1975-2011
Winter 1975 – 1976
Richard Maibaum works on story material for a proposed U.N.C.L.E.
made-for-TV movie at MGM. He invents a plot that has Thrush
stealing the world’s nuclear waste but then leaves the project
before writing a story.
January 1976
First issue of U.N.C.L.E. HQ newsletter is published by Pat Munson.
Later handed off to Sue Cole, U.N.C.L.E. HQ runs for more than
20 years.
Friday, Jan. 7, 1977
“The Spy With My Face” comes to network television but doesn’t rate
a primetime slot, airing at 11:30 p.m. on The CBS Late Movie.
Friday, Jan. 14, 1977
Sam Rolfe completes first draft of “The Malthusian Affair,” his script for MGM’s U.N.C.L.E. TV-movie, to be produced by Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts of Mannix. Norman Felton is not involved, believing the peaking crusade against violence on television makes this the worst time for an U.N.C.L.E. revival — although NBC expresses some interest in the movie as a pilot for a new U.N.C.L.E. series.
Tuesday, Feb. 22, 1977
Sam Rolfe turns in rewrite of his script for “The Malthusian Affair,” which remains unproduced.
May 1977
“To Trap a Spy” doesn’t even rate a network appearance, airing in syndication on stations around the country.
Friday, May 27, 1977
CBS airs one-hour pilot “Enigma,” written and produced by Sam Rolfe. Scott Hylands stars as Andrew Icarus, agent for Enigma, secret international organization run by a British baron played by Guy Doleman. Soon-Taik Oh co-stars as a Chinese Enigma agent. Jim Davis, Sherry Jackson, Melinda Dillon and Percy Rodriguez also appear.
Saturday, June 11, 1977
Robert Vaughn appears in “Murder at F-Stop 11” episode of Stefanie Powers’ series The Feather and Father Gang.
Thursday, June 16, 1977
“One Spy Too Many” airs as the second feature on The CBS Late Movie, following a Kojak rerun (so technically it’s June 17 by the time the film starts at 12:40 a.m.).
Tuesday, Sept. 6 – Sunday, Sept. 11, 1977
ABC airs Nixon White House roman a clef mini-series, “Washington: Behind Closed Doors.” Robert Vaughn plays the H.R. Haldeman character and Stefanie Powers also appears. Vaughn wins an Emmy for his performance.
Tuesday, Nov. 1, 1977
David McDaniel, author of six of the 23 U.N.C.L.E. novels published by Ace Books and noted member of science fiction and U.N.C.L.E. fandom, dies at 38. McDaniel was found dead in his California home; the cause given was cerebral hemorrhage induced by a fall.
August 1978
U.N.C.L.E. fans Bob Short and Danny Biederman launch their effort to produce an U.N.C.L.E. feature film with MGM.
September 1978 – February 1979
Biederman and Short create storyline and treatment for “The Man From U.N.C.L.E. – The Feature Film.”
March 1979
Biederman and Short meet with Norman Felton, who offers script suggestions and lends full support to the feature project.
Tuesday, April 10, 1979
Short and Biederman pitch their U.N.C.L.E. feature to MGM executive Mark Canton.
Monday, April 30, 1979
MGM rejects the U.N.C.L.E. feature project. Myopic studio execs believe an U.N.C.L.E. movie could not compete with the James Bond films.
May – October 1979
Biederman’s agent shops the U.N.C.L.E. movie to other studios and major independents with no success.
Wednesday, June 6, 1979
“Escape to Athena,” World War II adventure film set in a German prison camp in the Greek islands, opens in the United States. Current 007 Roger Moore and former girl from U.N.C.L.E. Stefanie Powers star with David Niven, Telly Savalas and Claudia Cardinale.
Saturday, Sept. 22, 1979
Hart to Hart, lighthearted and frequently lightheaded mystery series created and written by James Bond screenwriter Tom Mankiewicz, premieres on ABC. The Girl From U.N.C.L.E.’s Stefanie Powers co-stars with It Takes a Thief’s Robert Wagner.
Monday, Sept. 24, 1979
Short and Biederman submit their project to MGM Television as a made-for-TV movie. Studio says film can move forward only with interest from NBC.
December 1979
NBC programming exec lauds U.N.C.L.E. movie but is unable to interest higher-ups at the network.
