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Post by naterdawg on Feb 25, 2017 22:33:37 GMT
I was a BIG fan (and still am) of The Avengers, and no, I don't mean Marvel's superhero group, headed by Captain America! Specifically, I'm discussing The Avengers, starring Patrick MacNee as John Steed and the divine Diana Rigg as his partner, Emma Peel.
Steed and Peel are The Avengers, representatives of the UK government who are constantly involved in the most delicious intrigue. The Peel episodes are just amazing. She was a totally liberated women when liberated women didn't exist in the mainstream. She could kick ass--and did, in every episode--wore the best Carnaby street fashions, and was one of the sexiest women I've every seen on television. Her relationship with Steed was totally platonic (her husband, Peter Peel, was lost in the Amazon, I believe), and their give and take makes each remarkable episode soar. And what writing! And such convoluted, amazing plots! I loved every minute of it.
I have all the Peel episodes in a DVD set, and whenever I'm feeling down, I pop in a disc and revel in my childhood. One of the aspects I truly enjoy is the opening credits. Steed walked out with a bottle of champagne, Mrs. Peel fires a shot and pops off the cork. Steed looks at her knowingly. He pours them each a glass, they toast, and the iconic music plays. Just a great beginning and totally sums up their relationship and the fun there is in store.
Who else loves The Avengers?
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Post by louise on Feb 26, 2017 17:50:57 GMT
I like the Honor Blackman episodes the best. i Find her a more interesting character than Emma Peel, and there is more excitement, the Peel episodes are too bizarre for my taste.
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Post by Nalkarj on Feb 27, 2017 1:00:46 GMT
I was a BIG fan (and still am) of The Avengers, and no, I don't mean Marvel's superhero group, headed by Captain America! Specifically, I'm discussing The Avengers, starring Patrick MacNee as John Steed and the divine Diana Rigg as his partner, Emma Peel. Steed and Peel are The Avengers, representatives of the UK government who are constantly involved in the most delicious intrigue. The Peel episodes are just amazing. She was a totally liberated women when liberated women didn't exist in the mainstream. She could kick ass--and did, in every episode--wore the best Carnaby street fashions, and was one of the sexiest women I've every seen on television. Her relationship with Steed was totally platonic (her husband, Peter Peel, was lost in the Amazon, I believe), and their give and take makes each remarkable episode soar. And what writing! And such convoluted, amazing plots! I loved every minute of it. I have all the Peel episodes in a DVD set, and whenever I'm feeling down, I pop in a disc and revel in my childhood. One of the aspects I truly enjoy is the opening credits. Steed walked out with a bottle of champagne, Mrs. Peel fires a shot and pops off the cork. Steed looks at her knowingly. He pours them each a glass, they toast, and the iconic music plays. Just a great beginning and totally sums up their relationship and the fun there is in store. Who else loves The Avengers? I'm very happy someone created a thread on The Avengers--it's probably my favorite television series of them all. Macnee and Rigg are as wonderful as you say; the unspoken, platonic chemistry is beautifully done; the wit is infectious; and the plots ("convoluted, amazing," as you accurately note) are delightfully dotty (and often quite well-clued). It is unlike just about anything else on television (though a reviewer I trust has told me that early Doctor Who, which I've never seen, is somewhat similar). The majority of fans prefer the Macnee/Rigg episodes (and, like most male viewers of the show, I'm besotted with the lovely Dame Diana), but I have noticed an increasing coterie of folks who, like louise, prefer the Honor Blackman episodes. I can understand the reasoning, but I must confess that a large part of my liking for The Avengers is based on its silliness and bizarrerie, and the straightforward sleuthing/spying of the majority of the Blackman episodes is a bit off-putting for me. Of course, though, tastes may and will vary! Every time I watch that opening, Naterdawg, I just have a big smile on my face. It's such a charming, unique, clever, witty show whose like we shall never see again, and we are the more unfortunate for that fact. Anyone interested in posting a list of favorite episodes?
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Post by naterdawg on Feb 27, 2017 1:18:52 GMT
One thing I wanted to add is that I saw The Avengers during its original USA run in the spring of 67. I was in the 8th grade and babysitting my sister. It was a Thursday night, I remember, and we were channel-surfing--which took actual muscle, since someone had to get up and manually turn the knob.
