"The Man from U.N.C.L.E." Goes Batty -- Part of The Classic TV Blog Association Terror TV Blogathon

This post is part of the Terror TV Blogathon hosted by the Classic TV Blog Association.  Click here for the entire line-up!

Vampires are big business these days but who exactly are we kidding?  They've always been big business -- big SHOW business -- from the early days of silent cinema until this very minute.  In terms of TV fun, they've been pulled out to do spooky duty many a time, including tussling with the intrepid secret agents on The Man from U.N.C.L.E. back in 1966, though not as a Halloween episode; it aired on April 1 of that year on NBC, of course!

"The Bat Cave Affair" is a crazy mix featuring a psychic hillbilly gal, Illya bullfighting in Spain and ending up hostage to a diabolical mad scientist Thrush agent Count Zark who's cooked up a plan to use bats to throw the world's air traffic into a tailspin.  The precognitive Ozark lass is played by actress Joan Freeman, veteran of many TV shows and movies and who played the girlfriend of space-bound TV favorite Don Knotts (post-Barney Fife) in 1967's The Reluctant Astronaut comedy movie.  

Count Zark is played by the consummate actor Martin Landau, a perennial acting man of many faces who was a frequent guest on TV series and co-starring in movies. Later in that Fall season he would begin his star-making role as magician/secret agent Rollin Hand in TV's Mission: Impossible which he played for 3 years.  

Rather than recap the plot of "The Bat Cave Affair" again here I will refer you to several sites with terrific synopses of the episode, such as Benzadmiral's No Man is Free site with plot here, Morgan Richter's Preppies of the Apocalypse with a complete rundown here, and TV Maze with a detailed storyline recap here.  But really, the charm and continuing appeal of this episode is in the look of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and particularly the brilliantly flamboyant work of Martin Landau as Count Zark.  In addition to the fact that Landau has never given less than a standout performance in anything, he's got an incredibly expressive face just perfect for topping off the traditional vampire flowing black cape.

So, with great thanks to the wonderful Lisa's Video Frame Capture Library site -- check it out here -- let's feast on some moments from "The Bad Cave Affair"!

The Man from U.N.C.L.E. "The Bat Cave Affair" is worth checking out for its snazzy 1960s' vibe and the always entertaining performances of all the series regulars.  You can find and watch it online here.

Happy Halloween to all TV lovers everywhere, and be sure to check out the rest of the other wonderful entries in The Terror TV Blogathan hosted by the Classic TV Blog Association; visit the entire line-up by clicking here.  You'll really enjoy it!  

2011 -- "The Outer Limits" for the New Year!

There's a wonderful internet experience going on and we'd like to point you there. A couple of terrific and talented writers and TV experts are tackling a grand task -- watching and critiquing every episode of the brilliant early 1960s' science fiction/horror series The Outer Limits. As a practically life-long fan of TOL, I can tell you that this is a sacred and important mission Peter Enfantino and John Scoleri are on. The Outer Limits is one of those very special TV series which continues to gain fans and respect as time goes by. No way this show is going to be forgotten! (Below, Martin Landau in the haunting "The Man Who Was Never Born", co-starring Shirley Knight.)

Just before embarking on the TOL project, Peter and John finished up a similar episode-by-episode treatment for the 1960s' horror anthology series Thriller, which is also definitely worth checking out. Not only are the fellas smart and completely in the know about genre TV, literature, and almost everything else, they're also a bunch of fun to read and not at all stolid or humorless in their appreciation of the series that they cover. That's what I really like -- people who love TV but who can love all the absurdities and crazy bits that make us love the programs all the more.

If you're new to The Outer Limits, I would suggest that you start watching. All the episodes are available on Hulu, plus you can pick up DVD sets for bargain prices these days. There are only 49 episodes, so it's not like you're going to be playing catch-up the rest of your life. Nothing too daunting here, and with Enfantino and Scoleri's commentary to guide you onward, you'll end up with a keen understanding of just what makes TOL a keeper. (Left, David McCallum in his terrifying and brilliant role in "The Sixth Finger".)

Much as I'd like to post it here, it seems that there are no versions on YouTube of the famous The Outer Limits opening that can be embedded -- boo to that! However, I did find a nice piece, from TNT back in 1991, when we ran an entire night of TOL on our groovy MonsterVision franchise. Guess who programmed that, naturally? Please -- my department was dedicated to only bringing you the best of TV, what would you expect? We had just gotten the series in a big package of MGM titles -- practically the best thing in the whole deal! -- and we couldn't wait to get them on our science fiction movie franchise. So here is a little interstitial piece that the production kids put together for that initial marathon -- thanks to YT user Videoholic90sA for keeping, finding and posting this bit of history!

There's nothing like The Outer Limits -- not Twilight Zone, not Night Gallery, not any other anthology, and definitely not the TOL remake from the 1990s, thought there were some great segments. If you remember, it premiered on Showtime back then as one of their original productions, and initially had lots of soft-core nudity from an interesting bunch of actors and actresses. Once it began to be re-run it was edited, but it did add another dimension to the show, I will say that!

Bottom Line: Go to Peter and John's wonderful We Are Controlling Transmission website! Give them some feedback and thanks for taking on this delightful project! An added treat on the site are reprints from the ultimate TOL book written by David S. Schow, and he's also a frequent commenter there. You can totally get your The Outer Limits geek on -- I sure am!