December 1979
U.N.C.L.E. fan Gavin Claypool launches effort to publish a professionally typeset, hardbound-with-dust-jacket limited edition of The Final Affair by David McDaniel.
Saturday, Feb. 23, 1980
CBS airs two-hour pilot-movie “SHE,” created and written by Richard Maibaum, with Cornelia Sharpe as secret agent Lavinia Keane, “Security Hazards Expert.” Omar Sharif, Robert Lansing and Anita Ekberg co-star.
Saturday, Feb. 23, 1980
Saturday Night Live hosted by Kirk Douglas runs recurring “What If?” panel-show skit that ends with plug for “next week’s” question: What if the American pioneers had to fight dinosaurs on the way west but the Man from U.N.C.L.E. went back through time to help them?
Thursday, June 19, 1980
Publication date for the hardback edition of The Final Affair comes and goes. Project finally dies from monetary problems and licensing issues with MGM.
Tuesday, July 15, 1980
Short and Biederman pitch their project as a feature or a TV-movie to the latest inhabitants of MGM’s revolving-door executive suite.
Thursday, Aug. 21, 1980
MGM-TV informs Short and Biederman that the studio is proceeding with their script as a made-for-TV movie.
Tuesday, Jan. 13, 1981
Noel Harrison appears in the “Murder in Paradise” episode of Stefanie Powers’ series Hart to Hart.
Spring – Summer 1981
With an U.N.C.L.E. TV-movie stalled again, Biederman and Short package their project to re-interest MGM’s feature division, lining up Robert Vaughn, David McCallum, Klaus Kinski as the villain, Jane Seymour as the innocent, Laura Antonelli as Serena (the Thrush temptress played by Senta Berger in “The Spy With My Face”), and Cloris Leachman as Mrs. Allison, the new head of U.N.C.L.E.
Thursday, May 21, 1981
MGM owner Kirk Kerkorian buys United Artists from Transamerica Corp., putting James Bond and U.N.C.L.E. under one corporate roof.
Friday, May 22, 1981
Director Boris Sagal dies in a helicopter accident on the set of NBC mini-series “World War III” days after agreeing to direct the Short-Biederman U.N.C.L.E. movie (Sagal directed the 1968 U.N.C.L.E. feature, “The Helicopter Spies”). Short and Biederman later get a commitment from Arthur Hiller to replace Sagal.
Spring 1982
After MGM passes on their repackaged U.N.C.L.E. feature film, Short and Biederman are surprised to hear that a studio visitor has requested a screening of the dreadful sixth U.N.C.L.E. film, “The Karate Killers.” Sometime later, they learn that MGM-TV is negotiating with Michael Sloan (veteran of such classy fare as B.J. and the Bear and The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo) over production of his own U.N.C.L.E. revival script.
October 1982
MGM, now unwilling to put money into an U.N.C.L.E. revival after its 70s attempts came to nothing, and Arena, with nothing to lose, agree to license The Man From U.N.C.L.E. to Viacom for production of one film.
November 1982
Fans are astounded to learn that shooting actually has started in Las Vegas on an U.N.C.L.E. made-for-TV movie.
Tuesday, April 5, 1983
“The Return of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. — The Fifteen Years Later Affair” airs on CBS from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. Written and produced by Michael Sloan with no input from Felton or Rolfe, result is a minor disaster despite the return of Vaughn, McCallum, composer Gerald Fried and cinematographer Fred Koenekamp, and the best efforts of technical adviser Bob Short. Viewers aware of the 1964 dispute with Saltzman and Broccoli and the subsequent decree that U.N.C.L.E. avoid anything remotely reminiscent of James Bond are bemused by the appearance of George Lazenby — star of the 1969 Bond film “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” — as British agent “JB,” driving a gadget-laden Aston Martin as he helps Napoleon Solo escape from Thrush agents.
Monday, Sept. 2, 1985
CBN cable network begins running The Man From U.N.C.L.E. MGM creates new tape transfers (with new MGM Television logo replacing original 1960s logo), and restores four episodes to the rerun package of the six withheld in 1968. Studio claims the two parts of “The Alexander the Greater Affair” cannot be found.
Tuesday, March 25, 1986
Co-ownership of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. passes to Turner Broadcasting System when cable mogul Ted Turner buys Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Turner quickly resells most of MGM’s assets but keeps the movie and television library, using the hundreds of hours of film to program his new TNT network. Norman Felton retains 50 percent ownership of U.N.C.L.E. and other Arena properties.
