The Avengers

[cranefly]

[Note: This is an older post I edited after figuring out how to hotlink an image on dropbox]

According to imdb, the Friday episode, "Dressed to Kill," is one of the best Honor Blackman episodes. I might try to catch it.

Meanwhile, China is intent on remaking The Avengers. After a 19-month search, they've found their Emma Peale.

[cranefly]

Just a heads up. They're back to Diana Rigg episodes, and purportedly one of the best is Too Many Christmas Trees. I don't know if I've ever seen it.
Anyway, it's on tonight (Sunday, Dec. 7) at 7 pm, and again on Thursday, Dec. 11, at 1 pm. This is COZYTV, which for us is 11-2.

Also, Man-Eater of Surrey Green is on Wed., Dec. 10, at 1 pm. It is the only totally science fictional episode and is supposed to be very good. Again I can't recall if I ever saw it back in the '60s.

I watched a few of the Honor Blackman episodes. She has a harshness about her that I really like. She just seems competent. And in reading about her, she worked really hard at doing most of her own stunts, and was always covered in bruises.

It's mindboggling to consider that I'm revisiting all of this almost 50 years after it first imprinted my brain.

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

i like how Steed was more of a manipulator and a bit of a bastard in the pre-Rigg episodes.

[Drunk Monk]

Hit the jackpot last night surfing Xfinity at my mom's. The Town of No Return. This episode opens with a swordfight. Not just any swordfight but a playful flirtatious foil fencing match between Steed and Peel, complete with Peel in a black cat suit (dang, if fencing hotties really wore those, I would have kept up with the sport), as well as a close-up foil spanking by Steed on Peel's lovely cat-suit clad derriere.

Unfortunately, the episode started at midnight and I've been down on sleep plus I had to get up at 6AM this morning, so I didn't see it through to the end, but after the beginning, I was very satisfied.

[Drunk Monk]

This is available on Hulu. <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.hulu.com/watch/711978">http://www.hulu.com/watch/711978</a><!-- m -->

[cranefly]

Lady Cranefly and I have been watching a fair number of these midnight showings on COZI-TV, which we get over the air (rooftop antenna).
They've been showing a lot of older Honor Blackman episodes. But last night begins a series of Diana Rigg episodes. Last night's was her very first episode. Incredibly, she's a fully formed character, and the playfulness between Steed and Emma Peel is there from the get-go.

"The Town of No Return" episode was rated 9 out of 10 by a reviewer on IMDB that I trust. Tonight's "The Murder Market" is also given a 9. We're talking cream of the riding crop. And Friday night's episode "The Master Minds" gets a very rare 10 out of 10.

We're hoping to catch these and continue watching them next week (every weekday night).

[Drunk Monk]

The one that got away - once, during a Mission book crawl, I found a copy of Honor's Book of Self Defense, a wonderful early martial arts treatise, for like under $5. I didn't buy it though because I was already loaded down with several other nice finds. I have regretted that ever since. Not that I really need more martial arts books, but that one at that price would have been a good score.

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

That would have been a great score. Apparently she studied judo for her role.

I'm happy now that the Dianna Rigg episodes are back. The DVR is also happy.

[Drunk Monk]

But where's the sport in that? Besides, I have way too many martial arts books now. I have crates in storage at my mom's house. She's not the only hoarder in the family.

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

Emma is back in rotation this coming week. All hail!

[cranefly]

Yes!
We just rewatched an Honor Blackman episode that Lady Cranefly really likes. It involved horse-racing.

Highlights:

Cathy Gale complains to the owner of the betting establishment about the amount she received for her winning ticket. It's an incredibly complicated bit of calculation that goes on and on, because she bet in a complicated way. She's very convincing, seeming to make the calculations in real-time, not reading from a cue card or summoning it all woodenly from memory.

Earlier, during the race, Cathy is rooting for her horse, facing away from the camera, looking at a monitor. Steed is at her side, mocking all her excitement, and he's starting to grin, and you can tell he's trying to break her up. A surprisingly long scene, with Steed unrelentingly wicked in his mockery. But Honor Blackman is ever the professional, not easily ruffled, and she holds herself together throughout.

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

Tripped over "The Assassination Bureau (Ltd)" a few weeks ago. Great fun. So many of the supporting actors from The Avengers appear here with Diana Rigg in her late 1960's prime. Oliver Reed is young and very engaging. You can see why he was rumored to be a favorite for taking over the 007 rating from Connery.

[Drunk Monk]

Hulu+ has some of the Emma seasons. This episode has Mrs. Peel going to a karate dojo where the sensai (as misspelled in the credits) tells her she'd be better off fencing, then she must engage in a karate cat fight with a blonde hottie to prove herself. Plus Kato from the Pink Panther. And that's not even the best part. The best part is SPOILER karate robots END SPOILER