I Spy is an American spy television series developed by David Friedkin and Morton Fine, that ran for three seasons on NBC from September 15, 1965, to April 15, 1968, and teamed American intelligence agents Kelly Robinson (Robert Culp) and Alexander "Scotty" Scott (Bill Cosby), traveling undercover as international "tennis bums." Robinson poses as an amateur with Scott as his trainer, playing against wealthy opponents in return for food and lodging. Their work involved chasing villains, spies, and beautiful women.

The series was noted for its relatively-grounded, realistic approach to espionage and the influx of Cold War politics, compared to the more fantastical approaches of spy fiction of the day. The series did not feature a fixed locale, instead utilizing location shooting across the United States and the world.

The creative forces behind the show were writers Friedkin and Fine and cinematographer Fouad Said. Together they formed Triple F Productions under the aegis of Desilu Productions where the show was produced. Fine and Friedkin (who previously wrote scripts for radio's Broadway Is My Beat and Crime Classics under producer-director Elliott Lewis) were co-producers and head writers, and wrote the scripts for 16 episodes, one of which Friedkin directed. Friedkin also dabbled in acting and appeared in two episodes in the first season. Actor–producer Sheldon Leonard, known for playing gangster roles in the 1940s and 1950s, was the executive producer (receiving top billing before the title in the series' opening title sequence).

Bill Cosby won three acting Emmy Awards over the course of the series, while composer Earle Hagen won Outstanding Achievement in Musical Composition. The series accumulated an additional 15 Emmy nominations during its run, including three nods for Outstanding Drama Series. It also won the Golden Globe Award for Best Television Program in 1967.

Premise The series follows the adventures of Kelly Robinson (Robert Culp) and Alexander "Scotty" Scott (Bill Cosby), a pair of undercover American intelligence agents whose activities take them across the globe.

The name of the espionage unit they worked for was never specified, only ever referred to as "the Department" and implied to be military in nature. In one flashback episode, it is established that all agents took their original training at The Presidio. At least two episodes begin with them receiving a briefing at the Pentagon, they frequently refer to the Pentagon as the ultimate headquarters of their organization, and they are often seen receiving their instructions from uniformed, high ranking, military officers - with all branches of the military - Army, Navy, Marines and Air Force - showing up in such a role. In one episode, they are being briefed at the beginning by British military officers. However, they also seem to be answerable to the State Department as well, frequently getting instructions from civilian administrators at or from the local American Embassy in the nation they are operating in. In at least one episode they directly refer to the American ambassador as someone who can assist them.

The espionage plots were, with a few exceptions, realistically set in the Cold War and the real life geopolitics of the mid-1960’s. They often specifically referred to their opponents as “the Russians”, or “the Chinese”, or other Communist Bloc countries of the time. Only rarely was a fictitious city or country used as a plot device. The espionage plots were almost always plausible – with a couple of comedic exceptions – and actual Cold War events were frequently alluded to or used as the basis for a plot. Other contemporary geopolitical factors that appeared in certain episodes were Arab nationalism and the idea of a potential Jihad, domestic terrorism within the United States itself, Neofascist organizations, and escaped war criminals from World War II.

The two agents sometimes engage in standard espionage activities like interrogation of defectors and assisting friendly agents returning from enemy territory. However, the two main characters themselves are only twice shown operating behind the Iron or Bamboo Curtain and once in Viet Cong controlled territory. They spend all other episodes operating in the US itself or, more often, a country allied to the U.S. NATO allies Greece, Italy and British Hong Kong; U.S. ally Japan; OAS member Mexico; and U.S. unofficial (at the time) ally Spain are all locations where a storyline is set. Likewise Morocco, which was a technically neutral, but pro-West country at the time, is the setting for a few episodes. They cooperate with British, Japanese and Greek intelligence officers in various episodes and with local police officials in others, but largely their activities are unknown to the local authorities. The two agents are often seen uncovering and eliminating Soviet Bloc or Chinese espionage activities in Western nations, or uncovering a traitor in their own organization. Such activities would technically make them Counter-Intelligence agents. Occasionally they are involved in fighting against narcotic smuggling or thwarting a coup attempt against a friendly ruler. In a few episodes they are not actually on an assignment at all but have an adventure related to their personal lives, such as helping keep Scotty’s foster-daughter's boyfriend out of trouble with the Italian police, or dealing with the angry family of a soldier who had served under Kelly in the Korean War years before and had been killed in action. While the two agents are frequently involved with attractive women who factor into their assignment, they rarely become involved with an innocent bystander who is accidentally swept up into the situation as was the usual plotline of The Man from U.N.C.L.E..