So, I'm turning and stop on something involving two secret agents. We watch for a while, and my sister says, "what's the name of this show?" Turned out to be The Avengers, the "Who's Who?" episode, where Steed and Emma switch bodies with two other people. Well, we were hooked.
Luckily, we had a color TV and was able to see all the Peel episodes in glorious color. And they did not disappoint! As for my favorite episodes, I confess to not always knowing the exact titles, but I'll give it a try.
(1) Something Nasty in the Nursery (2) From Venus with Love) (3) The Cybernauts (the first episode) (4) Return of the Cybernauts (5) The Winged Avenger (6) The one where there's a city underground, and one gets to it through a tomb. Name escapes me. (7) The Hellfire Club, with Peter Wyngarde. He shows up again in that episode where they're filming the death of Mrs. Peel.
What's the one where Emma is in a mock-up of a race car and forced to watch a film as she pretends to drive? One bad turn, and she's zapped! Again, the name escapes me!
Long live the Avengers!
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Post by Nalkarj on Feb 27, 2017 1:46:32 GMT
One thing I wanted to add is that I saw The Avengers during its original USA run in the spring of 67. I was in the 8th grade and babysitting my sister. It was a Thursday night, I remember, and we were channel-surfing--which took actual muscle, since someone had to get up and manually turn the knob. So, I'm turning and stop on something involving two secret agents. We watch for a while, and my sister says, "what's the name of this show?" Turned out to be The Avengers, the "Who's Who?" episode, where Steed and Emma switch bodies with two other people. Well, we were hooked. Luckily, we had a color TV and was able to see all the Peel episodes in glorious color. And they did not disappoint! As for my favorite episodes, I confess to not always knowing the exact titles, but I'll give it a try. (1) Something Nasty in the Nursery (2) From Venus with Love) (3) The Cybernauts (the first episode) (4) Return of the Cybernauts (5) The Winged Avenger (6) The one where there's a city underground, and one gets to it through a tomb. Name escapes me. (7) The Hellfire Club, with Peter Wyngarde. He shows up again in that episode where they're filming the death of Mrs. Peel. What's the one where Emma is in a mock-up of a race car and forced to watch a film as she pretends to drive? One bad turn, and she's zapped! Again, the name escapes me! Long live the Avengers! Titles often escape me as well, but, according to this website (which I hope you've seen!), the one with the underground city and the tomb is "The Living Dead" (which I've seen), and the one with the race car--hm, can't seem to find that one, which means I haven't seen it! Was it color or B&W? (Speaking of which, while a number of B&W episodes are among my favorites, I think The Avengers, because of its silliness and vivaciousness, works better in color.) We've got a number of favorites in common: I also love "From Venus with Love," "Return of the Cybernauts" (with the always-marvellous Peter Cushing as the villain who's feigning romancing Emma!), "The Living Dead" (despite its disjointedness), and of course "A Touch of Brimstone" (the Hellfire Club episode, with Wyngarde). A few other favorites: "Too Many Christmas Trees" "Death at Bargain Prices" "The Town of No Return" "Castle De'ath" "The Girl from Auntie" "Honey for the Prince" "The See-Through Man" "Epic" "Who's Who?" "Death's Door" As you know, Naterdawg, with this show, it's very difficult just choosing a few favorites!
