It seemed odd seeing Robert Vaughn appearing in Coronation Street this week and it reminded me when The Man From Uncle was the coolest show on tv. Alan and me would run around the garden at Jalan Wijaya in the 1960s pretending to be Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin. I always seemed to come out the worst if anyone got shot or was tied up! We had all the toys that came with the show including Man from Uncle badges, guns and annuals. The best toy you could buy at the time was a Corgi Man From Uncle car which I remember our parents buying us at Sandycroft in Penang.
I've still got it but it's seen better days. It would have been pushed over all the floors in Jalan Wijaya and crashed into walls and propelled up the garden. It got the same treatment when we got back home!
I wonder what other stars of 60s shows still pop up on tv? I can't think of many apart from William Shatner.
UNCLE what do those acronyms =? I frogot. United Network XXXXXX
ReplyDeleteHi Peter,
ReplyDeleteIt stood for 'United Network Command for Law and Enforcement'.
We loved this show. In fact, we named our dog after Napoleon Solo ... Nappie. You can see a photo fo Nappie here. Poor Nappie got knocked down by a car at Lorong Chuan :(
ReplyDeleteBut back in the 60's, we did not have colour television in Spore yet; and so these shows were in black and white.
ReplyDeleteDerek. You forgot Shintaro, the Samurai. You had a section on him in your book.
Our favourites were the cowboy shows; Lee Majors in Big Valley, Have Gun Will Travel. Forgot the title of the show with a place called Ponderosa starring Lorne Greene and Michael Landon. And then of course there was Bruce Lee and the Green Hornet.
As for comedies, my favourite was Get Smart. But we also enjoyed the English productions; such as The Saint, with Roger Moore and his Volvo.
Hi Chun See,
ReplyDeleteI've seen 'Nappie' on your blog many times but never realised that he was named after Napoleon Solo. I'm sorry that he came to such a sad end. You never forget your little pal, do you?
I remember a lot of the shows we used to watch in the 60s while in Singapore and Malaya including Lost in Space, the Flintstones, Star Trek, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, I Dream of Jeannie, Bewitched, I love Lucy, Casper the friendly ghost, the Beverley Hillbillies, Mr Terrific, Marine Boy, Gigantor, Time Tunnel and of course, Samurai. We would re-enact each show in the garden the next day! Somehow, the tv today just doesn't seem to be the same!
Oh yes ... Bonanza.
ReplyDelete