Best of each series. - The Avengers (1966) Discussion

[–] MrEdnablackadder 15 years ago

These are my suggestions regarding the Cathy Gale era

Series 2

The Golden Eggs
Mr.Teddy Bear
The Mauritius Penny
Death of A Great dane
Warlock
Intercrime
Bullseye
The White Dwarf
Six Hands Across a Table
Propellant 23

Series 3

Esprit De Corps
Don't Look Behind You
Dressed To Kill
Man With Two Shadows
The Undertakers
The Grandeur That Was Rome
Mandrake
The Gilded Cage
Concerto
Brief For Murder
The Wringer
The Nutshell
Lobster Quadrille
The Outside-in-Man
The Charmers
The Little Wonders

Too many to pick out from this season ! Anyway all 43 Cathy Gale episodes are to be seen IMO

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[–] MrEdnablackadder 15 years ago

Well , since at the moment no one has given you an answer about what you should watch from the last three seasons yet , I think I could give you a suggestion about what you shouldn't watch

Season 4

The Thirteenth Hole
Man-Eater of Surrey Green
Small Game for Big Hunters
The Girl From Auntie
Room Without A View
Dial A Deadly Number
The Cybernauts
Two's A Crowd
How To Succeed .... At Murder
A Surfeit of H20

Season 5

The See-Through Man
The Correct Way To Kill
The Bird Who Knew Too Much
The Fear Merchants
Mission : Highly Improbable
Something Nasty in the Nursery
The Living Dead
Return of the Cybernauts
Death's Door
Never , Never Say Die
Who's Who ???
The Positive Negative Man

Season 6

Have Guns - Will Haggle
Legacy of Death
Homicide and Old Lace
My Wildest Dream
The Rotters
Killer
Thingumajig
Split !
The Interrogators
Whoever Shot Poor George Oblique Stroke XR40 ?
Super Secret Cypher Snatch
Look - ( stop me ...) etc .
Invasion of the Earthmen
They Keep Killing Steed
Get-A-Way !

Trust me , you life will be MUCH better if you won't watch these . Forget-Me-Knot and Bizarre are also flat-out atrocious obviously , but since one is Tara's debut story and the other is the show's final episode there could be some reason to watch them .

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[–] 15 years ago

[deleted]

[–] ejw0422 15 years ago

I have not enough of the Cathy Gale's to comment but I've been trying hard to find them. Of the episodes I've seen Death Dispatch is my favorite though I have high hopes for Man with Two Shadows and The Nutshell.

Season 4 (I love every episode I've seen from this season):
The Murder Market
Too Many Christmas Trees
The Hour That Never Was
Death at Bargain Prices
Dial a Deadly Number
The Town of No Return

Season 5:
The Joker
The Hidden Tiger
You Have Just Been Murdered
Murdersville
The Correct Way to Kill

Season 6:
Love All (the best by far)
The Interrogators
Who Was That Man I Saw You With?
Killer
Take Over

The New Avengers:
Target
Dead Men Are Dangerous

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[–] mr_milbury 15 years ago

Watch:

- Mr. Teddy Bear (Series 2)

- Bullseye (Series 2)

- The Mauritius Penny (Series 2)

- Intercrime (Series 2)

- The Gilded Cage (Series 3)

- Mandrake (Series 3)

- Concerto (Series 3)

- The Cybernauts (Series 4)

- The Murder Market (Series 4)

- Dial a Deadly Number (Series 4)

- The Girl from Auntie (Series 4)

- From Venus With Love (Series 5)

- The Hidden Tiger (Series 5)

- The Superlative Seven (Series 5)

- The Joker (Series 5)

- Who´s Who??? (Series 5)

Avoid:

- The Decapod (Series 2)

- Immortal Clay (Series 2)

- Box of Tricks (Series 2)

- Warlock (Series 2)

- Six Hands Across a Table (Series 2)

- The Grandeur That Was Rome (Series 3)

- The Golden Fleece (Series 3)

- Trojan Horse (Series 3)

- Esprit de Corps (Series 3)

- Lobster Quadrille (Series 3)

- Two´s a Crowd (Series 4)

- The Thirteenth Hole (Series 4)

- Honey for the Prince (Series 4)

- The Fear Merchants (Series 5)

- The Living Dead (Series 5)

- Murdersville (Series 5)

- Mission.....Highly Improbable (Series 5)

Bearing in mind that most of Series 1 does not exist anymore and I don´t have any real affection with Series 6.