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Post by naterdawg on Feb 27, 2017 5:15:53 GMT
One thing I wanted to add is that I saw The Avengers during its original USA run in the spring of 67. I was in the 8th grade and babysitting my sister. It was a Thursday night, I remember, and we were channel-surfing--which took actual muscle, since someone had to get up and manually turn the knob. So, I'm turning and stop on something involving two secret agents. We watch for a while, and my sister says, "what's the name of this show?" Turned out to be The Avengers, the "Who's Who?" episode, where Steed and Emma switch bodies with two other people. Well, we were hooked. Luckily, we had a color TV and was able to see all the Peel episodes in glorious color. And they did not disappoint! As for my favorite episodes, I confess to not always knowing the exact titles, but I'll give it a try. (1) Something Nasty in the Nursery (2) From Venus with Love) (3) The Cybernauts (the first episode) (4) Return of the Cybernauts (5) The Winged Avenger (6) The one where there's a city underground, and one gets to it through a tomb. Name escapes me. (7) The Hellfire Club, with Peter Wyngarde. He shows up again in that episode where they're filming the death of Mrs. Peel. What's the one where Emma is in a mock-up of a race car and forced to watch a film as she pretends to drive? One bad turn, and she's zapped! Again, the name escapes me! Long live the Avengers! Titles often escape me as well, but, according to this website (which I hope you've seen!), the one with the underground city and the tomb is "The Living Dead" (which I've seen), and the one with the race car--hm, can't seem to find that one, which means I haven't seen it! Was it color or B&W? (Speaking of which, while a number of B&W episodes are among my favorites, I think The Avengers, because of its silliness and vivaciousness, works better in color.) We've got a number of favorites in common: I also love "From Venus with Love," "Return of the Cybernauts" (with the always-marvelous Peter Cushing as the villain who's feigning romancing Emma!), "The Living Dead" (despite its disjointedness), and of course "A Touch of Brimstone" (the Hellfire Club episode, with Wyngarde). A few other favorites: "Too Many Christmas Trees" "Death at Bargain Prices" "The Town of No Return" "Castle De'ath" "The Girl from Auntie" "Honey for the Prince" "The See-Through Man" "Epic" "Who's Who?" "Death's Door" As you know, Naterdawg, with this show, it's very difficult just choosing a few favorites! Great list! What's the episode with the bloke who could electrocute people by touching them? In the end, he's electrocuted and sent through the ceiling!
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Post by Nalkarj on Feb 27, 2017 23:46:23 GMT
Titles often escape me as well, but, according to this website (which I hope you've seen!), the one with the underground city and the tomb is "The Living Dead" (which I've seen), and the one with the race car--hm, can't seem to find that one, which means I haven't seen it! Was it color or B&W? (Speaking of which, while a number of B&W episodes are among my favorites, I think The Avengers, because of its silliness and vivaciousness, works better in color.) We've got a number of favorites in common: I also love "From Venus with Love," "Return of the Cybernauts" (with the always-marvelous Peter Cushing as the villain who's feigning romancing Emma!), "The Living Dead" (despite its disjointedness), and of course "A Touch of Brimstone" (the Hellfire Club episode, with Wyngarde). A few other favorites: "Too Many Christmas Trees" "Death at Bargain Prices" "The Town of No Return" "Castle De'ath" "The Girl from Auntie" "Honey for the Prince" "The See-Through Man" "Epic" "Who's Who?" "Death's Door" As you know, Naterdawg, with this show, it's very difficult just choosing a few favorites! Great list! What's the episode with the bloke who could electrocute people by touching them? In the end, he's electrocuted and sent through the ceiling! Not sure, but I can check for you... (cue Jeopardy music) "The Positive Negative Man," perhaps? I haven't seen that one, so I can't say for sure.
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Post by naterdawg on Feb 28, 2017 0:03:05 GMT
Great list! What's the episode with the bloke who could electrocute people by touching them? In the end, he's electrocuted and sent through the ceiling! Not sure, but I can check for you... (cue Jeopardy music) "The Positive Negative Man," perhaps? I haven't seen that one, so I can't say for sure. Yes, that's the one! Great episode!
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Post by taylorfirst1 on Mar 2, 2017 19:30:18 GMT
One of my favorite TV series of all time! A true masterpiece.
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maxwellperfect
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Post by maxwellperfect on Mar 2, 2017 19:40:54 GMT
Somewhat jumped the shark with the color episodes, IMHO.
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Post by naterdawg on Mar 13, 2017 16:26:23 GMT
Somewhat jumped the shark with the color episodes, IMHO. The Linda Thorson episodes definitely jumped the shark. Hated everything about them, especially her.
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Post by taylorfirst1 on Mar 13, 2017 16:38:29 GMT
Back in the day when I first saw the Thorson episodes after seeing all the Rigg episodes, I didn't like Thorson either. However, after watching the show again many years later, I grew to like Thorson. She's not as good as Emma Peel of course, but I like her.
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geezer
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Post by geezer on Jun 14, 2017 1:42:48 GMT
Emma Peel, (pant, pant), an early crush of mine from my early youth. Something about those black leather outfits she wore.
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Post by Nalkarj on Sept 5, 2017 0:21:57 GMT
Somewhat jumped the shark with the color episodes, IMHO. Really? Even the Emma Peel ones? I've seen others express a similar opinion, but I'd be interested in knowing why you think so.
