rebooted. 
     Marvel Comics - the company that contains the Hulk - is more active then ever at bringing their colorful creations to the screen.  The Hulk has had his own movies and appeared within the highly profitable Avengers franchise.  In fact recently there has been news regarding a slew of new Marvel characters slated for the silver screen - including such established characters as Black Panther and Dr. Strange.  Of course recent favorites must return like Thor and Captain America.  Marvel apparently plans to have its characters cross over in films and there is apparently a release schedule set for as yet unmade films over the next five years.
     I suppose all this is splendid news for fans, but I wonder if the folks at Marvel productions aren't pushing things a bit - overloading its cash cow to the extreme.  It's happened before.  My prime interest in comic characters was my teenage years, namely the late 80's to the start of the 90's.  It was quite an invigorating time for comics.  Chris Clarmont's X-Men were the rage at Marvel while DC was launching artistic triumphants like Frank Miller's Dark Knight and Watchmen. Yes, as I grew up I watched comics mature in content from recounting the adventures of super heroes to exploring the dark psychology of masked crusaders.  Alas, as the comic book grew as an art form, so did the financial greed of its publishers.  Of course comic's success meant that each company adopted an attitude of multiple covers and crossover storylines to get readers to buy as many comic books as possible.  Eventually I experienced a burn out on trying to keep up with all that.  Apparently a lot of readers and collectors did as well and the lucrative comics industry sort of collapsed.
     Before 1990, comic book film adaptions were a rarity.  There had been black and white serials, but the only big budget color productions were the Christopher Reeve Superman films - in which there was plenty to savor there.
     Comic book characters had experienced more success and longevity on the TV screen before 1990.  DC adaptions include such fondly remembered shows as Adventures of Superman from the 1950's with George Reeves as the ultimate straight laced super hero, the 1960's camp classic Batman starring Adam West and Wonder Woman with Lynda Carter from the 1970's.  The later era also saw a number of Marvel TV adaptions - the most successful being The Incredible Hulk with Lou Ferrigno.  While these series lacked the CGI marvels of today's Marvel film adaptions, I liked the earnestness and creativity associated with them  I guess it just ages me, but I prefer these old adaptions to today's, which seem everywhere.  But then so did Marvel comic books in the 80's.  We shall see how long the film franchise thrives.