Personally, I would say that Series 4 is the best in overall quality (most of the episodes, barring the three listed in the latter list, get at least 7 points out of 10 from me) while Series 5 is the most fun series of them all.

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[–] MrEdnablackadder 15 years ago

Dizzywhore personally I would dissuade you to listen to most of mr.milbury's choices

Watch:

- The Cybernauts (Series 4)

Terrible episode with horrible narrative structure ( for the entire first half of the episode hardly anything relevant to the plot happens ) and dull , uninspired direction ( all the sequences where the Cybernauts attack are exactly identical without a grain of originality ).

- Dial a Deadly Number (Series 4)

You're going to have an attack of Beri-Beri if you watch this

- The Girl from Auntie (Series 4)

A pastiche filled with plot holes that seems written only for laughs . Not even the son of Roger Marshall - the writer of the episode - had the courage to try to defend it ( he actually claims that Brian Clemens is responsible for this disaster because he butchered Daddy's script )

- The Joker (Series 5)

Please , don't watch this before you've seen its predecessor "Don't Look Behind You" . The reason is simple : even if you will obviously notice that the two episodes are worlds apart in terms of writing , direction and acting the pleasure of watching the original will irreparably be a little spoiled if you know from the remake how things are going to turn . And Rigg gives a terrible performance in "the Joker " .

Avoid:
- Esprit de Corps (Series 3)

The main thing you should try to AVOID is actually to get some advice from this user . The last one he has mentioned is easily one of the best episodes of the show , Top 5 for sure .

- Six Hands Across a Table (Series 2)

I say watch it . Not the most interesting of the lot , but Honor Blackman's performance in it is superb .

- Warlock (Series 2)
- The Grandeur That Was Rome (Series 3)

Two masterpieces of the surreal kind . The second one is a prime example of how an episode can have a very ironic and very dark touch at the same time .

- Lobster Quadrille (Series 3)

You can't skip Cathy Gale's swan song , can't you ?

Personally, I would say that Series 4 is the best in overall quality

Season 4 is easily the most boring of the lot and it has the gallery of dullest , most insignificant villains in the entire show . And the writers had already started at this point to plagiarize some episodes of the most successful american shows from the same period ( "Wild , Wild West" , "Get Smart" etc .. )

while Series 5 is the most fun series of them all.

Well , maybe it is ... for someone whose idea of humour is watching a man throwing himself out a window , running away from the dog he has found in the courtyard and eventually getting selz squirted in his face .. or seeing a man getting accidentally knocked out with a chair that was supposed to be fake ...

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[–] mr_milbury 14 years ago

LOL! It is now clear to me that you are taking the piss (has to be, right?).

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[–] MrEdnablackadder 14 years ago

Depends what you mean by this . My tone was indeed ironic to you ( since you were the first one to try to piss me off on past occasions ) but if you believe that someone mustn't be serious to aeke down the episodes you have recommended to the OP , I assure you I am . And it's not like I'm the first person in the world to point out that the Avengers with Rigg are badly written BTW .

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[–] chongajuly 14 years ago

I see another commentator has incurred the wrath of mrednablackadder (mention Diana Rigg and the venom spews forth!) Your choices are excellent and thought provoking, while his responses are seemingly meant only to provoke. His irrational hatred for all things Rigg automatically disqualifies him as an authority on Emma Peel, whose first season in black and white is such a refreshing switch from cramped studio videotaping to actual on location shooting, coupled with a higher degree of chemistry between the two stars. The color season may not be as good, but there's no dropoff in quality. I'm familiar with the entire series, but cannot say I disagree with any of your selections, I just hope there will be more comments from others who love the show.

"I take pleasure in great beauty" - James Bond

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[–] MrEdnablackadder 14 years ago

This thread is almost one year old . I doubt the guy who started it is still around . Usually when this kind of discussions are resurrected is because someone childishly wants to settle some kind of score .

You're boring me to death , Olzak . Seriously , why do you care so much if I don't like Rigg ? This board is meant to discuss the Avengers , it's not like you should be prevented to post in it if you don't like one of the actors or the characters in the show . If you really can't stand my opinions about your heroine , then do not read my posts or put me in your ignore list . I really don't know what else could I tell you . And you still seem to presuppose I write these things with a great anger . I assure you , I am not . I'm having great fun !

