As last Thursday of the month (I can't believe it's August already!), today's Thursday Movie Picks, the weekly series hosted by Wandering Through the Shelves, does not revolve around movies but around TV series, the theme being spy TV shows. And the struggle was real!
Agent Carter (2015-2016)
It follows Captain America's sweetheart Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) as she is relegated to secretarial duties after the end of the war. This show was so good --and so much better than Agents of SHIELD, if you ask me-- it angers me so much that they cancelled it.
Chuck (2007-2012)
An ordinary geeky guy named Chuck (Zachary Levi) inadvertently downloads government secrets into his brain so both the CIA and the NSA appoint an agent to guard Chuck and they eventually get involved with him in spy adventures. I freaking loved this show and was so sad when it was closed.
Homeland (2011- )
It follows Carrie Mathison (Claire Danes), a bipolar CIA operative who, in season one, becomes convinced an American prisoner, US Marine Sergeant Nicholas Brody (Damian Lewis), has been turned by Al-Qaeda and is planning a terrorist attack on American soil, and tries to stop him. I really liked this at first, then they killed Brody and the show slowly started to die. Season 6 was so bad, I stopped watching.
I have not seen any which is a bummer. I was never interested in Homeland despite the accolades but I wanted to see Agent Carter but never got a chance. Chuck sounds funny..I remember hearing a bit about it but never knew the premise.
ReplyDeleteYou need to watch Agent Carter and Chuck, they are great. As for Homeland, I wouldn't bother, especially if you are someone like me who doesn't like to stop watching shows. But sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.
DeleteWe match on Agent Carter! I'm also furious that it got cancelled. Agents of SHIELD has turned into such a shit show since they centered it around Daisy the Mary Sue. Agent Carter was so much better.
ReplyDeleteI know right! Also, Agents of SHIELD is so bad I stopped watching it.
DeleteI loved Homeland when it began but it slowly eroded in quality and I gave up on it at the end of the third season.
ReplyDeleteI've heard good things about Agent Carter but never watched and then it was gone. Chuck is one I'm unfamiliar with.
Since the 60’s was a wonderland of spy series thanks to the success of James Bond I decided to do a theme within a theme of just those shows. All three have singular memorable opening music and credits.
The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1964-1968)-A two-man troubleshooting team, American Napoleon Solo (Robert Vaughn) and Russian Illya Kuryakin (David McCallum) work for multi-national secret intelligence agency U.N.C.L.E. (United Network Command for Law and Enforcement) under the direction of Alexander Waverly (Leo G. Carroll). Week after week they combated the evil forces of THRUSH (Technological Hierarchy for the Removal of Undesirables and the Subjugation of Humanity) alternating between throwing around villains and bon mots. Immensely popular in its day it spawned a spinoff series The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. as well as much merchandising. A stylish film version came out in 2015.
Mission: Impossible (1966-1973)-The Impossible Missions Force (IMF) lead a group of secret agents (including over time Leonard Nimoy, Martin Landau and Sam Elliott) lead by Dan Briggs (Steven Hill) in the first season and after that by Jim Phelps (Peter Graves) are given covert assignments each week via a self-destructing device. Using stealth and cunning as well as disguise much more than action they battle evil empires and crime lords. Tom Cruise has bastardized the franchise in a series of empty soulless action vehicles that have nothing to do with the original intelligent conception of the series.
It Takes a Thief (1968-1970)-High living but currently imprisoned cat burglar Alexander Munday (Robert Wagner) is released into the custody of Noah Bain (Malachi Thorne) head of the government’s Secret Intelligence Agency (SIA) with the understanding that he will steal whatever necessary (documents, formulas, etc.) to ensure national security. More of a high fashion romp than a tension fueled spy thriller this still had many intricate plots and a terrific chemistry between its two leads. It also had a fantastic array of guest stars including Bette Davis, Suzanne Pleshette (as a temperamental opera diva in one of the series best episodes), Leslie Nielsen and in the final season Fred Astaire as Mundy’s mischievous father, master thief Alistair.
I can't blame you for giving up Homeland at the end of season 3. Only god knows how I made it to season 6 without killing myself.
DeleteI haven't seen any of your picks, but I've heard of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and Mission: Impossible, both because of the movies, and I've been meaning to watch the latter for a while now.
I still wish there was a third season of Agent Carter. Man, that was a great show. I hate how it ended with some kind of cliffhanger. Plus, I wanted more of Dottie as I just love that rivalry she had with Peggy.
ReplyDeleteHaven't watched any of these, though I'm familiar with all 3. I think I have seen parts of several episodes of Chuck, but never bothered to stick around.
ReplyDeleteWatch Agent Carter, I think you'd like it.
DeleteI didn't watch Agent Carter...partly because I really didn't like Agents of SHIELD.
ReplyDeleteCarter is so much better than SHIELD!
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