Friday, Sept. 26, 1986
Robert Vaughn becomes a regular on The A-Team during that series’ fifth and last season as General Hunt Stockwell, government contact for the now captured and semi-reformed A-Team.
Friday, Oct. 31, 1986
Vaughn and McCallum are reunited in “The Say Uncle Affair” episode of The A-Team. McCallum plays a Russian spy who kidnaps General Stockwell.
January 1987
U.N.C.L.E. fan and comics shop owner Paul Howley releases first issue of new Man From U.N.C.L.E. comic book from his Entertainment Publishing label. Howley publishes 11 issues but then is forced to fold the title after Turner doubles its licensing fee.
December 1987
St. Martin’s Press publishes The Man From U.N.C.L.E. Book by Jon Heitland.
1989 – 1993
Turner Broadcasting proposes a new U.N.C.L.E. TV-movie — and possibly a series of sequels — starring Vaughn and McCallum. Norman Felton writes updated story outline with Solo and Illya still active agents. Sam Rolfe is enlisted as consultant and possibly writer-producer. McCallum shows initial interest but eventually decides he does not want to play Illya again. Felton then proposes teaming Solo with heretofore unknown younger brother Peter Kuryakin. Rolfe clashes with callow Turner reps who want to rewrite his pilot script. Project eventually dies because Turner execs believe success hinges on Vaughn and McCallum both appearing.
1991
Beginning this year, the Producers Guild of America names its television producer of the year award for Norman Felton.
Friday, Jan. 4, 1991
Richard Maibaum dies at 81.
Wednesday, Sept. 25, 1991
MGM/UA Home Video releases The Man From U.N.C.L.E. on videocassette for the first time, eight tapes containing 16 episodes.
Week of Monday, Jan. 4, 1993
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, the second live-action Star Trek spin-off series, debuts in syndication. The directory of businesses on the space station’s promenade includes Del Floria’s Tailor Shop, but its presence unfortunately is just an in-joke for the crew. No close-up of the directory shows Del Floria’s on screen and no storefront seen on the show carries that name.
March 1993
Alternative comics publisher Millennium Publications releases first of only two issues of another Man From U.N.C.L.E. comic book series. Two issues published make up a two-part story titled “The Birds of Prey Affair.”
Saturday, July 10, 1993
Sam Rolfe dies at 69.
August 1993
Producer John Davis options Turner’s and Felton’s rights to make a new feature film version of The Man From U.N.C.L.E.
Wednesday, Sept. 28, 1994
Harry Saltzman dies at 78.
October 1994
Quentin Tarantino begins floating stories that he would like to write and direct the U.N.C.L.E. movie.
June 1995
Channel D, the first U.N.C.L.E. on-line discussion list, is established on Ellen Druda’s PC with 10 members.
Thursday, June 27, 1996
Cubby Broccoli dies at 87.
Friday, Sept. 20, 1996
Mr. & Mrs. Smith premieres with Scott Bakula and Maria Bello in another of the many unsuccessful attempts to bring back spy shows. CBS cancels this one so quickly that some episodes are left unaired, including “The Impossible Mission,” guest starring David McCallum. The producers cutely cast McCallum as a character named Ian Felton and actor Larry Thomas as a Mr. Rolfe (Thomas goes on to minor fame as Seinfeld’s “Soup Nazi”).
Thursday, Oct. 10, 1996
Co-ownership of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. passes to Warner Bros. when Ted Turner’s companies are acquired by Time Warner Inc. Norman Felton retains 50 percent ownership of U.N.C.L.E. and other Arena properties.
Thursday, Nov. 13, 1997
Robert Vaughn and fellow TV spies Robert Culp, Patrick Macnee and Barbara Bain appear as retired secret agents in “Discards” episode of Diagnosis Murder.
Saturday, Dec. 5, 1998
U.N.C.L.E. on-line discussion group Channel D moves to ONElist (now known as Yahoo Groups) where membership soars past 900.
April 1999
The first U.N.C.L.E. Web site, manfromuncle.org, goes on-line.
July 1999
U.N.C.L.E. fan working at Turner Broadcasting in Atlanta locates and identifies prints of the long lost “Alexander the Greater Affair.”