Anyway :

One word of friendly warning: mrednablackadder is fanatically opposed to all things Emma, insisting that the writing is the worst of the entire series.

I never said that . As a matter of fact I think that , for the most part , the writing was even worse in the King era . Still , Tara's episodes do not give me the sense of irritation the ones with Emma do . Also because I don't have anything against Linda .

Considering the ordinary villains in weak scripts that plagued most of his beloved Cathy Gale episodes

I already answered to this in a different thread .

(he insists that all 43 are worthwhile!)

They are all worthwhile because of Honor . I never claimed that there weren't any weak episodes . But your claim that Season 2 had only 5 good ones is the usual ludicrous joke .

his intense dislike for Diana Rigg and her chemistry with Patrick Macnee (which only incites him to laughter) definitely disqualifies him as an authority on the entire series.

Why ? Because I don't like the new direction the show had taken as much as you do ? You make me laugh , Olzak .

Worldwide audiences understandably clamor for Emma Peel, of which I didn't care for a measly 8 of her 52 episodes.

Again , simple-minded people's favourite defense : I am in the majority . I am surprised that onwardsandupwards and autour are , along with me , the only two people who seem to understand the blatantly obvious reason people mainly associate the show with Rigg .

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[–] chongajuly 14 years ago

I own the entire series, or at least what's left of it, 137 1/3 episodes. To see how it all started, watch what you can of the first season, it's just 2 1/3 episodes. The next two seasons with Honor Blackman are definitely an acquired taste, 3 episodes with Jon Rollason, and 6 with Julie Stevens that you can skip in the beginning. Prior to Diana Rigg, all the shows were videotaped live, studio bound with rare filmed inserts, and suffer from other technical problems like out of focus fights and a general lack of excitement. The best of season two are MR TEDDY BEAR, BULLSEYE, THE MAURITIUS PENNY, INTERCRIME, and SIX HANDS ACROSS A TABLE (I include the last for its atypical attempt to depict a love interest for Cathy Gale). Season three's best, with a higher budget and more whimsical writing, are BRIEF FOR MURDER, MAN WITH TWO SHADOWS, THE UNDERTAKERS, DEATH OF A BATMAN, THE GILDED CAGE, THE MEDICINE MEN, DRESSED TO KILL, THE WRINGER, and LOBSTER QUADRILLE. You can't go wrong with Emma Peel, whose first season ranks as the series' finest. Start with THE CYBERNAUTS, the first episode broadcast in the US, featuring the late great Michael Gough as one of the show's most indelible masterminds. DEATH AT BARGAIN PRICES, THE MASTER MINDS, THE MURDER MARKET, A SURFEIT OF H2O, THE HOUR THAT NEVER WAS, DIAL A DEADLY NUMBER, MAN-EATER OF SURREY GREEN, TOO MANY CHRISTMAS TREES, ROOM WITHOUT A VIEW, THE GIRL FROM AUNTIE, THE DANGER MAKERS, A TOUCH OF BRIMSTONE, THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT, A SENSE OF HISTORY, HOW TO SUCCEED....AT MURDER. Season five was the first in color, with many standouts- THE FEAR MERCHANTS, THE HIDDEN TIGER, NEVER NEVER SAY DIE, THE SUPERLATIVE SEVEN, THE JOKER, WHO'S WHO??? RETURN OF THE CYBERNAUTS, DEATH'S DOOR, YOU HAVE JUST BEEN MURDERED, THE POSITIVE NEGATIVE MAN, MURDERSVILLE, MISSION...HIGHLY IMPROBABLE. The Tara King era has a few gems, but there isn't the kind of chemistry as in previous years- ALL DONE WITH MIRRORS, THE INTERROGATORS, LOVE ALL, FOG, SPLIT! FALSE WITNESS, NOON-DOOMSDAY, KILLER, THE MORNING AFTER, STAY TUNED, THINGUMAJIG. One word of friendly warning: mrednablackadder is fanatically opposed to all things Emma, insisting that the writing is the worst of the entire series. Considering the ordinary villains in weak scripts that plagued most of his beloved Cathy Gale episodes (he insists that all 43 are worthwhile!), his intense dislike for Diana Rigg and her chemistry with Patrick Macnee (which only incites him to laughter) definitely disqualifies him as an authority on the entire series. Worldwide audiences understandably clamor for Emma Peel, of which I didn't care for a measly 8 of her 52 episodes.

"I take pleasure in great beauty" - James Bond

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