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wanton87
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Post by wanton87 on Sept 5, 2017 1:03:45 GMT
Somewhat jumped the shark with the color episodes, IMHO. Really? Even the Emma Peel ones? I've seen others express a similar opinion, but I'd be interested in knowing why you think so.Well, it’s been nigh near some 40 odd years since I’ve seen the show Salzmank, but I might be able to shed some light on what maxwellperfect is referring to. I do recall an episode in which Steed was being pursued. He ducks behind an upright wooden target platform at a shooting range, just happens to find an unspent round, places the round in a perfectly sized bullet hole in the wooden platform, which just happens to be perfectly lined up with his pursuer, and then proceeds to strike the rear of the shell with a blunt object, firing it, and striking his opponent. So yeah, it was like that Loved the show though, and watched it as a kid. I wasn’t even aware until later that Emma Peel was in fewer episodes than I had realized. I was just a clueless kid, but if I hadn’t been, I’d have wanted to “Peel” the attire from Ms Emma’s delightful physique We only more recently lost Patrick Macnee. Always liked that dude, even when he played the evil “Satan like” adversary in the original Battlestar Galactica.
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maxwellperfect
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Post by maxwellperfect on Sept 6, 2017 16:16:19 GMT
Somewhat jumped the shark with the color episodes, IMHO. Really? Even the Emma Peel ones? I've seen others express a similar opinion, but I'd be interested in knowing why you think so. Yes, the show got pretty silly by the time of Rigg's departure. I was just thinking the other day about how easy it was in the world of 'The Avengers' to disarm someone. I mean if someone has you dead to rights, gun pointed right at you, all Peel or Steed had to do is basically grab the gun from them, or karate-chop it out of their hands.
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Post by taylorfirst1 on Sept 8, 2017 16:43:33 GMT
Really? Even the Emma Peel ones? I've seen others express a similar opinion, but I'd be interested in knowing why you think so. Well, it’s been nigh near some 40 odd years since I’ve seen the show Salzmank, but I might be able to shed some light on what maxwellperfect is referring to. I do recall an episode in which Steed was being pursued. He ducks behind an upright wooden target platform at a shooting range, just happens to find an unspent round, places the round in a perfectly sized bullet hole in the wooden platform, which just happens to be perfectly lined up with his pursuer, and then proceeds to strike the rear of the shell with a blunt object, firing it, and striking his opponent. So yeah, it was like that Loved the show though, and watched it as a kid. I wasn’t even aware until later that Emma Peel was only in a handful of episodes more at the beginning of the series. I was just a clueless kid, but if I hadn’t been, I’d have wanted to “Peel” the attire from Ms Emma’s delightful physique We only more recently lost Patrick Macnee. Always liked that dude, even when he played the evil “Satan like” adversary in the original Battlestar Galactica. Honor Blackman was first with 43 episodes, then Diana Rigg with 51 episodes, finally Linda Thorson with 33 episodes. So you not really correct when you say Emma Peel was only in a handful of episodes. Also, her eps were at the peek of the show's popularity.
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wanton87
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Post by wanton87 on Sept 8, 2017 19:19:48 GMT
taylorfirst1A combination of a bad choice of words, and the fact that I was going completely from memory, so please disregard any inaccuracies on my part.
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Post by Nalkarj on Feb 19, 2018 21:42:28 GMT
I know I asked naterdawg this early on, but I’ve been thinking about The Avengers recently, and—uh—is anyone else interested in posting a list of favorite episodes? Going for a top 10 of the Emma Peel episodes (in no particular order)… “The Town of No Return” “Too Many Christmas Trees” “Castle De’ath” “A Touch of Brimstone” “Honey for the Prince” “Escape in Time” (which had to inspire Paul Halter’s The Phantom Passage, despite the unlikelihood—just had to. Remarkably close) “Who’s Who???” “Death’s Door” “Epic” “The Girl from Auntie” The surrealism in these episodes is just remarkable.
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Post by Primemovermithrax Pejorative on Feb 20, 2018 1:45:33 GMT
First time I watched it, I thought it was going to be a Marvel comics thing.
What the Hell is this?? was my reaction.
Note: I am pretty sure the Black Widow costume makeover was inspired by Emma Peel.
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