Cast and characters

The two main characters are Kelly Robinson (Robert Culp) and Alexander Scott (Bill Cosby), the only characters to appear in all 82 episodes of the series. They have been operating together as a two man team for a couple of years when the series begins. It is indicated that Robinson is a few years older and has been in the Department longer than Scott (however a third season flashback episode shows them going through initial training together, so that aspect of the backstory changed a little).

Robinson is an internationally ranked and modestly well known tennis player, but not a professional player. This was in the pre-Open era of international tennis and the major championships were for amateur players only, so Robinson ostensibly travels the world as a "tennis bum", playing tournaments and hobnobbing with celebrities and politicians. It is his cover for his espionage activities. He is a graduate of Princeton University and a veteran of the Korean war where he was an infantry platoon leader as a lieutenant. He was a track and field athlete as well as a tennis player in his school years. Kelly's age and childhood background are inconsistently dealt with during the series. If a Korean War veteran, he'd be about 35-37 during the run of the series. In one episode he is said to be originally from Ohio, but in others he calls "the West Coast" his original home. In one episode he states that his father was a military lawyer and was involved in prosecuting German war criminals after World War II. In another episode it is indicated that he was orphaned before he was an adult and spent time with an aunt and uncle living on a farm in an unspecified location, possibly the Central Valley of California. He runs into a former love interest from time to time, and states that he ended the most serious romantic relationship of his life in order to enter into his intelligence career. He can be emotional and hot-headed at times, but can also be cold and ruthless when needed.

Scott is an intellectual, a graduate of Temple University, where he starred on the football team, and is a Rhodes Scholar. He is a linguist who seems to have studied multiple foreign languages in his educational years. He is approximately 29 years old during the series and was recruited into the intelligence community by a college professor. He grew up in urban Philadelphia where his mother and sister still live and he writes to or calls his mother frequently. He is usually the more level headed of the two agents and less emotional, but when he does become emotional he can be very despondent or display a violent temper. He is proud of his accomplishments and acknowledges the fact that the US has issues it could improve upon, but is a very loyal and patriotic American.

Both agents often question the morality of their profession and ponder the impact the life they lead has on their psyche and their soul. The two men are very close, often referring to one another as being like a brother. Yet they both seem to wonder what kind of life and family they would have had if they had not gone into the espionage world.

I Spy broke ground in that it was the first American television drama to feature a Black actor (Cosby) in a lead role. Originally an older actor was slated to play a fatherly mentor to Culp's character. After seeing Cosby performing stand-up comedy on a talk-show, Sheldon Leonard decided to take a chance on hiring him to play opposite Culp. The concept was changed from a mentor-protégé relationship to same-age partners who were equals. It was also notable that Cosby's race was never an issue in any of the stories, though on occasion oblique references surfaced (such as in the second-season episode "One of Our Bombs Is Missing," in which Scott jokingly said that he would "join the Klan," if it would help them recover a lost atomic bomb). Nor was his character in any way subservient to Culp's, with the exception that Culp's "Kelly Robinson" was a more experienced agent. (Culp revealed in his audio commentary on the DVD release that he and Cosby agreed early on that "Our statement is a non-statement" regarding race, and the subject was never discussed again.) As a strait-laced Rhodes Scholar fluent in many languages, Cosby's "Scotty" was really the brains of the team. His partner was the athlete and playboy who lived by his wits. The success of the show is primarily attributed to the chemistry between Culp and Cosby. Fans tuned in more for their hip banter than for the espionage stories, making I Spy a leader in the buddy genre. The two actors quickly developed a close friendship that mirrored their on-screen characters, a friendship that would last until Culp's death in 2010. The show also coined unique phrases that, briefly, became catchphrases, such as "wonderfulness". Wonderfulness was used as the title of one of Cosby's albums of stand-up comedy released concurrently with the series. Cosby also occasionally slipped in bits of his comic routines during his improvised badinage with Culp. (In one episode Scott, being interrogated under the influence of drugs, says his name is Fat Albert.) Many details of Cosby's life were also written into his character. Scott does not drink or smoke—while Kelly Robinson does both. There are frequent references to Scott's childhood in Philadelphia and attending Temple University (Cosby is sometimes seen wearing his own Temple sweatshirt), and in the "Cops and Robbers" episode, Scotty returns home to Philadelphia to revisit his old neighborhood.

Guest stars