Items18The creator’s order
  1. 1The Avengers (1961)The Avengers (1961) 8.3/10 on IMDbFirst aired Jan 7, 1961Start with Diana Rigg's Emma Peel and Patrick Macnee's John Steed if you want a partnership that can make an exchange of pleasantries feel like a contest. Then try Honor Blackman's Cathy Gale. She brings a different kind of briskness to the same exercise in keeping your composure while the story…0
  2. 2The Prisoner (1967)The Prisoner (1967) 8.4/10 on IMDbFirst aired Sep 29, 1967The Village looks like a lovely place to spend an afternoon, which is part of what makes it such an effective prison. Patrick McGoohan's Number Six keeps pushing against the rules of the place. Try it for the unease of a familiar spy lead who can't simply walk away at the end of the mission.0
  3. 3The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1964)The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1964) 7.7/10 on IMDbFirst aired Sep 22, 1964Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin are American and Soviet agents on the same side, with a tailor shop concealing their headquarters. The relationship makes the polished absurdity go down easily. Start here if you enjoy a spy story that lets its leads look mildly amused by the elaborate trouble…0
  4. 4Danger Man (1960)Danger Man (1960) 7.9/10 on IMDbFirst aired Sep 11, 1960Patrick McGoohan plays John Drake, an agent who can get a great deal done by paying attention. That makes a fine contrast with his role in The Prisoner. Pick this if you'd like more legwork and fewer toys, with someone who seems happiest when he has worked out what the other person needs from him.0
  5. 5Mission: Impossible (1966)Mission: Impossible (1966) 7.9/10 on IMDbFirst aired Sep 17, 1966A recorded message gives the team its assignment, and then the specialists have to fit their parts of the plan together. The original television series gives you time to watch the small preparations pay off. Try it for the satisfaction of recognizing what a little piece of business was for after…0
  6. 6Callan (1967)Callan (1967) 8.3/10 on IMDbFirst aired Feb 6, 1967Edward Woodward's David Callan does dirty work for British intelligence. His friendship with a petty thief named Lonely gives the assignments an unusually human cost. Take this route if you want a spy series where a man can do his job brilliantly and still have to live with the people who sent him…0
  7. 7The Saint (1962)The Saint (1962) 7.5/10 on IMDbFirst aired Oct 4, 1962Roger Moore's Simon Templar looks comfortable wherever he arrives, even when the room is beginning to turn against him. Pick this for the pleasures of a self-appointed adventurer. Moore gives the conversation just enough friendliness to make the next question sound innocuous.0
  8. 8I Spy (1965)I Spy (1965) 7.2/10 on IMDbFirst aired Sep 15, 1965Kelly Robinson and Alexander Scott work undercover as a tennis player and his trainer. The pairing gives an ordinary conversation a reason to do two jobs at once. Revisit it if you want the feeling of listening to friends joke while watching each of them quietly assess how much the other has…0
  9. 9Get Smart (1965)Get Smart (1965) 8.2/10 on IMDbFirst aired Sep 18, 1965Maxwell Smart can make a telephone call on a shoe, while Agent 99 has to make a mission work with him there. The parody is especially good when her competence gives his certainty nowhere to go. Choose it when a serious show has made you impatient with how impressed its secret agents are with their…0
  10. 10The Wild Wild West (1965)The Wild Wild West (1965) 8.1/10 on IMDbFirst aired Sep 17, 1965James West and Artemus Gordon travel for the government by rail in Ulysses S. Grant's America. Combining ornate spy apparatus and a western wasn't a tidy idea. That's the point of watching it. The train gives the partners a place to regroup between adventures that keep finding new ways to make the…0