Tuesday, July 4, 2000
A year after they were uncovered in Turner’s film vault, TNT runs both parts of “The Alexander the Greater Affair,” the first time the episodes have been seen since their original broadcast on NBC in September 1965.
December 2002
Film Score Monthly label releases the first U.N.C.L.E. soundtrack album using the real scores from the series, produced and annotated by Jon Burlingame.
Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2003
Warner Home Video in the U.K. releases DVD set of the U.N.C.L.E. movies — but inexplicably, the three-disc set contains only five of the eight films. “To Trap a Spy,” “One of Our Spies Is Missing” and “The Spy in the Green Hat” are not included.
Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2003
NCIS, TV series about the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, premieres on CBS. Mark Harmon stars as Jethro Gibbs, leader of an NCIS team, and David McCallum co-stars as Dr. Donald “Ducky” Mallard, team’s chief medical examiner. Series is illogically titled Navy NCIS in its first season because CBS believes viewers will have no idea what “NCIS” means. NBC rejected “U.N.C.L.E.” as a series title in 1964, believing viewers would have no idea what it meant.
October 2003
Would-be producer Lindsay Dunlap options Felton’s share of rights to make a new feature film version of The Man From U.N.C.L.E.
Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2005
In the NCIS episode “Witness,” Gibbs is asked what Ducky looked like when he was young. “Illya Kuryakin,” he replies.
Saturday, Jan. 14, 2006
Hustle, British TV series produced by BBC, premieres in the United States on the AMC cable network. Robert Vaughn co-stars as Albert Stroller, senior member of a group of London-based con artists.
Friday, April 7, 2006
Anchor Bay video label announces its DVD release of The Man From U.N.C.L.E., with first-season boxed set scheduled to go on sale July 25, 2006.
Thursday, April 27, 2006
Pre-sales for Anchor Bay’s U.N.C.L.E. DVD set are abruptly withdrawn when Warner Bros. asserts its rights to the series.
Monday, July 2, 2007
Starz Home Entertainment files suit against Lindsay Dunlap, charging her with fraud and breach of contract for selling DVD rights to The Man From U.N.C.L.E. to Starz home-video label Anchor Bay.
Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2007
Official release date of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. DVD set produced and sold by Time Life under license from Warner Bros.
Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2008
Warner Home Video begins retail sales of the U.N.C.L.E. DVD set.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
“The Return of The Man From U.N.C.L.E.” is released on DVD by Viacom-owned Paramount Home Video.
Saturday, Feb. 6, 2010
HBO premieres its original film “Temple Grandin,” biopic of a real autistic girl played by Claire Danes who grows up to become a doctor of animal husbandry, an author, and a defender of animal rights. In the mid-1960s, the teenage Temple’s very, very favorite source of entertainment is watching The Man From U.N.C.L.E., dramatized in the film by her boisterously enthusiastic descriptions of the show and clips from “The Gazebo in the Maze Affair” and “The Cherry Blossom Affair.” Another scene in which Temple ventures out at night to retrieve her confiscated “squeeze machine” includes U.N.C.L.E. elements apparently thrown in just for the fans who would recognize them: the famous zip pan and first-season music by Jerry Goldsmith.
Friday, Aug. 20, 2010
A Los Angeles jury awards Starz $7.3 million after finding that Lindsay Dunlap fraudulently licensed to Anchor Bay U.N.C.L.E. video rights she did not possess.
Sunday, Aug. 22, 2010
AMC cable network runs the Mad Men episode “The Chrysanthemum and the Rose,” with a scene in which Don Draper’s 10-year-old daughter Sally watches The Man From U.N.C.L.E. Dialogue establishes the episode taking place in March 1965; clips from “The Hong Kong Shilling Affair,” which aired March 15, 1965, are seen on the TV set. [We also see that Sally learns to touch herself as she gazes in rapture at David McCallum. Hard to believe that’s what all those little girls in love with Illya were doing when they watched U.N.C.L.E.]
Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2011
Warner Home Video releases The Girl From U.N.C.L.E. series on DVD, and a boxed DVD set of the eight U.N.C.L.E. movies. Unlike the elaborate Man From U.N.C.L.E. set produced by Time Life for Warner, these sets have no extras whatsoever, and they are available only in the inferior “manufacture on demand” format.
